Some issues in latest PI release

[topboxman]

Juan,

Can you make the toolbar user customizable so that we can put our favorite icons in the toolbar?

Peter

[topboxman]

I believe I fixed it. I did uninstalled once before and the problem persisted. I just uninstalled it, then reboot the computer, re-install PI, reboot the computer and works fine including additional two PI updates.

Peter

I was wrong. This issue happened again. I started PI and and it did not start PI at all unless I rebooted the computer. Not sure what's going on. I am using the very latest Windows 10 wit latest Windows Update.

Peter

[topboxman]

I love PI and applaud what they have done in the past but I reverted back to previous version of PI until there are no more complaints about latest version of PI.

Peter

[topboxman]

Somebody at CloudyNights forum suggested to use "File/Exit" instead of "X" at upper right and so far it seems to work. So it's something PI developer needs to look at when exiting PI.

Thanks.
Peter

[topboxman]

Thanks to PI developers for putting back the "Extract L" icon in toolbar in latest PI release.

Peter

[Juan Conejero]

Somebody at CloudyNights forum suggested to use "File/Exit" instead of "X" at upper right and so far it seems to work. So it's something PI developer needs to look at when exiting PI.

With respect, that is a nonsense. Both options (and the third one: the exit command in Process Console) are equivalent.

Some users are reporting crashes upon application exit. All of these problems are being caused by ucrtbase.dll, which is a Windows sytem component. Google for "ucrtbase.dll crash" and you'll see how this component is causing lots of problems with many applications built with Visual C++ 2015, like PixInsight. We don't have this problem on any of our working and testing machines, including Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

So far I haven't found a real solution to this problem—it probably does not exist, at least until Microsoft addresses it. The only practical workaround I've found is killing the application with the taskkill command. See for example an application of this "solution" to Autodesk's 3DS Max. This is equivalent to using Task Manager, but slightly more handy. I'll try to set up a similar script to help work around this problem.

So far this problem has only been reported on Windows 7 SP1 with PixInsight 1.8.5 by a very reduced set of users. Please note that Windows 7 is no longer one of our mainstream supported platforms; see our system requirements.

[topboxman]

Somebody at CloudyNights forum suggested to use "File/Exit" instead of "X" at upper right and so far it seems to work. So it's something PI developer needs to look at when exiting PI.

With respect, that is a nonsense. Both options (and the third one: the exit command in Process Console) are equivalent.

Some users are reporting crashes upon application exit. All of these problems are being caused by ucrtbase.dll, which is a Windows sytem component. Google for "ucrtbase.dll crash" and you'll see how this component is causing lots of problems with many applications built with Visual C++ 2015, like PixInsight. We don't have this problem on any of our working and testing machines, including Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

So far I haven't found a real solution to this problem—it probably does not exist, at least until Microsoft addresses it. The only practical workaround I've found is killing the application with the taskkill command. See for example an application of this "solution" to Autodesk's 3DS Max. This is equivalent to using Task Manager, but slightly more handy. I'll try to set up a similar script to help work around this problem.

So far this problem has only been reported on Windows 7 SP1 with PixInsight 1.8.5 by a very reduced set of users. Please note that Windows 7 is no longer one of our mainstream supported platforms; see our system requirements.

I am still seeing it in my home-built Windows 10 64 bit computer with latest Windows updates as of a few days ago. I have tried both original PI 1.8.5 and latest 1.8.5 (8/9/2017) release. After doing some processing including PCC, saved my work and exit PI using the "X" at upper right. Restarting PI no longer works and I have to reboot the computer. Using Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to the task manager does not work because it no longer shows PI still running after closing PI but I still cannot start PI anymore from then on unless I reboot the computer. It's probably not likely to do with the "X" at upper right.

This issue never happened with 1.8.4 and still didn't happen because I reloaded 1.8.4 and works fine.

Peter

[topboxman]

Wanted to say the issue I described earlier is inconsistent. I just rebooted the computer and now the issue does not seem to show up using the "X" at upper right.

I will keep on going and try to find the pattern and let you know.

Peter

[topboxman]

It has happened again. I was processing an image and when I exited PI, it simply refused to restart PI from then on unless I reboot the computer. Some process in PI is causing this issue but I am not sure which process is doing this. I think PCC is responsible for this.

