Partial completion of images?
Partial completion of images?
I recently shot at a local nightclub to help promote one of the monthly shows, and was putting together a bunch of photos for a local artist who was providing free glow-in-the-dark bodypainting during the evening. This meant ISO 3200 pushed one stop, f/2.0 lens wide open, 1/30s shutter speed, etc.
I used my 3200+EV1 profile and started up a batch of images. To my surprise, many of the images were prematurely aborted because of the following error:
However, NeatImage itself did not close, but the image that was being worked on was aborted. Actually, the queue showed it was 100% complete, but if you saved out the result, only a certain part starting from the left side of the image was actually done (the rest is just black). The queue would continue, and random images would suffer from this problem.
If I go back and resubmit the failed images, some of them will process fine, and others will fail again. I can repeat this until I finally get all the images done. It does not appear to be related to the source image. It might be because of the profile I am using, but I have not had time to experiment much more.
NITeam... what kind of information can I collect to send to you for analysis? Unfortunately, my Windows debugging skills aren't the greatest, but I'm pretty good at following directions, if you have any.
I used my 3200+EV1 profile and started up a batch of images. To my surprise, many of the images were prematurely aborted because of the following error:
However, NeatImage itself did not close, but the image that was being worked on was aborted. Actually, the queue showed it was 100% complete, but if you saved out the result, only a certain part starting from the left side of the image was actually done (the rest is just black). The queue would continue, and random images would suffer from this problem.
If I go back and resubmit the failed images, some of them will process fine, and others will fail again. I can repeat this until I finally get all the images done. It does not appear to be related to the source image. It might be because of the profile I am using, but I have not had time to experiment much more.
NITeam... what kind of information can I collect to send to you for analysis? Unfortunately, my Windows debugging skills aren't the greatest, but I'm pretty good at following directions, if you have any.
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
I did a bit more testing late last night, and it appears to be related to the use of the "Filter low frequency splotches" filter preset. I tried different profiles, different sets of images (including those that I know worked fine in the past in a batch), different output image types, multiprocessor on/off, etc. When I go back to the default filter preset, all images and all profiles work fine. As soon as I select the "Filter low frequency splotches" preset, I start getting random crashes. I can run the same batch over and over again, and each time a different set of images will be affected.
I notice that if I enable multiprocessor support, I will sometimes get the Windows XP error report dialog, in addition to the one I included above. I haven't had a chance to capture it yet, but it appears to indicate a floating point exception as the cause of the abort (perhaps a division by zero error?).
I'll try running a batch tonight (when I'm back home) using the default preset, but then turning on "very low freq" to see if that is directly related. If the XP debugger comes up again, I'll snag a copy of the error report.
I notice that if I enable multiprocessor support, I will sometimes get the Windows XP error report dialog, in addition to the one I included above. I haven't had a chance to capture it yet, but it appears to indicate a floating point exception as the cause of the abort (perhaps a division by zero error?).
I'll try running a batch tonight (when I'm back home) using the default preset, but then turning on "very low freq" to see if that is directly related. If the XP debugger comes up again, I'll snag a copy of the error report.
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
I tried a few more batch tests, and the results strongly suggest something is amiss with the "very low frequency" option. I tried several different batches of images, using a variety of profiles:
- First try used the "Filter low frequency splotches" preset. That resulted in random aborts.
- Second try used the "Default" preset. No aborts.
- Third try used a preset I created called "vlf_test" that is the default preset, but with the VLF option checked. Everything else is at the default setting. That resulted in random aborts.
- Fourth try used the "Filter and sharpen image" preset. No aborts.
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
I reinstalled from a freshly downloaded version, and still the same result. Any other debugging information I can produce?NITeam wrote:I suspect we have already fixed this issue because I still cannot reproduce it. Please re-download the software to see if the latest version shows the same effect.
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
Here is an example. I tried doing images individually and not in batches, but that still triggered a crash. After I dismiss the error dialog, these are what the four NI screens look like. Notice how NI thinks the image was calculated completely, despite what the image preview shows? The "Apply" button is disabled, and the status line says "calculated".
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
Thank you for the screenshots. Very strange indeed.
If you save such an incomplete image to a file, and then open it in an image editor, it also look incomplete, right?
Could you send me a set of an image, profile and preset you used? - I am trying to reproduce this effect and cannot so far. Probably your image will help.
Thanks a lot,
Vlad
If you save such an incomplete image to a file, and then open it in an image editor, it also look incomplete, right?
Could you send me a set of an image, profile and preset you used? - I am trying to reproduce this effect and cannot so far. Probably your image will help.
Thanks a lot,
Vlad
I will PM you a link where you can download a couple of ZIP files that should help solve this mystery. Earlier tonight, I rebooted XP into Safe Mode, in case I had installed something that could affect NeatImage's operation. However, even in Safe Mode, NI would show the same crashing behaviour.
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
Thanks, Vlad. I recently bought myself a new laptop. I have my copy of NI installed on there now, and I will attempt to reproduce the problem. I am also running Windows XP SP1 with the same critical patches as on my desktop. The major difference is that the laptop is a Pentium M while the desktop is an Opteron. Possibly a problem with the way floating operations are handled differently on those two CPU's?
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2
It does not seem to be related to the Opteron... I have been able to reproduce the problem on my IBM Thinkpad X40 (1.2 GHz Pentium M). This is using a fresh install of 4.0 Pro+ from your web site, with my 10D profiles. Same test conditions, using the images I sent to you... the crash dialog came up while trying to process the second image (but this is random).
For some reason though, the partially completed JPEG is not saved out. NI does not actually terminate, but it sits there on the same file forever. It does not make any progress (the progress bar does not move), but the estimated completion timer keeps updating (it gets longer and longer, since no progress is being made). All the buttons and menus still work. I cannot stop or exit NI normally... the job status just says "stopping", but it never actually stops. I have to go into the XP Task Manager to kill of NI.
Have you been able to at least reproduce the problem?
For some reason though, the partially completed JPEG is not saved out. NI does not actually terminate, but it sits there on the same file forever. It does not make any progress (the progress bar does not move), but the estimated completion timer keeps updating (it gets longer and longer, since no progress is being made). All the buttons and menus still work. I cannot stop or exit NI normally... the job status just says "stopping", but it never actually stops. I have to go into the XP Task Manager to kill of NI.
Have you been able to at least reproduce the problem?
NeatImage Pro Plus 5.0 + dual Opteron 244 + Windows XP SP2 + FreeBSD 5.2