BYE Busy and Hangs

[Tbear]

I've been using BYE for a year now with no issues. Twice yesterday while taking 90 second subs at ISO 800 with my Canon M6 Mark II ( which I have always used ), I went out to check my system and it was hung with the word BUSY. I found a couple of posts on this forum of folks with the same issue but I could never find how they resolved the issue.

Attached is my log. The last picture that downloaded was at 11:05 so I started the log at 11 pm since the entire thing was too big to load.  That was after taking pictures for the last hour or so. Same computer, camera, software, hardware for the last year - no change that I know of in my system because if it works I don't mess with it! 

Camera is hooked directly into my computer USB port; other devices (guide camera, polemaster, etc) are on a powered hub. I've got the connection to the camera strain relieved so it doesn't wriggle the connection as the mount tracks. The second time it happened, I shut the camera and computer completely off, started over, and after about an hour it happened again.

Using an Acer Concept D computer - fast microprocessor and lot of solid state disk space. I checked that its not saving the pictures on the camera card. 

Running latest version of BYE premium.

Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

 

BYE BUSY issue log.txt

[astroman133]

I tried to duplicate your issue with BYE 3.2.2 and my T5i on Windows 10. Pro 64-Bit.

I had problems with BYE hanging while downloading images that were not consistent. That is sometimes images would download just find and sometimes they would not. I listed BYE 3.2.2 with Windows Defender Firewall and am up to 63 90-second images with no problems.

It seems that I had whitelisted BYE 3.1.18, but not 3.2.2. That seems to have fixed me. I will post back here if the capture plan of 105 90-second images does not finish completely.

[Tbear]

12 hours ago, admin said:

I see no evidence that the camera was disconnected, so I pretty sure it will still show up in Device Manager, but it is worth taking a look at it just in case.

I set the BYE parameters as you suggested in your last post. I also checked the device manager after the system hung as described below and it was still there as you figured it would be.

I had some time to run indoor tests today and using 3 second exposures (figuring the problem was not related to exposure time) I gave the system a pretty good workout. To my surprise, the system hung after only 12 exposures. Although it reached a target of 60 twice and 100 once, after resetting the system each time, it also failed after 18, 3, 26, 30, and 22 exposures. I repeated some of the testing with the Canon pigtail (18 inch) cable that came with the camera and although it seemed to do better reaching my target of 60 four consecutive times, on the fifth test it hung after 22 exposures.

So, I don't think it is the cable.

I then booted up NINA and took 100 three second exposures twice with my regular 6 ft imaging cable and once with the Canon pigtail without any issue. I ran out of time to do anything further indoors.

So tonight, I decided to use NINA. I took 120 90 second exposures and 20 darks without any issue.  

 I really haven't tested NINA enough yet to draw any conclusions. BYE has worked great for a year but who knows what Microsoft does with their updates. Perhaps some gremlins have crept in; I just don't know.

 At least I can cause the issue to occur with indoor testing. That will be helpful as I try to figure out what solutions might work without having to waste clear sky time. 

 

[Tbear]

13 hours ago, astroman133 said:

It is very odd to me that BYE can take 99 images but yet hang on the 100th image.  Software is usually very good about doing the same thing over and over.

How many images were you set to capture in the run?

Where were you saving the images to? PC? Camera? Both?

Saving RAW or JPG or Both?

How much RAM in the PC?

I certainly agree on how odd this is. I was targeting 110 images the night the issued occurred. I was saving the images to only the PC and only RAW to a folder in the 'documents' folder. I've got 16 GB of ram and a ton of disk drive space. 

Thanks for your interest in my problem. See a post I just wrote to the Admin about today's activities...

[Tbear]

10 hours ago, astroman133 said:

I tried to duplicate your issue with BYE 3.2.2 and my T5i on Windows 10. Pro 64-Bit.

I had problems with BYE hanging while downloading images that were not consistent. That is sometimes images would download just find and sometimes they would not. I listed BYE 3.2.2 with Windows Defender Firewall and am up to 63 90-second images with no problems.

