BackyardNIKON 3.5.0.RC9 Works once, then locks up

[Kevinwalsh]

I decided to try again running my full-spectrum D5100 with BYN. I downloaded a fresh copy of BYN 3.5.0.RC9 and installed it.

Since my last try at running this camera, the computer has been 'upgraded' (ha, what a joke) from Win10 to Windows 11.

I have the DSUSB cable from Shoestring, and checked to see if they have a driver for Win11. I didn't see one, so I'm still running the old driver. I ran the DSUSB check program. Of course I use the Nikon USB cable, too, so both cables are plugged into the camera and into the computer. (Both via a powered USB hub that I've never had a problem with.)

So, with all of this running, BYN 3.5.0 RC9 found the camera and worked okay in Live Mode. I should mention that this was during the daytime, so it was bright outside. Also, I had a standard Nikon lens attached. The camera, including the lens, was set to Manual. The memory stick only had 1 image on it. Then I went to the Imaging Mode and ran the DSUSB cable check and the Cable Init program seemed to run okay.

Then I had BYN take an exposure. With the Exposure set to Bulb, and the ISO set to 1600, it took an image. Since this was during bright daylight, the 'image' was just a flat white field. So I set the exposure box to 1/2000th of a sec, and set the ISO to 400. When I tried to take a second exposure, the software appeared to be stuck in an endless loop. I waited a long time, but the endless loop just went on and on. I finally had to go to Windows Task Manager and shut down the program.

After that, I tried a variety of combinations of re-starting the software, re-starting the computer, re-doing the DSUSB Shoestring check, re-doing the DSUSB cable check in BYN, and turning the camera On and Off, but even though the software would show the camera Live View, it always went into the endless loop when I tried to take an image. The endless loop continued no matter what Exposure and ISO settings I used. Each time, I had to use Windows Task Manager to kill the program.

I should also mention that I use the latest version of BYN for my D810a with no problem. And I should mention too, that I have an unmodified D5100, and I get all of these same issues with it, so I don't think the problem is with the camera. Both cameras function normally when used as cameras not tethered to the computer.

What else can I try?

Thanks.

K Walsh

 

 

 

 

[astroman133]

When you say that BYN went into "an endless loop", would it be fair to say that i locked up and became unresponsive? Did this happen after you started to take a picture in Imaging mode? Were you downloading the image to the PC, or saving it to the camera's SD card? or both?

Did you ever get images downloaded to the PC when using BYN in Imaging mode? They would be displayed on the screen and possibly in the thumbnail strip across the bottom of the BYN Window. One issue that can prevent images from downloading from the camera to the PC is over protective anti-virus software. You could try to temporarily disable the anti-virus software and also configure any firewall software running the PC to let BYN through the firewall.

The DSUSB is only used to open and close the shutter for BULB exposures that are longer than 1 second, so if the exposure is 1/2000th of a second, the shutter control cable is not used at all.

Modifying the camera to remove the uv/ir cuttoff filter does not change the firmware in the camera, so as far as BYN knows your 2 D5100 cameras are identical. Both cameras suffered the same locking up issue?

The D5100 is an older model and it should work with the 32-bit version of BYN 3.5.0.RC9, but just to be clear, you did not say that you were using the X64 version. Is that so?

Guylain may want you to provide a log file that shows the issue when trying to take pictures with either D5100. Not all the collected log files, just one file that has data from when you had the issue.

Sorry for your issues.

 

[admin]

Quick question, are you using the 32 or 64 bits version of BYN?

[Kevinwalsh]

On 4/23/2026 at 6:24 PM, astroman133 said:

First - Thanks for the prompt reply.

Now, to your questions...

When you say that BYN went into "an endless loop", would it be fair to say that i locked up and became unresponsive? Yes

Did this happen after you started to take a picture in Imaging mode? Yes, after one successful photo. Were you downloading the image to the PC, or saving it to the camera's SD card? or both? To the PC.

Did you ever get images downloaded to the PC when using BYN in Imaging mode? Just the first image, then it locked up. They would be displayed on the screen and possibly in the thumbnail strip across the bottom of the BYN Window. Yep. One issue that can prevent images from downloading from the camera to the PC is over protective anti-virus software. You could try to temporarily disable the anti-virus software and also configure any firewall software running the PC to let BYN through the firewall. I haven't had a problem using my D810a with the latest version of BYN.

The DSUSB is only used to open and close the shutter for BULB exposures that are longer than 1 second, so if the exposure is 1/2000th of a second, the shutter control cable is not used at all. That makes sense, since this was daytime, I was only using short exposures.

