Author Topic: LFEP ASCOM driver - bug reports (Read 104855 times)

Armando · « **on:** Wednesday, 24.04.13 - 19:40:27 - CEST »

Hi @all,

please use this topic to report LFEP ASCOM driver bugs. Providing detailed reports will speed up bugs fixing.

Because of the low LAN speed, I think great part of the users will prefer COM connection: maybe it's a good idea ignoring, for now, bugs that occur exclusively by LAN connection.

CS
Armando Beneduce

drknoppi · « **Reply #1 on:** Wednesday, 24.04.13 - 20:30:42 - CEST »

Hello Armando, i think you are right

The WLAN or LAN connection is Not so stable
As the usb-serial connection i have tried both options .
Best regards
Rainer

the_lizardking · « **Reply #2 on:** Wednesday, 24.04.13 - 20:58:31 - CEST »

Hi Armando,

I will integrate the bugs open from the bugreport (which is also buggy :-)):

When scope is unparked and switch tracking on after unpark is checked the siderial is shown in the gray field but not operating on HBX. The other way round when HBX is operationg in XXX speed, the ASCOM driver shows that the scope is in parking position.

Parking has to be overworked comletely, also a bug on the HBX 6.20 by the way. Parking over ASCOM does not work stable and correct.

Last but not least, ASCOM LFEP Server process stays in Memory when driver is closed. Its for sure when Auto park is activated as parking cannot be acomblished (see bug above) however it occures also in other situations from time to time. I could not find a recurring situation that pops up this issue until now.

Regarding installation problems under Win7 I try to find out where we need to register for the driver to be un-danger.

CS

Armando · « **Reply #3 on:** Thursday, 25.04.13 - 21:15:04 - CEST »

Hi the_lizardking,

Quote from: the_lizardking on Wednesday, 24.04.13 - 20:58:31 - CEST

When scope is unparked and switch tracking on after unpark is checked the siderial is shown in the gray field but not operating on HBX. The other way round when HBX is operationg in XXX speed, the ASCOM driver shows that the scope is in parking position.

LFEP parking is affected by a firmware bug. So "Controller parking" won't work.
We need to enable PC parking. It also was affected by a bug (I think a simple sleep call fixed it). So I sent you an updated driver: it should work.

Quote

Parking has to be overworked comletely, also a bug on the HBX 6.20 by the way. Parking over ASCOM does not work stable and correct.

I think/hope no more

Quote

Last but not least, ASCOM LFEP Server process stays in Memory when driver is closed. Its for sure when Auto park is activated as parking cannot be acomblished (see bug above) however it occures also in other situations from time to time. I could not find a recurring situation that pops up this issue until now.

It simply occurs if you don't click on disconnect. It's a feature, not a bug

Quote

Regarding installation problems under Win7 I try to find out where we need to register for the driver to be un-danger.

The main issue/mistake is the use of Windows!

CS
Armando

the_lizardking · « **Reply #4 on:** Thursday, 25.04.13 - 22:56:39 - CEST »

I will test the parking,...

Regarding the ASCOM Server process, it is not always only when not clicking disconnect,... I did not find out why and in which situations but from time to time the prcess stays resisdent.

Let you you know regarding parking then.

I also found antoher strange thing today and yesterday,... the King Rate as well as Intelly Track is switched on after a GoTo with CDC and it cannot be switched off via ASCOM. When I go to HBX and trying to switch off the King Rate I get failed with the first try, a second try brings the success then. WE shoudl keep it in here, I will try to find out when it exactly happens and let you know if it still pops up.

Armando · « **Reply #5 on:** Saturday, 04.05.13 - 21:48:05 - CEST »

Hi @all,

I'm trying to solve some parking issues reported by the_lizardking.
I hope to receive other reports by someone else just to know if the issues are related to the FW release in use (I'm using the latest 6.30 FW release, the_lizardking is using the previous 6.20 one).
I obviously need reports made by using the latest ASCOM driver.
Because of a LFEP firmware bug there is the need to use PC parking option. There is also the need to set (by handbox) tracking enabled at startup.

Another bug that still occurs at the_lizardking (after ASCOM connection) is related to Site longitude reading.
To manage it (as I'm not able to reproduce it) I need someone else that will confirm it occurs. I also need a log of the traffic on serial port. SerialMon is able to sniff the traffic so that we can see what happens when the error occurs.

If you need other details to contribute as beta tester please don't hesitate to tell me what details/instructions you need...

Thank you in advance and Clear Skies!
Armando

drknoppi · « **Reply #6 on:** Sunday, 05.05.13 - 14:23:13 - CEST »

Hello armando if i can i would help you to test beta .
Please send me more information about the longitude problem under 6.30
you have found 😊Best regards Rainer .

the_lizardking · « **Reply #7 on:** Sunday, 05.05.13 - 14:55:00 - CEST »

You are right, the info is missing hehe

Long, Lat Problem:
So we have the following error during FIRST connection with LFEP from time to time:

I changed the COM2 connection setting and since that its better or gone - to:

When moving the scope I get teh following Warnings in ASCOM Log screen:

Parking Problem:
When scope is parked with ASCOM and you power down and on the LFEP and connect with the driver ASCOM shows scope in parked mode but scope is moving and shows wrong coordinates 0:00 and 0:00.

Other open parking problems are fixed so far, but could be that there are also other bugs.

FtDI Driver used on my system is:

Armando · « **Reply #8 on:** Wednesday, 08.05.13 - 13:06:12 - CEST »

Hi @all,

I just uploaded a new driver. I see no critical issues on my LFEP now.
User tests are appreciated.

