Canon EOS Rebel SL3 connect to Backyard EOS free trial software

[kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net]

Hello 

I just downloaded your free trial of Backyard EOS with the intention of using with my Canon Rebel SL3. The software will not connect to the camera. Can you help?

[admin]

Does Windows even see the camera?

Does the SL# have Wi-Fi?  If yes please disable it.

[kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net]

1 hour ago, admin said:

Does Windows even see the camera?

Does the SL# have Wi-Fi?  If yes please disable it.

Ok I will give that a try. Thank you.

[kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net]

1) Make sure EOS Utility is not running.

This is the error message that I get when attempting to start the app. I really do not know what the EOS Utility is or where to find it in the camera. I have looked and nothing seems obvious to me. Also I did turn off the Wi-Fi and still no luck.

 

[kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net]

1 hour ago, admin said:

Does Windows even see the camera?

Does the SL# have Wi-Fi?  If yes please disable it.

1) Make sure EOS Utility is not running.

This is the error message I am getting when attempting to connect the camera.

Yes the camera has Wi-Fi. I have turned it off. No luck with that approach. And yes I believe that the camera is communicating with the laptop because the error log is being saved in Windows.

Edited November 25, 2020 by kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net
Left out the reason for the camera not connecting

[admin]

The EOS Utility is a generic error, it's not telling anything specific.

Sorry, but statements like "I believe..." are never good in a problem statement where we need facts to troubleshoot.

Is the camera listed in device manager in Windows?  

 

 

[kushner.greg@sbcglobal.net]

11 hours ago, admin said:

The EOS Utility is a generic error, it's not telling anything specific.

Sorry, but statements like "I believe..." are never good in a problem statement where we need facts to troubleshoot.

Is the camera listed in device manager in Windows?  

 

 

Sorry for not being specific but I did say that the log was being recorded in my Windows. Was not that specific? And why have an error message if it does not mean anything? I believe is just the way I say things. Not sure what you mean by Is the camera listed in device manager in Windows. I did check the device manager and the camera is not listed. The camera is on. The USB port is working. At any rate I am a complete novice at this and I am trying to learn. Is camera communication with this software really that complicated. Why not assume I am an idiot and just tell whether or not a Canon EOS Rebel sl3 is compatible with your software. That would help. If you can not figure out how to help just let me know and I will move on to another software. I this point I cannot be more specific.

[s3igell]

1) BYE connects the Camera to the PC via USB - hence the reminder to turn OFF Wi-Fi via the Camera's Menu

2) New Canon DSLRs are "partially supported" by generic Windows 10, but need Driver(s) to be Downloaded for the exact Model.  These Drivers are usually Installed via the CD/DVD which comes with the DSLR or else by visiting Canon Support website and Downloading the Software Package.  In both cases, Installation also loads a Canon program called "EOS Utility".  This "EOS Utility" has some useful features including proving that the Camera is Properly Connected via USB, BUT it directly Blocks BYE if left running in the Background.  There is a Setup selection within EOS Utility which determines whether that program remains Active in the Background; it needs to be OFF.

3) Windows 10 and Canon provide 2 ways that the DSLR can be "connected": As a Camera or as a File Device.  BYE needs the former.  This is most easily selected upon first connection of the DSLR AFTER a Windows Reboot; connecting the USB will result in Windows asking how it should treat the new device.

These are a number of elements / activities which fall upon the New User.  And which are often difficult to "politely" ascertain if have happened or gone awry, once a User makes 1st contact via a "Need Help" forum post.  Sorry if this first interaction has been exasperating...

[admin]

Please be courteous when asking for help, no one assumes you're an idiot. We're all here voluntary trying to help.

Camera communication with the software is simple, it just needs the USB cable connected to the computer... but... Windows must recognize the camera first.  If Windows does not see the camera as an imaging device it can not be seen by any software.  It needs to be seen in Device Manager first and if it does not we need to figure out first. s3igell has a few good pointers in his post above.

 

 

 

[astroman133]

The SL3 is a newer camera, and if you are running Windows 10, the low-level Canon driver is already installed with Windows. With older versions of Windows and older cameras, you had to install the driver from the software kit that either came on a CD with the camera or you downloaded from Canon. When users needed to install the CD software in order to get the camera to work with the PC they often chose to install Canon's EOS Utility, which is a general purpose camera control program. The problem is that Windows could automatically launch the EOS Utility whenever the camera is first detected by Windows. This is a problem because BYE and the EOS Utility cannot both be connected at the same time. Once upon a time this issue commonly tripped up new BYE users, hence the authors put a warning in BYE to tell them that a likely reason for connection failure is that the EOS Utility is connected.

