Native ZWO driver

Sequence Generator
1

Which version of SGP started supporting the ZWO native driver?

Thanks

2

3.2 and 4.0 both have the Native Driver as and option but it should be considered “experimental”. We have not updated it for a while now. If you’re using their larger chip cameras you’re better off with the 64bit variant of SGPv4 and using the ASCOM driver.

Jared

3

What would I gain with the native vs ASCOM driver?

What am I best to run if I want to avoid SGP hanging on download with a 2600MC and a 120MM for guiding?

Thanks

4

Native driver will get you more headaches and problems over the ASCOM driver.

SGP v4 64bit and the ASCOM driver.

Jared

5

I now have v2.6. I run SGP on only 1 computer. How much is the upgrade? I can’t figure your price structure.

6

You should be able to login to your account on sequencegeneratorpro.com and it will have your upgrade pricing there. It varies based on previous purchases.

Jared

7

I went there and quite frankly was confused. I want an upgrade from 2.6 to 4 for 1 computer. That should be straightforward but not so much after logging in.

8

The minimum license pack we offer is 3. Even if it were to have a single install option the pricing would be the same.

Jared

9

I am reading through your plan. Am I buying or renting?? After the initial payment, what are the other $59/year payment for?

10

These are covered in our Subscription FAQ:
https://www.sequencegeneratorpro.com/faq/

You are buying. You can use SGP3 and 4 for as long as you like. After the subscription expires you no longer have access to updates but you can renew at any point in the future to update.

Jared

11

I read on CN it would cost $49 to upgrade to v3 and $108 to go to v4. Why $149 I see in my account?

12

There is no path to upgrade to “v3”. We basically now have “current” which will allow you to use any current version of SGP (2.7, 3.2, 4.0)

V2 → Current = $99
V3 → Current = $59

You should have a credit for $50 at checkout if you’re logged into your account and have purchased v2.

Jared

13

Just wanted to weigh in on this. There have been lots of discussion regarding the driver issues on CN, and lots of different theories. I’ve been having trouble myself and decided to do some detailed and extensive testing.

First, there are 2 different failure modes I’ve found. They occur repeatably when the ASCOM drivers are used in both PHD2 and SGP. The first is the obvious one where SGP seems to hang in the download phase and imaging must be stopped and restarted to move on. The other is much more subtle. In this case the PHD log shows that there are random disconnects of the guide cam during the night, but most times it reconnects and continues on. Once in a while, the reconnect fails and PHD instead connects to the imaging camera. Since PHD and SGP are then both trying to talk to the same camera, things seriously hang up at that point.

The first mode is where I did most of my testing. I found it was dependent on which ZWO drivers were in use, where image looping was started first, and what SGP was doing at the time.

I found that using the ASCOM drivers in both apps would show the failure. Using the ASCOM driver in SGP and Native in PHD would also show the failure. Using the Native driver in SGP and ASCOM in PHD works every time.

The download-hang failure only occurs if imaging is started in SGP first (I used 5-second frame and focus for testing), and if you then try to connect the guide camera and start imaging in PHD. But further, if you connect and start PHD while SGP is in the download phase, the download will complete normally and subsequent exposures complete without a problem. On the other hand, if you connect and start PHD while SGP is in the integration phase (waiting for the exposure to complete), then the following download will hang.

The other failure mode is much harder to test for because you can image for several nights before it hangs up and stops an imaging session. The only way to see if you’ve changed or fixed anything is to image for a night, then go through the PHD log looking for disconnects and reconnects. But I have found that the combination which stops the first mode from happening, also stops the second mode. That is - ASCOM driver in PHD, Native driver in SGP. That combination seems to work solidly in all cases and I can’t get it to fail.

It appears to me that there is some problem when using two ZWO drivers in different apps, especially the two ASCOM drivers. But there is also some interaction with PHD and SGP. I sent this info to ZWO but got no response. Thought I’d post it here as additional input to this issue.

14

Hey Dan,

I don’t doubt your findings, but just wanted to share that I have been successfully using the ZWO ASCOM drivers for two cameras for some time now, and I’m not seeing any issues. My process is slightly different to yours though:

  • I generally use the ASI app for initial manual focus, and when done, I close it.
  • If I need to do anything in PHD2 (e.g. re-run calibration, tweak PA), I load PHD2, do the work, then close it too.

Once I’m prepped, I load SGP and tell it to “connect all”. The sequence I see is:

  • SGP first connects to the main imaging camera (+filter wheel) [no integration or downloads going on at this point]
  • SGP then connects to the mount
  • SGP then loads and connects to PHD2, and PHD2 connects to the guide cam

I then begin my sequence and (so far) have been able to image without any hangs / driver conflicts / download failures. Again, I’m using the ASCOM interface in both SGP and PHD2

In the past I had tried pre-loading PHD2, connecting to the guidecam, starting looping etc, but it always caused me issues. For my setup at least, allowing SGP to manage loading, connecting, looping etc in PHD2 has been working best.

Again, I have not tried manually connecting to the guidecam while in the middle of a main cam integration or download, or connecting to the main cam while PHD2 was already looping. Given the general flakiness of these camera drivers I can imagine that that might cause issues.

Steve

15

Hey Dan, I appreciate the time and effort you have put into this. Just as a data point, I am using the ASCOM driver in SGP for two ASI cameras (6200MM and 2600MC) and the native ZWO driver in PHD2 (ASI174mini) with zero problems. This is why the issue can be so difficult to pin down, because different systems behave differently, or so it seems.

16

How do you pick the native driver in PHD2? When I click the tool icon, all I get is the option between 8 and 16 bit.

17

You have already chosen the native camera driver. If you had chosen the ascom driver in PHD (“ASI Camera (1) (ASCOM)” you wouldn’t be presented with the bit choice.

18

HI Steve:

Yes, I can see why letting SGP run things would work. It would start PHD looping before it starts imaging. That scenario always works for me. At least it avoids the obvious failure mode.

If you have some PHD logs, it would be interesting to look through them and see if you’re getting the disconnect/reconnect issue. Again, you can go many nights with this occurring and never see an issue. So it may appear that all is working fine. Or, of course as Joel says, it could be something different in our systems such as USB hardware, OS versions, etc.

My take is that this is not an SGP issue, although there is some interaction with what SGP is doing at the time. But it would be nice for SGP to continue to support the ZWO native driver. At least that would give people options. If the dual-ASCOM drivers don’t work on your system, you can try the Native driver to see if that helps.

-Dan

19

Joel,

Glad to know I am using the native driver in phd2.

Something is not clear to me:
Where could I had chosen the ASI ASCOM driver in phd2? I don’t remember making that choice in that program.

20

Hi Stephan,

Assuming you have the ZWO ASCOM drivers installed (these are separate to the native drivers), you should see ZWO ASCOM cameras listed in the standard PHD2 (or SGP) camera drop downs.

Steve