STXL Timeout Errors

Discussion in 'STX and STXL Series Cameras' started by Robert Mueller, Feb 3, 2016.

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  1. Robert Mueller

    Robert Mueller Standard User

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    Marcus,
    No problem.... my issue is not going to get resolved without help from others that indicate a fixable problem.
    Robert
     
    Robert Mueller, Mar 5, 2016
    #21
  2. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    More issues tonight on 2 occasions during manual guider exposures in TSX (CCDAP not engaged). Normally the camera (i) makes a click sound (is this the camera shutter???), (ii) the exposure is taken, then (iii) another click is heard. When the failure happens, the second click does not happen and TSX status remains frozen as "Exposure completed". Once I disconnect the camera in TSX, TSX stops responding so I force a shutdown of TSX. Once I restart TSX and connect the camera again the camera makes the click sound (I do NOT power down the camera or disconnect the USB cable) . This scenario is always the same.

    Another question I have is why is the camera shutter operating during a FW8G guider exposure (if that's what the clicking sounds are)?

    Marcus
     
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2016
    marc4darkskies, Mar 7, 2016
    #22
  3. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Marcus - I think you're correct - the click is the shutter opening/closing. If you put it on the bench, you can see what its doing. As another suggestion, have you disabled USB Selective Suspend in the power management settings for your computer?
     
    Colin Haig, Mar 7, 2016
    #23
  4. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Yep, it's been disabled since I first set up the machine.

    So why does the camera shutter operate at all with a FW8G guider exposure?
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 7, 2016
    #24
  5. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    No flippin idea ;-)
     
    Colin Haig, Mar 7, 2016
    #25
  6. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Right about now would be a good time for some SBIG technical folk to chime in then?!
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 7, 2016
    #26
  7. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Bump. Some ideas SBIG gents?
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 10, 2016
    #27
  8. Robert Mueller

    Robert Mueller Standard User

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    Crickets....
     
    Robert Mueller, Mar 17, 2016
    #28
  9. Jim Morse

    Jim Morse Cyanogen Customer

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    Robert,

    Did you ever get this resolved? I have a new 6303 and am experiencing any number of errors on a regular basis in the SkyX and CCAP5. Weird stuff like I get errors on filter switches that then work fine when I do it manually the second or third time, but each error kills a run. other errors require me to cycle the power to the CCD to clear the gunk. Would love to hear SBIG is working on a fix.

    Best,

    Jim
     
    Jim Morse, Mar 18, 2016
    #29
  10. Robert Mueller

    Robert Mueller Standard User

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    Jim,
    I did not have resolution as of 2 weeks ago when I sent my STXL in for another service item.

    Since then I have been using a QSI camera to test out all other components of my setup. I have had no equivalent timeouts using the QSI cera with the same PC, same software, same cables etc.

    When my STXL comes back I'll be back trying to get stable all night imaging.

    Robert
     
    Robert Mueller, Mar 18, 2016
    #30
  11. Jim Morse

    Jim Morse Cyanogen Customer

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    Thanks. Going to have the techs change the USB set up as recommended and see if that helps. If not it's really limiting in imaging. Can't effectively use CCDAP or do shuffle imaging. Lots of hands on to keep things working as intended which is sad for a system this expensive. Out of curiosity, what have the service calls been about?

    Best,

    Jim
     
    Jim Morse, Mar 18, 2016
    #31
  12. Robert Mueller

    Robert Mueller Standard User

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    Jim,
    I had a blooming issue on the STXL 11002, which has anti blooming capabilities, even with short exposures. The camera has an adjustment for this.

    Robert
     
    Robert Mueller, Mar 18, 2016
    #32
  13. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Please SBIG, can I have some ideas, thoughts feedback on these two questions please. I certainly don't understand why the camera shutter operates when taking a guider exposure with the FW8G. My setup info is in an earlier post.
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 23, 2016
    #33
  14. Adam Robichaud

    Adam Robichaud Lead Developer Staff Member

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    Robert,

    I'm extremely sorry for the late reply — this thread slipped my notice for some reason... Rx (Receive)/Tx (Transmission) Timeout errors can be symptoms of many different problems, though they usually come down to one of three (really four) things: Firmware bugs, Driver (and Operating System interface) bugs, and Hardware issues (signal integrity issues, interfacing hardware failures, camera failures, etc). Rx timeouts occur when the camera fails to respond to a message sent by a host computer — and unless you're also seeing transmission timeouts, it's almost always caused by bad firmware.

