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Problem connecting to QHYCCD QHY 5L-II-C

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I am planning to use the QHY 5L-II-C camera as guider camera. Problem is that I have difficulty connecting to it.

To keep the log as clean as possible I made a profile containing only the Telescope Simulator and the QHY CCD. It does connect when pressing the "Start INDI" button in Ekos.

- When I try to take an image and solve for WCS I never receive an Image. I get a message "Capturing Image" and a constantly revolving progress indicator.
- When I try to take an image with the camera set as guider, I get a warning: Exposure timeout. Restarting exposure...

From the moment I take the first image, the red light on the camera starts flashing and never stops. It seems to flash in sync with the exposure time I made the image with.

When I move over to the INDI Control Panel and click Disconnect on the QHY CCD it either refuses to disconnect or it disconnects but when trying to connect again a red error message appears: [ERROR] Connecting to CCD failed (QHY5LII-C-6177e210b82ca44af)

When unable to disconnect the camera, I can get connected again by stopping and restarting INDI in Ekos. But when I check the indiserver with INDI Web Manager, the indi_qhy_ccd driver is running twice.

I started this new topic because I am not sure if this has any connecting with this topic

Has anyone successfully connected this camera to the raspberry Pi 3?
Any suggestion what might be the problem?
Windows 10 64-bit with remote access to Embedded Raspberry PI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 LTS and KStars 2.9.8, Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO, Robtics 80mm F7 doublet apochromaat refractor + CentralDS CDS-600DII
Last edit: 6 years 1 month ago by BJ Ruiterkamp.
6 years 1 month ago #23480
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I have seen this issue with my QHY5LII-M camera. Typically, I would get an exposure timeout when doing longer exposures. I found that would have to keep the exposure times to less then 2.5 seconds or so. The qhy debug log snippets shows:
DEBUG   3289.065762 sec : Current exposure time is 3000000.000000 us
DEBUG   3289.066544 sec : SetQHYCCDBinMode (1x1).
DEBUG   3289.067187 sec : SetQHYCCDResolution camroix 0 camroiy 0 camroiwidth 1280 camroiheight 960
DEBUG   3289.067769 sec : Taking a 3 seconds frame...
DEBUG   3290.068521 sec : Exposure in progress: Time left 2
DEBUG   3291.072976 sec : Exposure done, downloading image...
DEBUG   3291.074218 sec : Blocking read call.
DEBUG   3292.422826 sec : Blocking read call finished.
DEBUG   3292.423573 sec : Download complete.
DEBUG   3292.426889 sec : Uploading file. Ext: fits, Size: 1232640, sendImage? Yes, saveImage? No
DEBUG   3292.468782 sec : Upload complete
DEBUG   3292.550791 sec : Current exposure time is 3000000.000000 us
DEBUG   3292.551576 sec : SetQHYCCDBinMode (1x1).
DEBUG   3292.552225 sec : SetQHYCCDResolution camroix 0 camroiy 0 camroiwidth 1280 camroiheight 960
DEBUG   3292.552818 sec : Taking a 3 seconds frame...
DEBUG   3293.554357 sec : Exposure in progress: Time left 1
DEBUG   3294.556186 sec : Exposure done, downloading image...
DEBUG   3294.557380 sec : Blocking read call.
The blocking read call never finishes. and you get a timeout error. I've attempted to abort, disconnect and reconnect, and usb disconnect. The only solution I've found is to restart the Indi server and reconnecting. I have tried changing the USB Speed and Traffic settings, but still no joy. If I can find the time, I'll do some specific testing with the vendor's SDK and see if test programs fail.

Many people successfully auto-guiding with this camera, but I've found it unreliable. I have tried using the latest vendor SDK libraries from the vendor without much success and given up on this camera under Linux for the time being.

Hope this helps, good luck.
6 years 1 month ago #23488

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Catch 22 situation here. I run indiserver on an embedded Pi 3 mdel B. I have two options to run KStars/EKOS.
1. Running KStars/EKOS on the Pi and using Remote Desktop to connect to and control the Pi.
2. Running KStars/EKOS on my desktop and connect it to the indiserver on the Pi.

In situation 1 my ASI120MM is not working and produces distorted images like in this post
The QHY5L-II-C guider camera is working OK most of the time, although some errors occasionally occur.
In situation 2 my QHY5l-II-C guider camera is not working. It sometimes gives a good image, but intermittent distorted images as mentioned above and regular "Exposure timeout. Restarting exposure..." errors. All leading to loosing the guide function.

w0anm wrote: " I found that would have to keep the exposure times to less then 2.5 seconds or so. ....[snip].... The blocking read call never finishes. and you get a timeout error. I've attempted to abort, disconnect and reconnect, and usb disconnect. The only solution I've found is to restart the Indi server and reconnecting."

I had already done that, but ended up getting indiserver running multiple instances of the indi_qhy_ccd driver. See the image attached to my original posting. After several restarts, I have now 5 drivers running. One time the indi_simulator_telescope driver and 4 (four) times the indi_qhy_ccd driver. At restart I also get an error now on the indi_simulator_telescope driver (see attachment).

It seems that the indi_qhy_ccd driver is not properly removed from the driverlist in the indiserver when the server is stopped. Considering the warning on the indi_simulator_telescope driver, that may also still be in the driverlist, but at least is not duplicated.

When I set the exposure time on the QHY5l-II-C camera to 5 seconds or more, the camera stops recording images and is no longer controllable via the INDI Control Panel. WHY? To my knowledge the filesize does not change with exposure time.

I have attached a log file in which I have made a few images with times shorter than 5 seconds, than a longer one where upon the camera stops responding.

An other problem with the driver is the fact that you can not disconnect/connect via the INDI Control Panel. It gives this error: "2018-03-01T13:54:23: [ERROR] Connecting to CCD failed (QHY5LII-C-6177e210b82ca44af)" when trying to reconnect.

Jasem Mutlaq, can you please look into these problems? The few clear nights we had over here are all lost due to failing equipment.

regards berendj
Windows 10 64-bit with remote access to Embedded Raspberry PI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 LTS and KStars 2.9.8, Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO, Robtics 80mm F7 doublet apochromaat refractor + CentralDS CDS-600DII
Last edit: 6 years 3 weeks ago by BJ Ruiterkamp.
6 years 3 weeks ago #23774
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I was able to replicate the issue with QHY5L and in communication with QHY to resolve the issue.
The following user(s) said Thank You: BJ Ruiterkamp
6 years 3 weeks ago #23798

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INDI QHY driver is updated. Please update and test.
6 years 3 weeks ago #23889

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I thought I would do a quick test with the latest code. I updated the pi with the latest but now getting a symbol lookup error:
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.739 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  "2018-03-06T01:55:03: Driver indi_qhy_ccd: indi_qhy_ccd: symbol lookup error: indi_qhy_ccd: undefined symbol: _ZThn4632_N4INDI3CCD13GuideCompleteE12INDI_EQ_AXIS"
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.739 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  "2018-03-06T01:55:03: Driver indi_qhy_ccd: stdin EOF"
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.740 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  "2018-03-06T01:55:03: Driver indi_qhy_ccd: restart #1"
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.740 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  "2018-03-06T01:55:03: Driver indi_qhy_ccd: pid=1987 rfd=6 wfd=15 efd=16"
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.741 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  "Child process 1987 died"
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.741 CST DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server:  ""
[2018-03-05T19:55:03.741 CST CRIT ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI driver  "indi_qhy_ccd"  crashed!

Best Regards,
Chris
6 years 3 weeks ago #23898

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Try doing:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y dist-upgrade
6 years 3 weeks ago #23902

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That did the trick! Appears to be working now and I am going to continue to test.
Thanks!
6 years 3 weeks ago #23914

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Connecting and disconnecting looks OK at first sight, but there is still a problem.

