Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- stacker:docs:stackshot [2020/05/18 16:31]
rjlittlefield saving and reloading configuration settings
+++ stacker:docs:stackshot [2025/05/03 23:10] (current)
rjlittlefield [Installing the StackShot device drivers]
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 Zerene Stacker uses industry-standard device drivers for the USB chip that is utilized by the StackShot controller.
-**For Windows computers (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP)** that are connected to the Internet, the required drivers usually will be automatically located and installed by the operating system when the controller is first plugged in.  For computers that are not connected to the Internet or cannot find the proper drivers online for themselves, drivers for the Stackshot controller can be downloaded from [[http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm]].   As of 14 April 2017, the **setup executable** for Windows (both 32-bit and 64-bit systems) is [[http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM21226_Setup.zip|http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/CDM/CDM21226_Setup.zip]].  Simply download this file, burn it to CD or thumbdrive, transfer it to the offline machine, and run the executable there.
+**For Windows computers (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP)** that are connected to the Internet and run Intel or AMD processors, the required drivers usually will be automatically located and installed by the operating system when the controller is first plugged in.  For computers that are not connected to the Internet or cannot find the proper drivers online for themselves, drivers for the Stackshot controller can be downloaded from [[http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm]].   As of 03 May 2025, the **setup executable** for Windows (both 32-bit and 64-bit systems) is contained in [[https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CDM2123620_Setup.zip|CDM2123620_Setup.zip]].  To load drivers onto an offline machine, simply download this file on a different computer that is online, burn it to CD or thumbdrive, transfer it to the offline machine, and run the executable there.
-**For Macintosh and Linux computers**, drivers are included in Mac OS X and Linux and will be configured by Zerene Stacker if necessary.  You do need to run Zerene Stacker from an account with administrative privileges (one that is allowed to update Mac OS X), and you'll be asked to provide the password for the account that you're using.  For most users, your regular account will work fine, and the password to provide is just the one that you normally use to login to your computer.  Once the password is provided, Zerene Stacker manages all the details internally.
+**For Windows 11 on ARM computers**, for example laptops that run on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, drivers will not be found automatically by Windows.  You need to visit [[http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm]] to download them.
+ Begin by downloading the [[https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AN_396_FTDI_Drivers_Installation_Guide_for_Windows_10_11.pdf|Windows 10/11 Installation Guide]] and familiarizing yourself with Section 3.3, Manual Installation.  Then, at [[http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/D2XX.htm]], select the "Windows (Universal)" ARM drivers, currently at [[https://ftdichip.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CDM-v2.12.36.20-Universal-Driver-for-ARM64-WHQL-Certified.zip|CDM-v2.12.36.20-Universal-Driver-for-ARM64-WHQL-Certified.zip]] and follow instructions in the Installation Guide to download and install the drivers.
+**For Macintosh and Linux computers**, drivers are included in Mac OS X and Linux and will be configured by Zerene Stacker if necessary.  You do need to run Zerene Stacker from an account with administrative privileges (one that is allowed to update Mac OS X), and you may be asked to provide the password for the account that you're using.  For most users, your regular account will work fine, and the password to provide is just the one that you normally use to login to your computer.  Once the password is provided, Zerene Stacker manages all the details internally.
 ==== Using the Zerene Stacker controls ====
@@ Line 85: / Line 88: @@
 === Hotkeys ===
-A small set of hotkeys is currently provided. Currently there is an “asdf” set for Back (“a”), Fwd (“s”), Set Start (“d”), and Set End (“f”).  The “left-arrow” and “right-arrow” keys may also work for Back and Fwd, but these may require that one of the buttons is clicked first in order to direct keyboard input properly.  Currently the assignment of hotkeys is fixed, but these will be adjustable in subsequent versions.
+A small set of hotkeys is currently provided. Currently there is an “asdfx” set for Back (“a”), Fwd (“s”), Set Start (“d”), Set End (“f”), and Shoot ("x").  The “left-arrow” and “right-arrow” keys may also work for Back and Fwd, but these may require that one of the buttons is clicked first in order to direct keyboard input properly.  In addition there are right-hand hotkeys for Back Step ("j") and Fwd Step ("k").
 === Configuration Settings ===
@@ Line 268: / Line 271: @@
 **First, a bit of background may help...**
-__Very important__: **Zerene Stacker never attempts to talk to the camera directly**.  When Zerene Stacker wants to take a picture, it sends a command to the StackShot controller to do that.  The StackShot controller then closes an electrical switch on the shutter cable.  The closing of that electrical switch causes the camera to take a picture.  In response to the picture being taken, the camera and EOS Utility have a conversation between themselves to transfer the image to the computer.
+__Very important__: **Zerene Stacker never attempts to talk to the camera directly**.  When Zerene Stacker wants to take a picture, it sends a command to the StackShot controller to do that.  The StackShot controller then closes an electrical switch on the shutter cable.  The closing of that electrical switch causes the camera to take a picture.  In response to the picture being taken, the camera and the camera control software (__not__ Zerene Stacker) have a conversation between themselves to transfer the image to the computer.
-When things are acting normally, there are three separate communication channels: USB from Zerene Stacker to StackShot controller box, shutter cable from StackShot controller box to camera, and USB from camera to EOS Utility.  (If you are using the "Stack New Images" function in Zerene Stacker, then there is a fourth communication channel of sorts, in which Zerene Stacker periodically checks a folder in the computer's file system to see if there are new images to process.  But that is seldom an issue when people see problems.)
+When things are acting normally, there are three separate communication channels: USB from Zerene Stacker to StackShot controller box, shutter cable from StackShot controller box to camera, and USB from camera to camera control software such as Canon EOS Utility.  (If you are using the "Stack New Images" function in Zerene Stacker, then there is a fourth communication channel of sorts, in which Zerene Stacker periodically checks a folder in the computer's file system to see if there are new images to process.  But that is seldom an issue when people see problems.)
 Each of these communication channels should be completely independent of the others, except to the extent that activity on one may alter timing of events on another.
@@ Line 280: / Line 283: @@
 So, the fact that your camera control program is working OK means that the USB connection between camera and computer is OK.  But that path is not used by Zerene Stacker.  The problem lies someplace on the other path, or in some interaction between the two paths.
-If the camera won't take pictures as part of the stack, then the first thing to check is always step 9 in the Canon recipe above, or step 2 of the Nikon recipe, or some similar setting if you're using another brand of camera.  Each of these steps has to do with camera or software settings that are required in order for the shutter cable to tell the camera to take pictures.
+If the camera won't take pictures as part of the stack, then the first thing to check is always step 9 in the Canon recipe above, or step 2 of the Nikon recipe, or some similar setting if you're using another brand of camera.  Each of these steps has to do with camera or software settings that are required in order for the shutter cable to tell the camera to take pictures.  Also consider whether some other camera setting may be causing problems.  For example it is very common that cameras won't take pictures if they are set in autofocus mode (AF) and the frame contains nothing in focus.  It is also common that intermittent behavior is caused by the camera being set for mirror lockup but the StackShot is set for only one shutter pulse, or that the delay time at the StackShot is not long enough for the camera and camera control software to finish their work for each frame.
-If that does not resolve the problem, then check all the cabling again.  The problem could be something as simple as a dislodged shutter cable.
+If checking those things does not resolve the problem, then check all the cabling again.  The problem could be something as simple as a dislodged shutter cable.
 If that does not resolve the problem either, then it's probably best to start at the beginning and work your way forward, testing at each step.  Here is a long and detailed description of a comprehensive test process using Canon EOS Utility.  Make the obvious substitutions if you're using some other camera control program.