Waiting to Start Download

Discussion in 'STX and STXL Series Cameras' started by Alan Karty, Apr 22, 2020.

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  1. Bradley Rode

    Bradley Rode Cyanogen Customer

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    Colin, it looks like I'm experienced the same problem described by others.

    I've reinstalled v19, and the problem disappears, so it's something introduced since then.

    The issue occurs after I run a focusing sequence in FocusMax. The next exposure, which is usually a light frame in a sequence, stalls after the exposure completes, with the message, "Waiting for StartDownload" (or something close). There is a delay, around 10s, and then the image downloads. This occurs whether I'm running under automation via ACP, or a MaximDL sequence, or just attempting a manual exposure after the focusing run. The problem persists indefinitely until I disconnect and reconnect to the camera in Maxim.

    Again, v19 works fine.
     
    Bradley Rode, Jun 8, 2020
    #21
  2. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Ok, understood.
     
    Colin Haig, Jun 8, 2020
    #22
  3. Russell Croman

    Russell Croman Cyanogen Customer

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    Any news on this? I am seeing the same thing, and the exposures taken afterwards are corrupted by amp glow (I guess) that accumulates during the "Waiting for StartDownload" delay.

    Screen Shot 2020-06-30 at 9.25.54 PM.png

    -Russ
     
    Russell Croman, Jun 30, 2020
    #23
  4. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Just a reminder that @Adam Robichaud and @Brian Brown need to review the state of this, as Alan Karty prompted us on it again.
    Steve Brady's sample script needs to be tested in context of 6.23+ efforts.
     
    Colin Haig, Oct 13, 2020
    #24
  5. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    @Steve Brady is there a good reason to be using DisableAutoShutdown? It's a bit tricky to use properly, and will result in this stalling behavior if it doesn't work perfectly.

    This feature was added to allow automation programs to start the telescope slewing before image downloading started. It's there only to accommodate old CPU-hogging cameras on single-threaded computers. It's not needed for modern cameras.
     
    Doug, Oct 13, 2020
    #25
  6. Steve Brady

    Steve Brady Standard User

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    Hi Doug--

    We have been using this cam.DisableAutoShutdown = True for many years to prevent MaxIm from disconnecting the camera following when an an image.
    By chance did you mean to say cam.AutoDownload (= False)? I will review the FocusMax code and create a beta with cam.AutoDownload = True to determine if it addresses the problem.

    Steve
     
    Steve Brady, Oct 14, 2020
    #26
  7. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    Yeah, sorry, that was a mis-type.

    AutoDownload is probably the issue here. We have made some changes in that section in response to an issue with ACP.

    It occurs to me now, though, that if you're running in parallel with ACP and it turns the feature on, it might have an impact on you. You might need to turn it off whenever you go to run the camera. On the other hand...

    Owen "dropped by" and pointed out that the test script posted has a serious issue:

    Do 
        WScript.sleep 100
    Loop While cam.ReadyForDownload = False

    ' OEL - StartDownload should be here!

    Do While Not cam.ImageReady
        ' Don't consume CPU time while waiting
        wscript.sleep 100
    Loop

    'Download the image
    cam.StartDownload 'OEL - Too late! Now we have suffered through the entire 10 second failsafe

    'Get image array
    ImArray = cam.ImageArray

    Owen is correct - you can't be waiting for the download when you haven't told it yet to start downloading! That seems like a big problem.
     
    Doug, Oct 14, 2020
    #27
  8. Steve Brady

    Steve Brady Standard User

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    Thank you Doug, fortunately the FocusMax code was correct : ^ ))

    With your input I have posted a beta for user testing that sets AutoDownload = True.

    Any user who would like to try the beta can send me a private message on the CCDWare/FocsuMax forum.


    Thanks again to you and your staff!

    Best wishes & clear skies,

    Steve Brady
     
    Steve Brady, Oct 16, 2020
    #28
  9. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Hi @Steve Brady
    Steve,
    I've got another case, however this relates to OLD FocusMax 3.8.20, and it sounds like the same thing.
    Personally I think this customer should upgrade to the currrent (Beta) and pay you some money, if it fixes his issue.

    This thread is a bit messy, as there is a lot going on in it.
    I've been thinking of splitting it up.
    Problem 1 is that FocusMax is apparently hanging due to the Waiting for Start Download.
    https://forum.diffractionlimited.com/threads/maximdl-v6-24-problem.7820/
    His post is a 5:06am, search for:
    "I found out what is causing Waiting for StartDownload. It is FocusMax"

    If you don't want to engage, I totally get it.

