If you are having issues connecting to gear, it is most likely a driver issue.  SGPro relies heavily upon the ASCOM platform and sometimes navigating manufacturer downloads can be confusing.  To help understand; a few points:


  • SGPro only ever talks to the "ASCOM Interface".  You can think of this a something like a contract where SGPro is guaranteed that a camera or other piece of gear will meet certain standards and, because of this, SGPro can treat all cameras the same.
  • The ASCOM interface will essentially relay data between SGPro and the equipment's "ASCOM driver".  The ASCOM driver can be though of as the actions that fulfill the contract of the ASCOM Interface.
  • This next part is where some things may (possibly) get a little confusing for some equipment.  We say "some equipment" because a lot of drivers don't even have this last part and when you installed the ASCOM Driver, that's it.  You're done.  Unfortunately, a lot of gear simply uses the ASCOM driver as an intermediary between ASCOM and its actual driver.  This actual driver is often referred to as the "Native Driver".  If a manufacturer is kind to you, they will create a single driver installer package that install all the drivers you'll ever need (ASCOM and Native both).  But... for some, we still continue to see confusing driver downloads and installers where these things are separate and you are required to figure it out.  The most common reason that manufacturers don't create nice unified packages is that the ASCOM driver is identical for all of their gear, but the Native drivers are not.  In this case, they want you to:
    • Download the specific Native Driver for your gear
    • Then, download the unified ASCOM Driver 



A diagram always helps to clarify.  Referencing the diagram below, when we talk about "installing a driver", we mean that you are required to address all of the needs in the teal-colored box labeled "Manufacturer Software (Drivers)".  As noted above:


  • You MUST install an ASCOM driver.  This is always required to connect with SGPro*
  • You MAY need to also install a Native Driver that the ASCOM driver requires in order to function properly.  These drivers may or may not be packaged together.




32 and 64-bit Driver Issues


If your drivers are installed and you are still having no luck or if the error you get is some nonsense about COM server or CLSID issues, the the issue is almost certainly that you have a SGPro to Driver bit-mismatch.  An important note:


If you use 64-bit SGPro, ALL of your drivers and integrated software (like Pinpoint) must also be 64-bit!


If you use 32-bit SGPro, ALL of your drivers and integrated software (like Pinpoint) must also be 32-bit!


If you're not sure what "bit-ness" of SGPro you are using, you can just check the text in the title bar of the main SGPro window.  It will read either "Sequence Generator Pro 32" or "Sequence Generator Pro 64".


To correct the issue, you'll need to change one or the other until all the things match.


Changing SGPro


Moving between 32 bit and 64 bit SGPro is not an issue and you can have both installed at the same time (just be careful about what your Windows Shortcuts are pointing to).  If you need to get a new version of SGPro, you'll need to get it from the download section of the website found here.


The latest version of both 64 and 32 bit SGPro will always be on the first tab and you can just click the download button for the one you need.




Changing Drivers


Obviously, we are not able to be nearly as specific here, but here is some general guidance:


  • Navigate to the manufacturers website and look for a "Downloads", "Software" or "Support" section.  If you can't find, one try locating the product you own (like you going to purchase it).  On the product page, see if you can spot any of those same three terms as links ("Downloads", "Software" or "Support").
  • Once you have located driver downloads look closely at the descriptions:
    • Do they actually use the terms 32 or 64 bit? If not, they are probably 32-bit
    • Look to see if a single installer package might actually install both
  • If in doubt, reach out to the manufacturer and see what they recommend.


* Note: There are a few types of gear that don't run through the ASCOM Interface.  Feel free to ask questions if you're not sure.