CS
Armando Beneduce

Armando · « **Reply #9 on:** Thursday, 09.05.13 - 22:19:05 - CEST »

Hi @all,

I'm spending a lot of time to try to improve the driver.
Since I'm receiving bug reports only by the_lizardking and my LFEP works as expected together with current ASCOM beta release, I'm not sure they are driver related...
Receiving a feedback by other users could be of help.

What I found is that the hardware handbox can cause communication issues while LFEP is managed by the ASCOM driver.
So I would ignore these issues for now.
I'm interested in knowing if someone else has critical issues that make LFEP not working at all.

Thank you and Clear Skies
Armando

palo974 · « **Reply #10 on:** Friday, 10.05.13 - 18:32:10 - CEST »

Hello everybody,

I had a session on Wednesday after to update the ascom driver
and I had some trouble to connect the LFEP

.
I need to change the COM3 to COM1 on windows and
everything were OK after that

.
Thanks for you great job.

CS
Patrice

drknoppi · « **Reply #11 on:** Sunday, 12.05.13 - 14:01:04 - CEST »

Hello Armando,
My Win 7 must be reconstructed, thatswhy my Test comes later
next week .
Best regards
Rainer

drknoppi · « **Reply #12 on:** Wednesday, 22.05.13 - 07:15:10 - CEST »

Hello Armando,
i tested 1.5.3. beta, but no not the version from today night , only one version bevor yesterday morning :
Following problems

:

1st. - Orientiation stay on EAST , after choose West and reset, i found EAST : in the preferences !
2nd. - The programm Astro - Photography Tool 2.2. ( Win 7 ) over MAC OS X cannot use the driver properly - Why ?
3rd. - Save windows - save the preferences to ?

May be i can test the new version today

Best regards and thank you very much for your and lizard_king`s work !!!

B.t.w. On Mac programms like Safari pro / Equinox pro no such problems exist

Best regards Rainer

Armando · « **Reply #13 on:** Wednesday, 22.05.13 - 21:26:37 - CEST »

Hi Rainer,

first of all thank you for your reports.

Quote from: drknoppi on Wednesday, 22.05.13 - 07:15:10 - CEST

1st. - Orientiation stay on EAST , after choose West and reset, i found EAST : in the preferences !

I was not able to reproduce the issue. Maybe it's related to the FW. Does the issue occur also when you invert Dec by ASCOM handbox?

Quote

2nd. - The programm Astro - Photography Tool 2.2. ( Win 7 ) over MAC OS X cannot use the driver properly - Why ?

Unfortunately demo version doesn't include ASCOM connection feature. I'm not able to check.

Quote

3rd. - Save windows - save the preferences to ?

The command is meant to save current GUI settings to restore them on the following ASCOM LFEP connection.
I see it works. Did you find it not working?

Quote

May be i can test the new version today

I uploaded a new update with some improvements: mainly I found annoying the too low RA and Dec update rate while telescope was slewing.
So I enabled RA and Dec update every 1s if telescope is slewing. I also forced RA and Dec update when a manual moving command by ASCOM handbox terminates.
Silent mode (I'm referring to the checkBox under "Locked" one in the motion control panel) now reduces traffic. I think it can be useful while guiding...

Clear Skies!
Armando

drknoppi · « **Reply #14 on:** Thursday, 23.05.13 - 19:08:58 - CEST »

Hello Armando , first of all thanks for your answer 😀

1st - With the driver from wednesday and firmware 6.30
after set orientation to west in ascom and reset
the scope make a slew in north direction ? - Why i dont know ?...
The lfep handbox Shows W at the same time ascom Shows E

??

2 nd - I found no problems in the saved preferences

3 rd - I will load your new version and test this version tomorrow

Best regards Rainer

Armando · « **Reply #15 on:** Friday, 24.05.13 - 01:03:36 - CEST »

Hi Rainer,

Quote from: drknoppi on Thursday, 23.05.13 - 19:08:58 - CEST

1st ...

Could you check if setting an higher timeout (by Telescope->Setup) solves the issue?
I also need your typical and max Response time (you find it in the first log lines...)

Let me know

CS
Armando

drknoppi · « **Reply #16 on:** Friday, 24.05.13 - 15:41:12 - CEST »

Hello Armando,
i think problem solved

because of the newest ascom 1.5.3 . exe
After installation the current version i found :
1st - Response time 118,75 ms
2nd - Timout 1500 ms
3rd - After changing the orientation with my handbox while ascom is open - telescopesettings , than after
close and reopen the settings - orientation in ascom is the same as in the HB

- So i think the problem is solved

b.t.tw.
Can you increase the fieldsize of the logging field or change to a dynamic field size depend of the amount of lines ?
Best regards
Rainer

Armando · « **Reply #17 on:** Saturday, 25.05.13 - 02:37:20 - CEST »

Hi Rainer,

Quote

Can you increase the fieldsize of the logging field or change to a dynamic field size depend of the amount of lines ?

I just uploaded a new release.
Now a right click on the log panel will keep the last 10 log lines and remove the previous ones.

CS
Armando

drknoppi · « **Reply #18 on:** Saturday, 25.05.13 - 11:46:02 - CEST »

Hallo Armando,
super 😃
I wil test next week, because much to work in my Hospital .
Best regards
Rainer

Armando · « **Reply #19 on:** Sunday, 26.05.13 - 11:26:42 - CEST »

Hi @all,

I'm evaluating to add a dew heater control to switch on the heater if temperature < dew point.
I could manage the heaters supported by the I2C extension.
But I see there is also a command (#>:VD#) directly supported by LFEP to set a dew heater with no need to use an external extension.
I'm tempted to think the value the user can set by #>:VD# controls a PWM output. But I see no pins related to it.

Do you know something else about this command?

CS
Armando Beneduce

P.s. I'd like to procure a tiny interface together with a temp/humidity sensor. I've no idea where I could get it.