Thoughts on which imaging rigs to concentrate on

[Gina]

It seems to be blocking all the web sites I want to download from   Won't even let me onto the Firefox page!  I know it already has 3 browsers installed - MS Edge, Opera and Chromium but I like Firefox and used to it.

Had a thought...  Maybe download software on my Win7 desktop and copy it across to the Beelink.

[Davey-T]

You can get a legal copy Win7 Pro for about £30.00 of EBay, s'wat I did, still in two minds whether to bin Win10, I like the layout of it but it seems even more of MS knows best than previous versions.

If you buy a new Win10 laptop they usually give you the option to upgrade to Pro version for about £40.00 extra, well  worth it.

Dave

[Gina]

Downloaded data from last night onto Linux Mint desktop, went through the subs with Blink in PixInsight and discarded poor and duff frames leaving 75 OIII subs of 60s Heart and Soul at -30°C.  Now running BPP in PI.

[Gina]

3 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

You can get a legal copy Win7 Pro for about £30.00 of EBay, s'wat I did, still in two minds whether to bin Win10, I like the layout of it but it seems even more of MS knows best than previous versions.

If you buy a new Win10 laptop they usually give you the option to upgrade to Pro version for about £40.00 extra, well  worth it.

Dave

Thanks Dave Problem is how to replace the OS with anything else as it won't boot from anything other than the SSD straight into Win 10.  Looks like I'll have to open the box (or send it back).  Also, there is no option in the OS for upgrading to Pro.

[Gina]

Integration of 75 OIII 60s subs of Heart and Soul turned out a bit disappointing but I guess it's not sufficient data for a decent result - the Ha used 200 and the OIII is much fainter.  Still, the forecast is good for tonight so should be able to get more.  Hopefully tonight will be better than last night which was plagued with bits of cloud.

[Gina]

Been looking at other mini PCs but this is by far the best value for what it contains even without an OS.  I could send it back but what would I get in its place, that's the question.  More and more the option of opening it up and installing another OS on the SSD is looking best.

[Gina]

Found the way to access the setup screen - press Delete while powering up.  However, the boot order options do not include booting from USB - just [Windows Boot Manager] which was what it was set to and two UEFI options both of which boot into a shell but whether that is of any use I don't know.  Took a photo of the display which I've attached.

[Demonperformer]

On 04/11/2016 at 11:56, Gina said:

Another possibility might be to run KStars/Ekos locally and save images to micro SD card then take the next day to transfer the data to the indoor desktop Linux Mint machine ready for processing.  I might look into some of these possibilities later but ATM I would prefer to spend my time capturing images (weather permitting) and processing data.  Plus getting to grips with PixInsight.

Could you save onto a stick using one of the usb ports and then process directly from that? Don't know how much longer that would take to process compared to an internal drive and how that would compare to the time involved in transferring your original data - I have always done mine from a usb drive, so maybe I'm just used to that speed and would be amazed if I ran it from an internal.

[ChrisLX200]

35 minutes ago, Gina said:

Found the way to access the setup screen - press Delete while powering up.  However, the boot order options do not include booting from USB - just [Windows Boot Manager] which was what it was set to and two UEFI options both of which boot into a shell but whether that is of any use I don't know.  Took a photo of the display which I've attached.

What's option 3? looks like a storage device - but it's below Windows boot manager so won't be seen...

ChrisH

[hughgilhespie]

Gina,

Have alook at this site. It may help.

http://www.howtogeek.com/175649/what-you-need-to-know-about-using-uefi-instead-of-the-bios/

Regards, Hugh

[Gina]

21 minutes ago, ChrisLX200 said:

What's option 3? looks like a storage device - but it's below Windows boot manager so won't be seen...

ChrisH

I thought I tried making this "number one" and it went to the shell, same as the other UEFI option but now I'm not so sure.

A little later...  Tried it with this option at the top with Windows second and it booted into Win10.  The USB stick is indeed a Verbatim.  It's the one I use to boot with Linux Mint or Ubuntu but doesn't boot on this box

[Gina]

15 minutes ago, hughgilhespie said:

Gina,

Have alook at this site. It may help.

http://www.howtogeek.com/175649/what-you-need-to-know-about-using-uefi-instead-of-the-bios/

Regards, Hugh

Thanks Hugh - I'll have a read

[Gina]

Very useful link Hugh

Found the problem with the USB boot - tried booting another machine from it and it didn't - went into the HD OS.  Guess the USB stick has got corrupted.  Could have happened first time I plugged it into the Win10 box - it said it was corrupted and did I want to fix it.  I didn't but I do wonder if Win 10 did something to it anyway.

