Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

[Fellside]

Hi

I haven't seen it mentioned on here yet but there is a new version of the Raspberry Pi available.

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+

Faster Processor, Gigabyte Ethernet , Faster WiFi (802.11.b/g/n/ac) But sadly no USB 3.0

Price still around £32.00

Graham

Processor	Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 64-Bit SoC @ 1.4GHz
Memory	1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM
Connectivity	2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.2, BLE Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 (maximum throughput 300Mbps) 4 × USB 2.0 ports
Access	Extended 40-pin GPIO header
Video and Sound	1 × full size HDMI MIPI DSI display port MIPI CSI camera port 4 pole stereo output and composite video port
Multimedia	H.264, MPEG-4 decode (1080p30); H.264 encode (1080p30); OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics

 

 

[Skyline]

The POE ( Power over Ethernet ) interests me. Bought one.

[Fellside]

2 minutes ago, Skyline said:

The POE ( Power over Ethernet ) interests me. Bought one.

I didn't notice that. I ordered a Gigabyte POE switch couple of days ago. So that feature will be useful, no need for a separate power supply but you have to buy a new Poe HAT.

Graham

[GuLinux]

I might get one anyway, but yes, the missing USB3 is a downer.

I got the Odroid XU4 for that, but it absorbs too much power for portable usage

[LightBucket]

Yes I have that one, and run INDI with Kstars and Ekos, but my SXVR M25c camera won’t run on it, I think it’s driver issues, but the INDI developer thinks the rpi3 is just not up to the job, which I find hard to believe as the ASI and QHY new CMOS cameras seeem fine and they use far more power, and USB bandwidth..!, so really sad days, looks like i am going back to windows....

so make sure your camer will work with it before you buy, unlike me..

[JamesF]

Who has them for £32-ish?  I am tempted to get one to play with myself and one to run as a MythTV front end because my wife wants to have television in the new gym in the cellar (or "the dungeon" is it is now known

James

[GuLinux]

There should be a list of UK resellers, I usually buy from pimoroni or thepihut

[GuLinux]

12 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Yes I have that one, and run INDI with Kstars and Ekos, but my SXVR M25c camera won’t run on it, I think it’s driver issues, but the INDI developer thinks the rpi3 is just not up to the job, which I find hard to believe as the ASI and QHY new CMOS cameras seeem fine and they use far more power, and USB bandwidth..!, so really sad days, looks like i am going back to windows....

so make sure your camer will work with it before you buy, unlike me..

Yeah, that's a bit odd.. I run the ASI 1600MM which has a higher resolution, and your is a USB2 only camera, meaning it's *meant* to work at that bus speed...

I'd say it's more likely a library issue, either by the INDI driver side, or the Starlight Express SDK lib (hard to say without more data).

[Hicks]

50 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Yes I have that one, and run INDI with Kstars and Ekos, but my SXVR M25c camera won’t run on it, I think it’s driver issues, but the INDI developer thinks the rpi3 is just not up to the job, which I find hard to believe as the ASI and QHY new CMOS cameras seeem fine and they use far more power, and USB bandwidth..!, so really sad days, looks like i am going back to windows....

so make sure your camer will work with it before you buy, unlike me..

 

Have you tried running the camera with INDI on your laptop/desktop with a Linux install (or live-cd if you only have windows). If you get the same problem, you can at least discount the PIs hardware. I'd be surprised if it's down to the PIs performance rather than a driver issue.

[LightBucket]

14 minutes ago, Hicks said:

 

Have you tried running the camera with INDI on your laptop/desktop with a Linux install (or live-cd if you only have windows). If you get the same problem, you can at least discount the PIs hardware. I'd be surprised if it's down to the PIs performance rather than a driver issue.

Yes that what I am doing now, loading Ubuntu as a dual boot on my laptop.

i am convinced it’s a driver issue but the guys at INDI are not so are not really doing much to help at the moment ( although Jasem has spent a couple of hours on my PC via teamviewer and tried loads of stuff including a different driver) as they think it’s the lack of power on the rpi3, I have a fits image which shows the problem I am having , the picture is coming out half black and half white, but the image is there, just with light and dark overlay,  it works in every other way.

i have to rule out the lack of power as the issue really before I can move forward, but the thought of going back to windows fills me with dread...

i will try and attach a link to the image, see what you think..

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tzovpfq3a9dj62/AABP-KaBEO_LAB03jGS3yblHa?dl=0

[Hicks]

The PI3 can deliver up to 1.2A over the USB ports assuming you have a sufficiently rated input power supply. However, I don't believe the M25C draws much current over usb, doesn't it require a separate DC 5.5x2.1mm 12V plug too? Do you have that plugged in? If so, I find it hard to believe it's USB current that's the issue.

