Dead handbox after upgrade and fault with Autostar software 59Ef
James Harris
A tale of woe which I send to warn anyone else who might try the
upgrade.
In summary: after going through the procedure to upgrade my Autostar
to version 59Ef my handbox died and won't respond even to the Safe
Load keys so it seems there's nothing I can do to recover it.
The longer version is as follows. My Autostar which I think is a #497
seemed to be fine but I wanted to add comet Lulin and thought it would
be a good idea to upgrade the software at the same time. I downloaded
the latest ASU Client from
http://www.meade.com/support/auto.html
Here is the first error. The web site says it is version 4.6 and 1,654
KB in size. The downloaded file, when run, says it is version 4.88
(2008 Jun 8 21:08:19 PT) and is 404 KB in size. Running it does not
start the install process but presents the Autostar update program
directly. Still it got connected to the handbox. Notably, although it
could connect it showed memory full in the lower right hand corner and
could not communicate with the handbox without crashing.
I already had an older version of ASU on another computer so I tried
that instead. It reports itself as version 4.85 (2007 Jul 15 00:58:21
PT).
This time connect showed Avail. Mem.: 64512 Bytes which was more
promising. I pressed the Upgrade Autostar Software Now button and told
it to check the Internet for the latest version which it found to be
59Ef. Here is potentially the second error. The Meade web page, above,
says that 43Eg is available but the update software found 59Ef.
Trusting the software (foolishly as it turned out) I got it to
download 59Ef and then told it to upgrade. The handbox previously was
working on 43Ea. It took some time to do the upgrade. I didn't measure
the time but estimate it was somewhere between half and hour and an
hour. Something made a noise at this point. When I checked the
computer it looked like it had finished but the handbox screen was
blank. There was no response to buttons so I power cycled the
handbox ... but it still came up with no display.
I have tried powering up in Safe Load mode - i.e. with the handbox's
Enter and Scroll Down keys pressed and various other combinations -
but unfortunately it is still blank. Nothing I can do seems to
generate any response from the handbox.
I have tried a different handbox in circuit. (Fortunately I have
another one from another telescope.) This one works fine with the same
scope and cables etc. but the faulty hand box is still dead.
I posted this to Mike Weasner's ETX site a few days ago. Since then
someone has contacted me direct to say he has the same problem.
The last part of the tale is that I spoke with a telescope supplier
and they say Meade is aware that they have some faulty software on
their Autostar update page and are working on a fix. I can't believe
Meade are aware of software causing the symptoms I have described
above. If they were then surely they would take the errant software
off their web page wouldn't they? Apparently, most people just get a
failed upgrade but can still rescue the handbox via Safe Load.
I don't know if the alleged error is with the ASU or the Autostar
software but for anyone thinking to upgrade just now, beware. A dead
handbox is expensive to replace.
The local Meade support company say they are aware Meade has published
software with a fault but once Meade publish fixed software they will
help me fix the fault. Here's hoping....
James