libASICamera2 for aarch64?

Vector

Greetings!

Could I please request a build of libASICamera2.so for the "aarch64" architecture to be included with the ASI Camera SDK? (Raspberry Pi 4 "arm64").

I have been trying to build kstars on my Raspberry Pi 4. Because of high memory requirements from kstars in a single process, I have had to upgrade my OS to a 64-bit version of Raspberry Pi OS to avoid out of memory exceptions. While the "armv8" .so seems to be compatible with RasPiOS arm64, it does not seem to operate correctly. I have also tried building against the "x64" .so just in case, but of course it is not a compatible architecture so it does not work on the Raspberry Pi 4.

For example, with my ASI294MM-Pro on my 64-bit desktop machine, I can take a full-resolution photo (8288x5644 @ 16-bit) with no problems. If I try to do the same thing on the Raspberry Pi 4 either with kstars, the demo application in the SDK, or through a small app I wrote (which just cuts out the questions from the demo app in the sdk), the camera/driver reports that the exposure failed.

The arm64 build of Raspberry Pi OS can be found here, if it's helpful: https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_arm64/images/

Thank you!
Vector.

[edit: updated the second-last paragraph to note that the failures that I encounter are on the raspberry pi, not the 64-bit desktop computer]

Tech@ZWO

please try on the arm 64bit

Vector

Hello @tech@zwo,

Thank you for the above, however the armv8 library is the library that I have already tried on the Raspberry Pi 4. While the program compiles and runs using the armv8 library, the camera exposure operation fails every time. When using the x64 library on my desktop, the exposure operation succeeds every time.

I have prepared a gist on GitHub so that you can see what I mean through a demonstration of code and output. The gist contains a small program to take an exposure from an ASI294MM-PRO at full resolution and 16-bit depth.

The code runs on both the x64 computer and the armv8/aarch64 Raspberry Pi.
The EXPOSURE succeeds on the x64 computer EVERY TIME.
The EXPOSURE fails on the Raspberry Pi EVERY TIME.

https://gist.github.com/vector-kerr/1bb701a7aec04d1dd5a0d7f434a24734

I hope that I am just doing something wrong, but apparently the camera does not behave the same between the computer and the Raspberry Pi. The primary differences are the hardware (two different computers) and the drivers (two different architectures).

The camera can take some exposures on the Pi, but some exposures (like the program above) fail.

Vector

Hello @tech@zwo,

I am checking to see if you have had an opportunity to look at the GitHub gist that I posted in my previous response, to see what I mean about the exposure succeeding when using the x64 desktop computer, but failing when using the aarch64 Raspberry Pi 4.

If you believe that the supplied armv8/aarch64 drivers should be working for my situation, can you think of a reason why taking an exposure always works on the x64 desktop and always fails on the aarch64 pi, according to the code and process that I've supplied in the gist?

Thank you for taking the time to read and help me out, I appreciate it.

Vector

@tech@zwo#44655 hello?

Vector

I have noticed that v1.17 of the API was released a few days ago. I have tried building my application against the new API on both the x64 desktop and the aarch64 Raspberry Pi, and I am still encountering the same problem with taking an exposure.

That is to say, the program still runs on both platforms, and the program runs to completion on the x64 desktop, but the exposure operation still fails when using the pi.

Tech@ZWO

We tested it with our ASIAIR Pro which is based on Raspberry Pi4 with same SDK (v1.17), and there is no issue.
maybe this has something to do with your upper level software.

Vector

Following your report above and suggestion that there may be an issue with my upper level software, I have reduced my program to a minimal set of function calls, and run it on:

Desktop (x64)
Raspberry Pi 4 running Standard Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit / armv7l)
Raspberry Pi 4 running Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit (64-bit aarch64 / armv8)

When I test the two different operating systems on the Raspberry Pi 4, I am using the same Pi, but swapping between an SD card with the standard 32-bit Pi operating system, and the non-standard 64-bit Pi operating system.

