Hi Stan,

Do you anticipate any issues with CCDS and 64 bit Windows 7? I'm thinking about getting a new processing PC soon.

Tom

I've been running CCDStack with CCDIS for a couple of months now on the Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate beta. No problems noted.

Also no issues running it under Windows 7 64-bit RTM edition.

Jonathan

Thanks much!

Tom

I'm just upgrading too. Is CCDStack compiled with the ‘large address space aware’ flag set? IOW, is the process limited to 2GB or will it address the full 32-bit range of 4GB that is possible when running 32-bit apps on 64 bit Windows.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike,

CCDStack automatically runs as a native 64 bit app in 64 bit OS (XP, Vista, 7).

If you turn-off the memory limits ("edit"; "Settings") then CCDStack should be able to access as much RAM as you have on a 64 bit machine. It is also recommened that the cache be turned off for 64 bit OS (also in "Setting"). CCDStack can actually access more memory than RAM via paging but it really slows down to a crawl, so if that happens then turn the cache back on, as it is more effecient than Window's paging.

Stan

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Stan,

Woo Hoo! I didn't realize this. I'm ordering a new motherboard and cpu today. No more stacking in batches.

Thanks,
Mike

Then I must be doing something wrong! I have Vista64, 8Gb RAM, Quad-core Processor. When I installed CCDS, Windows placed it in Program Files (x86), not Program Files. This means Vista thinks CCDS is a 32-bit program.

Perhaps I am not calibrating the right way. I set up the calibration settings with Master Flat, Master Dark, and Master Bias. The way I understand the Help file, I have to open my image FITS, and the calibration will be applied. I have 110 Ha "raw" fits to be calibrated. At about the moment the 7th FITs is opened, my PC goes into an E X T R E M E L Y slow crawl, almost "locking up". Please tell me what I am doing wrong...

BTW, will this program ever recognize and convert Canon RAW?

Just unclick "Enable Cache" in the Edit->Settings dialog. It is a 32-bit program that can access larger memory areas. I know, because I've loaded up nearly a 1000 2.2MB images in an 8GB Vista 64 machine. The system runs quite nicely and I was able to register this entire stack in a reasonable amount of time.

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

I just checked and it IS unclicked. So that doesn't explain my issue. My RAWs are converted in ImagesPlus to uncompressed FITs. I was trying to open 110 "lights", each FIT is approximately 11Mb in size. As soon as the 7th FIT's title appeared in the CCDS header, everything slowed dramatically and at the 56th FIT I got the "out of Memory" error. Even after I got CCDS closed, my PC was totally anemic until I could re-boot.

My Windows processor scheduling is set for Background Services and my paging file is set to 10Gb, although this is supposed to be irrelevant if I unclick the "Enable Cache"?

I am further confused when Stan states that CCDStack is a native 64-bit app, but it installs as a 32-bit...

Regards,
Michael Hernandez

What does Task Manager report when the system slows down? It should show you how much of your total system RAM is in use.

Jonathan

I just did a little experiment. You have 110, 11MB images to load. That comes to about 1.2GB of data. I just loaded 350+ 4MB images and they loaded just fine. Task Manager reported an increase usage of RAM by 4.8GB. As my system was already using 3.5GB, that brought the total RAM consumption to about 8.25GB. I have a 12GB system so no slow down. CCDStack at the same time reported 5600MB.

In my settings section, I have nothing checked in the lower half entitled "Large Stacks".

quote:

When I installed CCDS, Windows placed it in Program Files (x86), not Program Files. This means Vista thinks CCDS is a 32-bit program.

Not really. CCDStack is a .NET application, which means that .NET hosts the JIT (Just In Time) compilation of the metacode. The metacode is largely platform independent and will compile/run as 32 bit when the .NET is running in 32 bit environment or will compile/run as 64 bit when the .NET is running in 64 bit environment. The placement of the metacode in Program Files (x86) is basically arbitrary.

But you are describing unusual behavior that implies 1 of 2 possibilities:

1) The CCDStack cache and memory warnings are turned on. If so then performance would slow down at the point when the program determines that it will need to cache and the “out of memory” warning would be issued when the VM exceeds that setting. (Note that settings changes don’t take effect until the next session). You can tell if the cache is being used by looking at the information on the bottom left border – the word “Cached” will appear next to the VM usage (the number in parentheses).

2) For some reason, your computer may be forcing .NET to run in 32 bit emulation. I don’t even know how to do that, but maybe you are using VMware or something that is taking control?

Stan

I have tried this with Cache checked and unchecked. It does the same thing either way. Watching Resource Monitor in Task Manager, as the FITs load up, I can watch physical memory usage increase right up until the 8gb is consumed to 99% and at FIT number 56 CCDS gives me the out of memory warning.

I tried uninstalling CCDS, downloaded the latest version from the website and installed it. When the install asked me where to install, this time I specified Program Files and not the (x86) folder, but it installed it in Program Files (x86) anyway. I checked, I have the latest updates to .NET3.5 SP1 and .NET2.0 SP2, both 64bit Framework.

I am not running VMWare nor anything like that, just straight Uncle Billy's Windoze. Don't know what is going on???

Could this have something to do with these being color FITs, and not mono? This is starting to bother me.

quote:

watch physical memory usage increase right up until the 8gb is consumed to 99% and at FIT number 56 CCDS gives me the out of memory warning.

Well that's your problem - you are exceeding available RAM. You are correct that Color images consume large amounts of memory and that is truer for CCDStack than many other programs because CCDStack uses floating point arrays for every image (and each color image is effectively 3 images).

I suggest that you only process 1 color at a time then combine the 3 (or 4) masters in a final step. This method will not only relieve the memory problem but also produce superior results (because many CCDStack procedures only operate on the virtual “lum”).

I am skeptical that those images are “sky limited” and you can probably improve dim object S/N by taking longer (and fewer) sub-exps. However, if you like huge stacks then I invite you to check-out new software that I am developing for large stacks – Stacker Unlimited is now in early Beta.

Stan