Memory rerad errors when using dynamic processies !!!!!

[rdryfoos]

I have tried living with the issue.  I can not do it any longer.  80% of the time when I try to DBE or DC, or create previews so I can Neutralize background or color calibrate I get the following error on 2 different computers now

PC Win32 System...
at address
0007FF7D280FBD0
with exception code
C0000005 :
invalid memory read
operation at address
0000029A87969003

It has made processing dreadful.  Please--I have inquired a number of times and have gotten no answers.  I hate the idea of using any other processing platform but this is ridiculous.  I can't take it any more Please help. 

[rdryfoos]

Sorry--I forgot--when it happens, it renders whatever image I am working on unable to be used at all--just dragging the mouse over the image causes this memory read error.  Restarting does no good. 

[pfile]

the problem is that these errors are completely generic and can't really help in any kind of debugging.

if it only happened on one computer, i'd say that there's some hardware problem - bad ram, etc. but if it's happening on 2 machines then you have to start looking for common hardware or software configurations between both computers. for instance, same antivirus software? same PC vendor? (dell installs all kinds of crap that interferes with PI's GUI toolkit), etc.

have you run prime95 and/or memtest86 on these machines?

rob

[Juan Conejero]

As Rob says, the fact that two machines exhibit the same problem can be useful. Questions:

- Are you using Windows 10 on these machines?

- If yes, have you performed clean installations, or did you update from Windows 8.1?

- Same computer brand? Models?

- Are both machines using the same video cards? Which ones?

- The same antivirus application? Which ones?

- Some utility software running in the background, such as an automatic backup utility, registry cleaner, or similar application?

As I've said multiple times, I cannot reproduce these problems on any of our machines. An 80% of the time is definitely a game stopper, so I fully understand your frustration. Let's see if we can find something that can help us here.

You could perform a clean Windows 10 installation, that is, install the operating system from scratch, including a complete hard disk reformat. With a pristine Windows installation, install PixInsight *without* any other software---including your favorite antivirus; you can visit our website safely without it---and see what happens.

The next version of the PixInsight Core application uses Qt 5.6, instead of Qt 5.5.1 used by current 1.8.4 versions. This might solve these problems, in case they are being caused by video driver conflicts (as I suspect), because the new Qt is supposedly more robust to these issues. The next version also drops QtWebKit completely in favor of QtWebView (Chrome-based) for documentation contents, which is also more robust. This might also resolve some potential conflicts in some rare cases.

Sorry for not having something more substantial to say for now.

[rdryfoos]

Juan,
Too big of a mountain climb.  If I tried to do the things you said, I would first have to learn what they all mean, then find someone who could talk me through it, and I wouldn't be able to image for a month (maybe longer).  To answer some of you questions:

1) Windows 10
2) Not an upgrade--purchased with Windows 10.
3) Different computer brands Same operating system (Specter 360 and Lenovo 900)
4) I don't know the video card
5)I don't have anti-virus.  Don't go on internet with laptop

As far as Memetest86 and  Prime95--Haven't a clue what they are.

[pfile]

well whenever you get random memory read errors like this, it usually (but certainly not always) means that there's some hardware issue with the RAM or CPU. so memtest86 can help you find hardware issues with RAM and prime95 can help you find hardware issues with the CPU.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://www.mersenne.org/download/

rob

[rdryfoos]

Thanks--I will attempt to use them and see if it helps.

[Juan Conejero]

Specter 360 and Lenovo 900

I assume it is a HP Spectre x360. Both machines are convertible laptops with touch screens. The touch screen could be the common factor that is causing problems (probably because of driver incompatibilities). Can you try PixInsight on a computer without a touch screen?

[rdryfoos]

Juan,

No--my desktop is very old and has problems of its own. I can turn touch screen off--think that would help?  It would be most helpful if something about touch screens was placed in the "system requirement" section of Pixinsight documentation upon purchase.  I got the highest end laptop my Best Buy had, thinking it was good.  I, or course asked a million times on various forums about which lap top would be best, but there was no consensus.  Anyway, here are the work arounds I have been using.  Seems strange that they work.

1) I can make previews by using the create preview tool--where you specify length and width in pixels and location, etc.  Then when I use the modify preview icon, I can use the mouse to change the preview size.  Then I can do BN and CC just fine.

2) I can use DBE by using the generate button instead of placing points manually.  Then I use the arrows to scroll through the points, deleting ones I don't like (or moving them with the mouse!).  DBE works just fine this way.

I can't afford to buy "another" laptop.  Do you think using prime95 and/or memtest86 can fix the issues, or just identify the source of the trouble (if it can't be fixed then identifying it is of no real value).  Shopping for a laptop using what drivers it has is not often done in the real world and I am afraid it would mean I would have to build my own machine, which I will not do.  It would be like asking me to write a script for PI--no chance of success.

[Juan Conejero]

It would be most helpful if something about touch screens was placed in the "system requirement" section of Pixinsight documentation upon purchase.

Please realize that we cannot test our software on any hardware available. We simply cannot afford buying every existing laptop and desktop computer in the market just to see if something strange happens, especially on Windows, where the concept of standardization is utopy. For FreeBSD, Linux and Windows development, we build our own workstations using top quality components and configure them with extreme care to achieve the most possible standard, clean and secure working and testing environments.

Do you think using prime95 and/or memtest86 can fix the issues, or just identify the source of the trouble

I don't think so. These problems look more like device driver conflicts. A clean Windows installation is much more likely to solve them than memory tests. Let's see what happens with the next version of the core application, where we are going to use different (hopefully more robust to driver issues) development tools.

[rdryfoos]

Juan,

I understand--but there has to be a way of knowing before purchasing whether the software will work on a particular computer.  Trial and error is not a satisfactory method when the trials cost a couple thousand dollars a pop.  Or, one is very much committed to a particular laptop because it has their entire platform on it (camera drivers, planetary software, guiding software, focusing software etc, etc).  Its a real hassle changing all these things to a new machine.  And if the lap top is purchased on-line--which might be necessary for certain laptops, it becomes a real hassle having to send in the laptop for a return.  You guys are smart, you should be able to figure something out that won't cost very much.  Maybe you can't provide a 100% grantee--but you can certainly increase the odds.  Most driver downloads are free.

Anyway--thanks for responding.  Hopefully I don't run into additional limitations of my system.