OK, I'm trying something that I know might not work....I'm running virtual windows 11 in one of the new MACs with an Apple M processor (not intel)...using Parallels. ... I can't get the STF-8300 (and STi guider) to be properly recognized and load the proper drivers. Unsure if the problem is windows 11 or the fact that the Apple chipset is just incompatible with the legacy camera's driver....any ideas?. Cameras are identified as "USB8-CAM Engine" in the device manager ( see pic), instead of the usual name. I followed the usual procedure (download driver checker, update, restart, plug camera, etc) but no luck.......tried loading the drivers directly from the device manager pointing to the SBIG drivers directory (32 bits, 64 bits, pro, classic, etc) , nothing works I'm familiar with making this work over several upgrades and different machines...it has been an straightforward process for me...except now
Did you install SBIG Driver Checker 4.05 on Windows? Then use it to update/install the camera's drivers. I think you forgot this critical step. Get the driver checker here: https://cdn.diffractionlimited.com/downloads/SetupDriverChecker64.exe
First thing I did, just forgot to mention....as I said, very familiar with the process. Done it multiple times...10+ years on this...(.works fine in my win10 intel laptop.)
I believe you when you say you have lots of experience - you've been a great customer for a long time. The evidence is that the SBIG drivers aren't present in your Win 11 setup; OR there is an error with the process. Otherwise you would be seeing an SBIG camera, not a CAM engine that doesn't have drivers installed (assuming that yellow /!\ error symbol is showing that problem - you can check the details of the driver messages). It's as if the second step of the drivers loading and renaming to SBIG Camera isn't happening. Here are some ideas: 1. Check what the actual error is. e.g. Look at the properties for the USB CAM8 device, and the "Device Status" should have a message that is specific. 2. Since you say you did install the Windows drivers with Driver Checker 4.05, perhaps the Mac natively "owns" the device, and Parallels can't get at it for Windows to own it. (I vaguely recall Parallels has settings for this sort of thing, and also sometimes you have to allow USB3 support, which could be blocking if you have USB3 hubs / bus /ports ). 3. Try manually installing the drivers in Windows device manager. e.g. Right-click on the USB-CAM8 for the STF and select Update Driver. Browse my computer for drivers Search for drivers in this location: and enter the path C:\Program Files (x86)\SBIG\Driver Checker 64\SBIG Drivers 3r2 and tick the [x] Include subfolders 4. Do this one at a time - disconnect the ST-I, and just concentrate on getting the STF going. Then once that's installed, unplug the STF USB, and plug in the ST-I usb, and get it going. Which Windows is it? eg Win 11 Pro (64 bit) 22H2 ? Which MacOS is it? Is Rosetta installed/running (am assuming so).
Tks for the ideas Colin, tried what you suggested, see below. 1.Error If I try click "get FW version from camera" from driver checker: 2. Verified the camera is connected to windows 11 ( not the MAC ), restarted, erased from device manager, allow it to discover again, reinstalled driver checker, restarted, unplugged/plugged camera again, etc....still nothing: 3. Try manually installing ( already, tried , tried again after verifying the above), still does not load the drivers. Perhaps drivers are just not compatible with non-Intel processors ?? (MAC has an Apple M1 processor). 4. All the above was only with just the 8300 camera connected.... 5. Windows and MAC versions Question about Rossetta: not expert in MAC/Win but Parallels 18+Win11 is designed natively to run in an M MAC processor... I understand Rossetta is required if trying to run software designed for Intel MACs in M processor MACs?. SBIG driver checker, etc is run inside the Win11 environment. I guess too many variables...
The problem is that the SBIG drivers are not installed. Perhaps your account does not have Administrator privileges. Or perhaps the folders or file system are write-protected (read-only) preventing the SBIG Driver Checker from installing the SBIGUDRV.DLL and the camera drivers. Related files include: Directory of C:\Windows\System 2022-01-26 01:16 PM 296,448 sbigudrv.dll 1 File(s) 296,448 bytes Directory of C:\Windows\System32\drivers 2020-12-22 04:58 PM 23,862 sbigfcam.hex 2020-12-22 04:58 PM 69,932 sbigfga.bin 2020-12-22 04:58 PM 20,579 sbiglcam.hex 2020-12-22 04:58 PM 20,561 sbigpcam.hex 2020-12-22 04:58 PM 48,128 sbigu64.sys 5 File(s) 183,062 bytes and there are others. The driver checker can't access sbigudrv.dll if it is not installed; normally it would be in the C:\Windows\System folder as shown above. Check that you have the right permissions. Then install the drivers again.
Spent a few hours on this today. When I run the sbig driver checker , making sure I select " run as administrator", I get an "error preinstalling SBIGU64P.inf".... error message... I verified the directories you indicate and the drivers seem to be all there (pics) , including the "*.inf" file indicated in the error message and after I get confirmation "all drivers seem to be up to date". ( this file anyways is just in the driver checker directories and not in a windows install location). So appears the installation has already the latest files in place in the corresponding directories and do not seem to have problems updating the files in the windows directories (already in place and up to date?) Regarding a possible problem with file access permissions, all directories in the windows install have the same partial tick in the “read only” restriction. I also checked other two windows computers in my house ( work, another personal PC) with windows 10, and they have the same “partial tick” as read only in all the directories....so this seems to be normal?. Assuming this partial tick may still be a problem, I tried to remove it: It proves IMPOSSIBLE to ”uncheck” this partial tick in all three windows computers… . Tried signing in with a new admin account with admin privileges, manually changing the restriction, restarting, etc as well as different solutions I googled including the attrib command…nothing works, it always reverts back to having this partial “read only” tick. Also tried uninstalling driver checker, making sure all directories are removed, installed again under the admin user with admin privileges…same issue….said directory is created again with the read only restriction and can’t be removed…unsure file restrictions are a problem as this seems to be the case in all files in all three windows computers I have, windows 10 or 11. Still camera is not installed properly. Anything I might be missing?
Clearly there is something wrong with the system permissions in your setup. Perhaps try this: Remove all traces of the SBIG software from the Windows VM. Disconnect the cameras. Run SBIGDriverChecker. Uninstall the drivers. Manually delete the drivers (sbigudrv.dll, and the sbig ones in windows\system32\drivers). Uninstall the SBIG Driver Checker using Settings... Apps. Launch device manager. View Hidden Devices, uninstall the SBIG and USB-CamEngine drivers for each SBIG driver and USB Cam Engine. Power off. Restart Make sure your account has Administrator permissions. Install SBIG Driver Checker. Run it, and update the drivers. Connect the camera. See if it shows up. This is not a supported configuration, so you'll have to experiment with this on your own.
If this is a system provided by a University etc. it’s possible that it is locked down to a degree that the MaxIm developers didn’t anticipate.
Tried erasing it all, reinstalling, rebooting…same problem. Giving up, too many variables for a legacy system … MAC with Apple silicon, parallels, Apple usb adapter, win 11 Thanks for the assistance
I'm seeing this as well on a 2023 M2 Max MacBook Pro (Sonoma 14.1.2) under the current ARM version of Parallels. I had already done most of what the original poster tried, but he did save me the work of reinstalls. Just on an off chance, has anyone since this came up a year ago got this to work? This will be a major disappointment if not, having run various SBIG cameras under emulation in this fashion.
