Hi, With the above equipment I am getting occasional timeout errors. They only occur when imaging with the FW8G. It doesn't matter whether I use MaximDL V6.20 (Camera Error 2), or CCDOPS 5.66 (Receive Timeout). The drivers are up to date (sbigudrv 4.99build6, sbigu64 2.41.0.1338, sbigpcam 2.46, sbiglcam 2.20, sbigfcam 2.25, sbigfga 2004.11.10). Camera firmware is up to date (sttusb 1.10, sttga 2.65). Windows updates and Intel updates (the OPC is an Intel NUC) are current as at the beginning of February. The problem occurs whether I'm communicating with the camera over USB (which is directly connected to the NUC) or via Ethernet. Using CCDOPS (focus mode) I can take over 50,000 full frame images without error (tested twice). With the guide camera the camera will lock up after 18,300 -> 24,400 images (three tests). The images can be sub frame or full frame and it will still lock. When it times out I cannot access the camera with the web interface. It requires a power cycle to restore communication. An interesting observation is that when imaging with the guide camera it takes longer to lockup with MaximDL depending on the Download priority. With it set to Low (as in the tests above) it lasts longer. With the download priority set to High it will lock up after 5,000->6,000 frames. MaximDL is set to access the camera from a different thread. The USB cable is well under the maximum length and is directly connected to the NUC. Any thought on what the cause may be or what else I should look at next? Regards, Chris
Hi Chris, this sounds suspiciously like (a) a Windows Power Management issue or (b) a USB bus sharing issue. Am betting the former. (a) You need to disable Windows Power Management - USB Selective Suspend. There are a few places to disable this to be sure you got it all. In the device manager, for every USB device, USB hub, and USB Root Hub, make sure USB Selective Suspend is disabled. Sometimes this will say "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" or something like that. So you need to prevent it (uncheck it). Windows decides that if it hasnt talked to a USB device in a while, to power it down. (b) Make sure you don't have anything else on the same USB bus as the STT. Microsoft has a utility called USBView to show you all the usb devices, hubs, and device speeds. Mixing devices of slow speed (like focusers, usb/serial adapters, that sort of thing) with devices like the camera that need maximum usb bandwidth during download can cause timeouts. The physical connector on the NUC is not an indication of whether it is on an independent bus. You can also unplug everything USB but the camera and re-run your tests. Which NUC is it? eg 5i5ryh? (just curious). Let us know how you make out. C
Thanks Colin, I undertook (a) above and still had issues. I found under power management "PCI Express Link State Power Management" was set to "Moderate". I turned this off and it is currently working as you'd expect over many hours and 50,000 images. Unfortunately the NUC has only one available USB Root Hub for the four external connectors, so splitting things up is currently not an option. At least everything is USB2 (according to USBview). I'll test it all out on the next available clear night and report back. Regarding the model, it is indeed a 5i5RYH. Cheers, Chris
Ok, glad to hear this is fixed. The 5i5ryh is a great little machine, I've had good success with them, despite the usb hub limitation you mention. Nice catch on the PCIe Link state power management.
