×

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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Astroberry, Pi 4 and ZWO ASI120MC - reset issue

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
I'm struggling to find an answer to this issue anywhere.

I'm new to Astroberry and have been trying to move to a new Pi 4 4Gb, to replace my ancient netbook, which I have been using for imaging until now. I've gone through the standard install, have a VNC desktop set up, connect my ZWO ASI120MC and when I run either Firecapture or Oacapture, I don't get any images displayed and both fail after a while. Firecapture reports missed frames and quits.

The camera is recognised by both applications and also in the logs:
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684393] usb 1-1.2.4: config 1 interface 0 altsetting 0 bulk endpoint 0x82 has invalid maxpacket 1024
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684888] usb 1-1.2.4: New USB device found, idVendor=03c3, idProduct=120b, bcdDevice= 0.00
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684900] usb 1-1.2.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684911] usb 1-1.2.4: Product: ASI120MC
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684922] usb 1-1.2.4: Manufacturer: ZWOptical company
Jan 2 17:13:09 astropi kernel: [ 284.684932] usb 1-1.2.4: SerialNumber: 00000

However when running both bits of software, I get a constant stream of messages:
Jan 2 17:12:52 astropi kernel: [ 267.314200] usb 1-1.2.4: reset high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd

I have tried this in both the USB 2 and 3 sockets, and via an externally powered USB hub that I know has been good in other instances. I have also done an rpi-update to get the latest Pi firmware. I have checked the camera by putting it back onto my old Netbook. I'm using the official Pi power supply for the Pi 4, rated at 3A.

Any idea what to try next?
3 years 2 months ago #65344

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 220
  • Thank you received: 27
Normal behaviour. See bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/9937-...-reset-on-each-frame
USB seems to be reset every time before capture starts in the SDK (All my ZWO cams behave the same)

Paul
3 years 2 months ago #65355

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
My reply yesterday didn't appear for some reason!

Thanks for the link. It looks like the reset is not the issue and there is something else going on. I've been trying to do a live stream in Kstars too and that just shows a blank image. All three applications detect the camera, but none can show an image from it.

Has anyone had this camera working on a Pi or on Astroberry?
3 years 2 months ago #65384

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 220
  • Thank you received: 27
Is it the older (discontinued) ASI120 model with USB2? (looks like it because the USB3.0 versions report a serial#) That will cause problems because USB too large buffers where implemented in the firmware) Zwo used to have a firmware "downgrade" for that, but even then some users reported it did not work. (don't know if it is still available somewhere ...)

The 120 series with USB3.0 and the ASI 120 mini (usb2) should work.

Paul
The following user(s) said Thank You: Dave Hartburn
3 years 2 months ago #65385

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
Sadly I think you are right. I'd found some information about firmware, though it was upgrade rather than downgrade. It is the older USB2 camera and I tried the Zwo firmware tool, but no difference.

To rule out the Pi or Astroberry, I tried it on my linux laptop and it also failed (including with the FireCapture 2.7beta which has better Zwo support). It looks like I'm not going to be able to leave the world of Windows until I invest in a new camera :( Even the updated model will be cheaper than a Windows laptop so hopefully Astroberry is still a way forward.
Last edit: 3 years 2 months ago by Dave Hartburn.
3 years 2 months ago #65390

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
Looking at the ASIair Pro from Zwo, gives a pretty conslusive answer:
astronomy-imaging-camera.com/product/asiair-pro

My camera is the only one of their range that is not supported. The ASI224MC is looking very tempting now!
3 years 2 months ago #65417

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 220
  • Thank you received: 27
Dave,

before you make decisions read this: www.indilib.org/forum/astroberry/8142-as...n-rasperry-pi-4.html

The ZWO SDK on Linux is just terrible on Linux systems. Only reason I still use Windows for planetary and solar. Deep Sky and ZWO normally works as good as you can expect, but video can't keep up with W10. (Purely because of ZWO's crap Linux SDK. In their ASICAP software for Linux the USB bandwith is set to 40 (seems can't change) which results in low framerates and still problems.
ASIAIR not much more than a RPI4 in disguise with some power additions (and i suppose a lot of Indi work on it)

Paul
3 years 2 months ago #65420

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
Hi,

Thanks for the tip off about that. I assumed the ZWO cameras would work well with linux and the Pi 4, because as you say the ASIAIR is a rather expensive way to buy a Pi. It seems odd that they don't have good driver support for essentially their own product. There does not seem to be many comparable cameras in the price range as the ZWO options. It now gives me 3 options:
- Get a new ZWO camera and hope they address their driver issues
- Look at getting a cheap laptop that can run Windows 10, though those similar in price to a camera (£200-£250) have low memory and 64Gb eMMC memory as storage. (my old laptop was a netbook for £150, but tablets killed off that market)
- Getting a ZWO camera and join in with the dev efforts on a driver. I've got a lot of linux experience and development skills, though never touched video drivers before.
3 years 2 months ago #65428

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 220
  • Thank you received: 27
Dçn't know what your main target is. If it is deep-sky (single frame capture) then there is no problem. (Except that sometimes when I use 2 zwo cams thru indi, guiding and capturing, there can be some hangs with the camera) If you go planetary, that's another story. But when using ROI and not the full frame, cameras seem to get their speed. Can't speak for the RPI since I do most solar, and then I need the max frame and highest frame rate possible. Could not do that with the 178 on both an Intel 4790k or AMD Ryzen (4core) with Linux. (With Windows on these machines no problem). The ASI120MM-S (USB3) has smaller sensor, so less Mbytes and works better under Linux. So probably sensor resolution (Mb) is making things go bad beyond a certain point.

Regards,

Paul
3 years 2 months ago #65432

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 238
  • Thank you received: 15
Let me know what do you see when you type in " Sudo rpi-eeprom-update " in terminal?
3 years 2 months ago #65433

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
@PDB, I'm mostly doing solar system imaging. My scope is a Celestron NexStar 90SLT, so at 90mm on an altz, I'm not going to be doing much in the way of DSO. I'm interested to see what I can get from it, but I'm not holding high hopes.
3 years 2 months ago #65442

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Posts: 14
  • Thank you received: 3
@TomAstro, I get
BCM2711 detected
Dedicated VL805 EEPROM detected
BOOTLOADER: up-to-date
CURRENT: Thu  3 Sep 12:11:43 UTC 2020 (1599135103)
 LATEST: Thu  3 Sep 12:11:43 UTC 2020 (1599135103)
 FW DIR: /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/critical
VL805: up-to-date
CURRENT: 000138a1
 LATEST: 000138a1
3 years 2 months ago #65444

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Radek Kaczorek
Time to create page: 1.697 seconds