EOS Backyard V3 Hanging up

[MikeYRC54]

Hi Everyone,

     I am a begginer in using this software,and have had some good results with it,But now I am experiencing problems while downloading during liveview.It can go through a couple of 1000 frame sessions,then it hangs up during downloading about midway,freezing up during certain frames.I am certain that I have enough memory.I have Vista Buisness on my laptop with a 2.2 ghz quad core.The only way to unfreeze it is to switch the camera off and close eos and restart again.I have 4gb of ram.I dont think it is the software,It also shutdowns saying the camera has shutdown,losing connection somewhere.My laptop has several usb ports I had tried all,device manager states I have the USB 2,s,but sometimes I get that message that it can run faster on a USB2 port.Vista sometimes will not find the camera driver and asks for it again.It is now hanging up during just taking a couple of 100 frames.Has anyone had problems with Vista like this?Maybe time to go to windows 7? What version does eos run better on?I tried throttling down the frame rate,but that does not help much. anyone got any suggestions...Thanks,...Mike

 

   Canon Ti3/600D

   10' LX 200

    Dell Lat D360 Laptop

[MikeYRC54]

Hey Guys,

     Thanks for your help in solving my issues with the camera in liveview,I will do that and see what my temp is during sessions.I believe the USB to external was not a good idea as I thought the same.I usually download to my laptop,then clear it into  the external for later processing to save space.I plan to eventually to take my desktop outside and see if it does better than the laptop for a comparison.I think the not clearing out enough space on my laptop was causing most of the problems of it hanging up.Will let you know what happens on next sessions..Thanks for all help...clear skies...Mike

[astroman133]

By far, the greatest single cause of problems is the cabling between the camera and the computer.  So you had sessions where you had no issues, and sessions where there were problems.  What was different, especially the cabling, between those two sessions?  Often astro gear is portable and is taken down between sessions.  The next time it is set up, the cabling may not be exactly the same.  That is the same cables connected to the same ports.

 

The fact that the O/S cannot find the camera also points to the cabling or port used.  Verify that all the ports are identical, USB 2.0 ports.  It would not have been abnormal to see a computer with a mix of USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 ports or a computer with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.  BTW, others have reported issues when trying to connect their camera to a USB 3.0 computer port.

 

I would try the same setup with a different, shorter cable.  If that is not possible, I would get a good quality active USB extension cable. 

 

If BYE starts and (mostly) runs normally, I would not think that the operating system would be the issue.

 

Keep us updated as to what you have tried and what you experienced.

[admin]

Hi Everyone,

     I am a begginer in using this software,and have had some good results with it,But now I am experiencing problems while downloading during liveview.It can go through a couple of 1000 frame sessions,then it hangs up during downloading about midway,freezing up during certain frames.I am certain that I have enough memory.I have Vista Buisness on my laptop with a 2.2 ghz quad core.The only way to unfreeze it is to switch the camera off and close eos and restart again.I have 4gb of ram.I dont think it is the software,It also shutdowns saying the camera has shutdown,losing connection somewhere.My laptop has several usb ports I had tried all,device manager states I have the USB 2,s,but sometimes I get that message that it can run faster on a USB2 port.Vista sometimes will not find the camera driver and asks for it again.It is now hanging up during just taking a couple of 100 frames.Has anyone had problems with Vista like this?Maybe time to go to windows 7? What version does eos run better on?I tried throttling down the frame rate,but that does not help much. anyone got any suggestions...Thanks,...Mike

 

   Canon Ti3/600D

   10' LX 200

    Dell Lat D360 Laptop

 

Are you sure it is freezing?  This looks to me like the camera terminated liveview due to overheating of the sensor after prolonged liveview session.

 

How long are you in liveview when this occurs? 1 minute, 10 minutes, more?

 

Regards,

[MikeYRC54]

Hi guy's,

 

        Thank's for your replies.I am using the cable that came with my Canon which is about 4 ft.I have no idea which USB slot is the enhanced 2.0,even though I have tried all,and they seem to do the same.It seems I have ok sessions for about the 1st 10  to 15 minutes in the planetary mode using live view to focus and take the frames,and while it is counting out the frames taken,it goes into a frozen count mode,stating busy.The dial circle is moving slowly the count stops and nothing works after that.I have waited to see if it was just catching up ,but nothing.The camera stays locked up and I have to turn the camera off and turn it back on,then I have to end EOS,and it states then it is not responding,in which I have to shut it down and restart it again.I try to take less frames,but it is starting to do the same even with those.I am running the camera with battery charged.I am in the Manual mode on the camera.Will try it again tonight.I have been able to get a good few sessions for saturn.I will try 500 at a time and see what it does and for how long before it hangs during frame count..Thanks...mike

[astroman133]

Mike,

 

If the camera is shutting down due to overheating when in Frame and Focus or Planetary Capture modes continuously for an extended period of time, you should be able to duplicate this without wasting observing/imaging time.  Just put a lens on the camera, or the body cap, and activate LiveView.  The camera does not even have to be connected to a computer.  See if you can duplicate the behavior.