My test setup: A profile with only the telescope simulator and the QHY CCD driver as main CCD (not as guider)
Perform this sequence of events:
• In KStars open the EKOS - Kstars dialog (Tools|Ekos or Ctrl+K)
• Start the profile
• In CCD & Filter Wheel capture an image via the Preview button. The result is OK
• In the INDI control panel Disconnect and Connect the QHY CCD
• In CCD & Filter Wheel capture an other image via the Preview button. Now the driver hangs, no image. In the INDI Control Panel the led indicator remains yellow and the Disconnect button is not working, the led indicator remains yellow
• In the EKOS - Kstars dialog Profile tab press the Disconnect and the Stop INDI buttons
• Press Start INDI button and the INDI Control Panel reappears, but the Connect button remains active in the EKOS - Kstars dialog Profile tab
• In the INDI Control Panel a red error message: [ERROR] Connecting to CCD failed (QHY5LII-C-6177e210b82ca44af)
• De INDI webmanager shows the indi_qhy_ccd loaded twice

I have attached a log of this sequence

Taking images with longer exposure times now seems to work. Exposures direct from the INDI Control Panel ranging from 0.0001 - 100 seconds were OK. But using the Preview button in the CCD & Filter Wheel tab was not always successful. Sometimes no image is received and the display is stuck in a revolving icon and the message Capturing image... I will try to log this sequence as well and post it here.

regards berendj
Windows 10 64-bit with remote access to Embedded Raspberry PI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 LTS and KStars 2.9.8, Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO, Robtics 80mm F7 doublet apochromaat refractor + CentralDS CDS-600DII
Last edit: 6 years 3 weeks ago by BJ Ruiterkamp.
6 years 3 weeks ago #23917
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OK, second test.

Same test setup: A profile with only the telescope simulator and the QHY CCD driver as main CCD (not as guider)
I performed this sequence of events:
• In KStars open the EKOS - Kstars dialog (Tools|Ekos or Ctrl+K)
• Start the profile
• Without any further use of the driver: Disconnect-Connect succeeded
• Using the INDI Control Panel: Expose test with times ranging from 0.0001 till 100 sec. All successful
• Using Preview in Ekos - Kstars CCD & Filter Wheel: Expose test with times ranging from 1 till 100 sec. All successful
• In the INDI Control Panel: Disconnect and Connect
• Using Preview in Ekos - Kstars CCD & Filter Wheel: Preview a picture with 1 sec failed
• I stopped the Preview using the little stop button below the Sequence Queue window
• In the INDI Control Panel the led next to Expose is still yellow, the times are both 0.00

Log attached

regards berendj
Windows 10 64-bit with remote access to Embedded Raspberry PI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 LTS and KStars 2.9.8, Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO, Robtics 80mm F7 doublet apochromaat refractor + CentralDS CDS-600DII
6 years 3 weeks ago #23919
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After playing around a bit with the disconnect - connect problem, I managed to get the indi_qhy_ccd driver loaded twice again.
In the log I noticed that an INDI server started at port 7625.

Hope this log can help.

regards berendj
Windows 10 64-bit with remote access to Embedded Raspberry PI 3 with Ubuntu Mate 16.04.3 LTS and KStars 2.9.8, Skywatcher HEQ5 PRO, Robtics 80mm F7 doublet apochromaat refractor + CentralDS CDS-600DII
6 years 3 weeks ago #23920
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I had this exact problem with the QHY5LII-M. First, the timeout message, and then with exposure happening, and ending successfully (or so it seems), but nothing was being downloaded nor shown in the FITS viewer.

The solution was to exit Ekos and KStars, then unplug the cable, and plug it into another USB port on the same laptop. They are marked the same, and none of them are USB 3.0. But it did solve the problem for some reason.
4 years 7 months ago #42225

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