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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

ASI 120MC failes to expose

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Modern Linux kernels don't support high bandwidth on USB2 anymore. For more details and how to patch your kernel, please see

zwoug.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7132&sid=...1b71e3e7e5c4&start=0
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6 years 5 months ago #20106

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I have a Chinese clone (Datyson T7) of the Chinese ZWO ASI120MC camera. (It sounds funny, is not it? :D )
I did an investigation about these cameras because it did not work out of the box with my Raspberry Pi. I came into these conclusions:
- All QHY and ZWO _low-end_ cameras use the same cheap, crappy USB chip inside.
- QHY did a Windows-only implementation over the crappy HW. It barely works on Linux.
- ZWO did a better HW design+SW implementation, but it is still not fully compatible with Linux.

ZWO (e.g. ASI120) issues:
- The original firmware used 1024-byte USB packets what is not compatible with new Linux kernels. It violates the USB standard to reach higher fps.
- ZWO released later "compatible" firmwares with 512-byte USB packets, but it is not as fast as the original firmware and it will work in less places.

My understanding that if you want to use the low-end ZWO cameras in Linux, you have two options:
1. To be the best chance to run with your Linux box, use the original "non-compatible" firmware and patch/recompile the kernel with the following patch: zwoug.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7132#p13486
2. If you don't care about the performance or you don't know how to compile kernel then flash the "compatible" firmware for your camera and pray.

In my case, I use "compatible" firmware for my ASI120MC clone. It works well with my Raspberry Pi, it is enough for me, but the exposure fails with my Linux laptop.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq, fehlfarbe
Last edit: 6 years 5 months ago by Csaba Kertesz.
6 years 5 months ago #20112

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Thanks for your input!

I'll try to patch my kernel. But this is only about USB 2.0 cameras.
It should'nt affect the ASI 1600 with USB3 that shows the same error!?
Last edit: 6 years 5 months ago by fehlfarbe.
6 years 5 months ago #20116

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I patched the kernel and uploaded the "not compatible" firmware to the cam but the error is the same. Then I plugged the AS120MC to USB2 port and it's working. The 1600 is also working on USB2 so I think there is something wrong with ODROIDs USB3 drivers.

Edit:

Summary for ODROID XU4
ASI 1600 connected to USB2 - works
ASI 120MC connected to USB2 - works
ASI 120MC connected to ASI 1600 connected to USB2 - works
ASI 1600 connected to USB3 - works (if I remove the 20cm extension cord of my "astro-box", so maybe it's an USB3 power problem?)

ASI 120MC connected to USB3 - doesn't work
ASI 120MC connected to ASI 1600 connected to USB3 - doesn't work

I will use "ASI 120MC connected to ASI 1600 connected to USB2" for the moment. I want to take deepsky images with the 1600 and guide with the 120 so download speed isn't that important. Thanks for your hints :)
Last edit: 6 years 5 months ago by fehlfarbe.
6 years 5 months ago #20119

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FYI, these issues have plagued ZWO since the beginning. I had the same problem with SGP.
Just ran into this with INDI as well. Seems to work better with a high quality USB2 cable, not USB3.

EDIT:

I guess I spoke too soon. I'm having issues getting the ASI1600mm pro (supposed buffer to prevent this) going into the exposure loop. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Cheers
Last edit: 6 years 3 months ago by David Rankin.
6 years 3 months ago #21388

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Did you ever find a fix for this? I have the ASI6200m pro and I am getting into the exposure loop. Thanks!
3 years 9 months ago #55058

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Hi,

I got the errors with my ASI1600 again after using a cheap USB3 extension cable. With the original cable, directly connected to the PC's USB3 port, everything is running without errors.
3 years 9 months ago #55062

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hmm OK thanks for the update I am using everything original and USB3. If I run the Linux ASI cameras SW package I can get frames but INDI gets nothing and just exposure loops forever.
3 years 9 months ago #55067

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What version of INDI and/or Ekos are you using? StellarMate, AstroBerry, KStars-bleeding stable, nightly?

I am using an ASI6200MM as well for imaging with an ASI120MC-S (USB 3) guide cam and I have problems with imaging as well. It seems that the ASI driver mixes up communication with the ASI6200 and the ASI120. I am using the nightly builds but I have compiled the ASI driver myself using the 1.5.0430 SDK from May 5, 2020, available on the ZWO website.

EDIT: I need to do more tests and collect debug logs to be able to understand what's going on though. Unfortunately I'll need clear skies for that.
Last edit: 3 years 9 months ago by Wouter van Reeven.
3 years 9 months ago #55070

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I am using INDI 1.8.0 and was trying to use KStars 3.4.2 but also just python code I wrote to control it. I had my python code working with another CCD and INDI without issue so I figured this would be a easy swap over but that is proving not to be the case. I will try the nightly builds from the ASI Driver SDK and see if that helps, Thanks!
3 years 9 months ago #55071

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Unfortunately the nightly builds of the libasi driver fail at the moment. Jasem is looking into it.
3 years 9 months ago #55076

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See my problem description in this post .
3 years 9 months ago #55094

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