D5100 serial cable loses connection, serial port access denied!

[BigRD]

I'm currently evaluating BYN 2.0.2 with my D5100 and have run into some odd behaviour with the serial cable. 

My serial cable is a FTDI232 FT232RL USB-Serial

The camera connects fine with USB, my serial cable is connected on Com7 to a Win 10 PC.

If I set up an imaging session I receive an error access to com 7 denied. I then go to Frame & Focus and capture a frame then return to Imaging I can then carry out the capture plan. But, sometimes only 1 image is taken sometimes 3. The log states session cancelled even though I haven't touched the PC or camera. I retry and I'm back to access to com7 denied. 

I've tried using DSLR Shutter and everything works fine there on com 7 with every frame taken successfully.

Any tips would be appreciated I've only 13 days left of the trial and I've not managed a single session on my scope due to this......and clouds!

Thanks

Roy

[skaven]

I am having the same problem with my D90 using a USB FTDI serial adapter to control the shutter.  In BYN 1.x it works fine, but BYN 2.x (2.0.2 in my case) I get a COM port "access denied" error in the logs:

 

2017-03-26 21:31:46,414 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - Imaging session cancelled

2017-03-26 21:31:46,416 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] INFO  - Access to the port 'COM4' is denied.

2017-03-26 21:31:46,416 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR - Access to the port 'COM4' is denied.

2017-03-26 21:31:46,416 [CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved] ERROR -    at System.IO.Ports.InternalResources.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String str)

   at System.IO.Ports.SerialStream..ctor(String portName, Int32 baudRate, Parity parity, Int32 dataBits, StopBits stopBits, Int32 readTimeout, Int32 writeTimeout, Handshake handshake, Boolean dtrEnable, Boolean rtsEnable, Boolean discardNull, Byte parityReplace)

   at System.IO.Ports.SerialPort.Open()

   at BinaryRivers.CableProviders.SerialPortTerminal.Shutter(Boolean open)

   at BinaryRivers.Common.Model.CameraModelBase.DoCableShutter(Single mirrorlockseconds)

   at BinaryRivers.Camera.Nikon.CameraModel.<>c__DisplayClass25_0.<DoTakePictureBulb>b__0()

   at BinaryRivers.Common.ProviderInterfaces.Camera.CameraControllerBase.DoWithCameraLocked(Action action)

   at BinaryRivers.Camera.Nikon.CameraModel.DoTakePictureBulb(Boolean start, Single mirrorlockseconds)

   at BinaryRivers.Common.Model.CameraModelBase.TakePictureBulb(Single durationseconds, Single mirrorlockseconds, String progresstext)

   at BinaryRivers.Common.Model.CameraModelBase.<>c__DisplayClass73_0.<CameraTakePictureOnMessageRecieved>b__0()

 

The problem seems intermittent.  For example, I can start BYN 2.0.2 and take one photo in BULB mode (using the cable) but then the second photo fails due to cable init error.  Similarly, clicking "test cable" will work once, then trying subsequent times triggers the above error in the log.

 

I've tried running BYN as Adminisrator, but this did not solve the problem.  Switching back to BYN 1.0.5 (running as a non-admin user) works just fine.

[admin]

Is this intermittent or does it always work the first time and never the second time?

[skaven]

I think it always works the first time and never the second time...I'd have to run some more experiments to see.  Doing some Googling for similar issues, it seems this problem can come up when multiple references to the same COM port are made.  So perhaps the SerialPort object isn't being closed after use, or maybe it's closed but a reference to the object still exists, and so a subsequent open() call fails?

[admin]

You are close, I fixed a bug in September 2016 where there was an issue when the cable was not disposed between images.  I have a feeling yours does not work with this fix.

 

Let me look at how I can address this without resurrecting this old bug trying to make it work for yours.

[skaven]

If it helps, this is the serial adapter I'm using: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSX3CXE/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I have it wired up with a couple transistors so that the RTS signal triggers the shutter; you can find details of the build here: https://www.reddit.com/r/astrophotography/comments/4g9ztg/backyardnikoncompatible_usb_shutter_release_for/

[admin]

Did you try the Relay COM port option in BYN?  Does the relay option even work with your cable? Do you get the same behavior?

 

Regards,

[skaven]

I tried the relay-style COM port option, but it does not seem to work with my FTDI adapter.

[admin]

Ok, let me see what I can do to implement keep-alive on the cable as an option to reuse the same connection once it is open.