Other reasons for connection failure could be:

1. WiFi is enabled in the camera
2. The camera is seen by Windows as a storage device rather than as an imaging device.
3. Faulty cable or connector
4. Cable too long (USB cable longer than 15 feet)
5. Unsupported camera model

You have taken care of item 1.

As for item 2, when you first plug the camera to the PC and power the camera on, Windows sees the new device and asks you how you want to treat it. One option is to treat the camera's memory card as a storage device and assign it a drive letter. For most people this is what they want to do because their reason for connecting the camera to the PC is to pull images off the camera's memory card. However, for BYE to work you need to choose to "Take No Action". This tells Windows to set up the camera as an Imaging Device. This will allow the Canon SDK to establish a USB connection with the camera on behalf of BYE.

For item 3, if you can get Windows to recognize the camera as an Imaging device in the Windows Device Manager then the cable basically works. However, when the camera is mounted on a telescope that is slewing across the sky to different positions, stress on the cable can cause intermittent connection failures. This can cause BYE to misbehave depending on what is happening at the time. BYE uses a Canon software library (or SDK) to control the camera. The SDK is not tolerant of even very short communication failures and if it hangs, then BYE can hang. The fix is to organize your cabling so that stress on cabling and connectors is minimized. When a comms failure happens you may need to kill BYE, cycle power on the camera, verify the cabling is securely seated at both ends and restart BYE. It is also a very good idea to have a complete spare set of cables, hubs, etc. This is especially true if you often go to a dark sky site where a cable failure would be difficult to troubleshoot and repair.

For item 4. the USB 2.0 standard allows for cabling that is no longer than 5 meters, or 16.5 feet in length. This does not mean that you cannot find a 30 foot USB cable, just that it may not work in a demanding application. You should consider astroimaging as a demanding application. If you need the cable to be that long, then by all means buy high quality USB cables! If you need to go longer than 5 meters, you can, by using an Active Extension cable. An Active Extension cable restores and boosts the USB signal to allow a longer cable run.

For item 5, BYE uses the Canon EOS SDK to control the camera. The SDK is updated a few times a year by Canon to support new models of cameras that were recently released. For each version of the SDK the list of supported cameras is fixed. When a new version of the SDK is released it is typical that old camera models that Canon has discontinued are dropped from the SDK and are "unsupported". There are a few takeaways from this.

For a given version of the SDK, only certain models are supported. BYE will not work with a camera model that is not supported by the version of the SDK that it is using.

Users can buy the latest camera only to find out that it is not yet supported by the latest BYE release. Then they have to wait until Canon releases a new version of the SDK, then that a new version of BYE is released that uses that SDK. Even then BYE may need to be modified to work with the new camera. The process can take months to get BYE fully supported with a new camera model. So, you need to understand that because of Canon's technology and marketing choices. very old and very new cameras may not be compatible with BYE. New models may be able to be made to work with BYE if Canon allows it. Most cameras will eventually work, but for example when Canon first came out with mirrorless DSLR models they chose not to support tethering with them. Because of this those models will never be supported by BYE.

When you click on BYE's Connect button the first thing that you see is a driver selection dialog asking you whether you want to use the Canon or Canon210 driver. This is an attempt by the BYE developers to provide support for older cameras that are no longer supported by Canon. With your SL3, only the Canon driver will work. The Canon210 driver is in reality an old version of the Canon SDK (version 2.10) that is provided to allow users to try to connect with their 10 year old camera. However, this facility is getting less useful due to the relentless march of technology. When the DIGIC II cameras were relased by Canon, PCs running Windows were 32-bit machines. Today most computers are 64-bit machines and run a 64-bit version of Windows. However, most of the DIGIC II cameras only have 32-bit drivers that were originally written for Windows XP. These drivers will not run on a 64-bit PC or a 64-bit version of Windows. Also the latest low-level Windows XP Canon camera driver may not install or work correctly on Windows 10, even if you were able to install a 32-bit version of Windows in a virtual machine.

I hope that this long-winded explanation is provides you with some background and you find it useful.