It seems that I had whitelisted BYE 3.1.18, but not 3.2.2. That seems to have fixed me. I will post back here if the capture plan of 105 90-second images does not finish completely.

That's an interesting comment. Thanks for your interest. I have never listed anything with Windows Defender and quite frankly I'm not quite sure how, but I can find out. I'll be anxious to see what happens with your test.

I posted an update of today's findings to the Admin. I did some indoor testing.

Keep me posted.

Thanks

Ted

[astroman133]

Once I  whitelisted BYE 3.2.2 with Windows Defender my problems with BYE were solved.

Here is how I configured Windows Defender to allow BYE to operate:

Click on the Windows Start button and type "fire" and click Open:

This opens the Windows Defender Firewall configuration applet. Click on "Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall"

Click on Change Settings to make the application and feature list editable. Scroll down to find the Binary Rivers apps. Each version of BYE has 4 apps for cameras 1-4 and I have both BYE 3.1.18 and 3.2.2 installed, so you see 8 items. Make all the apps available on both private and public networks (think for use at star parties). When done click OK.

I hope this helps.

[Tbear]

6 hours ago, astroman133 said:

Once I  whitelisted BYE 3.2.2 with Windows Defender my problems with BYE were solved.

Here is how I configured Windows Defender to allow BYE to operate:

Click on the Windows Start button and type "fire" and click Open:

This opens the Windows Defender Firewall configuration applet. Click on "Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall"

Click on Change Settings to make the application and feature list editable. Scroll down to find the Binary Rivers apps. Each version of BYE has 4 apps for cameras 1-4 and I have both BYE 3.1.18 and 3.2.2 installed, so you see 8 items. Make all the apps available on both private and public networks (think for use at star parties). When done click OK.

I hope this helps.

Thanks so much. I'll give it a try!

Ted

[Tbear]

18 hours ago, astroman133 said:

Once I  whitelisted BYE 3.2.2 with Windows Defender my problems with BYE were solved.

Here is how I configured Windows Defender to allow BYE to operate:

Click on the Windows Start button and type "fire" and click Open:

This opens the Windows Defender Firewall configuration applet. Click on "Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall"

Click on Change Settings to make the application and feature list editable. Scroll down to find the Binary Rivers apps. Each version of BYE has 4 apps for cameras 1-4 and I have both BYE 3.1.18 and 3.2.2 installed, so you see 8 items. Make all the apps available on both private and public networks (think for use at star parties). When done click OK.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I really appreciate them. Interestingly enough, BYE wasn't even on the firewall list but I was able to add it x4 as you indicated.  I took 800 three second exposures with BYE without one hang. I was thrilled. The day before I couldn't get past 60 most of the time.

From my test background, I couldn't be totally sure the problem was solved unless I could undo the solution and recreate the problem. So I deleted the BYE entries in the firewall and fully expected to repeat the previous days failures. I then took 700 exposures without one hang which leaves me totally perplexed. I then added BYE back in the firewall and left it there.

Not wanting to risk having a problem tonight with a beautiful sky, I used NINA to take 120 90 second lights and 20 darks without a problem. By the way, NINA was already on the firewall list with the boxes checked; nothing that I ever did.

Thanks for your advice. By process of elimination and a lot of patience I'm determined to figure this out. As an engineer, I can't let a problem go unsolved, even if there is a work around (NINA).

 

[admin]

9 hours ago, Tbear said:

Thanks for the detailed instructions. I really appreciate them. Interestingly enough, BYE wasn't even on the firewall list but I was able to add it x4 as you indicated.  I took 800 three second exposures with BYE without one hang. I was thrilled. The day before I couldn't get past 60 most of the time.

From my test background, I couldn't be totally sure the problem was solved unless I could undo the solution and recreate the problem. So I deleted the BYE entries in the firewall and fully expected to repeat the previous days failures. I then took 700 exposures without one hang which leaves me totally perplexed. I then added BYE back in the firewall and left it there.

Not wanting to risk having a problem tonight with a beautiful sky, I used NINA to take 120 90 second lights and 20 darks without a problem. By the way, NINA was already on the firewall list with the boxes checked; nothing that I ever did.

