Help, PHD2 camera and APT main imaging cameras

[Startrek (Martin)]

Last night had a seamless imaging session for 4 or 5 hours
Tonight went through my normal routine for a nights imaging , Goto , frame , focus and set capture plan in APT then connected PHD2 to start guiding and a warning message says bad pixel map and dark library conflict with existing camera. I thought what’s going on , so I check camera in the Brain and the camera pixel is 3.76 uM not 3.75 uM ( my main imaging camera is 3.76uM ) So I disconnected PHD2 and manually changed the camera pixel to 3.75 uM in Camera Brain , connected PHD2 again and checked camera again , again is was 3.76uM ( not 3.75uM )
Shut the computer down and restarted , checked in Device Manager ( imaging Devices ) that both cameras are connected , unplugged each cable individually and they disappeared and reappeared as normal. Updated all camera drivers both ZWO and Ascom as well
If I connect PHD2 by itself the camera pixel remains correct at 3.75uM but as soon as I open APT and connect my imaging camera , the guiding camera defaults to 3.76uM and hence the error message about dark library and bad pixel map conflicting with camera.
When I connect imaging camera in APT I always check in the Ascom chooser box that I have selected the correct camera
Any ideas what could be happening here
First time I’ve ever experienced this problem ????
Thanks in advance

[Karlz (Karl)]

.I had the same issue Martin, nearly drove me nuts, it's the first time I've ever had that happen. Most of my programs were playing up, in one the camera wouldn't cool and when it did it didn't want to centre after aiming ( that was APT ) similar for NINA and SGP. I'm nearly to the point of clearing the computer and all it's cache to start again.

[Karlz (Karl)]

I doubled checked tonight before connecting PHD that it was going to use the 120mm at 8 bit, I already had the 071 connected at this point. So far 12:30 am and dramas have died for now.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Originally Posted by Karlz

I doubled checked tonight before connecting PHD that it was going to use the 120mm at 8 bit, I already had the 071 connected at this point. So far 12:30 am and dramas have died for now.

The trouble with PHD2 you can’t check the Ascom driver it is assigned to when you connect
You can only go into the Brain select Camera tab and set your camera settings etc..

Unless you can advise otherwise ?

[Karlz (Karl)]

It's done just as you connect, a little green and black arrow then the box next to that, it has the 8/16 bit part.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Karl
Thanks

Ivo on the APT forum advised (via a similar post ) to delete your existing profiles and create new ones which means new calibrations , dark libraries and bad pixel maps etc... I have 2 profiles at 2 different imaging locations so a bit of work ahead of me , no imaging for a while
Martin

[evltoy (Wayne)]

Just out of curiosity... do you connect your camera's to the same USB ports on your computer? I label my USB ports and only connect a specific device to the port only.

I ask this as I think ASCOM selects the same COMM port (being assigned in the config) for the device all the time. Maybe (I say this as I'm not 100% sure) ASCOM/PHD2 is getting confused with the device as a different device in not in a specific USB/COMM port.

Cheers
Wayne

[AdamJL]

For PHD2, I don't use the ASCOM driver, I use the native ZWO driver.
There's a small checkbox you can select to make sure you have the right camera in use for guiding and as the default for that profile.

When I first got the ASI2600, it too suddenly became the default camera in PHD2, so I had to manually change it to the 290MM. Ever since, it's worked fine.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks All !!
I set up this arvo once the sun was out of the way , had everything connected EQMOD , Stellarium, APT and imaging camera cooled ready to go
Opened PHD2 , pressed connect to launch the equipment box , clicked on the little black and green arrow and blow me down it was selecting my 2600MC imaging camera not the 120MM guide camera
I selected the 120MM guide camera and connected perfectly with all Darks and Calibration green ok
In the 3 years I’ve been using PHD2 I’ve never , repeat never, touched those little arrows to check , it’s always just connected the guide camera without fail ( maybe I’ve been fluking it for 3 years )
Thanks Karl and Adam and also Ivo at APT for suggesting I check the camera with those little arrows
Potentially saved me hours and hours of work having to re do profiles , calibration and darks at 2 different sites
Last night was perfectly clear with good seeing and I was going to capture 3 to 4 hours on NGC 2467 Skull and Crossbones Nebula but those little arrows were the last thing on my mind , I was updating drivers , checking camera connections in Device Manager , rebooting etc...
Maybe Saturday night could be a late start on NGC 2467
Thanks again !!
Cheers

[AdamJL]

Really pleased you got it sorted, glad it was a simple fix!