Problem with software lagging

[Philip Benson]

Hi all,

I have a new laptop which has an i7 quad processor,  8GB memory is running Windows 10.    I have a QSI camera with a Lodestar guiding camera plugged into the built in OAG.    Both are plugged into a USB2 hub along with my mount (EQ8).  The hub then plugs into a USB3 port on the laptop. 

I am running Maxim DL6 and connect the mount using EQMOD.   I have no problems connecting to all devices and slew the telescope without problems to begin with.  However I experience intermittent time outs with EQMOD meaning I have to close it down and restart.   

Also I notice that Maxim can be a bit laggy as if the laptop is running slow.  Is this because I am channelling data from three separate devices through the same USB port on the laptop do you think?  I wondered whether changing to a USB3 hub would make any difference or whether I should attach the cameras separately to other USB ports on the laptop to 'spread the load'.   It must be something to do with having all three devices connected and running at the same time as the laptop works fine when I'm not imaging.

[Dave In Vermont]

There is one other possibility. As you're running on Windows10, this OS gets alot of complaints due to it's continuously being updated by it's creator - MicroSoft. Many have noted this slows it down to a crawl and often needs a restart after it's latest update.

I'd try up-grading to USB 3, if you can, and see if using separate ports solves the problem. If the problem persists, perhaps you could get the system up and running before you are planning to commence the work. Giving the OS time to get done talking with Big Daddy. Running i7 with quad-processors, you should have plenty of ability to run everything with ease. Or so I'd think.

Keep us informed, please. I'm planning to be doing something similar on mine soon enough. But I'm not running on 10. I've dressed my 'puter in Kevlar® to keep it from being "upgraded."

Good luck,

Dave

[Dr_Ju_ju]

As Dave has said, split out your USB ports to different ports on the laptop. While it is possible to run a USB 2.0 hub off a USB 3.0 port, every time I've tried it its' usually a recipe for disconnects etc..

[Cornelius Varley]

I would suggest that you split the devices between two usb ports on the laptop, or more if possible. Plug the cameras into separate ports on the laptop and then assign the remainder of the devices between the ports. 

[Oddsocks]

When the camera is downloading an image to the laptop it will grab all the bandwidth possible over the hub and slow down the data passing via eqmod to the mount, also, during guiding, each guiding frame download will similarly grab the available bandwidth.

If possible it is best to provide a single USB laptop port for each device, mount, guide camera and main camera but where this is not possible then try main camera and guide camera on one powered hub coming back to a single laptop USB port, then the mount on a separate active USB cable coming back to a different laptop USB port.

For the time being it is best to avoid USB 3 hubs, there are still too many issues with older hardware devices not being handled correctly.

Is the USB 2 hub you are using self powered or does it have an external power supply?

External powered hubs are generally better able to handle the high data rates during camera download and also provide the correct voltage to devices that take their power from the USB port such as the Lodestar guider.

Laptop USB ports can be a problem where although there are three or four physical USB sockets there may only be one physical controller so the maximum data rate is spread between the physical sockets, in this case it won't make any difference how you split up the USB cables between sockets as all the devices ultimately have to pass through the single controller. You would need to look in to the system information module to discover how your laptop is configured, often you will find two USB controllers, one used internally for the keyboard and touchpad or touch screen plus built in web cam and the other handling the external USB sockets, the best spec laptops will have three or four separate controllers. If you only have two built in USB controllers then a work around is to fit a USB express card as this will add a third controller with two or four more USB sockets and you can then move one of the devices to the express card.

First step would be to move the mount USB cable away from the hub and give it it's own direct to laptop connection, a single active USB extension cable would be fine for this since it does not have to provide power to the mount, only data.

In my own set up I use three separate 5m external powered USB 2 active extension cables, one for the guide cam, one for the QSI cam and one to the mount, which, being a Paramount MX, has a built-in USB hub with internal cables up to the OTA platform and one of those ports is used for the digital focuser. Until recently this was using a laptop with an additional express card as it only had two bult-in USB sockets but the laptop was written off following a soaking after falling asleep with the obs's open, now I am running a desktop with a second USB 2 card added so that gives me three physical USB controllers so each USB cable from the devices comes back to it's own controller, even though it is only an i3 processor there is no lagginess during operation.

[Oddsocks]

Hi all,

Also I notice that Maxim can be a bit laggy as if the laptop is running slow.  

I notice from one of your other posts that you are new to Maxim DL and I forgot to mention that Maxim behaves a little differently to other popular guiding and imaging programs so you may be mistaking apparent "lag" for normal Maxim behaviour, for instance, if you have set the main camera or guide camera in continuous download mode and you click the menu box to adjust the exposure time then nothing will happen until the current exposure has completed, only then will the menu window open for exposure time selection so it appears as if Maxim is non-responsive.

This behaviour affects other menus and options as well so long as either camera is in continuous download mode.

With either camera in continuous download mode it is quicker to stop or abort the exposure and then adjust the exposure time rather than trying to click on the exposure time menu otherwise you may have to wait ages before anything happens.

I have been using Maxim DL since version 4 and it has always worked that way irrespective of the PC hardware, it may seem rather clunky and the UI looks like something from a Windows 3.1 system of the nineteen eighties but once you get used to it works quite well.