Also when I clicked on PixInsight - New Instance. I am able to restart PI but what is the purpose of PI - New Instance? It seems to cover up the issue I am seeing.

I love PI very much and I don't mean to insult PI developers but there is something wrong with the latest PI release. It seems to be more unstable than 1.08.4 version.

I have reverted back to previous version (1.08.4) and have not yet experienced any issue as compared to 1.08.5.

Peter

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Peter,

PixInsight 1.8.5 is much more stable than version 1.8.4. Please don't generalize an issue with your system configuration to erode the reputation of this application. There is nothing wrong in the latest PixInsight release, other than the bugs we still haven't discovered, of course, but this is not one of them until someone can demonstrate otherwise.

That said, I have just released an update for the Windows versions of PixInsight 1.8.5. This update deploys the latest version of the Microsoft Universal C Runtime Library on the PixInsight 1.8.5 distribution. This should fix all issues reported around ucrtbase.dll, a system component that is causing problems in some Windows installations. After this update, PixInsight will simply ignore the UCRT installed on the host machine and will use exclusively the version deployed by the update. I cannot know for sure if this update will also fix the problem you are reporting, but I'd bet it will. Worth a try IMHO.

[goofisd]

Juan, my only issue with the current release is you're too good at fixing things and issuing updates!   
(Just got this latest update - thanks. Now it's time to explore switching to Linux!)

[topboxman]

If you are referring to August 9 release, I was using that release plus latest automatic updates and still having this issue. I am not the only one reported this. Some have reported here and others reported at Cloudy Nights.

Whenever I cannot launch PI, I use "PixInsight - New Instance" so it has not been a total inconvenience.

Peter

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Peter,

As I have said many times, I cannot fix a problem that cannot be reproduced. At the risk of being too much repetitive: None of these issues can be reproduced on any of our Windows machines, including Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 SP1.

Some users have been reporting issues caused by ucrtbase.dll (Microsoft Universal C Runtime). This Windows system component has been causing problems, not only with PixInsight, but with most applications built with Visual C++ 2015/2017. Last Sunday I released an update with the same UCRT we have on our development Windows 10 machines, and it has fixed some of these problems, but not all of them. Some of the issues on Windows seem to have multiple causes. The issue you are experiencing may also be related to ucrtbase.dll, or it might be a problem with your graphics drivers. OpenGL implementations are often defective on Windows, and version 1.8.5 of PixInsight makes intensive use of OpenGL on all platforms. See for example my announcement of build 1353. We have found a machine where Intel's HD Graphics drivers are wrong and cause absolutely weird problems. On the same machine with the same Windows 10, enabling the nVidia driver fixes all of these problems and version 1.8.5 works perfectly.

I am sorry to say this, but there's not much more I can do to help in these cases. Unless somebody comes with additional information that can guide me, or a new solution, this is out of my control.

As for other forums, please understand that I cannot be aware of problems not reported here. I cannot participate on public forums. I don't read or watch them, either. The only forum where I can participate is PixInsight Forum. If somebody wants to report a problem with PixInsight, the only valid forum is PixInsight Forum.

[topboxman]

I understand. My other Windows 10 64 bit laptop does not appear to have issues I am seeing in my desktop. Both computers have same latest and greatest Windows 10 including Windows Update as of a few days ago. My laptop is only for imaging and controlling my mount. I transfer all captured files to my desktop for processing with PixInsight. My desktop is much more powerful than laptop.

If it makes any difference, my graphics card in desktop computer uses AMD Radeon graphics chips.

Peter

[topboxman]

Hi Juan,

I was out of town since last Sunday morning and when I returned home yesterday, I noticed your latest PI upgrade related to Microsoft Universal C Runtime Libraray, so I did the upgrade and repeated processing an image. I am sorry to say that it happened again and I had to launch "PixInsight - New Instance" because re-launching "PixInsight" refused to start. It's not really a big deal since "PixInsight - New Instance" allows me to continue to process without having to reboot the computer.

All I can say is I think at least one of PI tools may have cause this issue. For example, if I launch PI and process an image using only PCC as an example, then save the work and exit PI, I am able to re-launch PI and not use "New Instance". But if I process an image using many PI tools and then exit, I am not able to re-start PI unless I use "PixInsight - New Instance".

I am sorry that I cannot be specific about how to make it reproducible.

Peter