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Initial Feedback #4

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Initial Feedback#4

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@riversn
riversn
opened on Oct 17, 2026

Leaving a message as a quick feedback for first-time use.

Windows 10
Sony A7iii
Nina 3.2

Directly installed 1.0.0.6 from Doug's latest plug-in downloaded inside of Nina. Process was very easy, just replacing the .dll

Initial feedback:

  • I CAN START AND STOP THE IMAGE CAPTURE WITHOUT CRASHING NOW! YAY! The 'wait until capture is finished' is minorly annoying compared to a quick stop and move on (potentially annoying if you have to wait for 2-3 min exposures). But I can understand that the camera may be locked in that mode so it's not the end of the world, especially if this is the trade off for not crashing during setup/polar alignment.
  • Have started a multi hour run of darks to see if a crash happens, 20 min in so far and no crashes yet. Will continue to update here.

Activity

  1. riversn commented on Oct 17, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 17, 2026
    Author

    Welp. Had a crash at about 25 min of biases (similar behavior to Doug's native plugin).

    Nina log below, let me know if there is another plugin log I can run to get you some more info.

    2026-10-17T13:43:06.5435|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|208|Starting Category: , Item: TakeExposure, ExposureTime 1E-06, Gain 1600, Offset -1, ImageType BIAS, Binning 1x1 2026-10-17T13:43:06.5441|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|737|Sequence exposure time 1E-06 is less than the camera minimum. Increasing to 0.000125 2026-10-17T13:43:06.5442|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|742|Starting Exposure - Exposure Time: 0.000125s; Filter: ; Gain: 1600; Offset -1; Binning: 1x1; 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9146|INFO|BaseImageData.cs|SaveToDisk|346|Saved image to C:\Users\Astro\Documents\N.I.N.A\2026-10-17\BIAS\2026-10-17_13-42-56__31.00_0.00s_0306.arw 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9146|INFO|ImageSaveController.cs|DoWork|97|Successfully saved file at C:\Users\Astro\Documents\N.I.N.A\2026-10-17\BIAS\2026-10-17_13-42-56__31.00_0.00s_0306.arw. Duration Total: 00:00:02.3714347; BeforeSave: 00:00:00.0000286; BeforeFinalizeImageSaved: 00:00:02.3058888; FinalizeSaveTime: 00:00:00.0655172 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9148|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|254|Finishing Category: , Item: TakeExposure, ExposureTime 1E-06, Gain 1600, Offset -1, ImageType BIAS, Binning 1x1 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9149|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|208|Starting Category: , Item: SwitchFilter, Filter: 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9150|WARNING|SequenceItem.cs|Run|285|Skipped Category: , Item: SwitchFilter, Filter: 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9150|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|208|Starting Category: , Item: TakeExposure, ExposureTime 1E-06, Gain 1600, Offset -1, ImageType BIAS, Binning 1x1 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9159|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|737|Sequence exposure time 1E-06 is less than the camera minimum. Increasing to 0.000125 2026-10-17T13:43:08.9159|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|742|Starting Exposure - Exposure Time: 0.000125s; Filter: ; Gain: 1600; Offset -1; Binning: 1x1; 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3346|INFO|BaseImageData.cs|SaveToDisk|346|Saved image to C:\Users\Astro\Documents\N.I.N.A\2026-10-17\BIAS\2026-10-17_13-42-59__31.00_0.00s_0307.arw 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3347|INFO|ImageSaveController.cs|DoWork|97|Successfully saved file at C:\Users\Astro\Documents\N.I.N.A\2026-10-17\BIAS\2026-10-17_13-42-59__31.00_0.00s_0307.arw. Duration Total: 00:00:02.4199818; BeforeSave: 00:00:00.0000296; BeforeFinalizeImageSaved: 00:00:02.3546566; FinalizeSaveTime: 00:00:00.0652956 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3348|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|254|Finishing Category: , Item: TakeExposure, ExposureTime 1E-06, Gain 1600, Offset -1, ImageType BIAS, Binning 1x1 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3349|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|208|Starting Category: , Item: SwitchFilter, Filter: 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3350|WARNING|SequenceItem.cs|Run|285|Skipped Category: , Item: SwitchFilter, Filter: 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3350|INFO|SequenceItem.cs|Run|208|Starting Category: , Item: TakeExposure, ExposureTime 1E-06, Gain 1600, Offset -1, ImageType BIAS, Binning 1x1 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3355|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|737|Sequence exposure time 1E-06 is less than the camera minimum. Increasing to 0.000125 2026-10-17T13:43:11.3355|INFO|CameraVM.cs|Capture|742|Starting Exposure - Exposure Time: 0.000125s; Filter: ; Gain: 1600; Offset -1; Binning: 1x1; 2026-10-17T13:43:13.8657|INFO|ApplicationDeviceConnectionVM.cs|UsbDeviceWatcher_DeviceRemoved|237|USB Device disconnected DeviceId: USB\VID_054C&PID_0C34\D0F2008C6EBF, PnpDeviceId: USB\VID_054C&PID_0C34\D0F2008C6EBF, Description: ILCE-7M3, Name: ILCE-7M3, Manufacturer: Sony Corporation, Service: WUDFWpdMtp, Status: OK

  2. riversn commented on Oct 17, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 17, 2026
    Author

    Happened again after another 20 min of biases.

    Image Attaching doug's driver log: I'm not sure where the error is, hopefully it's helpful for you. [sonycamera.txt](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/33604934/sonycamera.txt)

    I'm probably not going to try again since I can repeat the USB disconnect without a change.

  3. riversn commented on Oct 17, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 17, 2026
    Author

    sonycamera.txt

  4. riversn commented on Oct 17, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 17, 2026
    Author

    Testing 1.0.0.7 for almost an hour now, no usb disconnects so far (not sure if you changed anything on that end?) Will update if I get one... planning on letting it run overnight.

  5. riversn commented on Oct 17, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 17, 2026
    Author

    Welp, yep. Still crashed.

    sonycamera.txt

    20261017-164732-3.2.0.9001.18996-202610.log

    Here's the logs:

  6. riversn commented on Oct 20, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 20, 2026
    Author

    After a bunch of back and forth with Chatgpt (I'm a novice coder). It points to the SonyMTPCamera.dll as being the culprit and as I understand it, That's technically not within this repo and using one of Doug's older ones.

    sony_native_crash_dump_analysis.md

  7. riversn commented on Oct 22, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 22, 2026
    Author

    I had claude fix all the usb disconnect errors. See my commits. It does require SonyMTPCamera.dll updated as well from https://github.com/dougforpres/SonyCamera ; not only the nina plugin. I have pushed a commit to doug but we'll see if he approves it. I tested for 2 nights now with no usb drops.

  8. riversn commented on Oct 22, 2026

    @riversn
    riversn
    on Oct 22, 2026
    Author

    Update: found the causes of the crashes/drops during long runs. They were mostly in the native SonyMTPCamera.dll: a crash in the USB-removal callback, a task use-after-free, two threads talking to the camera at once (which knocks the A7 III off USB), and a few hangs on close/reopen. I've also added automatic reconnect in the plugin.

    With both, a 7.7 h overnight bias run (7,790 frames) had no disconnects or failures, and USB drops now recover on their own with one lost frame.

    Tip: set Drive Mode to Single Shooting. In Continuous Hi+ the camera sometimes takes a second frame per exposure.

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