Couldn't take a picture with even 1s exp setting in PREVIEW menu

james03

Hi, finally I've got ASIAIR plus after three months. I was pleased so much.

But I've met a problem during the setup and first test.
When I connected ASIAIR plus to PC with USB-C cable, an error message popped up like "ASIAIR drive has some problem, so it needs to repair". So I followed the popped-up window guide for recovery, which looked solving the problem at that time. And then I looked over the content of disk, and found 20gb disk space free. So I created my own folders for mount drivers which may need to install and pictures. And I copied some files (about 80 mega) from PC.
And then I did an first test to see it's interoperability with AZ-GTi even it's day time, Apps (ASIAir and SynScan of AZgti) were running O.K. and GOTOed well. So I've closed all applications and disconnected it from PC.
And 2 days later, during the night I turned on ASIAIR and AZ-Gti to test more details including taking pictures and guiding etc. However when I connected ASIair plus to PC to check what change had been made in ASIAIR directory during last test, same error message popped up as last time, but this time the windows recovery didn't work coming out "WRITE prohibited in this disk". Anyway I tried to test a planned scenario, Goto function was O.K., but no pictures wasn't saved in the image directory of EMMC except 1 (I am not sure how it happened), and most of exposure were failed even less 1s exp setting (after long time passed, it returned "Exposure failed". Even in the FOCUS section of PREVIEW menu, I couldn't get out because it (EXP) never stopped, but I had to showdown ASIAIR app.
It's not normal, where I am suspicious about the message "WRITE prohibited in this disk".

In this situation, please advise me what I can do to solve this problem.
I'd waited so long time until receiving this product, so I don't want to have another long waiting to send and return it for AS.

FYI. I've tried a couple of guides including diskpart command and regedit to solve the problem relevant to "WRITE prohibited in this disk" message after googling(actually navering). But any of those didn't work.

Regards,
James

Walf@ZWO

james03 If you connect PC,you should not operate AA+ except copy image out of it。

astronebulee

I don't have an AAplus but I do use my AApro on my AzGti mount.
Have you tried using your AAplus via a mobile phone or tablet? I find this much easier and more portable. I would of thought the AAplus being a mini pc you wouldn't need the pc/laptop connected too. But then I only use my AApro with my mobile phone.
It sounds as though your AAplus sd card may be corrupted though not sure on that, I'm a bit confuddled.
Did you backup the sd card before you used your AAplus? Dave Eagle on YouTube provides a very easy way to back up and restore sd cards for the Asiair.
Cheers
Lee

james03

astronebulee
Of course, I did above test using my mobile phone.
AAplus has its own inside storage instead of SD card, which is different from AApro.
The reason why I connected to PC was to look at inside storage, EMMC for curiosity and whether to use internal storage EMMC as picture storage or not.
After that, I decided to use an external USB as the picture storage, and tested it but turned out same result.

In AAplus when I looked at, all OS related programs are hidden, invisible, so there is no way to backup.
I worry about the corruption of EMMC from the first message, but I want to know how to solve this problem by a simple way, and what it caused this problem for later purpose.
So far I couldn't find a way to restore ASIAIR plus for the initialization.
I hope this is not a physical device error which require the replacement.

Thanks for your kind reply,
James

james03

Of course, I did above test using my mobile phone.
AAplus has its own inside storage instead of SD card, which is different from AApro.
The reason why I connected to PC was to look at inside storage, EMMC for curiosity and whether to use internal storage EMMC as picture storage or not.
After that, I decided to use an external USB as the picture storage, and tested it but turned out same result.

Thanks for your kind reply,
James

astronebulee

Hi James
Right I understand now. I know nothing I'd the AAplus so thought it had the external sd card with its OS on.
To view the hidden files on the laptop/pc I think theres a check box in the window when you open the internal storage on your laptop. 8 had to do this for my AApro to view my license file. But in further reading online there's no need to backup the AAplus as its self healing apparently and why it probably says 'write protected' to stop anything being added to it.
Strange how you had to add your own folders in it though, I'd of thought it would all be in there ready.
How are you powering your AAplus and the rest of your set up?
For a quicker answer to your issue you can post on
www.stargazerslounge.com
in the getting started with imaging section of the forum, I'm sure there will be lots of helpful advice there, they have always helped me.
You maybe able to reset your AAplus using this link I've found on this forum here with a shot maybe.
https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/13965-asiair-plus-wont-boot
Cheers
Lee

james03

astronebulee

Your link helps me to understand the situation, but makes me afraid of the vulnerability of AA plus power management. At first test, I didn't do the soft shutdown and just turned the power switch off, which might cause this problem. But at that time I didn't realize the shutdown menu exists in very below, later I could find it there.
But I can't understand this vulnerability on the power management, because this kind of situation can happen anytime like low power or disconnecting power cable accidentally etc.
And I used a dedicated 12v power source with 12v trigger cable, which means a steady power required.

Anyway I need to try the reset process by pressing the reset button holding down at least 10s. I hope it works.
Question.
Do I have to press the reset button for 10s with the input power on? or without the input power on?

Again thanks for your kind reply
James.

<ps> I've left the same message to ZWO ASI | support / Product for a formal request on this issue.
So I gonna try this reset process after I check their response which I expect to have tomorrow.

james03

Walf@ZWO

I see. But I am afraid I did the first test with connecting to PC via usb-c port.
If so, when I copy image out of it, do I have to connect to PC after soft shut-downing AA+?

May I ask why?

Anyway some warning message about this kind of things users keep in mind, should be listed in a product box paper.