Thanks for your advice. By process of elimination and a lot of patience I'm determined to figure this out. As an engineer, I can't let a problem go unsolved, even if there is a work around (NINA).

 

This is interesting, glad that worked.  Keep us posted.

[Tbear]

On 2/1/2022 at 8:43 AM, admin said:

This is interesting, glad that worked.  Keep us posted.

Unfortunately, my problem has not been solved. Its random and sporadic. Imaged fine night before last for 2 1/2 hours; last night after 2 hours the system hung.

I have read that there is an open source ASCOM DSLR driver. Perhaps you can help me with the following question:

If I install this ASCOM driver, when I boot up BYE will it automatically use the ASCOM driver or will it still do its own thing still with my Canon? Or will another choice come up in the camera selection menu reflecting the " ASCOM " Camera. So, my question is, how do I get BYE to use this other driver.

I'm really running out of options.  My next steps are to try this other driver, upgrade the firmware in my camera (although the latest upgrade has nothing to do with my issue), and ultimately upgrade my system to Windows 11 (which it has been asking me to do for a while now). I've hesitated simply because I like to wait until bugs have been worked out of new operating systems.

By the way, several months ago a similar thing happened using NINA. I got an error message -  " Camera timeout - Camera did not set image as ready after exposure time + 60 seconds " I wrote it off because I thought I might have bumped the touch screen during a meridian flip and triggered the shutter and messed things up but perhaps that wasn't the case.  I'm beginning to think that was the very first time this happened. I primarily use BYE so it seemed like an isolated incident with NINA at the time.

Thanks for you continued help....

 

[astroman133]

ASCOM.DSLR will allow supported cameras to be controlled from applications that support the ASCOM camera specification.

BYE does not currently support the ASCOM camera specification. It supports the camera natively through the Canon EOS Software Development Kit.

I will say that I have seen a handful of causes for the sporadic hangs that you are seeing. 1) flaky cables and connectors, 2) use of an unpowered travel hub, 3) saturation of a USB port on an under-powered PC, 4) Windows powering USB ports down,  and 5) interference from antivirus and firewall software.

There may be a few more, like a software bug, but those are the issues come to mind. I did not include a bug in the previous paragraph because it would likely affect all users and so there would be many more reports of this symptom.

[admin]

Sporadic behavior is environmental by definition.  A program, given the same workflow, will always fallow the same execution path, and for this reason, it leaves very little doubt about the root cause being environmental.

I have exhausted everything I know, except perhaps trying it on another computer and see if the behavior returns; that would be interesting if it does (or not).

We have a lot of back and forth, but have you done a factory reset on the camera?

[admin]

3 hours ago, Tbear said:

I have read that there is an open source ASCOM DSLR driver. Perhaps you can help me with the following question:

If I install this ASCOM driver, when I boot up BYE will it automatically use the ASCOM driver or will it still do its own thing still with my Canon? Or will another choice come up in the camera selection menu reflecting the " ASCOM " Camera. So, my question is, how do I get BYE to use this other driver.

 

This won't change a thing IMO, behind the scene, the ASCOM driver uses BYE API to trigger the capture. As you said, you are running out of options, so anything goes.

That is making me thinking outside the box.  Have you tried inserting a 5'ish second pause between exposures?  If this is a timing issue, it may have a positive outcome.

[Tbear]

26 minutes ago, astroman133 said:

I will say that I have seen a handful of causes for the sporadic hangs that you are seeing. 1) flaky cables and connectors, 2) use of an unpowered travel hub, 3) saturation of a USB port on an under-powered PC, 4) Windows powering USB ports down,  and 5) interference from antivirus and firewall software.

Thanks again for your response:

1 - tried two different cables; one that came with the camera and the longer one I use when I image - occurred with both

2 - I'm using a powered hub. Have plugged camera into it and also directly into computer with same result

3 - I have a high end PC I bought specifically for astro imaging

4 - I've set the USB ports never to power down

5 - I've gone into the firewall and told it to be nice to BYE

So by process of elimination, I will continue to try and solve this. I am totally convinced it is not a BYE bug. As you said, there would be lots more complaints. I can find little on the internet from people with a similar issue.

Tbear

[Tbear]

14 minutes ago, admin said:

 We have a lot of back and forth, but have you done a factory reset on the camera?

Funny you should mention that. This morning I did a firmware upgrade and a factory reset on the camera. I probably should have done the reset a long time ago. I doubt the firmware is involved but who knows...

Tbear

[Tbear]

13 minutes ago, admin said:

 That is making me thinking outside the box.  Have you tried inserting a 5'ish second pause between exposures?  If this is a timing issue, it may have a positive outcome.

Please continue to think outside the box. I haven't tried the pause but will do that the next time around. Thanks for the suggestion.

Using another computer is certainly an option, I just hate to have to load everything on it but if I've exhausted everything else, that becomes another option.

Thanks for giving me more ideas. Please let me know if you think of anything else.

Tbear

[s3igell]

On 2/11/2022 at 12:37 PM, Tbear said:

3 - I have a high end PC I bought specifically for astro imaging

This sometimes isn't about the overall CPU (or even full MB / Component quality), as Higher-End Astro Cameras (not necessarily DSLRs) are known to over-saturate the USB3 Bus (using the direct Read-out capability of the Onboard Controller and little regard for USB flow-control protocol) to the point that current generation ASI and QSI Cameras come with 256MB of Buffer RAM and Capture Software has implemented USB Bus Throttling.  There isn't much that BYE can do in the equivalent case for DSLR Connection, but you might explore all the Deep Setup Menus of your Camera.

 

On 2/11/2022 at 12:43 PM, Tbear said:

I haven't tried the pause but will do that the next time around.

Hopefully, you are able to test all of this at the Desk or Kitchen Table, and NOT wasting Good Clear Nights...

[Tbear]

23 hours ago, s3igell said:

but you might explore all the Deep Setup Menus of your Camera.

 

Hopefully, you are able to test all of this at the Desk or Kitchen Table, and NOT wasting Good Clear Nights...

Thanks for your reply  

I have looked at all the menus of my camera and other than disabling the power saver features ( which I did a long time ago ) there just doesn’t look like there is too much else to change.

I have spent a good deal of time kitchen table testing this but the sporadic nature of the problem makes it difficult. On several occasions I thought the issue was gone only to have it return. 
 

After doing a firmware update and factory reset of the camera and putting a 5 second pause between pics in BYE I imaged for over three hours last night ( 105 subs ) with no problem. Again I’m encouraged, but only time will tell if it’s gone. 

[Tbear]

Well, two nights in a row with over 3 hours of exposures each  night with no problem.  Keeping my fingers crossed….

[astroman133]

OK, so what changes did you make between now and the last time that the software hung?

Firmware update on the camera?
Factory reset of the camera?
Insert a delay in BYE between exposures?
Others?

[Tbear]

1 hour ago, astroman133 said:

OK, so what changes did you make between now and the last time that the software hung?

Firmware update on the camera?
Factory reset of the camera?
Insert a delay in BYE between exposures?
Others?

Those are the latest. The firewall settings are still changed, the auto power down of the USB ports are still disabled. But I still had issues after those changes. Not until the three you mentioned above did I not have an issue. However, it’s only been two outings comprising six hours and a couple of hundred images. It will be a while until I’m convinced I’m okay. 

[astroman133]

Well, at some point I would suggest that you remove the delay. It "should" not make any difference.

Glad you have had a few good sessions!

[Tbear]

3 hours ago, astroman133 said:

Well, at some point I would suggest that you remove the delay. It "should" not make any difference.

Glad you have had a few good sessions!

I agree. But at the moment, if it works I’m not going to change anything!

[Tbear]

Yet another successful night. Took 188 60s subs with a 5 sec pause; then 50 flats with no pause, then 50 dark flats with no pause. 
 

I’m cautiously optimistic. So was it the:

1. Firmware update on the camera

2. Factory reset of the camera

3. Adding a 5 sec pause between subs

Let me know what your vote is! 
 

