WHY does BackYardEOS now FREEZES ?

[Oright]

Hi
I have read a few of the posts, but they do not answer my questions.

Upon checking Canon within Device Manager, I found it there DETECTED and working fine while BYEOS was on 'freeze'.

Wasted 2 hours last night trying to find out what the problem is!

Cables are fine, as I also checked this morning - suddenly after 1 or 2 minutes on 'focusing tab' when I go and click on 'Imaging' it freezes.
1. checked with short cables
2. checked with ACTIVE 10m extension [10m ?, yes and it works fine too - used 10m active extensions for years with anything and also free DSLR programs works fine - maybe just by luck]
3. computer protection programs ARE NOT stopping BYEOS in connecting or limiting BYEOS freedom - I am more thinking the problem might be your program security ... as in protecting it from trial to paid version might impair its full working order.
Nothing changes if protection programs are On or Off and BYEOS is in the good guys list - only possibility left [if noy BYEOS] is Windows itself [WIN7-64bit]

BYEOS also takes ages to run/load and I have a 2.5GHz Dual core CPU with 8Gb 800 memory HS4650 HD card [one of the more stable cards] = FAST

Is there something quite not right with this program we should know about?

Personally I never was a fan of this program - reason why I did not buy for years - then really seeing what was around I decided to buy.
Thing I do not like is how its interface interact with laptop screen - a bit like a cowboy shooting its guns all over - it is huge - but of course it will be me the problem!



Anyway, I am trying to make it work and not waste my hard earned cash and hard to find time and weather [I am in UK!], but I am really annoyed now.

I do not know what to do now and will send you some log files - last night and this morning with ONLY BYEOS on and camera connected - nothing else is USB conneted, even the mouse is on Bluetooth to save on USB load.

Is there a kind of NET/server connection within BYEOS uses that can cause Windows to mess things up?
It seems to me this program has some environmental problems - it must have several 'very small' bugs or the above - I wonder.

I am just grasping at clouds now ...

This morning like last night I got the FormFullScreenImagenot responding as soon as - while being on either Focusing or Planetary tab = LIVE - and clicked 'Imaging' - it freezes at that point.

So, I believe there MUST be a problem between BYEOS and Canon EOS LIVE and I mean that must be a problem with BYEOS programming.

Remember I was forced to MANUALLY set Canon to LIVE position or it would intermittently not work or not work at all or freeze 'again'


I hope to fix it soon as I was going to get my gears out tonight - if weather holds - I do not have much time any other day.

Good job I do have 2 CCD cameras and got on with them FAST with no problems at all with SAME 10m CABLES, but I needed EOS larger field of view last night!


Sorry, it is just my perception and it is what I feel - even before these problems.

Thanks for your help - this is the part I like, you usually are fast and on the point - rare these days.

Regards
M

LOGS will follow by DM


ADDITION: I also installed the latest 3.1.16 version as I had 3.1.13 on - no change

[Oright]

Hi
I am back!

As mentioned other times I am back and forward with Astronomy - I can disappear for a long time ... busy life ...

Anyway, returning back to this ... unless it was another post ... mmm

I am now running BYEOS on a WIN10 Intel i-5 very fast PC and it works VERY well indeed.

To end this old post, I also later found out the Canon 100D had a faulty PCB !

I sent it back and main PCB was replaced and since then I had no problems and using the 10m cables mentioned!

This confirms that 'standard' Chinese 10m well shielded and thick extension do work well.

Regards all

M

 

PS I was thinking to get an Altair 183c/m or similar, but then I still 'really' prefer to use a DSLR and I will open another post if I do not see any already open about upgrading DSLR model (within my modest pockets) and trying to get a highest possible QE (quantum efficiency) for the money - 100D if I remember well is at 43 ...

[Oright]

I am currently testing everything and let you know as this does not make much sense with a but ....

Answer might come soon ...

[Oright]

Right, it seems to be the 'QUALITY' of the Canon 'original' LOW QUALITY and supplied cable!

I have been connected with EOS for about 20 minutes now with no problems any-more.

The original Canon lead works fine if you use it straight connected to a Computer - nothing to do with program/s or the USB ports - mine are set to maximum voltage etc.

The original Canon cable is very THIN and it is another thing I never liked and always forget to replace it with a PROPER one!

The reason is very thin is because it lacks of 'proper' screening and cable thickness and when you connect it to a USB extension [mine is 10m but active = NO LOSS!] the Canon 1m cable becomes the signal dropper.
I have now replaced it with my other NIKON camera which is a higher specification cable 2.5 times thicker because it has thicker wires + each screened + overall screened too [ thanks you Nikon, another reason I prefer Nikon!] and I do not normally EVER get these THIN cables anyway.

My fault was - every time I used this Canon cable, it reminded me to replace it - then the next day I kept forgetting.

So, CANON ? YOU ARE A DISGRACE - for the money people spend on your cameras, you give them the cheapest cable you could find - probably costs you 10p each which normally retail 99p on eBay!
 

The other cable usually are £. 5 to £.15 each for a reason.

So, my fault for forgetting to replace this cable I knew would cause problems.

At least it seems to work for now - we will see.

Regarding BYEOS, I am still not a great fan - mainly for its interface [ the screen side of it] it is too huge and slow and when you first run it - apart from the long time to load all the scripts and I guess also checks for HDD space - I will thick that off too - when it opens in smaller sized view and you try and resize it the way you want, you cannot use CORNER sizing - only the sides and when you resize the bottom part it seems to have lost its grip on the program - as it always does not move with your mouse but just almost arbitrarily some times goes off screen [bottom] and the internal window [ where images appear ] does not re-size with it and this is before you click on Connect Camera button. Once you connect it reacts better.