Thanks.

astronebulee

@james03 I don't know if the AAplus should be on or off, but I would think it needs to be powered on to perform the reset 👍

james03

Does anybody know what's the actual power consumption (average) of AA+ per hour?
To avoid an accidental power loss which may demage AA+, I need to prepare an enough capacity of battery, 12v * ??A for my duration time of the day.
I don't think that AA+ will use 12v* 2A = 24W per hour, which looks too much considering it's size.
I expect it will consume less power than running APT, PHD2, Stellarium at once on a notebook which used to consume around 10-15W per hour from my experience.

astronebulee

james03 do you power your AAplus via a mains power outlet or battery power. If so don't forget in colder weather the battery will work harder and lose capacity quicker than in warmer conditions. Check out attached image.
I know with my AApro I use mains power and powered via the zwo 12v 5a power supply.
Did you have any joy with the soft reset?
Cheers
Lee

james03

astronebulee

I am still waiting for the response from ZWO ASIAIR support team.
I used ZMI 25Ah (about 80Wh) battery with a trigger board for the test which supports 12v*3a output and did the test in my room.
The battery will be replaced by a power bank for better power management.
Thanks for your asking,
James

astronebulee

james03 depending on how much your going to set up with on your AAplus, I'd say 5amp supply is really needed. 3amp may become a bit weak when adding cameras, filter wheel and such.
Try stargazerslounge.com to ask any questions they really are lovely there and I'm there too. Maybe quicker than waiting for zwo to get back to you.
Cheers
Lee

james03

astronebulee

You are right, that's why I gonna replace the battery with the power bank.
The reason I am waiting for ZWO response is JUST IN CASE to return it for the replacement because I bought it directly from ZWO.
Cheers
James

astronebulee

james03 let us know how you get on with zwo

PMTeam@ZWO

Hello, we are sorry to bring you a bad experience.
In v1.8.2, we found a serious bug caused by connecting the PC. So in v1.9, we temporarily prohibit writing files after connecting to the PC. If you are using v1.9, the prompt that you cannot write to the disk is normal.
In the latest public beta version, we have solved this problem. You can download the public beta version through the link below.

iOS > Testflight https://testflight.apple.com/join/6uEyoSl3
Android > https://pgyer.com/air_beta_android

Regarding the problem of camera exposure failure, can you provide us with the camera model and the log of exposure failure? Will exposure failure occur for both exposures lower than 1s and those higher than 1s？

james03

@asiair@zwo#56387

Hi, thanks for your concern. EXP failure occurred no matter what it's lower than 1s and higher than 1s.
For others please refer to below;

And could you let me know in detail how I can use your link in Android and may I expect this update solve my problem?

Today I got a response from ZWO support team as follows;

Hi James,
I would recommend connecting to the ASIAir Plus via the ASIAir app, go into settings and reset the firmware. Delete the ASIAir app and reinstall it. This way you have a fresh copy and a fresh factory reset and updated firmware. We always recommend shutting down the ASIAir in the ASIAir app so it does not corrupt the OS or cause issues.
Clear skies,
**

And then I tested more and gave my feedback to them as follows; (looks like I am a test board^^)

Hi **,

I followed your steps one by one.
However even after I finished all your steps for the reset, I couldn't find any change explicitly shown in EMMC.

Two folders and some files I'd made, still exists there as it were, and one picture of ASIAIR Preview folder of EMMC from my previous test was still there.
So I am not sure whether I had a fresh factory reset from this job AS YOU SAID or not.

Anyway I could continue to do more test fortunately.
And one problem has been detected when I choose the option, "Save Image to DSLR Simultaneously" as shown in attached picture 1;

If I use an external USB as the storage option, it works fine, in terms of this time testing.

But

If I use the internal EMMC as the storage option,
after I took one round of Autorun, any followed shooting in Preview or another Autorun never stopped, moreover I couldn't move to another menu of same category such as Preview, Autorun, Live, Focus etc.
So if I push on stop button to finish this exposure compulsorily, "Can't stop immediately, please wait for seconds" message came out as shown in attached picture 2, but it never stopped.
That's why I couldn't move to another menu.
And when I checked the status of Camera (Canon EOS R),
I couldn't switch to Play mode to see pictures taken, where the camera's LED message was "busy".
Even I tried to turned off Camera, Camera never turned off showing a message "On the way of saving remaining 2 pictures" as shown in attached picture 3, where however I can't figure out what 2 pictures are.
Only way I can get out of that status, was to showdown ASIAIR app, which made Camera turned off.

This situation did not happen in case of using an external USB as the storage option. I've tested 3 rounds of Preview and Autorun test.

I think other users might undergo same issues.
For the time being, I will do more test with an external USB as the storage option or not choosing the option, "Save Image to DSLR Simultaneously".

Please take care of this,
Regards,
James

PMTeam@ZWO

Hello James,

Which version of ASIAIR App are you using? Ever received a "Format eMMC" prompt within the app?

Until v1.9, eMMC of ASIAIR supported be readed and writed via pc (connected via type-c). But we found in the test that the write operation will cause the eMMC to error, so the it is disabled in the v1.9 version. the "WRITE prohibited in this disk" you received is the correct prompt. And in the v1.9 version, if there is a eMMC error of ASIAIR (caused by previous write operation), you will be prompted to format the eMMC. If you are prompted to "Format eMMC", please follow the prompts to format it.
We fixed this problem in the v1.9.1 version . You can read and write eMMC storage normally through the pc in v1.9.1. If an eMMC error is detected (caused by a bug before v1.9), the app will still prompt you to format, please follow the prompts to format it.
Steps: Download and install v1.9.1, connect to the box hotspot, open the app, upgrade firmware of ASIAIR, and use it normally after entering.
Below is the public beta link of v1.9.1:
iOS > https://testflight.apple.com/join/6uEyoSl3
Android > https://pgyer.com/air_beta_android

Clear Skies!