    Thanks
    C
     
    Colin Haig, Nov 3, 2020
    #29
  10. Dave Rivenburg

    Dave Rivenburg Cyanogen Customer

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    I just experienced this issue and found this thread. Starting with 6.21 a 10 second delay annotated with Waiting for StartDownload occurs after an exposure ends. When the exposure does download I see an amp glow as mentioned by Russ Croman in the upper left corner (on an STF-8300) that was not there with 6.20 or older.

    I just tried 6.29 and the behavior persists. What is the disposition on this issue? Will there be an update within MaxIm to revert this behavior or make it configurable, or will all 3rd party software vendors need to modify their code to account for this new behavior?
     
    Dave Rivenburg, Oct 28, 2021
    #30
  11. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    Colin Haig, Oct 28, 2021
    #31
  12. Dave Rivenburg

    Dave Rivenburg Cyanogen Customer

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    * SBIG STF-8300
    * MaxIm DL Pro 6.29, 6.21, 6.20
    * Voyager 2.3.4

    I infer from you reply that it is up to the 3rd party vendors to update their software.

    Voyager is an automation orchestrator which can externally control MaxIm through its API. After MaxIm starts the camera operates normally. If I take a single exposure with Voyager, after that, even within MaxIm itself, all exposures incur the Waiting for StartDownload delay. I see no options within the MaxIm or Voyager GUI which allow control of or relate to the use of the AutoDownload property but I cannot say that one does not exist, I might just be missing it. I can pass this on to the Voyager developer.

    Since my previous post I have downgraded back to 6.20 as I am bound for a star party in a few days and I just need something that works. I did a quick test and found through the API that AutoDownload was set to true both before and after an exposure was made through Voyager. I did not expect this and it changes the nature of just exactly what the problem is with the later MaxIm versions. I will be able to devote more time to this upon my return.
     
    Dave Rivenburg, Oct 28, 2021
    #32
  13. Colin Haig

    Colin Haig Staff Member

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    There is a situation that can occur where the camera state was reported to a controlling application and could be ignored by the controlling application for long enough that MaxIm might auto-download the image; effectively one or both programs could get stuck. This was fixed in the later release of MaxIm to behave as it was intended, and then some software (eg ACP, FocusMax) was updated to actually do the correct behaviour.
    I guess you are running the Starkeeper.it Italian Voyager program, not the Carina Software (original program with that name) Voyager.
     
    Colin Haig, Oct 28, 2021
    #33
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  14. Dave Rivenburg

    Dave Rivenburg Cyanogen Customer

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    Yes, I am running the Starkeeper variant of Voyager.
     
    Dave Rivenburg, Oct 28, 2021
    #34
  15. Doug

    Doug Staff Member

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    They may need to update the feature in order for it to continue working. We had to make an internal change, which actually made it work exactly as documented.
     
    Doug, Oct 28, 2021
    #35
  16. Dave Rivenburg

    Dave Rivenburg Cyanogen Customer

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    My apologies for taking so long to get back to this. My scope gear is still packed away after the star party so I tried to reproduce the Waiting for StartDownload issue using only a camera simulator and I was successful, but not in the way I expected. Here is my setup:

    MaxIm DL 6.21
    - camera = Ascom 6.6 Camera V2 Simulator
    - no guide camera, no other connected equipment
    Voyager 2.3.4
    - camera = MaxIm DL
    - no other connected equipment

    In summary, Voyager always works with this configuration. All image downloads begin immediately after the exposure ends. MaxIm does the same before the first image is taken with Voyager but all subsequent images taken with MaxIm incur the 10 second Waiting for StartDownload timeout. In all of my testing the AutoDownload property is true at all times. If I manually change the value of AutoDownload through the API I do not see any changes in behavior whether it is true or false.

    So, Voyager is doing something to MaxIm to make it not follow its own rules. This persists until the camera is disconnected and reconnected in MaxIm. The help in 6.21 describes in detail what needs to happen when AutoDownload is false, but says nothing about when it is true other than that is the default. Further, this issue seems to have nothing to do with the value of AutoDownload. What else could it be? Is there a way to log the interactions with the MaxIm API? I enabled debug logging in MaxIm but I do not see any additional log messages.
     
    Dave Rivenburg, Jan 20, 2022
    #36
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