Modifying the camera to remove the uv/ir cuttoff filter does not change the firmware in the camera, so as far as BYN knows your 2 D5100 cameras are identical. Both cameras suffered the same locking up issue? Yes.

The D5100 is an older model and it should work with the 32-bit version of BYN 3.5.0.RC9, but just to be clear, you did not say that you were using the X64 version. Is that so? Yes, I made sure I downloaded and installed the 32 bit version on my Win11 PC.

Guylain may want you to provide a log file that shows the issue when trying to take pictures with either D5100. Not all the collected log files, just one file that has data from when you had the issue. Are the log files generated automatically? Are they stored in the BYN folder?

Sorry for your issues. I appreciate that, and I appreciate the quick reply.

 

 

[Kevinwalsh]

On 4/23/2026 at 9:27 PM, admin said:

Quick question, are you using the 32 or 64 bits version of BYN?

I downloaded and installed  the 32 bit version of BYN 3.5.0 RC9. I think that's the one needed for the D5100, which is an older camera. I have two DSUSB cables, and tried both (separately) without success.

Thanks for the reply.

Kevin

[astroman133]

Log files are automatically generated in the Logs subfolder of BackyardTEMP. You specify where the BackyardTEMP folder resides on your PC via the BYN Settings screen. The default location is under C:\Users\<your username>\Pictures\BackyardTEMP.

The reason for the x64 version of BYN is that Nikon has said that as new cameras are released, they will only be supported in the x64 version of their SDK. This forced Guylain to create a 64-bit version of BYN. If you look at the Supported cameras table at the Z8 model, you will see that it requires the x64 version of BYN. All other currently supported models should work with either the x64 version or the x32 version of BYN 3.5.0, as well as the older version of 2.1.3. The table should confirm this. In order to run the x64 version of BYN, your PC must be running a 64-bit version of Window 10 or 11. The x32 versions of BYN will run on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows.

I hope this helps.

[astroman133]

One other thing that occurred to me is that BYN does some processing on the image after it is downloaded to your PC. Depending on your settings it may try to create a TIF formatted image and it may also add metadata to the images. If it has a problem doing this it could give the symptoms that you are seeing. The downloaded, but unprocessed images would be in the BackyardTEMP\Download folder.

By changing your settings you can tell BYN not to write metadata values into the downloaded NEF files, and to not create TIF files. This may allow you to see your images on the PC screen within a few seconds after they are downloaded. This may be a good test to see if your settings are causing the issue that you are seeing. It will help Guylain to see what is happening and to provide a fix.

[Kevinwalsh]

Okay, so I went over to my detached-garage/observatory this afternoon to grab a Log file. There were so many from a few days ago, I didn't know which one to get. I decided I'd just run BYN 3.5.0 RC9 again and make a new Log file.

But this time, BYN 3.5.0 RC9  worked okay. (???) Go figure.

The software 'found' the camera, and the software was able to go to Imaging Mode and take lots of images at various durations. I used a pair of filters on the front of the camera lens (an H-Alpha filter and a SkyGlow filter) to darken the input to the full-spectrum camera, which allowed me to take 35 second exposures, using the camera at f/36 and ISO 100. I also took short exposures at 1/50th second at f/5.6, numerous times. It showed the thumbnail images and the full size images on the screen. So everything was working as it should.

Could it be as simple as shutting my PC down and then re-starting it? That's the only change since a few days ago.

I did grab the last log file from a few days ago when the system was not working. I've attached that. I don't know if it will be helpful, or not, but it's more info. So maybe it would suggest why I had a problem the other day.

Anyway, thanks for the support. It is always MUCH appreciated.

Kevin

logfile-[20260423-16h27m30s424]-[12248]-2026-04-23(2).txt

[astroman133]

Kevin,

I am not sure what was going on but here is a relevant snippet from the log file that you sent:

