How to Install Drivers for the StarTech SVID2USB2* devices
Observers may be using one of the following SVID devices: SVID2USB2, SVID2USB23, or SVID2USB23. As of Apr 2021, only the SVID2USB232 is available for sale. I have successfully installed the SVID2USB2* drivers using two different approaches. The easiest approach works if you install the drivers BEFORE you connect the SVID2USB2* for the first time. If you connect the SVID2USB2* before installing the drivers, you can use the second approach to replace the default Windows drivers with the StarTech drivers.
The following steps are a little convoluted, but it worked. Also, on a tablet, you may find it easier to navigate some of these steps using the touch keyboard rather than the touch screen “clicks”. Reminder… in desktop mode you can bring up the touch keyboard by clicking (touching) the small keyboard icon located in the taskbar (bottom right edge of the screen). I suspect there is a more direct method of installing the drivers for the SVID2USB2 device. If I find a shorter method I will post it. In the meantime, here is the method that worked for me.
- Copy the Driver Files. The SVID2USB2 comes with a DVD. As of Jun 2021, StarTech has issued new drivers to fix some issues with recent releases of Windows. So you should be sure to download the latest drivers from StarTech’s website ( Support (startech.com) ).
- Install Drivers (easiest method)
- after unzipping the driver files, go to the “driver” subdirectory and run “setup.exe” to install the drivers.
- Plug in StarTech SVID2USB2. Connect the SVID2USB2 to your PC. If Windows brings up a dialog for installing drivers, just close it.
- You are now done installing the drivers for the SVID2USB2
- Install Drivers (optional method to replace default windows drivers with StarTech drivers).
- Open the control panel. Go to the desktop. Swipe in from the right edge. Select Settings. Select Control Panel.
- Change the driver:
- In the control panel, select “Hardware and Sound”.
- under “Devices and Printers”, select “Device Manager”
- expand the “Universal Serial Bus controllers section” and select the “USB composite device” in this section
- In the device manager menu bar, under “Action”, select “Update driver software”
- Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
- Navigate the the directory containing the StarTech 32 bit drivers (e.g. /tmp/StarTech/driver/Manual Driver/32-bit/) and select this directory to install the 32 bit StarTech drivers.
StarTech Application (GrabBee)
StarTech also includes a simple application, GrabBee, on the CD shipped with the SVID2USB2. I do not recommend this application for capturing occultation videos because it always uses lossy compression. However, this application is sometimes useful for configuring the device driver. Normally the driver accurately detects whether your attached camera is NTSC or PAL format. However, in some cases, it does NOT. And in these situations, you will see a blank screen when trying to view your video through the StarTech SVID2USB2. You can use the GrabBee application to fix this by starting the application and using the “setup” dialog – you access this dialog via the main menu button which has an icon that looks like a wrench.
Page History:
2021 Apr (SteveP) Added link to new driver release
2016 Jul 20 (SteveP) Initial Version