I am also having these download (fail to save) issues with SGP and the ASI6200MM. I am losing about one out of every 4 subs. I have tried various 6 ft cables plugged directly between the camera and my new high speed gaming computer. My drivers are all up to date. I am using ASCOM. I would love to know what Joel is doing to avoid dropped subs. I have tried everything I know. I tried saving my subs to my SSD drive but that didn’t make a difference. The cables and USB port are USB3.
I am happy to send my logs or try something new, just let me know.
SGP and ASI1600MM worked flawlessly together for 3 years.
@Garyl, I wish I could tell you some magic formula to explain why it works for me and not for others. I’m using an Intel NUC computer attached to my pier, and using the driver versions mentioned previously in this thread. I went through two USB 3 cables before finding this one that worked with 100% reliability. But at this point I’m not convinced that the issue is a cable issue.
Hey, Joel, thanks for taking the time to let me know. I had already ordered that cable - it should be here next week so perhaps it will help.
It is such an odd issue. I had run 210 flats the day before with only 2 dropped subs. The only difference is that, then, I was only running SGP (and ASCOM). Last night, when I dropped much more, I was also running PHD2, Polemaster, and APCC (Astrophysics mount software).
The strangest part is how random the drops are. Sometimes it goes a while without any drops, and other times it will drop several in a row. I am not doing anything else in parallel on the PC.
You SGP guys already know this, but here is the section in my log file where a sub is downloaded:
[07/11/20 08:56:42.821][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;CC;] EventMarker(16) - t:NGC7023-6200-C11 (0); e:2; f:11; o:
[07/11/20 08:56:47.114][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera: Data type -> System.Int32[,]
[07/11/20 08:56:47.114][INFO][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera read image data took 3.38 seconds
[07/11/20 08:56:47.114][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;] SGM_CAMERA_CAPTURE complete…
[07/11/20 08:56:47.114][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;] Camera thread is IDLE…
[07/11/20 08:56:47.331][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] EventMarker(17) - t:NGC7023-6200-C11 (0); e:2; f:11; o:
And here is the same section when it fails to download:
[07/11/20 08:56:29.961][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;CC;] EventMarker(16) - t:NGC7023-6200-C11 (0); e:2; f:10; o:
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera Error : Unable to cast object of type ‘System.Object’ to type ‘System.Int32[,]’.
at so.ik(qw A_0, sz& A_1, sz[] A_2)
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera: Attempting to abort exposure…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera AbortImage: Camera state is 0
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera: Camera state is idle, abort not needed…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera: Blocking until image is aborted…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera: Image is aborted…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] Error while attempting to capture frame…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.830][DEBUG][Main Thread][SQ;CC;] Adding sequence level notification: Error attempting to capture image (see logs for more information).
[07/11/20 08:56:31.895][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] Sending Notification: Error - Error attempting to capture image (see logs for more information).
[07/11/20 08:56:31.895][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;] SGM_CAMERA_CAPTURE complete…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.895][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;] Camera thread is IDLE…
[07/11/20 08:56:31.985][DEBUG][Sequence Thread][SQ;] EventMarker(17) - t:NGC7023-6200-C11 (0); e:2; f:10; o:
The key line being:
[07/11/20 08:56:31.829][DEBUG][Camera Thread][SQ;CC;] ASCOM Camera Error : Unable to cast object of type ‘System.Object’ to type ‘System.Int32[,]’.
This morning as a test I ran my setup in my garage for 100 subs. 25 of them dropped out and were not downloaded.
I then ran the same test again immediately afterward, only this time I plugged by USB3 camera cable into a USB2 port on my computer. This time, all 100 subs were downloaded. None dropped out.
So obviously the issue has something to do with USB3. The subs take longer to download in USB2, but at least it works that way and I have a temporary solution until a fix is made.
Going from USB3 to USB2 can affect the quality of video with this camera, but I think that the only impact on images is the download speed.
Earlier in the thread Jared said they are working with ZWO on a fix. Hopefully that comes soon! I switched to NINA last night after going through all this (in another ASI6200 thread) and no images failed to download. I don’t like that as a fix because I much prefer SGP and have other thing things that depend on SGP for automation. However, if you want to continue using your existing USB 3 setup, switch to NINA until the SGP fix is released.
Thanks for that, Charles! I think I will stick with SGP and USB2 for the time being, since I love SGP and I have it set up to my liking. But it is nice to know that I have NINA as a fallback in case I have another frustrating night. If I was starting from scratch, I would definitely go with NINA until this is fixed.
Hopefully SGP and ZWO can work together to come up with a better solution here.
Joel - an update. Your cable recommendation worked like a charm. 100% reliability on USB3. So this issue is definitely related to USB3 and can be resolved with a high quality short cable. Unfortunately, 6 ft doesn’t give me enough length to do meridian flips, so I am trying other 10 ft cables to see if they work. Too bad that manufacturer doesn’t make these cables longer than 6 ft.
That’s great Garyl.
Unfortunately (and I really, really hate to say this) but after 3 months of no download issues at all, I took some flats yesterday and 1-2 out of every 30 failed to download. Absolutely nothing changed in my setup so I’m not sure why. Thankfully, I haven’t lost any lights at all during the last two nights. Unless it gets worse I’ll leave it as is for now. If it gets worse I might just use a USB2 cable and see how long the downloads are.
Joel, FYI: for me, the USB2 download times of the object image subs aren’t terrible. But the problem is all of the other downloads that need to happen - platesolving, focusing, etc. It really adds up to a lot more time when imaging with this camera in USB2 mode.
Hi all, I know this is an old thread, but has anything been solved here. I’ve recently purchased the ASI6200 and am getting dowload (failed to save) errors. I don’t get them initially, in fact I can do lots and lots of exposures with no problem, and all of a sudden last night every other frame (no deviation) was not saving. I tried pausing but it was very consistent… 50% efficiency is not good.