[Fellside]

4 hours ago, JamesF said:

Who has them for £32-ish?  I am tempted to get one to play with myself and one to run as a MythTV front end because my wife wants to have television in the new gym in the cellar (or "the dungeon" is it is now known

James

Hi James

Pimoroni £32 Limit of five per order

No sure if I can post a link but it easy to find.

Graham

[Hicks]

For people thinking about a PI3 B+ for gigabit ethernet, I'd also suggest checking out the ODROID-C2. As this review of the (original) PI3 vs C2 shows, the PI3 tops out at 300Mbps whilst the C2 can hit close to 940Mbps.

The above assumes the use of a usb dongle on PI3, otherwise you're down to 95Mbps. The specs of the PI3 B+ note its maximum is also 300Mbps.

C2 has double the ram too but costs a more ~£50.

I'm tempted to get one as it looks to be pin compatible with the PI3 as far as the "hat" I built for mine goes. With better network bandwidth + extra ram, it feels worth it. Down side is, I believe the PI is still better supported as far as the mainline kernel goes and is probably more open.

[LightBucket]

4 hours ago, Hicks said:

 

Have you tried running the camera with INDI on your laptop/desktop with a Linux install (or live-cd if you only have windows). If you get the same problem, you can at least discount the PIs hardware. I'd be surprised if it's down to the PIs performance rather than a driver issue.

Ok well finished the dual boot, and exactly the same issue this is now on an i3 machine with 8gb ram...

this is what I get from my camera....

 

[Hicks]

Works fine in windows I take it?

At least you know it's not the PI's hw limitations which is something

[wimvb]

I just ordered another Rock64 (stuck in customs), just because it's a lot faster than the Pi. But this model is a good contender. And probably a more stable OS. I believe that USB3 is still a year away. The Rock64 is about the same price, but with USB3 and 2 GB RAM.

[JamesF]

It's hard to judge, but that image looks as though it's been split in two and the top half joined back beneath the bottom half (so the actual image would actually be dark at the top, brightening as you go towards the bottom).

From memory some of the SX cameras do actually have the image frame read in two pieces, but I think that's odd scanlines and even scanlines which then have to be interlaced to give the final image, so I can't see it being related to this problem.

Looks unlikely that it's a power issue either now you have it plugged in on a different machine.  I guess the final nail in the coffin for that particular hypothesis would be to connect it from a powered USB hub, but I can't really see that's necessary at this point.

Can't get the dropbox image to work, unfortunately.

James

[wimvb]

Actually, I had a somewhat similar problem with my ASI, which would intermittantly show a bar in the lower 1/8 or so of images. Not all images, but enough to be a nuisance. Especially flats were a problem. The camera would also throw a fit and not connect sometimes. Since I've used a powered hub, I haven't noticed this anymore. It may not be the same issue here, but maybe worth checking anyway.

[LightBucket]

Thanks all,

it has been connected via a powered hub, direct to rpi3, 4 different quality USB cables, and now to my desktop PC with all those same options.....you name it i have tried it, but still the same......but some useful info from @JamesF thank you..

[LightBucket]

10 hours ago, Hicks said:

Works fine in windows I take it?

At least you know it's not the PI's hw limitations which is something

Yes fine on windows with the SX software, and others..

[JamesF]

A driver problem would seem favourite from my point of view in that case.  I'm half-tempted to suggest trying oacapture to see if that can get an image out of the camera, but I don't know if it would work anyhow.  I've only ever tested it with the Lodestar.

James

[LightBucket]

1 minute ago, JamesF said:

A driver problem would seem favourite from my point of view in that case.  I'm half-tempted to suggest trying oacapture to see if that can get an image out of the camera, but I don't know if it would work anyhow.  I've only ever tested it with the Lodestar.

James

The camera is fine, I do know that as it works fine in the SX and APT software, as that was the first thing I though, that the camera was a dud.. but what you said earlier about the odd and even lines does make some sense, as Terry from SX has already said this camera has an unusual readout process...anyway I have passed you comment to the INDI driver developer to see if it helps in any way at all, so thanks for that, much appreciated, it can’t hurt to have as much info as possible...

[LightBucket]

I do have a link to the actual INDI driver code, if anyone knows what they are looking for...

https://github.com/indilib/indi/blob/master/3rdparty/indi-sx/sxccdusb.cpp

[JamesF]

Do you know offhand what is unusual about the readout process?

James

[Dr_Ju_ju]

To me, the Pi3 update is just a small step forward, and is missing out on some absolutely needed updates, i.e. multiple USB3 ports & FULL 1 GBit network, not hanging off the back of the USB2 subsystem.

The WiFi updates, don't interest me, as I only use wired gig connections, and the POE module (when it gets released), will require a re-think of any HAT's and will need to run a fan....

If you want reliable operation of INDI\Kstars\ASI cameras etc., like Wim, I'd recommend either the Odroid XU4Q or Rock64.

For me the Pi3's are relagated to running specific applications e.g. Octoprint, 3D Scanners etc.