usb freezing USB Selective Suspend, the end of a problem...

[SonnyE]

I have long had a peculiar problem with my G3 (Orion) camera program freezing, or locking up. Then, the only apparent fix was to unplug the USB cord and reinsert it, and restart the Orion Camera Suite. It was really bad when I used a non-powered hub with my laptop. A powered hub helped a lot, but did not entirely stop this annoying problem. Even Orion was scratching their heads with no suggestions.

After adding a AAF2 Mark 2 Focuser, a new monster reared its head along this line. Since I have had to retreat my mount to the house while a storm comes and passes, I thought I would work on what could be causing my USB woes. Happy in having decided it was not a program related problem, I turned my USB detective work towards the laptop itself. Lo and Behold, I think I found a culprit...

I run a PC, and have had Windows based operating systems since DOS 3.11. I've always been able to fix my own by bumble-fumbling my way through. So I began searching for USB freezing or dropping out fixes. Something that cropped up was "How to Fix an Annoying Windows USB Problem". And so far, it's working.

Mining down to this little 'helper' was a bit fun. But I got there. Now this "USB Selective Suspend" is implanted with, I'm sure, good intentions. It's purpose is to conserve power by suspending idle USB ports.

But it apparently misses the boat for those of us sitting in the night trying to keep our telescopes running along, albeit, sometimes slowly.

By disabling this "feature", my laptop and the programs I use, including TekkyDave's AAF2 has run for over 6 hours now. It is a major milestone for me to finally find a work around for a most annoying problem. I most often have my computers on, and plugged in, and on auto-update. So if you are having some odd things from your USB connected devices, it may not be your equipment, nor your programs, but some obscure little helper buried down in the advanced settings of your operating system.

Worth a look...