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I've been working with QHY to troubleshoot this. Well done Jon, he needs to be aware that several are having these problems. He's sorted fixes for things in the past so hopefully will again. I used Polemaster on Friday night and it worked perfectly I am pleased to say and hopefully won't need to use it again until the spring as it's in my home observatory, then I'll be back to astro trips to campsites and using it every month. Carole |
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My Polemaster has worked with zero issues for over a year now. However I did have similar issues with my ASI1600mm. I had to connect the camera by itself with the 6 foot supplied cable all by itself to a separate USB port on the laptop. I ended up using a short USB cable to a new Powered USB 3 hub and all now works well. USB can be a PITA to figure out. Good Luck Jeff |
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I had this issue and this is how I resolved it...It is a Windows issue. CS and Keep looking up! |
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I had this issue and this is how I resolved it...It is a Windows issue. CS and Keep looking up! |
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Kudos to you Rich Sky! This looks like a good fix! Nicely done. I disabled the power setting via device manager for all USB devices to no avail. Your method, however, seems to work! THANK YOU! --Jon |
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I had a few hours tonight to conduct some experiments with my PoleMaster camera, and I'd like to share the results. The PoleMaster software seems a bit buggy, and would get messed up every now and then causing plenty of confusion - so be wary of that. When I started having *unusual* problems (i.e. more than just the stuttering), it seemed to mostly be due to the buggy software, so shutting down the software, disconnecting the camera, then starting all over again would almost always fix those types of issues. This does NOT fix the stuttering and freezing issue. When I had the PoleMaster connected directly to my laptop, and the laptop was plugged into an electrical outlet, the camera never failed. When I had the laptop disconnected from the electrical outlet, the camera usually failed, often stuttering a little before "freezing". By "freeze", I actually mean that images would only get refreshed once or twice at random intervals anywhere from 5 to 20 seconds. Sometimes the camera would spontaneous start working fine again for a short period of time before freezing again, but there was no way I would rely on it long enough to complete a polar alignment. When the stuttering or freezing occurred, plugging the laptop back into an electrical outlet always fixed the problem immediately. The reverse was also true... if the camera was working perfectly and then I disconnected the laptop from the electrical outlet, the camera would usually stutter to a freeze very quickly. With these results alone, this seems like this issue is a power problem. Going into Device Manager, there is a Universal Serial Bus controllers section that contains the USB driver information and controls. Opening the properties of the items reveals that some of them have a Power Management tab containing an option box to "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Un-checking these boxes didn't seem to have any impact on this issue at all. Next, I connected my Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox v2 to my laptop via USB and powered the Powerbox with my Celestron PowerTank Lithium Pro. Then I connected the PoleMaster to one of the Powerox's powered USB 3.1 ports. Again, as long as the laptop was plugged into an electrical outlet, the camera worked flawlessly, but as soon as I unplugged the laptop from the electrical outlet, the stuttering would start. This is exactly the same behavior I got when I had the camera plugged directly into the laptop's USB port. The Powerbox made absolutely no difference whatsoever. I do not understand this at all! The Powerbox should be powering the camera using power from the PowerTank, not from the laptop, right? Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I don't think so because providing power is what the Powerbox is all about. So then, why would the laptop's power source affect the camera attached to the Powerbox? This is now starting to seem more like a data problem than a power problem. Does the USB hardware (or drivers) of certain laptaps (including mine) have a problem transmitting and/or receiving data when receiving power from a battery instead of an electrical outlet? In conclusion, it seems I have found a way to guarantee that the PoleMaster will work: make sure the laptop is plugged into an electrical outlet. This is not the solution I was hoping for because I also want to be able to set up at dark sites that don't have electrical outlets. I don't know what other testing I could do to try to figure this out - I just don't know enough about how USB ports work (or don't work) to progress any further. Jon... if you are still communicating with QHYCCD about this issue, maybe you could share my results with them in the hopes it might help? |
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Corey, I tried disabling the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" setting also to no avail. However, have you tried the following? Settings>>Power & Sleep>>Additional Power Settings>>Change Plan Settings>>Change Advanced Power Settings>>USB Settings>>USB selective suspend setting>>On Battery & Plugged In both set to disabled --Jon |
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I always used polemaster on a laptop that is not plugged into charger , never had a problem of any sort , must be a power issue with your laptop as with the other user issues? Software cant be buggy as it would be so to me? Roger |
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Jon - I really want to try your suggestion, but I cannot. For some reason, my Dell Inspiron 15 7000 2-in-1 does not have the "USB Settings" available in the advanced settings. It only has:
I've also looked through the BIOS to see if I could find anything. I found an option to "Enable USB Wake Support", which in itself is not helpful here. However, it specifically says: "This feature is only functional when the AC power adapter is connected. If the AC power adapter is removed before Standby, the BIOS will remove power from all of the USB ports to conserve battery power." I suspect my computer is just set up to remove power from the USB when the AC power is removed, no matter what. But that still doesn't explain why the problem persists when I power the camera with the Pegasus Astro Ultimate Powerbox v2, unless the powerbox isn't actually powering it like it says it is. apophis - The software runs pretty well as long as you don't have to deal with the stuttering problem. If I have to disconnect and shut down multiple times, like I did during my testing, the software itself would sometimes freeze and crash. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of when troubleshooting. And for the record, pretty much all software is buggy. And I have to agree it still seems like a power issue, yet when powering the camera with a different power source (my powerbox in this case), the issue continues to depend on whether or not the laptop is plugged in. It makes no sense to me. |
