Tales of woe Part II

[mickw]

Finally got around to hooking my imaging setup together for a test.
At last I got a QHY driver that would actually work with W7 

Now the Canon doesn't want to play in either XP or W7 
Any attempt to operate the shutter causes APT to lock up or I get the BSOD.
After poking around places where you shouldn't poke around, I got the Canon to fire, it also works with the standard Canon remote lead.
I now suspect that the LX adapter or USB/Serial adapter is buggered (presumably because of the vast wetfullness at RV)

SO anybody going to the drinking session on Tuesday (I've seen the weather forecast) ?
I would like to try working adapters with my camera and laptop - I'll bring alleged duff items to eliminate the innocent 

Please please please

[Fay]

have you checked the port? (non alcoholic of course)

[RobertM]

Mick, I'll try and get along.  What adaptors would you need?

PS the port works a treat, even better with age

[mickw]

Yep, com port checked - another bonus with using APT is that it simply won't connect if wrong port is selected and it can't see the camera.

Robert I need to try a standard USB/Serial adapter and a Long Exposure adapter like -
http://astronomiser.co.uk/300d.htm#serial
http://astronomiser.co.uk/converters.htm#serusb

My LX adapter is home made using an opto isolator which should prevent BSOD or anything else bad getting back to the PC so something weird is going on.

the port works a treat, even better with age

And I believe I have sufficient age     

[Rocket Pooch]

Mick,

With a USB to Serial adaptor the normal cause is the driver for the adaptor, some adaptors cause all kinds of issues with Windows and Linux boxes (I know I have seen it a lot).  This is a guess, but can you check the version and name of the driver on the PC, if it's a Pacific driver your going to have some fun a lot of cheap adaptors are from Pacific corp.

Chris

[mickw]

The adapter runs on Prolific drivers (or rather it doesn't)
I've installed latest driver for W7 and on the XP partition, I installed latest XP drivers - it fails under either system
All has previously been working fine under XP, it just went cock head at last DSC which is why I am assuming damp damage.

Got one last thing to try - I'll renew the 2.5mm plug that goes on the end of the LX adapter to the camera - off to Maplins tomorrow.

I'm hoping the camera is OK as everything was left out covered in dew - Won't be doing that again.

[Rocket Pooch]

Mick,

The blue screen will probably bethe driver, whats the version number?  Also you can test it at home by leaving it on the bench running.

If you can get me the driver number I'll see if its newer than mine. I meant Prolific not Pacific before.

Chris

The is the driver website, http://www.prolific.com.tw/eng/downloads.asp?ID=31

[mickw]

Thanks for that Chris - I had managed to install older "latest" drivers 

Now got 3.3.17.203 on W7 and 2.0.16.166 on XP 

Unfortunately my fat fingers managed to snap off the connector in the camera adapter plug so can't try anything until I get to Maplins 


Cheers
Mick

[mickw]

Replaced plug on LX adapter, deleted and re-installed APT and Canon software on both W7 and XP and updated Prolific drivers.  New regulated PSU for USB hub.

Except for one BSOD under XP, all seems to be working OK - I'll be testing a lot before next DSC 

The laptop is a new W7 machine, I installed XP on a seperate partition and had to hunt around for most of the drivers - Duff USB controller drivers are a possibility but at least W7 seems happy.

BSOD error was - BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER which suggests to much demand for power on USB

[mickw]

Just made a very silly mistake
Used "Driver Genius" to install driver updates for XP
The stuff that wasn't working properly doesn't work at all, a load of the stuff that did work doesn't. 

Reinstated all the old drivers - at least the mouse works now 
I give up

Got APT capturing 20 x 5 min subs of the kitchen wall with PHD looping at a dark corner all on W7
If I get no problems I'll ditch XP and reinstall W7 to get rid of any spurious crap from previous tinkering

[JohnP]

Bloody hell Mick - what is it with you & software/ drivers.....you are certainly having your share of software problems... I wish I could help but not being a software pro I wouldn't have a clue. If it was mine I would go back to basics install one thing at a time i.e APT first - make sure it works repeatedly - turn computer on/off several times make sure it works. Then install guide cam - same thing on/off several times & if all is well install guide software.. Once it works leave it alone..

[mickw]

That's the killer John, it was all working perfectly and just went to pieces at last DSC 

Because all the astro software/hardware is interconnected, it could be anything that's causing the problem

[Mac]

Because all the astro software/hardware is interconnected, it could be anything that's causing the problem

na its just windows,
i'd stick to xp, all the drivers have been tried, tested and are known to work.
As for W7 it is at best junk.

Windows 7 might as well be classed as a symbian o/s where you cant change anything.

Mac.

[mickw]

That's the other killer, it all seems to be working fine on W7 but is buggered on XP - (on this machine anyway)

I think there are things in the hardware that are just not designed to work under XP.

The main thing at the moment is to get one system working - any system - and at the moment, W7 seems to be the one.

[Mac]

W7 seems to be the one.

Oh well.

[Rocket Pooch]

na its just windows,
i'd stick to xp, all the drivers have been tried, tested and are known to work.
As for W7 it is at best junk.

Oh dear! thats good advice, I think what you will find XP is probably not supported on all the new kit thats out there.

Gota love this forum its more anti Microsoft than most of the LAMP houses I know?

[PhilB]

I blame Microsoft's "let's keep the code secret" policy. If third party developers had unrestricted access to the source code they'd be much more able to write things like drivers that didn't lock up the operating system.

[Mac]

If third party developers had unrestricted access to the source code they'd be much more able to write things like drivers that didn't lock up the operating system.

They dont, the operating system does it all by itself. 

Even the military dont use windows any more.

http://www.slothmud.org/~hayward/mic_humor/nt_navy.html

they should have stuck to unix.

[PhilB]

Even the military dont use windows any more..

Don't they?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10129373-42.html

So there's your answer, Mick - develop your own version of XP  

[Rocket Pooch]

 

Now I would not like to work in that Sub, aim missiles press button and wait!

Also just to put things right, Linux and its clan are open systems, Apple is a closed OS.

This is why there are fewer Apple apps, and I'm not talking about the phone, but then agains there are only a few systems needed.

The Lnix world has a lot of free software complete with security holes, viruses, bad drivers and memory leaks etc.

All these systems have big issues with them, I just think its funny on this forum the answer is always format it and install XP.  Dos was a lot more stable.

[mickw]

I'm not a great fan of windows although I find XP relatively simple to get around (or I did) but I believe the US excuse is crap.
The guts of NT will have been torn apart by the military the same as used on the UK sub.
The "application" that runs under NT would not have been found on a shelf in PCWorld under "Missile Launch and Control" software, it would likely have been written in house by some geek in the military.  Now this is where it gets scary, somebody wrote the software that would accept clearly wrong commands, I wonder if they consider Launch and Target being at the same location would be very wrong 


I have now removed XP from my laptop and given W7 a quick decoke and will continue my testing 
There we are, it's back on topic 

[mickw]

Perhaps a little premature but I am in the process of controlling the mount, camera, guiding with EQMod, APT, PHD and Starry Night all on W7 

I have a sequence of 15x300 secs and 15x60 secs running and imaging NGC7000 - actually it's a spot on the window but I lied to Starry Night.

I could do with a 7 or 10 port powered USB hub, so a trip to Maplins is on the horizon.

Just to show impartiality, I'm typing this on the Mac 

Thanks to Duncan for the tips

[Fay]

Hope Starry Night doesn't find out!!!!! You could get punished!!!!

[mickw]

You could get punished!!!!

I'd better get round the pub then in case my beer privileges get revoked 

[The Thing]

I have a sequence of 15x300 secs and 15x60 secs running and imaging NGC7000 - actually it's a spot on the window but I lied to Starry Night.

My last attempt at NGC7000 looked a bit like a spot on the window on a dark night.

Since you know the special incantations to get SN to work on W7 you could always invoke the threat of the SUPPORT KNOWLEDGEBASE if SN starts to play hard to run.

[mickw]

you could always invoke the threat of the SUPPORT KNOWLEDGEBASE if SN starts to play hard to run.

As long as I don't have to know what it means