Ted

[astroman133]

Most likely in my mind #2 which may have reset a non-default camera setting that was interfering with BYE. However, it may also have been that for your camera's firmware was somehow not fully compatible with the version of the Canon SDK that is used by BYE 3.2.2.

You could eliminate #3 by removing the pause and testing at the kitchen table where you would not be potentially wasting a clear dark night. If this causes the issue to happen again, this might be something that Guylain could fix.

[Tbear]

1 hour ago, astroman133 said:

Most likely in my mind #2 which may have reset a non-default camera setting that was interfering with BYE. However, it may also have been that for your camera's firmware was somehow not fully compatible with the version of the Canon SDK that is used by BYE 3.2.2.

You could eliminate #3 by removing the pause and testing at the kitchen table where you would not be potentially wasting a clear dark night. If this causes the issue to happen again, this might be something that Guylain could fix.

Thanks for your reply  

I needed to redo some flats and dark flats so I set up in the garage this morning and took another 100 exposures ( 50 each ) with no pause and no issue. A reminder that I’ve been using BYE 3.2.2 and my Canon for a year with no problem so I’m thinking ( hoping ) that the firmware upgrade, as you said, reset something that was interfering with things. Time will tell….

[belliott4488]

Argh ... I discovered this thread after a frustrating evening where I suffered from what sounds like the same problem. After 17 successful image3, I aborted the capture plan to adjust my framing and then restarted the capture. From that point forward BYN (I'm using a Nikon DSLR) was unable to save any images to file, despite several manual disconnects and restarts.

I'm not 100% sure this is the same problem, but I can give more details. First I want to check, however - is it better to post my issues on this thread, assuming it's the same problem, or should I start a fresh one, especially considering that I'm using BYN rather than BYE?

[astroman133]

belliott4488, please create a new thread so people reading this thread are not confused.

Also, read through this thread to see what the OP changed to eliminate his issue.

I would look at configuring the USB ports to never power down, make sure that BYN is allowed through your firewall software, and also do a factory reset on the camera. You should also connect the camera to the PC with a short known good cable.

Then try BYN again.

When you create a new thread, it should be in the BackyardNikon forum. Also please provide the camera model and the version number for BYN.

And finally, never post your BYN license key in any public forum, including here.

Thanks,

[belliott4488]

7 hours ago, astroman133 said:

belliott4488, please create a new thread so people reading this thread are not confused.

Also, read through this thread to see what the OP changed to eliminate his issue.

I would look at configuring the USB ports to never power down, make sure that BYN is allowed through your firewall software, and also do a factory reset on the camera. You should also connect the camera to the PC with a short known good cable.

Then try BYN again.

When you create a new thread, it should be in the BackyardNikon forum. Also please provide the camera model and the version number for BYN.

And finally, never post your BYN license key in any public forum, including here.

Thanks,

Thanks - will do!

[Tbear]

Well, another successful night of about 3 hrs of imaging taking 4 minute subs. I’m actually beginning to think my problem is solved. I’m still using a 5 sec pause between subs and as mentioned above had updated the camera firmware ( the change in the firmware notes had nothing to do with anything I use the camera for ), and then a factory reset of all the camera settings seemed to have done the trick. I still keep my fingers crossed every time I image but certainly am feeling better about things. When I get brave, I’ll drop the 5 second pause. 
 

Thanks once again for those that have given me suggestions to solve this really aggravating problem. 
 

Tbear

[Tbear]

This will be my last post on this problem (hopefully).

Since my last post on Feb 21st, I have had multiple imaging sessions, taken tons of lights, flats, etc. and not once has the system hung. I'm convinced the problem is behind me and the changes that did the trick were the firmware update of the camera and factory reset of the camera settings. I have used the 5 second pause for lights, but not for all the flats and dark flats I have taken so I'm thinking the pause isn't necessary but was worth a try during the trouble shooting process.

Unless this recurs - Thanks again for everyone's help and Admin's patience trying to help me solve the issue.

 

Tbear