I am still convinced this program has loads of small problems like this and of course I liked it enough to buy it!

 

One way or another it is about 25 years or more, I keep fixing Computer problems myself - quicker and better.

I hope this helps others.

Regards

M

NOTE: I also had problems with not being able to change ISO/etc. when in 'any' live view.

I do not know if it has been fixed in version 3.1.16 [from 3.1.13 I had] or if it is due to the cable as BOTH are possible- if signal level is too low, the Digital signal packet from / to the camera might reduce enough NOT to be able to act some control.

BYEOS now controls this better I believe.

Still working fine after possibly 1h  -so, it seems fixed - phew - I have everything working now, so hopefully it 'might' be fun again !

 

[admin]

Keeps us posted, looks like you had a bad run

Good job on troubleshooting the issue and finding the cable and the cause.  Cable deteriorate over time, even a good cable will after a few years.

The ISO may be caused by this too.  Let me know if this persists with the new cable.

Regards.

[astroman133]

I have used the same short USB cable that came with my camera for 6 years and it has never given me a problem, whether it is used by itself or with a longer extension cable. From my experience, I would say that there is nothing inherently wrong with the cable,  you just got a bad one.

You seem to relate the overall thickness of a cable with robustness. You are oversimplifying it.

100GB Ethernet cable is not shielded, but works just fine. The diameter of the conductor is what determines the electrical resistance per unit length of the cable. The diameter of the insulation is related to the operating voltage. Shielding is not always necessary.

With all that said, you do make some valid points about the BYE user interface. I am able to overlook theses weaknesses because of the logical layout and strengths of the U/I. The logical design and layout of the screen are two of the main reasons that I was attracted to BYE back in 2011. Of course, the program has changed quite a bit since then.

Things that could be improved.

1) Shorten the startup time...The time from when the program is launched to the time when the splash screen is displayed is quite variable on my 3.4GHz quad core i7 desktop. It varies from 10 seconds to 25 seconds. I have lost count of how many times I have launched 2 copies of BYE because there was no indication that the first instance was successfully launched. There appears to be room for improvement here. Immediate feedback is possible and also desirable. Visual Studio provides a facility to display a splash screen very early in the startup process...even before the application U/I initialization has begun. Perhaps this could be considered.

1a) From another post Guylain indicated that the elongated startup time was due in part to having to initialize 100 rows of the capture plan. The number of rows was increased from 25 to 100 to accommodate more complex capture plans needed when shooting the solar eclipse. However, there is no need to initialize the capture plan controls before the app is connected with a camera. Most of the time fewer rows are all that are needed. Perhaps making the number of rows a setup parameter (with a valid range from 15-100) could help speed startup.

2) I have no problem with re-sizing the main BYE window by dragging a corner to change both the height and width at the same time. The borderless window does make it a bit difficult to grab the corner resizing handle, however.

3) I am not able to re-create your issue where you are unable to change the ISO when LiveView is active. It works fine for me. Perhaps this was related to your faulty cable.

There are other small issues that will be addressed by the developers, given time. Most of these are not show stoppers, however. I am amazed at how much Guylain and Chris are able to do, while still working at day jobs. Still, I understand how frustrating it is to purchase a product and have issues with it behavies differently from what would be expected. This is why they offer a trial license where you can test the full version of BYE/BYN for a 30 day period. Most of this testing can be accomplished while the camera is sitting on a tripod in the house, during the day, with a lens attached. Still the focusing and drift alignment features can really only be tested in a live, dark sky environment. They have been more than generous with extending someone's license to allow them to be completely comfortable with the app before purchasing a permanent license.

I am glad that you figured out that your issues appear to have been related to a faulty cable. If Canon provided a mechanism for users to suggest improvements to the SDK I would be at the front of the line to suggest that they make it more tolerant of communication/connection glitches. Alas, there they do not provide any way for users or developers to give feedback. It has been a few years since I have looked in detail at the facilities provided by the SDK. It may be possible for Guylain to implement code so that BYE can attempt to recover from momentary glitches. It would certainly improve the robustness of the app as long as the app did not appear to lock up while trying to recover.

[Oright]

16 hours ago, astroman133 said:

Hi
Thank you for your input - it all help make sense of things.

Mine was not an oversimplification - it is  'that' simple sometime in Electronics - most people overthink everting these days [some Companies do it on purpose to keep maintaining their status and keep prices up!].
These days Technicians mostly have it simpler, since digital era as they [the modern technicians] have most circuitry ready to be used - rather than make then up from scratch and wonderful 'cheap' meters to keep signals checked - even making a PCB is simpler, as it mostly is logical circuitry - 101010101.

Anyway,  I also did mention cable thickness - I should have said 'wire' thickness to mean the internal wires and double screening make the difference too - like the 10m cables - they are double screened - the cable I used is 3 times thicker and that is normality.

Think a cable like a 'pipe' that metre is 'the weakest' point for a signal.

A bit like Digital TV - the carrier is still an analogue signal and the Digital Packet travels over it - analogues is the mule and digital is the passenger.
Weaken the mule = the passenger is late.
Signal = passenger.

At present connection seems not just OK, but better and the old cable is not intermittently connecting - it is fine and the proof is when used with that 10m extension it misbehaves - let's see what happens.

Many years ago I used to work in Telecommunications - of course type of  signal is different but cables 'make' the situation better or worse.
In the case of RF signals the maintaining of its impedance is very important and that is why when we extended Coaxial cables, we 'rarely' used connectors, but we actually opened cables and soldered them together and maintained its physical size to maintain its impedance - in the end it was not an extension any more- just a longer cable ... keeping its standard expected coaxial loss.

All well that ends well.

Regards
M