regain documentation
Supported hardware
Check camera modes, download recovery, and accessory compatibility before connecting.
Choose your camera mode
All camera modes work in NINA, native Windows ASCOM, and Alpaca. Direct USB uses regain's Rust drivers without the ZWO SDK. ZWO SDK is the default and covers a broader range of ASI cameras.
| Camera | SDK-free capture | Same-image download retry | SDK mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO ASI2600MM Pro | Yes | Yes, through the direct driver | Yes |
| ZWO ASI6200MM Pro | Yes | Yes, through the direct driver | Yes |
| ZWO ASI676MC | Yes | Yes, through the direct driver | Yes |
| ZWO ASI220MM Mini | Yes | No direct reread support | Yes |
| Other ZWO ASI cameras | No | Only while the SDK still reports an image ready | If supported by the bundled SDK |
Direct USB is experimental. In SDK mode, download retries depend on the SDK's ready-frame state; they do not use regain's direct memory reread.
Direct capture limits
| Camera | Format | Binning | Maximum exposure |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASI2600MM Pro / ASI6200MM Pro | RAW16 | 1–4 | 2,000 seconds |
| ASI676MC | RAW16 | 1 | 30 seconds |
| ASI220MM Mini | RAW16 | 1–2 | 10 seconds |
The cooled direct cameras also support ROI, gain, offset, cooling, and dew heater control. Direct live view and trigger modes are not supported. See camera setup and recovery.
Accessories: all SDK-free
| Device | Rust transport | Controls and compatibility | Integration |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO CAA | USB HID | Rotation, sync, reverse, reference/limits; CAA-M54 | NINA, ASCOM, Alpaca |
| ZWO EFW | USB HID | Slots, names, offsets, direction, calibration; seven-position EFW-S-0 | NINA, ASCOM, Alpaca |
| ZWO EAF | USB HID | Absolute moves, halt, reverse, backlash, travel limit, temperature; EAFN firmware 3.8.1 | NINA, ASCOM, Alpaca |
| Pegasus Astro FocusCube3 | USB serial | Absolute moves, halt, temperature, reverse, backlash, speed | NINA, shared ASCOM server, Alpaca |
| Deep Sky Dad OFP2 | USB serial | Cover open/close/halt, brightness 0–4096 | Shared native ASCOM server (source/CI), Alpaca; NINA through either |
| Wanderer Astro ETA M54 | CH340 USB serial | Back focus retaining tilt, three point targets; no hardware halt. Physical movement validation pending. | NINA, shared ASCOM server, Alpaca (source/CI) |
Older EAF firmware, EAF Pro/Bluetooth, and dual-disc wheels are unsupported. Temperature compensation remains the imaging application's responsibility.
SDK-free still needs OS device access
- Windows cameras: install the ZWO camera USB driver, including when using Direct USB.
- Windows CAA, EFW, and EAF: use the built-in HID driver.
- Windows FocusCube3 and OFP2: use USB Serial Device. Do not replace these accessory drivers with WinUSB/Zadig.
- Linux/macOS: the host account needs USB, HID, or serial access. The SDK-free paths use native OS interfaces; SDK mode also needs its vendor library and runtime dependencies.
NINA and native COM require Windows x64; the ASCOM drivers support 32-bit and 64-bit clients. The Rust workers and Alpaca server build on Windows, Linux, and macOS, with Linux/macOS CI builds for x86-64 and ARM64. See installation requirements and portable setup.
Compatibility notes
Linux/macOS physical-device validation is incomplete. Same-image recovery requires the camera to retain the frame; it cannot recover an image lost when power is removed. Detailed model and platform evidence is in the source documentation.
To help add a camera, use CameraKit to collect local diagnostics and USB traces.