 

Taking 500 vs. 1000 frames of a target should not solve any problem.  Even taking 1000 frames with a nominal frame rate of 15 fps would have LiveView active for only about a minute.

 

The overheating may be coming from using LiveView nearly continuously for an extended period of time along with the combination of a warm ambient temperature and heating of the camera due to the battery discharging from use and the sensor capturing photons.  I would suggest pausing LiveView, or navigating BYE to the Imaging screen (which closes the shutter and lowers the mirror), for a minute or two between captures to see if this changes your symptoms. You could also take a short Snap image from the Frame and Focus screen and look at the Camera Information Center to see what the sensor temperature is.  Temps upwards of 100 degF (38 degC) would not be unusual.

[admin]

It seems I have ok sessions for about the 1st 10  to 15 minutes in the planetary mode using live view to focus and take the frames,and while it is counting out the frames taken,it goes into a frozen count mode,stating busy.

 

Oh yeah, 15 minutes in liveview... the camera will most certainly terminate liveview without any warning to prevent the camera from overheating and cause internal damage.  This is a camera safety feature.

 

As Rick said, move away from liveview by going into "Image" mode to allow the mirror flips back down in between session to allow the sensor to cool down.

 

Keep us posted,

 

 

[MikeYRC54]

Hey guys.

 

   Thanks for the help in knowing about live view with the camera.I tried again last night and it didn't get past the first 100 frames,..Then, like a dummy I thought about how much memory I had on my laptop with all my other sessions,so I looked through all the files that was downloaded into EOS and the download file that the incomplete ones go and found a file that I somehow missed,as I try and clear out most recent ones into an external one,because this laptop does not have alot of memory to spare,which came to the amount found in that one file,so I believe what was happinging is that it was out of memory,and eos had nowhere to put it.So I cleared out the file which happened to be a whopping 20gbs.I started it again and got 3 500 frames sessions with no problems at almost 20 fps.So everybody...Check your memory space!!..Can I ask,is the frame rate taken determined by the camera or EOS?What frame rate should I use set in the Camera?So also I should let the camera sensor cool off after a certain amount of sessions?I am going to try and run my sessions into my external if that will work with no problems,of course thats going through my other USB.Will let you know what happens...Thanks for your help guy's..Mike

[s3igell]

LiveView, whether used for Frame&Focus or for Planetary Imaging, rather quickly loads the Camera Electronics and Sensor with Heat.  That Heat is readily detected in terms of additional Pixel Noise - both Hot Pixels and background "bloom" noise.  After any use of LiveView - even rather short duration - one will want to plan a "pause" of several minutes to allow the accumulated Heat to Dissipate as best it can (this might be appropriate time to use your Planetarium App or to set PHD2 into it's Calibration Routine or...).  

One can determine the current Camera Temperature value by performing a short exposure Preview image in Imaging mode or a Snapshot in Frame&Focus mode, and then reviewing the Temperature reported in the Camera Info Center once that Image is downloaded and processed.

Even during an Imaging Session, the Electronics will heat-up somewhat, but not to the level of LiveView Usage because most of the Heat generated seems to come from the Sensor Reading and Image Processing processes and not from the Photon Collection portion of each Exposure (which is substantially longer than the 1/15th-1/30th second LiveView Exposures).  The first couple of Imaging Exposures will record a rise in Temperature, but then that Temp will reach a rather level steady-state throughout the rest of the possibly hours-long Imaging Session.  (As ambient Air Temps drop through the Night, the steady-state Temp of the Camera might come down a similar amount, too.)

[s3igell]

I am going to try and run my sessions into my external if that will work with no problems,of course thats going through my other USB.

 

Recording Image Data coming from a USB Attached Camera onto an External USB Drive (especially an External HDD - but also just to a USB Thumbdrive) is usually counter-productive - especially on a low-power Netbook or Laptop.  These computers are usually based on value-priced or power-conscious chipsets which supply only one Root USB Hub - meaning all USB Ports exposed (or internally used) are going to share the same single USB Bandwidth.  Obviously, this means that incoming data from the Camera needs to Compete with outgoing data to the Storage Device - slowing all processes.

 

As well, since most External USB Storage Devices are Bus-powered, you are simply adding to the drainage of the Netbook / Laptop Battery and shortening your evening's Imaging time.