Artemis capture BSOD

[Uranium235]

Last night was my first go with the ART285.

All the software worked ok before taking it out, but when I tried guiding with the QHY5 and capturing I kept getting struck down by the blue screen of death after just a couple of subs. Artemis capture flashes up a message about a USB problem just before this happens, so is there a problem with having 2 cams on the same computer?

I tried updating Artemis capture to the latest version, but still the same problem occured.

This, combined with the amount of dew I was getting (the mount was dripping with water!) made for a very frustrating night. Theres only so much hairdryer action and crashes I can take before calling it quits for the night

Any help would be most welcome, though I doubt I will be able to test it properly again for the next few days because its going to be wall-to-wall rain in the forecast.

PS: Im using windows Vista (compatability issue?)

[ollypenrice]

I run two Atik cameras routinely in Vista with no more than the occassional spluge of USB nonesense. However, I run the guide camera in AstroArt for guiding since that's what I'm used to.

You need good USB cables and it is always best to use the same device in the same port, but I'm sure you know that. It might be a bad cable. I do change mine about once a year for new ones.

Olly

[Uranium235]

Thanks for the suggestion, but Ive tried various cables, and still got the same error.

Im using PHD for guiding, so maybe that is an issue?

Do you know of any updated Vista drivers for the ART285? Ive been to the atik website, but have not found anything of that description.

One note though, I did install it to the same USB socket that i use for the QHY5 becuase the original plan was to use a powered USB hub. Maybe a complete unistall/reinstall will do it?

[Uranium235]

Just been to the Artemis website and found some drivers, uninstalled completely and then reinstalled to a different USB port. Ive have both the QHY5 and ART285 looping for nearly 40 min so far and no sign of USB problems.

I'll try adding an extension to both USB cables now to see what happens.

Update: First thing ive found is that the ART285 does not like active USB cables (BSOD again), Im trying it with a normal 2m extension now... no crash so far.

[NickH]

Welcoem to about 3 months of discussions I had with them some years ago...glad someone else found it.. :-(

HP ZD7000 laptop at the time, simply would not work...usb disconnect errors galore, thankfully since switching to the 314L never seen one! (with the same laptop!)

[Uranium235]

Hi Nick, starting to have some progress here.

I can definitely rule out using active extensions or any sort of hub device with the 285 (USB version conflict?), but ive had a go with connecting to both cams using MaximDL and so far ive managed to take 8 darks without a crash. Its still too early to tell if its going to work in the field yet becuase ive never used maxim for guiding before.

Its not an OS issue because ive managed to crash it with XP too, a firmware update (if it needs it) might be worth a try.

[NickH]

Oh it's long sorted for me, required a ferrite core, belkin cables and an active hub...long time ago...314L has no such issues

[Uranium235]

Ferrite core? Never heard of that one before, is that for the USB cable? I did use a powered hub, but that still sends it straight to BSOD.

If it clears later on im going to give guiding with maxim a bash, its not as friendly as PHD but if its the only thing that works without crashing the system then so be it.

[NickH]

hmm...if you like Art capture, then give Nebulosity a blast as well...there's a free demo online (stark labs)

[Starjumper]

How many USB ports do you have and are they all on the same side of the computer, I had months of problems trying to get PHD and artemis working.Deep in anals of craig Starks instructions is a note that PHD wont work if both cameras are connected to USB ports on the same side of the computer??

If I remember correctly ??

John

[Uranium235]

Thanks, I will take a look at that in a min. But tonight (if its clear) im going to try using maxim to handle everything. The autosave function is pretty cool, allowing me to set multiple exposure times and binning.

Just to be sure though, im going to try running both cams again using maxim only. To make sure yesterday eve wasnt a fluke.

But ive just thought, how well does maxim guide while it downloads the image from the 285? Because from what i remember, maxim locks up for a few secs while its being downloaded... surely that would have an effect on any guide pulses?

[Uranium235]

How many USB ports do you have and are they all on the same side of the computer, I had months of problems trying to get PHD and artemis working.Deep in anals of craig Starks instructions is a note that PHD wont work if both cameras are connected to USB ports on the same side of the computer??

If I remember correctly ??

John

This HP DV5 has 4 USB ports, 2 on either side. I made sure to install them to seperate sides as well. If the error pops up again then the final solution would be to get seperate machines to do the imaging and guiding.

[Uranium235]

Gave it another try last night, and after 2 bluescreens I decided to go with the bare minimum cable length (lappy under mount). It then seemed more stable after that, and even ran with PHD for about 30min before I gave up due to the terrible seeing conditions (fog/mist).

Will have a go at just going to run it again for a few hours in the cellar, see if its still stable. But im leaning towards getting seperate machines now, that way I know it will be rock solid. Im going to try experimenting with an older PC too, forcing it down to USB 1.1 as Ive noticed most crashes occur on the readout.

[Uranium235]

Good Progress...

I think ive cracked it now, I cobbled together a pc using some old bits then disabled USB 2 in the bios (ran it @ 1.1). Under XP, I then installed the 285 drivers and tested the camera with a few subs... so far so good.

Next I used a 4 port powered hub & connected the 285 to it, connected without a problem and took more test frames, better. I then decided to go the whole hog and threw in 12 meters worth of active extensions, still no crash, solid as a rock. Sure, XP complained a lot that "this device can go faster" but that wasnt the point. I think forcing everything back to USB 1.1 has made it a lot more stable.

However, its still not possible to run PHD and the 285 on the same machine without risking BSOD. So as a compromise I will guide with the lappy, then use the PC to image (via uber-long USB) and keep an eye on whats happening with PHD via remote assistance (local network).

[Uranium235]

Had enough of it now, sick to death of bsod no matter what I do (3 different computers, cables, etc).

Update:

Last throw of the dice. Im running both the 285 and QHY5 using ASCOM drivers - both on the lappy. Its been nearly 2 hours now and no crash yet, which is the longest its managed so far. If it makes it to four, I will have a beer (or five).

[Uranium235]

Beer at the ready..... 4 hours coming up with not even a glitch

Tried a combo of 10x10min, 10x7.5min darks and now almost one hour of 1 second looping. One thing I have noticed with ASCOM though, if things were to go wrong with the guiding you are locked out until the end of the frame (as you are with QHY/PHD). No big deal though, its easy just to disconnect and reconnect.

It looks as if it could run for much longer than this (have shut it down, and reloaded a few times to test it), so I think I can put this safely in the "solved" category.

Phew... glad that ones over!