Downloading the ZWO Camera and Filter Wheel X2 Plug Ins

How to Download the macOS ZWO X2 Camera Plug In

To download and install the latest macOS ZWO camera and/or filter wheel X2 Plug In:

1. From your favorite web browser, go to the ZWO Downloads page.

2. Click the Mac tab (see Figure 1 below).

3. Scroll to Capture and Processing Software.

4. Click DSO Imaging Software.

5. Click camera or filter wheel link (see Figure 1 below) to download the file to the comptuer's Downloads folder.

6. From Finder, open the Downloads folder and double-click the file named TheSkyX_ZWO_ASICamera.tar.gz (the ZWO camera X2 Plug In installer) or TheSkyX_ZWO_ASIFilerWheel.tar.gz (the ZWO filter wheel X2 Plug In installer) to extract the contents of this archive in the Download folder.

7. From Finder, open the folder named TheSkyX_ZWO_ASCCamera to view in the camera plug in installer, or TheSkyX_ZWO_ASCFilterWheel to view the filter wheel plug in installer. The folder contains two files (see Figure 2 below):

• ReadMe.md - This text file contains instructions how to install the X2 Plug In.  Double-click the file to view its contents in the TextEdit application.

• install.bin - This file contains the plug in installer.  

8. To  run the installer, from Finder, right-click the file named install.bin, then click Open With > Other. On the Choose Application window, select All Applications on the Enable pop-up menu. Navigate to the Applications > Utilities folder, highlight Terminal and the click Open. (See Figure 2 below.)  

9. Read the messages in the Terminal window (See Figure 3 below) and press the Return key to complete the installation.

10. From TheSky, click Telescope > Telescope Setup.

11. On the Imaging System Setup window, double-click Camera (or Filter Wheel) under Imaging System.

12. On the Choose Camera (or Filter Wheel) window, expand ZWO, and select ASI Camera (or Filter Wheel) for all ASI model cameras (or filter wheels).  See Figure 5 below.

Figure 1: ZWO Downloads page showing the location of TheSky for macOS X2 Plug In installers.

Figure 2: Run install.bin using the Terminal application

Figure 3: Press the Return key to complete the installation.

How to Download the Linux (ARM and x86) ZWO X2 Camera and X2 Filter Wheel Plug Ins

• The ZWO X2 Camera Plug In and the ZWO Filter Wheel Plug In installers are distributed separately.  

• Each Plug In installer contains the Linux and Raspbian (Raspberry Pi) X2 Plug In files.

• The installer detects which operating system is present and copies the appropriate files to the computer.

To download the latest Linux and Raspbian (Raspberry Pi) ZWO camera and/or filter wheel X2 Plug In:

1. Go to the ZWO Downloads page.

2. Click the Linux tab.

3. Scroll down to Capture Software.

4. Click DSO Imaging Software to expand it.

5. Click the camera or filter wheel link (see Figure 4 below) to download the respective installer.

6. Double-click TheSkyX_ZWO_ASICamera.tar.gz to this extract the files in this archive.

7. Double-click the text file named Readme.md and follow the instructions to allow the installer, named install.bin, to be run (or "executed").  In short, open a Terminal window, use the cd command to navigate to the folder where the archive in the above step resides, make the installer executable by typing chmod +x install.bin <Enter> and then run the installer by typing ./install.bin <Enter>.   Click Y when prompted to install the files.

8. From TheSky, click Telescope > Telescope Setup.

9. On the Imaging System Setup window, double-click Camera under Imaging System.

10. On the Choose Camera window, expand ZWO, and select ASI Camera (the only option) for all ASI model cameras.  (See Figure 6 below.)

Figure 4: ZWO Downloads page showing the location of the Linux and Raspbian (Raspberry Pi) X2 Plug In installers.

How to Download the Windows ZWO X2 Camera Plug In

To download the latest Windows ZWO camera and/or filter wheel X2 Plug In:

1. Go to the ZWO Downloads page.

2. Click the Windows tab.

3. If you have not already done so, on Windows, download and install the latest ZWO native camera driver first.  Installation of this driver is required to control all ZWO ASI-model cameras on Windows.

4. Scroll down to Capture and Processing Software.

5. Click DSO Imaging Software.

6. Click the camera or filter wheel link (see Figure 4 below) to download the respective X2 Plug In installer.

7. Run the installer to install the plug in.

8. From TheSky Pro, click Telescope > Telescope Setup.

9. On the Imaging System Setup window, double-click Camera under Imaging System.

10. On the Choose Camera window, expand ZWO, and select ASI Camera (the only option) for all ASI model cameras.  (See Figure 6 below.)

Figure 5: ZWO Downloads page showing the location of the X2 Plug In installers.