Optimum day and night configuration for the ZWO ASI678MC in indi-allsky (2025-Howto)

Posted on : Posted in : Hardware (EN)|Software (EN)

Combined 400pxThe ZWO ASI678MC is one of the most powerful all-sky cameras for day and night operation. Its back-illuminated Sony IMX678 sensor offers high sensitivity, low readout noise and full RAW16 support. This means that both high-contrast daytime shots and brilliant night-time shots are possible – provided that indi-allsky is configured correctly.

This article describes a tried-and-tested configuration for optimum image quality by day and night. The values are adjusted to:

The aim is a setup that delivers stable, high-quality results all year round without manual intervention.


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Optimal debayering for the ZWO ASI678MC in indi-allsky

Posted on : Posted in : Hardware (EN)|Software (EN)

The right choice of Bayer pattern is crucial for correct colors, clean day images and error-free night image processing. Like almost all modern ZWO color sensors with Sony Starvis II technology, the ASI678MC uses an RGGB pattern. If this is set incorrectly or automatically recognized incorrectly, typical artefacts occur.

Below are the most important findings from the practical tests and the indi-allsky documentation.


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indi-allsky Fix: Permanent RAW16 instead of 8-bit with the ZWO ASI678MC – how to prevent camera crashes at night

Posted on : Posted in : Software (EN)

After several nightly failures of my Allsky camera under indi-allsky, it turned out that my ZWO ASI678MC camera switches to 8-bit at night and the Image Worker crashes. To prevent this, I had to set the recording format manually.

The following entry ensures that the camera remains reliably in RAW16 mode and no longer switches to 8-bit:

{
    "PROPERTIES": {},
    "SWITCHES": {
        "CCD_VIDEO_FORMAT": {
            "on": ["ASI_IMG_RAW16"],
            "off": ["ASI_IMG_RAW8"]
        }
    }
}

Since this adjustment, the system has been stable and there are no more nightly outages.

Own custom-setup.sh as a solution for SSL problems when updating indi-allsky

Posted on : Posted in : Software (EN)

The official setup.sh from indi-allsky is functionally comprehensive and installs the entire runtime environment including the web server configuration. This behavior is useful for typical installations, but leads to problems if custom Apache settings are used – especially with Let’s-Encrypt certificates, user-defined VirtualHosts or specific redirect rules.

Practical operation showed that setup.sh regenerates the /etc/apache2/sites-available/indi-allsky.conf file each time it is run. As a result:

  • a self-signed SSL certificate is created,
  • individual SSL path and server name settings are lost,
  • Listener conflicts arise (ports 80/443 are used multiple times),
  • the Apache restart fails at the end of the setup process.

*** This post was updated with a new routine on Dezember 12th, 2025.  ***


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Keep Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate for subdomain/domain after update of indi-allsky

Posted on : Posted in : Software (EN)

Letsencrypt LogoAfter updating indi-allsky, it often happens that the local self-signed certificate (e.g. allsky.local) is suddenly used again, although a valid Let’s Encrypt certificate was previously set up. I will explain how to do this elsewhere!

***UPDATE: BETTER SOLUTION: custom-setup.sh***

The cause is almost always that the update routines change or reset the Apache configuration of the system. This article shows how to recognize the problem, fix it properly and configure the setup so that it will survive future updates.


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