The program is included below for full visibility. As far as I can tell, it contains the minimal required number of instructions to connect to the camera, set the settings, take the exposure, gather the success/fail status, and close the camera.

When running this cut-down program, I (still) get the following results:

x64 Desktop: "EXPOSURE STATUS ==> SUCCESS"
32-bit Pi armv7l: "EXPOSURE STATUS ==> SUCCESS"
64-bit Pi armv8/aarch64: "EXPOSURE STATUS ==> FAILED"

Questions

Is there something that I am doing wrong in the application below that could be causing the camera to report an exposure status of ASI_EXP_FAILED?
What are the possible causes of ASI_EXP_FAILED? The header file only states "exposure failed; you need to start exposure again" but does not provide any further details about why the exposure failed, what caused it, or how to prevent it from occurring in the future. To be clear, the exposure succeeds on desktop x64, succeeds on pi armv7l 32 bit, but fails on aarch64/armv8 64 bit, running the same program with the same camera and cable.

Thank you for your time.

Sample Program - main.cpp

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include "ASICamera2.h"


uint32_t width = 8288;
uint32_t height = 5644;
uint16_t bin = 1;
ASI_IMG_TYPE imageType = ASI_IMG_RAW16;
uint16_t exp_ms = 50;
uint8_t bandwidth = 40;
uint16_t gain = 250;


int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    int numDevices = ASIGetNumOfConnectedCameras();
    if(numDevices == 0) {
        printf("No cameras detected\n");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }

    int cameraNumber = 0;

    ASI_CAMERA_INFO info;
    ASIGetCameraProperty(&info, cameraNumber);
    printf("Camera name: %s\n", info.Name);
    printf("Maximum resolution: %ld x %ld\n", info.MaxWidth, info.MaxHeight);

    printf("Sending exposure settings to camera...\n");
    ASIOpenCamera(cameraNumber);
    ASIInitCamera(cameraNumber);
    ASISetROIFormat(cameraNumber, width, height, bin, imageType);
    ASISetControlValue(cameraNumber, ASI_EXPOSURE, exp_ms * 1000, ASI_FALSE);
    ASISetControlValue(cameraNumber, ASI_BANDWIDTHOVERLOAD, bandwidth, ASI_FALSE);
    ASISetControlValue(cameraNumber, ASI_GAIN, gain, ASI_FALSE);

    printf("Capturing %dms exposure...\n", exp_ms);
    ASIStartExposure(cameraNumber, ASI_FALSE);
    ASI_EXPOSURE_STATUS status = ASI_EXP_WORKING;
    while (ASI_EXP_WORKING == status)
    {
        usleep(1000);
        ASIGetExpStatus(cameraNumber, &status);
    }

    printf("Cleaning up...\n");
    ASIStopExposure(cameraNumber);
    ASICloseCamera(cameraNumber);

    switch(status) {
        case ASI_EXP_FAILED:
            printf("EXPOSURE STATUS ==> FAILED\n");
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        
        case ASI_EXP_IDLE:
            printf("EXPOSURE STATUS ==> IDLE\n");
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        
        case ASI_EXP_SUCCESS:
            printf("EXPOSURE STATUS ==> SUCCESS\n");
            return EXIT_SUCCESS;
        
        case ASI_EXP_WORKING:
            printf("EXPOSURE STATUS ==> WORKING\n");
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
        
        default:
            printf("EXPOSURE STATUS ==> UNKNOWN VALUE %d\n", status);
            return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
}

Debug / Output Details

Desktop x64

vector@vector-lenovo-01:~/development/zwo-asi-test/simple/build$ uname -a
Linux vector-lenovo-01 5.8.0-48-generic #54~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Sat Mar 20 13:40:25 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
vector@vector-lenovo-01:~/development/zwo-asi-test/simple/build$ ./main 
Camera name: ZWO ASI294MM Pro
Maximum resolution: 8288 x 5644
Sending exposure settings to camera...
Capturing 50ms exposure...
Cleaning up...
EXPOSURE STATUS ==> SUCCESS

Raspberry Pi 32-bit / armv7l

pi@raspberrypi:~/development/simple/build $ uname -a
Linux raspberrypi 5.10.11-v7l+ #1399 SMP Thu Jan 28 12:09:48 GMT 2021 armv7l GNU/Linux
pi@raspberrypi:~/development/simple/build $ ./main 
Camera name: ZWO ASI294MM Pro
Maximum resolution: 8288 x 5644
Sending exposure settings to camera...
Capturing 50ms exposure...
Cleaning up...
EXPOSURE STATUS ==> SUCCESS

Raspberry Pi aarch64 / armv8

pi@raspberrypi:~/development/asi-demo/simple/build $ uname -a
Linux raspberrypi 5.10.17-v8+ #1403 SMP PREEMPT Mon Feb 22 11:37:54 GMT 2021 aarch64 GNU/Linux
pi@raspberrypi:~/development/asi-demo/simple/build $ ./main 
Camera name: ZWO ASI294MM Pro
Maximum resolution: 8288 x 5644
Sending exposure settings to camera...
Capturing 50ms exposure...
Cleaning up...
EXPOSURE STATUS ==> FAILED

Vector

Is there something that I can do to be more helpful in order to resolve this issue?
Am I providing too much detail, or being unclear with the questions that I am asking?

Please let me know how I can help this conversation along here, as I would love to resolve this issue so that I can use my rather expensive camera to take some photos.

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Please try our ZWO demo.

Vector

@tech@zwo#45131

Hello.

I have run your demo as requested from the latest version of the SDK (1.17) on my x64 desktop, my pi using armv7 (32 bit os) and my pi using armv8 (64 bit os).

The demo application that I ran was the test_gui2_snap binary which builds from main_SDK2_snap.cpp.

On the x64 desktop I built with make platform=x64.
On the 32-bit pi os I built with make platform=armv7 (as the kernel reports armv7l).
On the 64-bit pi os I built with make platform=armv8 (as the kernel reports aarch64).

I made one modification to the application before building it, because the application does not log whether or not the exposure succeeds. Just before the line:

if(status == ASI_EXP_SUCCESS)

I added the following:

printf("Exposure Status: %d\n", status);

I ran the application on all three platforms using the same settings:

Dimensions: 8288 x 5644
Bin: 1x1
Image Format: ASI_IMG_RAW16 (enum int value = 2)

Results

x64 Desktop Machine

The image window displayed. Exposures were taken reasonably frequently (up to ₂ per second or thereabouts). The exposure status output reports status 2 (success) for every exposure. The image window updated with pictures. Overall result: success.

armv7

armv8

The image window displayed. Exposures took a long time to take (a few seconds for each exposure). Every exposure reported status code 3 (failure). The image window stayed black the entire time and did not update with any image captures. Overall result: failure.

Output Data

x64

vector@vector-lenovo-01:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo$ ./test_gui2_snap 
attached cameras:
0 ZWO ASI294MM Pro

select one to privew
0
load dark failed 6
ZWO ASI294MM Pro information
resolution:8288X5644
Mono camera
Gain
Exposure
Offset
BandWidth
Flip
AutoExpMaxGain
AutoExpMaxExpMS
AutoExpTargetBrightness
HighSpeedMode
Temperature
CoolPowerPerc
TargetTemp
CoolerOn
sensor temperature:29.300000

Please input the <width height bin image_type> with one space, ie. 640 480 2 0. use max resolution if input is 0. Press ESC when video window is focused to quit capture
8288 5644 1 2

set image format 8288 5644 1 2 success, start privew, press ESC to stop 
Please input exposure time(ms)
50
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Display thread over
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
main function over

vector@vector-lenovo-01:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo$

armv7 (32 bit pi)

pi@raspberrypi:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo $ ./test_gui2_snap 
attached cameras:
0 ZWO ASI294MM Pro

select one to privew
0
load dark failed 6
ZWO ASI294MM Pro information
resolution:8288X5644
Mono camera
Gain
Exposure
Offset
BandWidth
Flip
AutoExpMaxGain
AutoExpMaxExpMS
AutoExpTargetBrightness
HighSpeedMode
Temperature
CoolPowerPerc
TargetTemp
CoolerOn
sensor temperature:27.800000

Please input the <width height bin image_type> with one space, ie. 640 480 2 0. use max resolution if input is 0. Press ESC when video window is focused to quit capture
8288 5644 1 2

set image format 8288 5644 1 2 success, start privew, press ESC to stop 
Please input exposure time(ms)
50
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Display thread over
Exposure Status: 2
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
main function over

pi@raspberrypi:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo $

armv8 (64 bit pi)

pi@raspberrypi:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo $ ./test_gui2_snap 
attached cameras:
0 ZWO ASI294MM Pro

select one to privew
0
load dark failed 6
ZWO ASI294MM Pro information
resolution:8288X5644
Mono camera
Gain
Exposure
Offset
BandWidth
Flip
AutoExpMaxGain
AutoExpMaxExpMS
AutoExpTargetBrightness
HighSpeedMode
Temperature
CoolPowerPerc
TargetTemp
CoolerOn
sensor temperature:29.300000

Please input the <width height bin image_type> with one space, ie. 640 480 2 0. use max resolution if input is 0. Press ESC when video window is focused to quit capture
8288 5644 1 2

set image format 8288 5644 1 2 success, start privew, press ESC to stop 
Please input exposure time(ms)
50
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
Display thread over
Exposure Status: 3
fps:0 dropped frames:0 ImageType:2
main function over

pi@raspberrypi:~/Downloads/ASI_linux_mac_SDK_V1.17/demo $

Notes

This result appears to be consistent with all of the other tests that I have run so far. x64 and armv7 seem fine, and armv8 does not expose properly.

Next Steps

Are there any other tests that I can run to either further debug the issue, or provide further information to determine why the armv8 / pi 64-bit exposures are regularly failing?

Thank you!

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Our devs need to look into this.

Vector

@tech@zwo#45214

OK, thank you. If there are any tests I can run from my end to help, please let me know - I am happy to assist.

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Please refer to attached guide and give us the log.

how-to-enable-asi-logs-on-arm.rar

142kB

Vector

@tech@zwo#45413

Hello @tech@zwo!

I have enabled the debug flag and run the demo application again on both the Pi 32 bit (armv7) and the Pi 64 bit (armv8). I have captured both the output of the test_gui_snap application, as well as the contents of the asicamerasdk.log file for both the armv7 and armv8 runs.

Because the logs are quite lengthy, I have uploaded them as a GitHub Gist, which you can access here (and there is a "Download ZIP" button in the top-right of the page, so you can just get all of the files):
https://gist.github.com/vector-kerr/8628c3be7fa463f6b61f3f539deb08ed

Additionally, after I had enabled the debug flag and was trying to run the test_gui_snap application on the armv8 pi, the first two times, the raspberry pi crashed. I cannot get the full logs for these crashes, but I did manage to get a screenshot of the second crash, which I will attach to this post. From what I recall, I believe the crash happened at a similar time / similar spot in the output both times.

Please let me know if there are further tests that I can perform to be of assistance or if there is any other debug or log information that I can provide.

Thanks!

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Yes, we have the log.

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Our devs have checked your log but can't find the exposure failure, or you can point it out for us and attach some screenshot of log.

Vector

@tech@zwo#45625 Hello, please see the attached screenshot and let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!

Tech@ZWO

Vector
Please try old 1.16. If still no avail, sorry to tell you we currently don't have armv8 to test this.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fzuGGw6IfUJllHO8N_4dcBM2vj4EchnV/view?usp=sharing

rpineau

@ZWO : Just get an Odroid N2+ and install their Ubuntu distribution (18.04 and 20.04 are available)... that will give you a proper armv8 on a 64 bit OS to test.. and it's less than $100 of investment.