    I presume you're still running the same firmware/driver versions from: http://diffractionlimited.com/forum/index.php?threads/stxl-driver-timeout.108/page-2#post-5339

    When you get your camera back, could you collect an SBIG Universal Driver log capturing these errors? Those logs give us a more detailed view of camera communications, and the specific mode of failure. You can set a log up using the SBIG Driver Checker 64 "Debug Log" dialog. I need that log to do any further debugging.

    marc4darkskies,

    I need to know what version of SBIGUDrv.dll you're running (available from SBIG Driver Checker 64's Driver tab), as well as all the firmware versions running on your camera (available from SBIG Driver Checker 64's Firmware tab). Any SBIGUDrv logs you can collect demonstrating the issue would also help.

    To answer your questions:
    1) The clicking you hear is the FW8G shutter actuating — when it stops clicking, the camera has likely entered an error state. We've fixed issues like this with firmware updates in the past, which is why I need to know what version of the firmware you're running.
    2) I don't know what TSX is asking the camera to do during exposures, but old SBIG cameras used to have internal guide-chips, and that would require actuating the main shutter. It's likely they're using the same machinery to control the external guide chip, which is common practice — we're only now getting around to deprecating that for cameras with external shutters.

    Jim,

    More of the same — I need driver and firmware versions from you, and any SBIGUDrv logs you can provide demonstrating the issue.
     
    Adam Robichaud, Mar 23, 2016
    #34
  15. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Hi Adam,

    Thanks for responding. Wouldn't it make more sense for you guys to talk to Software Bisque to make sure they are operating their software consistently / correctly with an STXL/FW8G setup (no internal guide chip)? I'm just the middleman. All they are likely to do is tell me to talk to you guys.

    Driver: 4.90 build 1 (16 Dec 2015)

    Firmware (I received the camera in October - serial #X15090020):

    upload_2016-3-24_9-25-6.png

    Cheers,
    Marcus
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 23, 2016
    #35
  16. Robert Mueller

    Robert Mueller Standard User

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    Adam,
    As previously instructed I ran the logging and captured a timeout error. Please refer to information in this thread near the beginning of my original post. The log that captured the error is still available on the Dropbox link. I'm still running the driver and firmware versions that I reported.

    I should get my camera back soon.
    Thanks for taking a look.
    Robert Mueller
     
    Robert Mueller, Mar 23, 2016
    #36
  17. Adam Robichaud

    Adam Robichaud Lead Developer Staff Member

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    Robert,

    Sorry, I missed that in my read-through. Your log shows:

    - You start a main chip exposure.
    - TSX queries the camera for the exposure status.
    - The camera fails to respond to a query.
    - The camera locks up, and TSX is unable to communicate with the camera.

    I'm getting in touch with our hardware engineer to investigate the problem, but how quickly we'll be able to identify the error will depend on whether or not we're able to reproduce it in house. As it stands, I haven't encountered the error.

    Marcus,

    Let's start with updating your camera's firmware. It's several versions behind, and could stand it. Have you ever performed a firmware update before? If not, I'd be happy to log in via a remote support tool and perform the update for you.

    Re: contacting Software Bisque: we like to try and eliminate ourselves as the source of a problem (as best we can) before we start pinging developers of third party software. You also have a reliable reproduction scenario, which they may not have, so dealing with you means we can characterize the issue much faster.
     
    Adam Robichaud, Mar 24, 2016
    #37
  18. marc4darkskies

    marc4darkskies Standard User

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    Contacting SB was only in regard to why the main camera shutter operates during a guider exposure. I currently have it on the bench and checked this out visually. Strangely, the FW8G shutter operates (clicks) during a camera exposure too. They should be completely independent shouldn't they?

    Firmware updates scare me but the instructions look pretty simple. I updated the DriverChecker64 program yesterday. Do I also need to update the driver, it seems to be at 4.91 now? So, after I press "update camera firmware" button is there anything else to do other than wait (and pray)?

    Marcus
     
    marc4darkskies, Mar 24, 2016
    #38
  19. Adam Robichaud

    Adam Robichaud Lead Developer Staff Member

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    That's the gist of it, yes. You need to let the program run its course, even if SBIG Driver Checker appears to hang — the program will let you know when it's done (success or no). A failure to complete the process can brick the camera, and then it would have to come back to us for service.
     
    Adam Robichaud, Mar 29, 2016
    #39
  20. Adam Robichaud

    Adam Robichaud Lead Developer Staff Member

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    FWIW: We've identified the root cause of the FW8's shutter mimicking the main shutter, and are actively working to correct it with a firmware update.
     
    Adam Robichaud, Apr 1, 2016
    #40
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