Mac OS Crashes and Hangs

[RangerTim]

I just downloaded the latest beta and the problems persist. It is acting like it is out of memory. I sometimes get the warning about memory being out right before a crash. Most of the time I must force quit anything other than auto develop or deconvolute. The earlier 1.2 version would only hang on deconvolute so I think I'll go back to that one for a while. If I only could get the auto dev and the rest of the old version tools I'd be a happy camper! Happy to participate in the process and thankful for developers like you. I love this hobby.

[admin]

Thanks for letting me know Tim. What is the resolution of the images you are processing?

[RangerTim]

Sorry Ivo. Had to get my roof covered with paper before the next wet storm. By myself...

I have since played with the program again and was able to get the image to go through the 50 percent bin immediately after dismissing the warning screen about stacking defects. It then decided to hang (after I cropped) during deconvolution. I had to force quit. I cannot get the images through the processing enough to save them - only if I stretch, then immediately save to TIFF. Sometimes this works.

Resolution: Whatever the native file size of a Canon 450D is. That's why I tried to bin immediately. I am going to try and reduce the file size in Photoshop. Not really sure what I'm doing with that but will attempt it anyway. I really like taking the pictures (have been for a few years) but hate the processing gobble-de-gook. That's why I like StarTools. Help screens are immediately available and the explanations make sense. I want this software to work!

Sorry that we Mac users are such a niche market. I think that there are more of us each month and the more this hobby becomes mainstream the more Mac users will be on board. Although I may try running the older Star Tools in Parallels.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I will try to be more prompt. I am willing to be a Mac guinea pig for your software!

[admin]

Hi Tim,

Could you please try 1.3.179 Beta and see if that improves things?
I found that the compiler for MacOSX that I was using did not deal well with some optimisation settings I was using project-wide. I have now tweaked them for stability.
Let me know how you get on!

Ivo

[RangerTim]

Still the same behaviors. I have no other issues with other software either. Sometimes it works in a tool for a tweak or two, then shuts down (spinning StarTools wheel). I cannot cancel or keep the file, and must force quit. I am sure it must be memory issues, but I am no longer getting notifications as such with the smaller file sizes. More in a while...

[admin]

Thanks Tim,

I've given this yet another bash. This time I borrowed a Mac for a couple of hours and used it to do some debugging. I have found yet another bug on MacOSX that could explain further instabilities, while confirming the optimisation flags of the compiler are indeed the cause of further instabilities.

I'm hopeful I've finally nailed the blighter!
Give 1.3.180 Beta a go.
The application has been behaving stable with a 4272x2848 (Canon 450D native resolution) image loaded, going through all the motions that can be seen in the M101 tutorial (no binning).

It passed with flying colours on a MacBook Air with Dual Core i5 and 4Gb of RAM.

Let me know if you see the same.

Cheers,

[RangerTim]

I'll be right back at it this evening (mountain time, US) after the affairs of the day. You are a blessing to work so hard on this for us (me). I think this program will be on everyone's radar soon, just like SkySafari took off. I hope you have continued success with it, for MY sake!

[RangerTim]

HOORAAAY!!! It seems like you found the bug that was causing the mayhem in OSX! I worked through most of the modules and was at it for an hour. I processed a TIFF from DSS that was the native resolution of the Canon 450D and things went very well. I have more processing tools now than I've ever had and now I have a chance at understanding what they do, thanks to you Ivo! Many thanks. I can't wait to plow through all the files I have accumulated in the last couple of years and give them new life. Look for my test image on CL. I am psyched!

I'll let you know if there are any more glitches that show themselves. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[admin]

HOORAAAY!!! It seems like you found the bug that was causing the mayhem in OSX! I worked through most of the modules and was at it for an hour. I processed a TIFF from DSS that was the native resolution of the Canon 450D and things went very well. I have more processing tools now than I've ever had and now I have a chance at understanding what they do, thanks to you Ivo! Many thanks. I can't wait to plow through all the files I have accumulated in the last couple of years and give them new life. Look for my test image on CL. I am psyched!

I'll let you know if there are any more glitches that show themselves. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Awesome!!
Thanks for bearing with me while I figured this one out. Thanks to your feedback we should be able to get 1.3 out of beta soon!

Cheers,