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Old 22-02-2021, 07:58 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Windows 10 updates causes issues

My Astro laptop never connects to the internet unless I have to load new software or upgrade software and has been running beautifully for 2 years ( never connected to the internet.
Last week I loaded a new version of Startools V1.7 direct from the internet (silly move ) should have downloaded on my desktop , copied to USB and installed via USB
Did some imaging on the weekend and as soon as I started PHD2 guiding or sending dithers via APT, the mount would stop tracking and return to home
Damn annoying
You could here the laptops fans screaming trying to do an update , as Microsoft Edge would flash up on the screen for a split second
I thought yeh bloody Windows 10 updates have come in whilst I was connected to the internet downloading Startools v1.7 last week
Tried twice same thing happened , mount stopped and returned to home and on the third attempted ( each time I did a full restart and run up ) it remained stable and I imaged for hours
I will now disable Windows 10 updates on my laptop and load any new software and updates via a USB

Any one else had trouble with Windows 10 updates and imaging ??

PS: I use EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium to navigate and Goto , they were probably affected as well

Cheers
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Old 22-02-2021, 08:54 AM
AdamJL
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Not sure what one would have to do with the other. EQMOD and Stellarium should still work fine even with Windows updating itself in the background, until of course, the laptop needs to restart.
Could be an entirely different issue. Correlation Does Not Imply Causation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correl...mply_causation

that said, let your laptop run through it's updates at home, and instead of disconnecting it from the internet, just setup Pause Updates in Windows Update settings Advanced Options, ensure your Active Hours are correctly setup (Windows won't restart during this time) then let it update when at home when needed.
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Old 22-02-2021, 09:37 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Adam
Thanks
So my laptop has been performing flawlessly for 2 years , as soon as it’s connected to the internet to down load a Startools upgrade , next imaging session I have issues ????
I’ve read some posts on Cloudy nights about similar issues with Windows updates , registries and security etc....

Any ideas then what could have caused the gremlin ??
Martin
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Old 22-02-2021, 10:32 AM
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Wussell (Russell)
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Always create a restore point before connecting to the net, then if it should perform an update, you can always roll it back.
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Old 22-02-2021, 11:48 AM
AdamJL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Startrek View Post
Any ideas then what could have caused the gremlin ??
To be honest, not without seeing the laptop. I don't know what version of W10 you're on, what other software you've got running, what changes you've made historically etc. Don't even know the specs of the machine, I'd be sticking my finger in the air and making an uneducated guess.

If someone can look at it for you in person, that's great but probably unnecessary. I've been tinkering in Windows and building PCs for a couple of decades, and I've seen lots of issues caused by the strangest things.

Chalk this one up to a one-off. Let the update do it's thing, then just prepare for next time.

edit: only thing I will say, is do some dry runs now, during the day. Any of your astro software could have updated in the background as well, so make sure everything is working correctly before you go outside and nothing has changed there.
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Old 22-02-2021, 12:05 PM
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Rerouter (Ryan)
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Windows 10 will actually perform 90% of the update installs / changes before it prompts you to restart. Meaning you can end up in a weird state. I would recommend once you disconnect from the net. Reboot the pc. And then give your gear a quick check before heading off to the feild.
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Old 22-02-2021, 01:00 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AdamJL View Post
To be honest, not without seeing the laptop. I don't know what version of W10 you're on, what other software you've got running, what changes you've made historically etc. Don't even know the specs of the machine, I'd be sticking my finger in the air and making an uneducated guess.

If someone can look at it for you in person, that's great but probably unnecessary. I've been tinkering in Windows and building PCs for a couple of decades, and I've seen lots of issues caused by the strangest things.

Chalk this one up to a one-off. Let the update do it's thing, then just prepare for next time.

edit: only thing I will say, is do some dry runs now, during the day. Any of your astro software could have updated in the background as well, so make sure everything is working correctly before you go outside and nothing has changed there.
I have always bench tested during daylight hours from day one , but you can’t bench test PHD2 guiding and sending a dither command from APT during the day , this was one event ( spurious) on the weekend that caused the mount to stop tracking and return to home

In regards to bench testing ,I also wrote the installation and operational procedure of telescope control for the latest Ascom version of Stellarium 0.20.3 both with the older EQ6-R mount and new USB2B EQ6-R mount. All bench tested over 2 weeks during the day
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Old 22-02-2021, 01:08 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Originally Posted by Rerouter View Post
Windows 10 will actually perform 90% of the update installs / changes before it prompts you to restart. Meaning you can end up in a weird state. I would recommend once you disconnect from the net. Reboot the pc. And then give your gear a quick check before heading off to the feild.
I always check my laptop programs during the afternoon before setting up and connecting ( which includes reboot and initialisation) and post connection an hour before I start imaging

Like I mentioned in my post I hadn’t been on the net with this laptop for 2 years and it’s been flawless in performance and operation, then connect to net (once ) and problems appeared whilst imaging
To me the Windows platform (post internet access and windows update) has had some affect on my Astro programs talking or handshaking properly
One item I forgot to mention is that all my Astro programs EQMOD, Stellarium, APT and PHD2 are set for Administrative function as that’s the only way I could operate them flawlessly for so long
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Old 22-02-2021, 01:14 PM
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The_bluester (Paul)
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I have the "Active" hours on my imaging PC's set for the night time imaging slot so it will never reboot to complete updates in the middle of a run. Other than that I get ahead of it and when I see an update wants a restart, I jump on it at the end of an imaging session via the "Update and reboot" route so that it is done and I know the machine has come back up again afterwards, then I shut it down for the day. If I am thinking about it I manually check for updates and run them before I actually need the machine.

To date I have never had a post update problem which has caused me a problem in an imaging run.
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Old 22-02-2021, 01:51 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rerouter View Post
Windows 10 will actually perform 90% of the update installs / changes before it prompts you to restart. Meaning you can end up in a weird state. I would recommend once you disconnect from the net. Reboot the pc. And then give your gear a quick check before heading off to the feild.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_bluester View Post
I have the "Active" hours on my imaging PC's set for the night time imaging slot so it will never reboot to complete updates in the middle of a run. Other than that I get ahead of it and when I see an update wants a restart, I jump on it at the end of an imaging session via the "Update and reboot" route so that it is done and I know the machine has come back up again afterwards, then I shut it down for the day. If I am thinking about it I manually check for updates and run them before I actually need the machine.

To date I have never had a post update problem which has caused me a problem in an imaging run.
Paul,

Thanks for your procedure

Martin
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Old 22-02-2021, 03:29 PM
astro744
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Windows 10 has had a number of Build updates in the last couple of years. These are major updates and may affect some third party vendor drivers and software compatibility. Check what build version you have (Start, settings, system, about) and then check with your software vendor for compatibility.

See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind...ersion_history

Windows won’t make available a Build update for your system unless the system hardware is compatible but I doubt all third party software installed is checked.
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Old 22-02-2021, 06:16 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astro744 View Post
Windows 10 has had a number of Build updates in the last couple of years. These are major updates and may affect some third party vendor drivers and software compatibility. Check what build version you have (Start, settings, system, about) and then check with your software vendor for compatibility.

See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind...ersion_history

Windows won’t make available a Build update for your system unless the system hardware is compatible but I doubt all third party software installed is checked.
Thanks
Makes perfect sense !
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  #13  
Old 22-02-2021, 06:20 PM
Startrek (Martin)
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I’ve just permanently disabled Windows updates in Run > Services > Windows updates > Stop > Properties > Disabled

See how we go over the next few imaging sessions
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