Problem with Ascom AtikCameras Server

[mcgillca]

Hi - I image remotely using The Sky X with an Atik EFW2 (plus 460ex and 314l+).

Until recently I was using the legacy software to connect to my Atik camera and filterwheel.

However, with the upgrade to TSX build 12473, I upgraded to the Atik core software Version 5.0.4.4.

While I can now connect to the filterwheel through ascom, I find that after a few hours, the filterwheel no longer responds.

The only way to fix it is to stop TSX, kill the Ascom AtikCameras Server and start again.

There is no problem with the filterwheel - I can still connect and move the filterwheel through the AtikFilterwheelrunner.

Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Colin

[vince]

Hello Colin,

This sound a bit strange, have you emailed our support? I'll try to replicate the fault at our test observatory for you but we have had no reports of similar problems that I know of.


Best regards
Vince

[mcgillca]

Dear Vince,

Hi - its not just me - see the bottom last post in this TSX thread. Its also repeatable (in that it happens every night!), but will be a really irritating bug to find since it all works well for hours, but then the ASCOM server stops working. I suspect its a memory problem - the memory grows from startup of about 25mb to over 1.7gb when it stops responding.

http://www.bisque.com/sc/forums/t/37495.aspx?PageIndex=2

Colin

[mcgillca]

Yep - definitely a memory issue. With ONLY the EFW2 connected through ASCOM, the memory starts off at around 9mb but grows at a rate of 0.1mb every few seconds.

Colin

[vince]

Hello Colin,

Thanks for the information, our software team are going to look into this over the weekend.

Best regards
Vince

[fkane]

I seem to be experiencing the same issue. Were you able to reproduce this issue over the weekend?

It's very easy to reproduce:

- Connect to the EFW2 from TheSkyX using the ASCOM Filter Wheel driver
- Open up Task Manager in Windows
- Observe the memory used by ASCOM AtikCameras server (32 bit) grow by about 100KB per second

Latest versions of all relevant software and drivers are installed.

[vince]

Hello,

Yes we reproduced it on the Friday, it's currently with our software guys so should be fixed very soon. I'll reply on here once it's been done.

Thanks for pointing this out.

Best regards
Vince

[mcgillca]

Hi - any update on this?

Thank you,

Colin

[vince]

Hi Colin,

I have just followed up on this, our software guys are going to look into it hopefully this afternoon. Sorry for the wait.

Best regards
Vince

[fkane]

Any news on this issue?

I'm kind of stuck because the new drivers have this memory leak that prevents all-night imaging, and the old ascom drivers don't really work at all (they say the filter wheel is "moving" forever and won't accept any commands.)

[mcgillca]

Hi - any update on this? Its been nearly two months now!

Thank you,

Colin

[fkane]

Make that 5 months.

Is there any hope of this memory leak getting fixed? I'm getting by for now by using the legacy drivers, but this ties me to an older build of TheSkyX as well, preventing me from using the updates I'm paying for with that software.

[vince]

Hi all,

Sorry this has taken a long time, our software engineers have had a look at this now and have test build of a new core software that includes a fix for the EFW issue. You can download it from here temporarily

Removed

Please let us know how you get on.

Best regards
Vince

[fkane]

Hooray! It seems that DropBox link is not publicly accessible, however.

[vince]

Hello,

Sorry about that, hopefully this link will work OK, Temporary removed
Best regards
Vince