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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Focuser seems to quit without finishing the job

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Last night at around 4:14, the scheduled focus process began. It seems to have worked through the process correctly, but then never finished. It's last message in the log was that it was moving to the solution... but then nothing. EKOS continued to guide, but capture never restarted.

I've attached the log.

Thanks,

Ron
1 year 5 months ago #87569
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[2022-10-28T04:13:57.922 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing inward by 10 steps..."
[2022-10-28T04:13:57.923 EDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Celestron SCT :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 20487 "
[2022-10-28T04:13:58.269 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  20480 State: Busy
[2022-10-28T04:13:58.781 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  20438 State: Busy
[2022-10-28T04:13:59.312 EDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Celestron SCT :  "[INFO] Backlash move to 20487 "
[2022-10-28T04:13:59.813 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  20471 State: Busy
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.325 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  20487 State: Busy
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.335 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focus position reached at 20487, starting capture in 1 seconds."
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.335 EDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Celestron SCT :  "[INFO] Focuser reached requested position. "
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.466 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: request: "{\"id\":16387,\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"get_connected\"}"
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.466 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: defer call "get_app_state"
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.470 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: response: "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"result\":true,\"id\":16387}\r\n"
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.471 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: request: "{\"id\":16388,\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"get_app_state\"}"
[2022-10-28T04:14:00.472 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: response: "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"result\":\"Paused\",\"id\":16388}\r\n"
[2022-10-28T04:14:01.386 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Capturing image..."
[2022-10-28T04:14:03.465 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: request: "{\"id\":16389,\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"get_connected\"}"
[2022-10-28T04:14:03.465 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: defer call "get_app_state"
[2022-10-28T04:14:03.469 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: response: "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"result\":true,\"id\":16389}\r\n"
[2022-10-28T04:14:03.469 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: request: "{\"id\":16390,\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"method\":\"get_app_state\"}"
[2022-10-28T04:14:03.470 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - PHD2: response: "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"result\":\"Paused\",\"id\":16390}\r\n"
[2022-10-28T04:14:04.881 EDT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Reading file buffer ( "4.3 MiB" )
[2022-10-28T04:14:04.964 EDT WARN ][   org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - "{Device: ZWO CCD ASI533MC Pro Property: CCD1 Element: CCD1 Chip: 0}" Ignoring Received FITS as it has the wrong capture mode 1
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.148 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Image received."
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.148 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Detecting sources..."
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.149 EDT DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.fits] - Sextract with:  "1-Focus-Default"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.846 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Detection complete."
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.847 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Focus newFITS # 1 : Current HFR  1.99444  Num stars  23
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.853 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - StarCorrespondence initialized with  23 15
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - Trying in invent. StarCorrespondence did NOT find guideStar. Found/not 0 0 minFraction 0.434783 maxDistance 5
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.guide] - StarCorrespondence found guideStar (invented) at  1418.83 718.653 found/not 21 1
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "matchStars: Inputs sized 23 24 found 22 matches, RMS dist 0.9"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "RelativeHFR: sizes: 23 24 hfr: (2.00 (1.97) / 1.51 (1.59)) * 1.53 = 2.03"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "RelativeHFR: orig 1.99444 computed 1.97483 relative 2.03323"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.854 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Linear: step 9, newMeasurement(20487, 1.99444 -> 2.03323, 23)"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.855 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Linear: fit(9): 20490.6 = 1.75841 @ 20487 distToMin -3"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.855 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Linear: Solution #1: 20490.6 = 1.75841 @ 20487"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.855 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Linear: requesting position 20477"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.863 EDT DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Error in CurveFitting::calculateR2 called for Quadratic"
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.878 EDT INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing inward by 10 steps..."
[2022-10-28T04:14:05.883 EDT INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - Celestron SCT :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 20477 "

Last command was to move focuser, but it never moved. We should add a timeout to watch for this.
1 year 5 months ago #87586

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Jasem,

Thanks. To be fair, I think there may be some issues with the INDI driver for the Celestron Focus Motor. It looks like it did move the focuser, but EKOS never received a message from the focuser that it moved to the location.

I've had other issues with INDI dropping the focuser on occasions. I don't know if it's the focuser or INDI.

I have purchased a new ASI EAF to replace the Celestron focuser. I'm hoping that it solves both issues. Still probably a good idea to have a timer to watch.

Thanks,

Ron
1 year 5 months ago #87588

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Hi Ron,

What have you got this motion timer parameter set to on the focus panel?


This sets a timer to deal with a situation where the focuser has been asked to move to a position but doesn't come back with either a success or fail msg. So its a bit odd that this doesn't appear to have been caught.
1 year 4 months ago #87597
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John,

Here's a screen grab of my settings...




Ron
1 year 4 months ago #87616
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Thanks for the info Ron. The 30s time out looks fine.

So its not obvious what has happened here. The focuser was requested to move in by 10 steps and it would appear something went wrong with this move. As to what that was, there aren't any clues.

The driver sets a timer to monitor the move in case the focuser itself doesn't respond. It compensates for backlash but this doesn't happen (as this part of the process logs msgs that aren't in the log). So something is wrong there.

On top of that the focus algorithm sets a 30s timer before requesting the 10 step move. Given nothing came back from the focuser its not clear why that timer never fired (it should log some msgs had it done so.) I'll try and reproduce this part on my system and see if I can at least find this problem.

The only thing I can suggest is turning on verbose logging for Indi, focus and the focus driver and waiting for it happen again. We can then see if the extra logging gives us any clues as to the real cause of the problem.
1 year 4 months ago #87640

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John,

I'll turn on the focus driver as well next time. It may be a few days before I get clear skies... will let you know.

Thanks,

Ron
1 year 4 months ago #87642

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Thanks Ron.

I've found a flaw in the timer logic in the focus algorithm where the timer is incorrectly deactivated under certain conditions. I'm in the process of fixing this.

I can't say whether this would help your situation or not but needs to be fixed anyway. It should be in the nightly builds later this week if you are able to take these or in the next stable release (beginning Jan).
1 year 4 months ago #87663

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John,

Thanks!

As I mentioned earlier, I plan on replacing my focuser in the next couple of days. This may also help fix my problem.

Let me know when you move the fix to the nightly builds, as I can update my environment to include it.

Ron
1 year 4 months ago #87664

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Hi Ron,

The fix was merged yesterday so should be the nightly builds from today.

It won't fix the reason that the focuser became unresponsive but if that situation repeats it should catch it and not just hang. It will then attempt to recover and if the problem is transient and communication can be re-established it will continue with focus. If the focuser remains unresponsive then there's not much that can be done other than retrying. I'm going to make another change to handle this last scenario a little better but its more complex and will take longer - but in this scenario your imaging is probably done until the problem with the focuser is fixed manually.
1 year 4 months ago #87802

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John,

Thanks!

I installed the new focuser yesterday, but had trouble calibrating it. After some research, I found out I was doing it wrong... and hope to fix it today. Then I will update to the new nightly build... and wait for the next clear night to test.

Ron
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1 year 4 months ago #87804

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