SGP 2.4.0.2709: ASCOM Camera Chooser Works ... Eventually

Sequence Generator
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OK, this is a strange one. I wanted to test the new Atik ASCOM driver I loaded on my laptop. I brought up the latest (Beta 11) version and clicked on the ASCOM Camera Driver. When choosing “Connect” the chooser came up as expected. When I clicked on the chooser list box, nothing happened. No matter how may times I clicked on it, nothing happened. The dialog box was still alive because I could use the “Cancel” button or the “X” button.

One time, by mistake, I left the chooser dialog box active and walked away. When I came back later and clicked on the chooser list box, the 4 items I expected dropped down. I did the above multiple times and the behavior was the same each time: eventually the list would show up. I can’t tell you how long “eventually” is; I tried timing it and gave up after 10 minutes.

By comparison, I tried this on 2.3.15.2568 and everything works fine. I also uninstalled and re-installed Beta 11, but the “eventually” behavior was still the same.

I’m running SGP under Win7 Professional (64 bit) and ASCOM 6 SP2. Let me know if you need more information.

–Ernie

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Ernie,

I’m not sure what the issue is off the top of my head… but… is there any special reason you are using your ASCOM chooser instead of picking your camera directly out of the camera drop down?

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Ken, Thanks for the quick reply. I’ll answer your question in a minute, but first I want to give you an update on further testing.

If I finally get to select the Atik camera via the ASCOM chooser, then the next time I enter the program, SGP remembers the choice I made (expected behavior). However, at that point, it still won’t let me pull down the list of available drivers. However, if I then go to the properties dialog box for the Atik ASCOM driver, upon return I can immediately pull down the list of drivers. My first inclination would be to suspect ASCOM…except for the fact that everything works properly with the SGP 2.3 final release.

Now, back to your question. I’m loading up a new laptop with applications (Nebulosity, PHD, SGPro, Images Plus, etc) and drivers (Imaging Source, Atik, EQMOD, etc) and was going through to make sure everything works the way it’s supposed to and was testing both the native driver as well as the ASCOM driver. I really don’t have a particular preference for one over the other, but I test both in case one application/driver combination works better than the other. For instance, I can routinely crash Nebulosity when I use the WDM driver with my Imaging Source camera, so I look for a more stable capture solution. Right now, given the situation with the ASCOM chooser in SGPro, I would go with the native driver.

The only advantage I can see in going with the ASCOM driver is the ability to upgrade the driver without having to get an upgrade for the application. (This involves an assumption on my part. Because I see many cameras shown in your camera list that I don’t have installed [SBIG, QSI, FLI], I’m guessing you are including the native drivers in your build.) A less important reason I went to ASCOM first: I wrote a .NET program that synchronizes my PD10 dome to my Atlas mount using EQMOD and some hardware I put together. Since I use the ASCOM chooser in the program, it just becomes a habit to use it elsewhere.

That was the long answer to your question. The short one is: in most cases, no particular reason. :smile:

Obviously, I’m not dead in the water when using SGPro, but I did want to point out what I was seeing since if ASCOM hangs, then there are certain choices that become unavailable if there is no corresponding native alternative.

–Ernie

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Ernie,

SGPro does not support native drivers for your camera. The option to choose your camera directly from the camera drop down is only an ASCOM shortcut designed to avoid the method you are using. Both choices use the ASCOM driver.

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Ken,

Well, bad assumption on my part. I figured since two paths existed that you supported both drivers. I guess I’ll start using the direct path, especially since I now see that all of the options in the ASCOM chooser are available in your camera drop down.

–Ernie

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It’s not an unreasonable assumption. We should really just remove the choosers as it only adds confusion.