Could not establish instance of ASI mount (Zwo AM5 mount)

[François-Xavier Gorioux]

Hi,

For some reason I'm not able to connect at the same time my AM5 mount to any imaging software (N.I.N.A, Voyager or SkyX64) & PHD2. 

As a result when I connect first the mount to the imaging software & then when I launch PHD2 & try to connect it to the mount I get a pop up error message saying "could not establish instance of ASI mount". I can connect them separately without any issue but not at the same time. I'm using Zwo ASI ACOM driver 6.5.19.0, running the AM5 v1.3.7 firmware version.

I've seen some other people reporting this issue here : https://bbs.zwoastro.com/d/16742-asi-mount-unable-to-make-connection-to-nina-and-phd  & here: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/888187-am5-asi-mount-connection-issues/

Server is connected in PHD2 (in Tools.. "Activate server").

Plse see hereafter a link to my logs:

https://openphdguiding.org/logs/dl/PHD2_logs_nJmr.zip

Thanks in advance for your help

Regards,

FX

[Bruce Waddington]

This is not a problem with PHD2 or any of the imaging apps.  The Cloudy Nights forum commentary is almost 100% wrong, it's rather painful to read.  Both PHD2 and an imaging app must be connected to the mount driver, that's how it works.  None of this has anything to do with the "server" functionality in PHD2 which is enabled by default in any case. Judging from the ZWO forum comments, their driver is implemented as a "server" and should be able to handle concurrent connections from multiple client applications.  Assuming you are running the correct version of the driver, there are a few other possibilities, mostly having to do with your PC environment:

1.  All of the imaging apps including PHD2 must be run with the same user account and the same privileges.  You can't run one app 'As Admin' and another with normal permissions.  None of these apps require Admin permissions so you shouldn't be running any of them that way.  You also shouldn't be installing the ASCOM platform or any of the drivers using Admin privileges.

2.  There may have been a problem with the installation and registration of the ASCOM mount driver.  You can use the ASCOM diagnostics tools to see if anything went wrong.  This can happen with overly aggressive anti-malware software which may silently interfere with some components during installation without telling you anything.

In any case, your best source of support should be ZWO because it's their driver.  If you can't get any satisfaction that way, you can try using the ASCOM driver "hub".  Each application connects to the hub and the hub manages a single connection to the mount.  This isn't a particularly desirable way to operate but it might provide a stop-gap solution.  But keep in mind that this is not a common problem and many other people have been able to get this working in the expected way without resorting to use of a hub.

Good luck,

Bruce

[sarg314]

I have an AM5 and use NINA too.  I connect all the USB cables and then  tell NINA to connect everything and it connects the guide camera, my ZWO prime focus camera, mount, ZWO autofocuser and loads PHD2.  Works pretty reliably.  After I click to tell it to connect all, I immediately switch workspaces to an empty workspace.  That way a second or so later when PHD2 gets started, it opens in its own workspace.

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Tom Sargent

[François-Xavier Gorioux]

Hi,

You were both right. It had nothing to do with N.I.N.A, Voyager or PHD2. I've spent the past few days reinstalling my astro mini PC. It was clearly an issue with my PC environment. Everything is now working perfectly well. Thanks again for your help & your answers.

FX