Hello, For a period of 8 months this camera has worked well with irregular stops during sessions. These glitches are typically handled by user scripts that reboot the system and cycle the power to the camera. In these cases, the camera was unresponsive, but recoverable with these actions. The camera then performed until system shutdown in the morning, warmed up and shutdown correctly. In the last week, the system has been unable to recover the camera once it faults [more so, doesn't detect the failure - so the system is in a wait state, rather than a failure to do something]. Some thing new, and difficult for me to see what is happening. In this new case, the camera is still unreliable following a power cycle. It can take a number of cycles of closing the programs, cycling the camera power, before the camera resumes operation. But then it becomes highly likely to fail again within the same session. I have the STXL Log file attached for you to review. Could you please have a look at this log to see if there is anything there you can interpret as to what is happening? I see its a long file, with the errors appearing nearing the bottom 1/7 of the list. A snippet is below of what I see in the attached log: At t = 8054.705: ------------------------- At t = 8054.705: ReadComPipe : Rx Error - 8 At t = 8054.705: ReadComPipe : Ask/Got = 2048/-1 At t = 8054.705: data : 8F, 04, E8, 04, CB, 04, D2, 04, D9, 04, 95, 04 At t = 8054.705: MicroCommand : ValidateMicroResponse, cameraID = 17, error = 8 - RX Timeout At t = 8054.705: CCDDigitizeLine : MicroGetPixels - 1st line, err = 08 - RX Timeout At t = 8054.705: CC_READOUT_LINE : end, err = 08 - RX Timeout At t = 8054.705: ========================= At t = 8054.705: CC_END_READOUT : begin ----> GRAB END At t = 8054.705: MicroCommand : MC_READOUT -> RS subcommand: RS_END_READOUT At t = 8054.705: ------------------------- At t = 8054.705: AsyncWrite : Error: Unknown OS Error, Ask/Written=4/-1, Short=5. At t = 8054.705: WriteComPipe wr error : 0xe0010000 - At t = 8064.798: AsyncRead : Error: 258, ret = -1, Totals : dwSize/dwBytesRd = 2/0, Short=2 At t = 8064.798: ReadComPipe wr error : 0x00000102 - The wait operation timed out. At t = 8064.798: ------------------------- At t = 8064.798: ReadComPipe : Rx Error - 8 At t = 8064.798: ReadComPipe : Ask/Got = 2/-1 -> ACK At t = 8064.798: data : 06, 00, C8, 0D, 09, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00 At t = 8064.798: MicroCommand : ValidateMicroResponse, cameraID = 17, error = 8 - RX Timeout At t = 8064.798: CC_END_READOUT : end, err = 00 - No Error At t = 8064.798: ========================= At t = 8064.798: CC_START_EXPOSURE2 : begin ----> GRAB START At t = 8064.798: StartExposure Params : ccd=2, exposureTime=11, shutter=Leave At t = 8064.798: StartExposure Flags : 0x00000000: triggerIn=0, triggerOut=0, lightClear=0, msExp=0, fastReadout=0, dualChannelMode=0 At t = 8064.798: MicroCommand : MC_STATUS At t = 8064.798: ------------------------- At t = 8064.798: AsyncWrite : Error: Unknown OS Error, Ask/Written=2/-1, Short=3. At t = 8064.798: WriteComPipe wr error : 0xe0010000 - At t = 8074.891: AsyncRead : Error: 258, ret = -1, Totals : dwSize/dwBytesRd = 6/0, Short=6 At t = 8074.891: ReadComPipe wr error : 0x00000102 - The wait operation timed out. At t = 8074.891: ------------------------- At t = 8074.891: ReadComPipe : Rx Error - 8 At t = 8074.891: ReadComPipe : Ask/Got = 6/-1 -> ACK At t = 8074.891: data : 06, 00, C8, 0D, 09, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00 At t = 8074.891: MicroCommand : ValidateMicroResponse, cameraID = 17, error = 8 - RX Timeout At t = 8074.891: CC_START_EXPOSURE2 : end, err = 08 - RX Timeout At t = 8074.954: ========================= At t = 8074.954: CC_QUERY_COMMAND_STATUS : begin At t = 8074.954: MicroCommand : MC_STATUS At t = 8074.954: ------------------------- At t = 8074.954: AsyncWrite : Error: Unknown OS Error, Ask/Written=2/-1, Short=3. At t = 8074.954: WriteComPipe wr error : 0xe0010000 - At t = 8084.991: AsyncRead : Error: 258, ret = -1, Totals : dwSize/dwBytesRd = 6/0, Short=6 At t = 8084.991: ReadComPipe wr error : 0x00000102 - The wait operation timed out. This camera is part of an observatory that runs daily. Regards Steve Mohr
Rx Timeout indicates a USB interface error. There are lots of things that can cause that... most likely being an issue with the USB hardware. Are you using the power supply that came with the camera? Any extension cable? Have you checked for damaged USB cables? Are you using a USB hub (tip: avoid doing that)? If you are running from a laptop, make sure power management isn't shutting down its USB port.
Hi Doug, Thanks, that will be enough for me to check the system out. I have a dedicated power source going to the camera, but the USB is going via a powered [2amp] USB hub. I will direct a quality USB cable from the PC [I'll look to give it its own tree] to the camera directly as a first response. Then I'll see how it goes. If this is the case, it may be a sign the hub is failing [4 years old], and then a simple fix. I'll be a few weeks before I can check that. Thanks for the quick response. Steve
Sounds like a good plan. I always recommend connecting cameras directly to the computer if at all possible. Sharing traffic can overwhelm the hub and cause problems. Also if you are using a desktop computer that has jacks on the front, I suggest using one on the back instead. The extra wiring inside the computer always results in extra reflections that degrade signal quality.
Thank you Doug. It will be a while before I get up there again, but will provide feedback after I do the exchange. Bye Steve