Connection Problem/Canon Camera/Acer Computer

[aberlourdab@icloud.com]

Hi, I am reaching out in case somebody else has encountered and solved this problem. May 19th, started an imaging session and did 80 successful Lights. Then switched to doing Darks and got 2 before camera disconnected. Couldn’t reconnect. Next day, my camera could connect to my image processing computer, but still couldn’t get BYE to recognize the camera with my Acer imaging laptop, yet the USB connection was there.  This was confirmed in the Devices Manager menu and the app USBtreeview.
The driver error said the device settings were not migrated from the previous OS due to ambiguous or partial device match.
I tried: switching USB ports and cables, disabling/enabling Acer camera driver, uninstalling/installing Acer camera driver, updating Canon firmware, updating Acer IO, chipset and card reader drivers from their website, running Windows SFC/Scannow to repair corruption, and resetting the BIOS to factory default settings. Tried to do a rollback to previous update but it was greyed out. Not sure what else to try.
If anyone has any other ideas , please let me know.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Regards, Dave

[aberlourdab@icloud.com]

I should add that I am using Version 3.2.3 of BYE, and my camera is a Canon 6D Mark II.  Sorry for the omission.

Dave

[astroman133]

Dave,

Is this a setup that you have used before or is something "new". 

Here is some other info that may be useful...

Which version of Windows? 

Is the camera  connected to a lens or a telescope? 

Are you running off the camera's battery or with an A/C adapter? Was the battery charged? Was the A/C power steady?

What were the ambient weather conditions? Was it very warm? Perhaps the camera shut down to protect itself from overheating. 

Are other USB devices able to connect through the same USB ports on the Acer? 

Can you get your hands on another camera to try?

AFAIK, there are no "device settings" that would need to be migrated in order for the camera to connect with the PC. It may help to get more info about that error. Things like the detailed steps to reproduce the error; a screenshot of the error message; a BYE log file that was open at the time of the error (not all the logs, just a single file that logged the error).

If the driver that you are talking about is the low level driver that is part of Windows then perhaps it has become corrupted and maybe you could uninstall and reinstall it.

I know that you were just troubleshooting to try to get back up and running, but it is possible that upgrading the camera firmware broke BYE and the only way to fix it is to install a newer version of BYE. That newer version would typically include a new version of the Canon SDK (software library) that BYE uses to talk to the camera and may be needed to support the new firmware. There is a newer version of BYE in the Pre-Release area of the Downloads page. I would recommend BYE 3.5.0.RC9, but not the X64 version if you plan to use the ASCOM connectivity. If any of your ASCOM device drivers (telescope, focuser, filter wheel) are not 64-bit compatible that version of BYE is not a good choice.

From what you have said to this point, the issue is not a BYE issue. It would seem to be a problem with the camera itself, the cabling, or the USB ports in the PC.

Canon provides the EOS SDK for 3rd party developers to aid with controlling their DSLR cameras. However, it is provided on an as-is basis, without any support whatsoever. That said they also have a free camera control app called the Canon EOS Utility. The EOS Utility also uses the SDK and so if you have the same problem using the EOS Utility you may be able to get support for your issue from Canon. If the EOS Utility is able to control your camera then BYE should also work. If the EOS Utility does not work then neither will BYE. You just have to understand that both BYE and the EOS Utility cannot be connected to the camera at the same time. It is also possible that the EOS Utility may connect to the camera automatically when the camera is first connected and powered on. This could cause BYE to fail to connect. The simplest option is once the EOS Utility is able to connect, just uninstall it or perhaps disable it from automatically connecting to the camera.

I hope this helps.

[aberlourdab@icloud.com]

Thank you Astroman133,

I have used this same setup for years.  I use Windows 11.  The camera is connected to a telescope and I run off batteries, which were fully charged just before the run.  The ambient temperature was steady but cold.  No frost but just above 0 degrees Celsius.

Yes other devices can connect to my computer and I am getting a friend to bring his Nikon camera over on Tuesday and we will test that out to see if it is a Canon specific issue.  I did try to download the error message in a zipped file but this forum limit is too small for the attachment.  Had to copy error message into Pages format and worked this time. See below.

Thank you for the detailed other information.  I will look into that as well.

 

Error Message_May 19_2025 crash.pdf

[astroman133]

I suggested trying another camera Canon camera to try to see if the issue was a failure in the camera itself.

Trying a Nikon camera with BYN will not tell us very much.

It would be better to download the latest BYE 3.5.0.RC9 prerelease with a newer SDK to see if that changes the symptoms.

The error message indicates a Windows USB issue. I would suggest uninstalling the camera driver and reinstalling it via the Windows Device Manager.

[astroman133]

Often troubleshooting is just changing one piece at a time to see what change eliminates an issue. Switching to a Nikon camera forces a change of several things all at once...the camera, cable, low-level driver, and the application. Those are too many different pieces to learn very much from. On the other hand, replacing your 6D with another Canon camera will give you a sense of whether your 6D is working, or not. This is a good learning.

[admin]

Do you have another computer to try? Just curious if it would connect. If it does connect, you know the issue is not the camera.

[aberlourdab@icloud.com]

The camera will connect to EOS Utility on the Mac but not on the Acer Windows computer that I use to control my imaging rig.  The EOS Utility launcher just comes up greyed.  Going through trouble shooting Canon Help Desk but no luck so far.

[astroman133]

OK, testing on the Mac seems to indicate that the camera is not the issue.

Did you try upgrading BYE on the PC to 3.5.0.RC9 from the pre-release area? That new software has a newer Canon SDK than BYE 3.2.3; although, testing with the latest EOS Utility should also have the latest SDK.

This is pointing more and more at the low-level Canon driver is the culprit. I would suggest re-installing the driver by using the Device Manager to remove it. When you reconnect and re-power the camera, Windows should re-install the driver.

[aberlourdab@icloud.com]

The answer was to do a complete Windows 11 reset.  It must have been a corruption of an Acer driver that Windows Defender would not let me re-install properly.  I have now spent two days recovering apps and drivers in order to restart imaging.  I will try tonight if the skies clear.  Thank you for replying to my situation.  I appreciated your thoughtful suggestions. 

[astroman133]

Seems kind of drastic. I'm glad that it worked.