Starnet2 Install in Pixinsight v1.8.9-3

[StevieO]

Hi, as part of a general shake-down of my gear before the new season, I have just done a fresh install of the latest release of Pixinsight (1.8.9-3) on my Windows 11 PC.  I also downloaded the appropriate version of Starnet2, following guidance from Tully Fisher's excellent step-by-step Youtube tutorial. Problem is that The 'Install Modules' search facility fails to find the files, despite their presence in the the PI 'Bin' subfolder, which is where they are supposed to be.  I've tried several times to no avail. 

So, before shelling out for StarXterminator, I'm appealing to anyone who might know a solution to this.

 

All the Best

 

StevieO

[symmetal]

Did you download the PixInsight plugin version of Starnet2 from the download page https://www.starnetastro.com/download/. I just tried it and it installed in PixInsight fine. Is this the version you downloaded?

Alan

 

[StevieO]

Yes that's the one.  I downloaded it, extracted it, and copied the files into the PI Bin folder. I tried it with and without the Starnet tensorflow.dll file included, but no luck either way. I'm beginning to wonder if it's a Windows 11 issue.

Thanks

StevieO

[symmetal]

The README.txt file describes the installation just like in the video, and troubleshooting, and it says that if your CPU doesn't support AVX instructions then it won't appear after a PI module search.

Check your processor listed in Settings/System/About and do a web search to see if it supports AVX.

Alan

Edited August 22 by symmetal

[StevieO]

Unfortunately due to a glitch in the Windows 11 install (just don't ask!) the computer won't display .txt files so I hadn't read the README. 

You're correct, the computer I use for capture and which was going to be called into action for processing, is the Beelink GKMini, as sold by FLO, and is absolutely wonderful at riding on top of my rig and controlling everything, and is the newest of my several computers, accepting the latest version of Pixinsight.

The processor is an Intel Celeron J4125, and according to Intel's website does not support AVX, so I'll have to do without Starnet. At least I'll have Spectrophotometric Colour Calibration which should be a hoot.

Thanks so much for your advice, at least I have an answer, if not a solution, to the problem.

All the best

StevieO

[symmetal]

Ah well, as you say, at least it's good to know why it didn't work. 😉

You can't run StarXterminator either, for the same reason.  From the 'System Requirements' page,

Quote

StarXTerminator requires a computer with a modern CPU having “AVX” instructions required to run neural networks. Older CPUs, and even some modern stripped-down CPUs in mini-PCs and lightweight laptops lack AVX instructions and are not supported.

I'd have thought it would be rather slow using PI on such a mini-PC anyway, with it having 8GB of RAM and 256GB of disk space. You can add a 2.5" SSD to get more disk space but the RAM is the limiting factor I would think. Anyway, good luck. 😊

Alan

[CheshireChris]

Hmmm....I can't get StarNet2 to work either. My system supports AVX.

PixInsight is the latest version.

StarXterminator is working.

Chris

 

 

 

[StevieO]

7 hours ago, symmetal said:

I'd have thought it would be rather slow using PI on such a mini-PC anyway, with it having 8GB of RAM and 256GB of disk space. You can add a 2.5" SSD to get more disk space but the RAM is the limiting factor I would think. Anyway, good luck. 😊

It was a convenience thing, really, and I found it ran PI tolerably quickly. Anyway I have now managed to install Starnet2 on my main desktop, so I can transfer stacked images to that and carry on. I've left a comment on Tully Fisher's Youtube video explaining what happened in case anyone else runs up against the same issue.

Thanks again for your help.

StevieO

[symmetal]

8 hours ago, CheshireChris said:

Hmmm....I can't get StarNet2 to work either. My system supports AVX.

PixInsight is the latest version.

StarXterminator is working.

Chris

Have you gone through the troubleshooting section in the Starnet2 README.txt file?

Alan