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This is for Windows 10. Maybe Try this: From the Desktop, right click and choose "Display Settings". Then, Power & Sleep>>Additional Power Settings>>(Depending which plan you're using "Balanced" or "Power Saver" option)Change Plan Settings>>Change Advanced Power Settings>>(A dialog box should open with an "Advanced Settings" tab. In the dropdown box, choose your current plan setting.) Then scroll down to USB Settings>>USB selective suspend setting>>On Battery & Plugged In both set to disabled --Jon |
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It turns out that some laptops (including mine) have the USB Settings missing under the advanced power settings. To restore the option I followed the instructions at this link. Once I had the USB Settings restored, I disabled the selective suspend for both the battery and plugged in. Then I unplugged the laptap... and the camera kept working... for about 15 seconds.  This option DOES have a positive effect, but the effect doesn't last long enough to be useful for me.I've written to Pegasus Astro to ask if they have any idea why the problem seems to pass through their Powerbox v2. |
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| Usb power solution https://www.astrobin.com/forum/c/group-forums/celestron-rasa-group/qhy-polemaster-image-not-updating/#id_body |
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Received the updated app from QHY today with the added USB traffic controls but, alas, it does not work. Also, the selective USB suspend fix mentioned above has stopped working for me. I have informed QHY and await their reply. I did reiterate that there were many others experiencing the same issue. I have had good luck with using the Polemaster camera with Sharpcap and the USB traffic setting of 255. One anomaly there was that I have to slide the USB slider to zero and then back to 255 (i.e. cannot start at 255) in order for it to work. --Jon |
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| This same thing always happens on my Mac and never with my pos Windows machine--same cable. Sure seems like it's their app. |
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As a workaround for those with laptops that have integrated cameras, maybe try this: (You will need a version of SharpCap installed.) Don't plug Polemaster camera to USB yet. Before launching Polemaster, launch SharpCap and connect to your laptops integrated camera until you see video from your camera. Minimize SharpCap.(Don't close it!) Connect Polemaster to USB and start as usual. I let QHY know that the latest update didn't fix the problem. Since it's the weekend, I haven't heard a reply yet. I will let them know about this workaround as well. --Jon |
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| I've had no problems with Polemaster and a HP intel i3 Windows 10. I go from the Polemaster to a powered USB 3.0 Hub and to the laptop. For some reason Polemaster does not like it when I use a bluetooth mouse. The picture will keep jumping back to center when I try to drag it. So I just use a wired mouse, plus that is 1 less battery that can die on me. |
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Just my solution for Dell XPS 15 9570 Start with Bios-Setup (F2) - deactivate C-States Control - activate USB PowerShare After a lot of other comments (play video, active hubs ...) this works now perfect for me. Connected directly on USB-Ports and also with passive hubs. Active hub ist not necessary. Maybe it helps. |
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As a workaround for those with laptops that have integrated cameras, maybe try this: I have an ASUS Vivabook. I tried this method of useing SharpCap and it worked beautifully. Must be some kind of driver conflict that was causing my Polemaster problems. Thank you Jon. |
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I started having this problem with a new laptop. If worked perfectly on an older laptop. I searched several forums, tried everything and nothing worked... until I read a suggestion about having Windows Defender running a scan while doing a polar alignment. Sure enough, that worked. Based on that, the person who originally posted the idea suggested a setting change. I'll look up what I did and post it later. In the meantime, try running Windows Defender. Update: this is the setting change I made. settings, system, power and sleep, related settings/additional power settings, change plan settings, change advanced power settings, PCI express, link state power management, select "off" for both options, apply, ok, then restart. Polemaster works perfectly now. |
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Hello how to get the polemaster software with the USB traffic slider? thank you. Rough time with polemaster. |
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James Schellenberg: Same with my polemaster. Works just fine since then (despite using it in the very cold as well as in fairly warm conditions). No Problem. Once, it dit not connect, weirdly. After a short disconnect / reconnect it worked. I am using it with WIN 10 64 bit. |
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James Schellenberg: **Thank you. I am going to get me one rigth now and pray and hope |
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| I have the identical problem with my new high end Dell XPS-15 Win laptop that I recently bought to handle capture and processing for my QHY600M-PH. It would only work intermittently if I moved the cursor but what a pain. When the Polemaster was routed through my Pegasus Hub, it would crash both the Hub AND my Powerbox! Drove me crazy. Tried different cables and hubs connected directly to the laptop - still no luck. I updated Win 10 and Polemaster software but that didn’t help. I gave up and went back to an old Win 10 HP Spectre laptop and it works fine. Makes no sense why a new laptop can’t handle PM and an old one does. Still trying to fix it with my XPS-15. There’s got to be a solution.... |
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| A slightly radical solution maybe to create a Linux Mint partition and run the Linux version of the software. Linux has the benefit of not posting numerous updates that take time to install and frequently cause collateral issues. As it is I generally use W10 and so far have not encountered any issues with Polemaster. I do run Linux Mint Cinnamon on an old W7 based laptop and it has given it a new lease of life, but Linux can seem a bit 'techy' compared to Windows. Having said that, it is stable and quick and I've never had a problem with anything I run on it - mostly graphics and 3D software including some within the Windows emulator, Wine. |
