ASI_ERROR_GENERAL_ERROR from call to ASISetControlValue

[Bill Richards]

I recently purchased an ASI2600MC and was working to get it integrated with NINA when I encountered an error that I don’t understand. I was trying to generate a library of darks, so I had the camera covered and cooled to -10C, then set up a sequence to capture 20 images at 30 seconds each, Gain=0, and Offset=50. But when I pressed the Play button, NINA threw an error at me stating:

ERROR ‘ASI_ERROR_GENERAL_ERROR’ from call to ASISetControlValue (cameraId=0, controlType=ASI_Offset, value=50…

I can’t find anything online that describes that error and don’t know what it means. I’ve attached screenshots of the camera settings, sequence, and the imaging screen with the error partial shown at the bottom-right.

[Bill Richards]

I closed everything, powered all the equipment down, restarted it all and tried again. It took 14 of the 20 images in the first sequence, then failed again with 3 errors as shown in the attached screenshot. Does anyone know what’s happening and how to fix it? Is there a log file I should be uploading?

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[Byron Miller]

I have the same camera - asi2600mc pro. I used to have this error when my MiniPC had Bluetooth enabled. When I disabled Bluetooth, the occurrence of this stopped greatly. It may happen once in a long while if I do a manual image vs a sequence.

If you don’t have Bluetooth enabled on your PC, try swapping out USB cables. I stopped using the ZWO cables since they are not the best cables.

On my MiniPC it seemed that bluetooth/wifi and possibly USB3 shared some ports/chipset and disabling Bluetooth which I don’t use seemed to fix me up. That’s about all I can offer

[Jim Waters]

Byron is right. Do not use the ZWO USB cables. I had issues until I replaced them.

[Bill Richards]

I'm not using the ZWO USB cable - it's a thick, short USB 3.0 cable.

But my laptop has no Ethernet port so Wi-Fi is mandatory and I am using Bluetooth for the mouse. I suppose I could use a wireless mouse that isn't Bluetooth, and disable Wi-Fi when imaging, but that seems extreme and unnecessary. This ought to just work.

[Bill Richards]

Well, I put my laptop into Airplane Mode so both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were disabled, and it just happened again so that’s not it.

This is painful. There’s no way this will work for a long night of imaging.

[Jim Waters]

Have you checked the USB Power Management settings? Are “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” on or off?

Are you running Win7 or 10? What build?

What release of ASCOM are you using?

What’s the laptop? Make and model? How old is it?

Is anything else plugged into the 2600 USB ports?

It looks like you are running 1.10 HF1. Have you tried running 1.10 HF2 Beta 6?

What ZWO device drivers have you installed? Release numbers?

[Byron Miller]

I had to actually go into my machine bios and disable Bluetooth. BUT… that was just me - not every device/mfr is the same.

I run my 2600mc into a pegasus USB 3 port and I run my guide cam into a pegasus USB port. The USB ports on the 2600 have a filter wheel and focuser plugged in. It may be good idea to split your camera/guide cam if you have that running into your 2600.

What Is your USB limit in NINA set to? (Equipment → Camera)

[Bill Richards]

Jim,

Have you checked the USB Power Management settings? Are “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” on or off?

Yes, that was enabled so I disabled it. However, the laptop was plugged in at the time and sometimes it runs for over an hour before it fails, sometimes it only takes a few minutes. So it’s unlikely that this was the cause.

Are you running Win7 or 10? What build?

Windows 10 Home edition

What release of ASCOM are you using?

ASCOM Platform 6.4. v6.5 has bugs working with Stellarium and my mount, so I had to back out to v6.4.

What’s the laptop? Make and model? How old is it?

Lenovo - Yoga C740 - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive, purchased in August.

Is anything else plugged into the 2600 USB ports?

No. All I have connected is the ASI2600MC, through am 18” USB 3.0 cable directly to the laptop’s USB 3.0 Type A port. Nothing is connected to the ASI2600MC, which is being powered by a 12V/5A supply.

