Hi Jasem. I downloaded the nightly version onto my RPi4 last night and no issues with flats or Kstars crashing.

Many thanks,

David.

autoexposuremode lists Bulb here, and shutterspeed lists bulb too. Check the logs, we need to find a reliably and consistent method to identify a B/M camera.

That's excellent! Probing shutterspeed will do the trick. Your camera lists bulb (speed 0), mine does not. Speed 0 is 30s here.

and what would be the policy when detecting such camera? Can you capture in bulb more than the maximum speed listed in the shutterspeed?

A simple approach would be this: For shutterspeeds of <=30s force bulb should be disabled automatically. For shutterspeeds of >30s it must be enabled automatically. The disadvantage of this method is the user would still have to make sure that camera setting and Ekos setting are the same.

A more reliable method would be to detect whether the camera's dial is actually set to "B" (autoexposuremode = "B" ) or "M" shortly before any picture is taken. If it is set to "B", force bulb must be ON, if it is "M", force bulb must be OFF.

In case the exposure time selected in Ekos is >30s but the camera is set to M, a warning should be displayed. When the exposure time selected in Ekos is <1s but the dial is set to B that should trigger a warning, too.

BTW, can the camera's autoexposuremodes be toggled by software? In other words, can Ekos/Indi set the camera to "M" mode even if its dial is set to "B"? That would be perfect as Ekos could take care of everything.

I'm not qujite sure if I understand correctly. In bulb mode you can take pictures at any speed. However, it doesn't make much sense trying to take 1/8000s exposures (maximum speed listed) in bulb mode.

It could make sense for BIAS frames and for shooting solar images.

Yes, but not in bulb mode.

You're right of course. I missed the "in buld mode" part.

If autoexposuremodes can be toggled by software, the solution is pretty simple and straightforward:

1. The user enters the exposure time.
2. Ekos checks whether the exposure time selected is <=1s or not.

In case it is <=1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) set autoexposuremode to "M"
b) set force bulb to OFF (do we still need this option at all?)
c) use widget shutterspeed:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to OFF
b) use widget shutterspeed:

In case it is >1s:

A ) With B/M cameras:
a) set autoexposuremode to "B"
b) set force bulb to ON
c) use bulb widget eosremoterelease:

B ) With other cameras:
a) set force bulb to ON
b) use bulb widget eosremoterelease: