Using an ST-8XE, USB, camera. Camera works great on laptop and DID work great with mount-side mini-pc using Astro Photography Tool. I installed Sequence Generator Pro on the mini so that I could utilize the guide chip on the ST-8. Now neither SGP nor APT can initiate communications with the camera. IF I initiate coms with the laptop, then transfer the ST-8 to the mini, it works fine. I downloaded the 'old' driver, 4.92 build 0, and followed the instructions to revert from the new driver. Had done this before with the laptop. The c://windows/system looks identical on both the laptop and the pc. Thought this would solve the problem, didn't, could you please help me resolve? Thanks! John
John, what changed from when it worked till when it didn't? e.g. Windows 10 update, hardware changes, any idea? Which OS is the mini-PC running? e.g. Windows 10 Pro 2004 64 bit ? Is the camera showing in the Windows Device Manager? If not, then I suspect the USB interface or cable. If you run Driver Checker, and go to the firmware tab, and do a get firmware version from camera, it should say that the firmware isn't updateable - eg this will confirm communication. Does CCDOPs see the camera? You might also check everything under: C:\Program Files (x86)\SBIG\Driver Checker 64 on both machines.
Good questions Colin, I should have given more detail. Thanks for the prompt response! The mini-pc is running Windows 10 Pro (64/86). To the best of my knowledge the only changes were: Installing Sequence Generator Pro and running the Driver Checker (including updating of drivers). I don't believe there was a Win10 update, although I could be mistaken. Yes, the camera does show up in Device Manager with an error icon. It appears as SBIG USB Devices/SBIG ST Classic Camera Without Firmware. If I attach the camera to my laptop (Windows 10) in initiate the connection, then transfer the camera usb cable back to the mini, the error icon disappears and the camera begins to operate normally. Although I have only taken a few exposures to test, not a complete run. CCDOPS does not initiate communications either and shows: "No Camera Found". SBIG Driver Checker: "Get Firmware Version" causes error message: "Could not establish link to the camera." If I then connect the camera to to the laptop and then return it to the mini-pc, then the firmware check connects and says: "Found a Camera that doesn't require firmware uploads.....". Checking/comparing Program Files(x86)/SBIG/Driver Checker 64 finds: The only difference at first glance is that there are lines: unins000.dat and unins000.msg in the mini-pc but not in the laptop. I would use the laptop to run the camera but it is a Dell with power supply/batter failure on the mother board and as such runs at 1/3 speed. So I need to replace it and have decided to use a mount side mini-pc. Which had been working very well until I installed SGP and ran the Driver Checker 64. Thanks again, John
Hmmm... you shouldn't be getting an error icon in the device manager. I'm going to ask @Doug if he could chime in. Possible fix: Disconnect camera's USB connection. Power it off. Go into Device Manager. View... Show Hidden Devices. For each instance of the SBIG camera, right click and uninstall device. Once you've removed them all, reboot the machine, log in. Launch Device Manager. Plug in the camera. Windows should install the device. There should be no error. Is there a reason you are using the old driver checker instead of current?
"SBIG ST Classic Camera Without Firmware" is the clue. These old cameras used an old Cypress USB chipset trick for loading the firmware from the PC ("re-enumeration"). The device would first connect to the PC with a VID and PID that caused the PC to run a firmware uploader. It would upload the firmware into the camera, and then the camera would disconnect and reboot itself with the final VID and PID. Then the PC would "discover" the "newly plugged in" device, and load the correct drivers for it. "Without firmware" means the firmware loading process didn't work. There's something wrong with the driver install. Please try the latest version of SBIG Driver Checker.
O.K. Thanks. I thought I should be using the Driver Checker listed under: USB Port Cameras? I have been looking under 'Legacy Product Support' How do I identify the correct one and where do I find it? FYI: the previous suggestion didn't work.
There are two versions of the Driver Checker on the page - an old one for the parallel port cameras, and the newer USB one. The USB one is the same as the current release: ftp://ftp.sbig.com/pub/SetupDriverChecker64.exe
O.K. I thought that was the one I was using? Will try this and see how it works. My understanding is that after I do this I need to 'revert' to an older driver so that the ST-8 will work within Sequence Generator Pro. Is this still necessary?
No, I got it from you. https://forum.diffractionlimited.com/threads/st-and-stl-series-camera-new-driver-released.2900/
I am assuming that Driver Checker 4.05 build 0 is the correct version? Downloaded this version. Updated drivers. Booted computer. Connected ST-8XE. Same problem. Device manger has error message over: SBIG ST Classic Camera Without Firmware. Perhaps I did something incorrectly? BTW: I really appreciate this support and the great deal of attention given a legacy product user.
Okay so it's just a software installation problem of some kind. Maybe try right-clicking on the camera in Device Manager and select Update Drivers. If you can't resolve it, someone might have to remote into your system to see if we can get it going.
Attempt to update: "The best drivers for your device are already installed" Is 4.05 build 0 the correct Driver Checker? I just used that to update drivers. Do I need to revert back uninstalling APT & SGP? If I do, how to I uninstall the drivers? This pc worked with the exact same setup using APT. I installed SGP and did a driver check & updated. Now it will not connect to the camera. It would seem to be a driver problem. How to I delete the installed drivers and reinstall new ones? Or am I being too simplistic about this? \
I think your problem is that the firmware isn't being uploaded into the camera for some reason. Before anything else we have to resolve that issue. 4.05 is the current version. Did you hit the Update button? You should then click Yes, and then Update Me. If that still doesn't work - and this is a shot in the dark - try copying the files from: C:\Program Files (x86)\SBIG\Driver Checker 64\SBIG Drivers 3r2\ST Firmware to C:\Windows\System32\drivers SPT/SGP is not relevant to this. Get the camera working in CCDOPS first. Once you get that working you can tinker with other software. As for your specific questions about SGP, I cannot answer that. You will have to direct questions about SGP to the makers of that software. If a third party application requires backdating drivers then that application really needs to be updated to use current drivers.
You are correct of course, I need to focus on the drivers. Your shot in the dark appears to have corrected the problem. Any idea why manually updating the drivers (there were drivers there and I selected to replace them) worked but using Driver Checker did not? Am I understanding what we did correctly?
I have now tested the operation using both of the sequencing programs, both work fine. Is there anything I can do now or in the future to prevent this from happening? Thanks so much for sticking with me on this problem Doug. Especially considering it is after 7:00PM your time. Much appreciated. I have a few hours until dark here in California so I am going to do some imaging tonight! John Downing
I've seen cases where cameras fail to re-enumerate, or re-enumerate incorrectly, and Windows loads the wrong driver. Then on subsequent connections "recalls" that improperly loaded driver. Usually swapping ports, or manually updating your device drivers clears that up. Also: forcing an unload and changing the drivers will sometimes correct it as well. As for why Driver Checker wouldn't update the file automatically... If you had the ST camera plugged in at the time, the driver may have been in use by the OS. My only other guess is a permissions error, or maybe a corrupt version. Without inspecting the state of the system before hand I can't really comment further.
