Folks, I am having major issues with my 8300. I've been here trying to find an answer to these issues but none have worked. My first and most important is that the camera will not download an image, it just hangs and hangs and produces nothing. Second issue is that it takes a couple of minutes for the camera to even connect with any software I've tried. CCDOps, CCDSoft, SGP Pro, Nebulosity 4, The SkyX, Sharpcap, NINA, MaxIm DL, all of them. Using a windows 10 64bit machine. All the new drivers with DriverChecker installed along with Cedric's Homemade driver. Firmware is up to date. I've just joined the forum for help since I'm at a loss now. My only idea from here is the firmware file must be corrupted, but the DriveChecker says it's up to date. I've done all the usual diagnostics recommended on this forum to no avail. I need some serious help please. Thanks, Frank
Is this a new problem as in the camera started misbehaving, or is this a fresh install? My first guess: Likely the debug log mode is on, so things are slowing down a lot. Quit all programs. Launch the SBIG Driver Checker. Click [Debug Log]. On the next screen, click [Clear All]. [OK] Verify it is version 4.05 by clicking [About/Help], if not, update it from here: https://diffractionlimited.com/legacy-product-support/ On the Driver Checker main Drivers tab, it should list sbigudrv.dll and it should be either 4.9.9 Build 7 or 5.1.1.0. This is the 32-bit driver used by CCDOps, MaxIm 6, and other 32-bit programs. If not, disconnect the camera, and [Update]. Reboot. If you are running MaxIm 7.2.2, TheSkyX 64bit, N.I.N.A., check that you have the 64-bit sbigudrv.dll version 5.1.1.0 in C:\Windows\System32 Sometimes NINA or TSX install an old version. Additional notes here: https://forum.diffractionlimited.com/threads/new-computer-installation.10016/
Hi Colin, Thank you for helping me out. It is a new problem and not a fresh install of windows. I did all you asked above. The driver is version 5.0.2.0 in my system32 folder. See image.
I suggest you download the 64-bit SBIGUDRV.DLL version 5.1.1.0 Get it here: https://cdn.diffractionlimited.com/down/sbigudrv-win-x64-5.1.1.0.zip Unblock the file, unzip it, and replace the C:\Windows\System32\sbigudrv.dll version 5.0.2.0 with the new one.
Colin, that driver is listed in the system driver checker. Should it have automatically put itself in the sys32 folder? I guess I just copy and paste it? Frank
No, the Driver Checker is showing you a different file. It shows the 32-bit version of the file, which is found here: C:\windows\system No. The driver checker does not show anything about the 64-bit version, and does not install it. The 64-bit version is found in: C:\windows\system32 The 64-bit version was likely installed by either MaxIm 7.2.2, TheSkyX 64-bit, or some other program. Yes. It may ask you for Administrator permission. You will need to agree to that. Note also that you need to test if MaxIm is now working properly with the camera, since you cleared the debug settings. If it is not, then there may be a different problem such as a bad cable, port, or camera hardware problem.
OK Colin, I replaced the driver and verified it is 5.1.1.0. I plugged the camera in, restarted the camera, unplugged the USB and power cables, plugged them back in and now device manager shows it as USB8-CAM ready for driver installation. Thing is, windows will ask for a .inf file instead of a .dll file, so it won't install the .dll file as a driver file. What now? Frank
This is a different problem. There are "Windows Device Drivers" for the low level hardware; then there are programming drivers for application programs to communicate with the camera. The camera should be showing up as an SBIG Camera, not as a USB8-CAM. This means some step in loading the low level windows device drivers is missed/incomplete/corrupt. When you ran the SBIG Driver Checker and did the update, and installed the drivers, it is also doing the low-level windows drivers, instead of using a .INF installer package. Power off and Disconnect the USB cable to the camera. Run SBIG Driver Checker. [Remove] Follow the steps to remove the drivers. Reboot the PC. Run SBIG Driver Checker. [Update] Follow the steps. It should say at some point "Preinstalling drivers" and then should complete successfully. Reboot. Power up the camera and plug in the USB cable. Windows should automatically find the camera, and go through the process of installing the low level drivers. After it completes, you should find an SBIG Camera.