So if I make a bootable USB stick again I should be able to boot the Beelink box from it with any luck.

[Gina]

Imaging Heart and Soul in OIII - 60s subs, the usual gain of 50dB and -30°C.   Slightly different framing from previous but adequate to cover the objects.  Didn't want to spend too much time framing.

[Gina]

Capturing is still going well

Win 10 seems to be behaving itself now   Ran ASCOM installer and it found the MS .NET thingy just leaving the C++ runtimes but it said it would automatically download and install them so I just clicked Next and the installation went ahead all the way through  

Then went to download EQASCOM but Firefox on Win 10 couldn't find the SourceForge server so I downloaded it on my Win 7 desktop and copied the file to Win 10 with TeamViewer.  EQASCOM then installed fine in Win 10

Next I went back to Firefox on Win 10 and downloaded the ASCOM drivers for ASI1600MM-Cool camera and the ZWO EFW and installed them.  Then on to APT download and installation, which also went fine

I think that's about it for the Beeline box for imaging.  I downloaded and installed SharpCap before.

Edited November 5, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

I plugged the unbootable USB stick into my Win 7 desktop and copied the ISO files to the HD.  Then Googled "making bootable USB sticks" and Rufus was suggested as a quick and simple to do the job so I downloaded that and used it to create a Linux Mint bootable USB stick.  Went fine though took a while   So I should have the ability to install Linux Mint on the Beeline box - probably as a dual boot system with Win 10 if there's enough room.

I wonder if Win 10 knew this and decided to play ball

[Gina]

I have now shutdown the Beeline box - Win 10 downloaded a whole heap of updates then shut down.  I'll run the ASC now that I have a spare socket to plug in its PSU   I really must get a bigger distribution socket box!

[Gina]

Hmm...  There's some little bobbles of cloud about so my imaging run is not going to be perfect.

[Gina]

Currently downloading several hundred 32MB data files to the PI desktop ready for checking with Blink.

Considerable variation from quite good to totally duff frames but I've certainly got some reasonable OIII subs of the Heart and Soul   This is an average one - admittedly this is histogram stretched in Photoshop but there is data there.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Gina

[Gina]

Today I'm planning to move the all sky camera from its testing position to its proper working location beside the observatory and attached to the framework.

I think I also have the Beelink mini PC ready for use in the observatory and will be looking into its mounting, with some sort of hood to keep dew off it while still allowing ventilation.  It requires 12v @ 3A and could be run off the main observatory power supply making it power-cut proof but for initial testing I shall use its supplied PSU.  I might need to run another cable back to the warm room to cater for the extra current when running of the DC supply.

[Gina]

Tried the new Mint bootable USB stick in one of my laptops and it worked fine but when I tried it in the Beeline box it got part way through loading Linux Mint and then just stopped with no display output.  I waited a few minutes but nothing and the power button did nothing so I unplugged the power, removed the USB stick and powered up again.  It successfully booted into Win 10.  The first USB port I tried didn't see it but another did.  The third.USB port recognised the boot and displayed the boot menu from the stick - chose Linux Mint Cinnamon and almost immediately the monitor output ceased.  Otherwise same as 2nd port - needed power disconnection to boot into Win 10.

I have ordered a ready made bootable USB stick with 9 different Linux distros on - maybe a different distro will work t

[Gina]

Great Scott!!!! The Beelink Win 10 has just thrown a DSOD   And rebooted!!  I Thought we'd seen the end of these with Windows long since!

[Gina]

Now it says it's "Scanning and repairing drive (:C)"  AArrgghh

[Gina]

There was a special offer on registering the repair software of a tenner which I though was reasonable, then I found there was VAT to add but £12 to register the software and fix problems still seemed reasonable so I went ahead now the want a phone call to activate the software (admittedly freephone number) but I'm now getting decidedly jittery.  Have I been conned?  I'm very reluctant to phone that number as that will give them my number.  Think I'll change my PayPal password for safety.

[hughgilhespie]

Gina,

It's a con - pure and simple!

Do a search on Beelink software repairs.

Regards, Hugh