It looks like you are running 1.10 HF1. Have you tried running 1.10 HF2 Beta 6?

No, I don’t like using beta releases when I can’t get official releases to work properly.

What ZWO device drivers have you installed? Release numbers?

I installed the latest ZWO ASI drivers this past weekend when the camera was delivered. ASICamera ASCOM Driver 1.0.4.5 and ZWO ASI Camera Driver 3.0.0.11.

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Byron - I have nothing connected to the ASI2600MC, and I started with a USB limit of 80, dropped it to 70, and that didn’t change anything. I cannot find any documentation anywhere on what “USB Limit” is supposed to be - there is no explanation in the user interface, in the manual, and there are no units defined so I have no idea what that does.

[Jim Waters]

I think 1.10 HF2 Beta 6 fixed some bugs. It works well for me. Give it a try. What’s the USB bandwidth set to? I use 40%. Do you have another PC to test things out? Try setting your PC Power management to High Performance.

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[Bill Richards]

Hi Jim,

This morning, I changed out the USB cable with a different (longer) one and made the change you suggested above. So far, so good, but it’s now taking 5 minute exposures so the opportunity to fail isn’t coming as often as when I was taking 30 and 60 second exposures. I’ll keep an eye on it.

However, I did notice a bug (which I probably should report in a different thread). In the sequence I resumed this morning, only the last 3 sequences are enabled as shown in the first image below. But on the Imaging screen, it started off showing that it was on “Sequence 3/3”, not “1/3”. It continued to show “3/3” as it progressed into the 2nd sequence of 300 second exposures.

Also, as an improvement suggestion, it would seem to make more sense to order the Sequence information differently at the bottom, starting with the sequence number, then the exposure number, then the “Exposing” bar showing the progress of time of exposure. That way it sort of goes from MSB to LSB.

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[Bill Richards]

Well, the imaging has been running all day without a hitch, so once it completes I’m going to swap in the other cable and see if that was the cause of the problems. If not, then it was the power management setting change. I’ll post my findings later.

Any thoughts on the display bug reported above?

Also, I have the Offset defined to be 50, but the stats display shows the Mean and Average to be 500, so there is a 10x factor that I don’t understand. If I want an offset of 50, should I change the setting to 5? I have a ZWO ASI2600MC camera.

Finally, am I understanding correctly that the USB limit is a percentage of the total interface bandwidth? How is that controlled and what is the purpose?

[Bill Richards]

This morning, I reconnected the other USB cable and got the error almost immediately, so I’m going to assume that this was caused by a bad USB cable. I’ll run some more tests to double-confirm, then trash the cable if so. Apologies for the false alarm.

But the display bug with the sequencing is legit. If I should enter that as a separate bug report, please let me know. It’s cosmetic and no big deal, for sure.

Any feedback on the offset values and the “USB Limit” setting? I’d sure like to understand those issues better.

[Dale Ghent]

The USB Limit setting is a general, vendor-unspecific knob for camera parameters that camera vendors commonly implement for their cameras. The exact meaning of the setting and of its values will differ from vendor to vendor, and even from model to model. If you are curious about the setting and how it relates specifically to your camera, you should consult the documentation for your camera or ask their vendor.

Offset is similar in that it is in no particular unit its effect can vary between vendors and models of camera. The camera SDK reports the minimum and maximum values that it will accept for that setting and NINA passes whatever is inputted there directly to the camera, only ensuring that the user specified value is within the stated acceptable range.

As for bug/issue reporting in general, it is indeed best to keep concerns separated into their own issues. It makes it much easier to track problems as they are individually worked on or addressed.

[Bill Richards]

Thanks for the info, Dale. I’ll submit a different issue for the Sequence display bug.

This is an awesome program!

[Bill Richards]

Problem apparently caused by a faulty USB cable.