2026-04-23 16:28:07,455 [Main] INFO  - Application state changed: 'ImageCapture'
2026-04-23 16:28:24,726 [Main] DEBUG - ButtonPlus_MouseClick(btnImagingCapture = 'Start Capture')
2026-04-23 16:28:24,755 [Main] INFO  - Imaging session started.
2026-04-23 16:28:24,911 [Main] INFO  - -----------------------------------
2026-04-23 16:28:24,911 [Main] INFO  - Application state changed: 'ImageCaptureBusySessionPlan'
2026-04-23 16:28:24,913 [Main] INFO  - Camera action fired: 'ValidateCapturePlan'
2026-04-23 16:28:24,913 [Main] INFO  - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: ImageQuality         = 'RAW + JPEG Fine'
2026-04-23 16:28:24,932 [19] INFO  - Temp folder:     C:\Users\kwals\Pictures\BackyardTEMP
2026-04-23 16:28:24,932 [19] INFO  - Download folder: C:\Users\kwals\Pictures\BackyardNIKON
2026-04-23 16:28:24,943 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: MirrorLock           = '0'
2026-04-23 16:28:28,277 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: Tv                   = 'BULB'
2026-04-23 16:28:28,406 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - CameraPropertyChangedArgs fired: Iso                  = '1600'
2026-04-23 16:28:28,438 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] DEBUG - TAKE PICTURE ::: Shutter(MANUAL) Cable(DSUSB) Av(5.6) Duration(1.0) Iso(1600) Quality(RAW + JPEG Fine) Mirror(0) SaveTo(PC)
2026-04-23 16:28:28,994 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - DSUSB cable is CLOSED!
2026-04-23 16:28:29,332 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - DSUSB cable is OPENED!
2026-04-23 16:28:30,437 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - DSUSB cable is CLOSED!
2026-04-23 16:28:50,140 [ReadWeatherCenter(Normal)] DEBUG - No weather provider configured.
2026-04-23 16:29:02,339 [Main] DEBUG - ButtonPlus_MouseClick(btnAbort = 'Abort')
2026-04-23 16:29:10,135 [Main] DEBUG - ButtonPlus_MouseClick(btnAbort = 'Abort')
2026-04-23 16:29:28,436 [Main] DEBUG - ButtonPlus_MouseClick(btnDither = 'Dither')
2026-04-23 16:29:28,963 [Main] DEBUG - ButtonPlus_MouseClick(btnDither = 'Dither')
2026-04-23 16:29:31,492 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - Image download timeout, process terminated after 60 seconds
2026-04-23 16:29:31,513 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - DSUSB cable is CLOSED!
2026-04-23 16:29:31,513 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - Timespan 66.582

It shows that you started a 1 second BULB exposure. Then the shutter was opened via the DSUSB cable and a second later the shutter was closed. 32 seconds after that you clicked the Abort button and 18 seconds after that you clicked the Dither button. It looks like BYN waited for a minute after it thought that the image was capture was done but no image was downloaded.

I have some suggestions in case this happens again.

1) Delete all the log files and try to re-create the issue. That way, if the issue happens again, you know which log file to show the community.

2) Keep things as simple as possible. For example you are shooting both RAW+JPG above but try just shooting RAW.

3) Don't be impatient. Let BYN time out after a minute rather than clicking the Abort button.

4) When collecting the data for an issue keep the unnecessary button clicks (like Dither) to a minimum. In fact turn Dither off when trying to recreate an issue.

Perhaps if Guylain sees this post he will have additional suggestions or a different read on what was happening.

[Kevinwalsh]

1 hour ago, astroman133 said:

"...
2026-04-23 16:28:28,438 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] DEBUG - TAKE PICTURE ::: Shutter(MANUAL) Cable(DSUSB) Av(5.6) Duration(1.0) Iso(1600) Quality(RAW + JPEG Fine) Mirror(0) SaveTo(PC)
...

I have some suggestions in case this happens again.

1) Delete all the log files and try to re-create the issue. That way, if the issue happens again, you know which log file to show the community.

2) Keep things as simple as possible. For example you are shooting both RAW+JPG above but try just shooting RAW.

3) Don't be impatient. Let BYN time out after a minute rather than clicking the Abort button.

4) When collecting the data for an issue keep the unnecessary button clicks (like Dither) to a minimum. In fact turn Dither off when trying to recreate an issue.

Perhaps if Guylain sees this post he will have additional suggestions or a different read on what was happening."

Thanks for the suggestions. I appreciate the advice, and I'll use it.
I don't remember clicking the Dither button, but I must have done so just to see if the software was responding. 
For some reason I didn't think there was an option to turn off jpg. I'll gladly do that.

Thanks again.

Kevin

[admin]

Pretty sure this is the smoking gun. In your initial post you said 1/2000th of a sec. DSUSB is meant for BULB exposures. For non-BULB exposures < 30 seconds you should be using USB cable.

Regards,

[Kevinwalsh]

Got it.
I appreciate the follow up.

I'm still fully satisfied with both BYN and BYE, and expect to use them for the foreseeable future.
I haven't found another app I like as well.
Many thanks.

Kevin