Having issue with a C windows application crash
Application opens a serial port, sends commands then reads back responses.
All works well except when a large amount of data (10KB) has to be read from the port.
App will read data but any further reads crashes the application
Baud rate is 9600
Think it's the way I'm using the ReadFile() function, not sure how to fix
Again, when there are small amounts of data to read the app works perfect.
Code snip:
`i=0;
NoBytesRead=0;
SerialBuffer[0] ='\0';
do
{
ReadStatus=ReadFile( hComm, //Handle of the Serial port
TempChar, //buffer
1,
&NoBytesRead, //Number of bytes read
NULL); //overlapped object
if(ReadStatus==0)
{
printf("Read File Error\n");
printf("Read failed with error %d.\n", GetLastError());
}
//printf("%ld ",NoBytesRead);
SerialBuffer[i]=TempChar[0];
i++;
}
while (NoBytesRead > 0);`
Related
I'm running into some initial LIDAR connection issue with simultaneously connecting 4 Slamtec RPLIDAR A3 using MATALB
with the provided interface library found here: https://github.com/ENSTABretagneRobotics/Hardware-MATLAB
The issue is that I am having to retry the connection on at least one of the LIDARS before it connects.
And it can also vary with LIDAR that is. That is, all but one LIDAR connects the first time.
One time, it could be LIDAR on one COM port, another time it could be a LIDAR on another COM port.
This is the way it is set up right now.
Basically MATALB loads the provided interface library, hardwarex.dll. That exposes some library methods to be used by MATLAB.
The method to connect the LIDAR does the following:
Opens the RS232 port
Sets port options
Gets some info and health statuses form lidar
Sets the motor PWM to zero (stop lidar motor)
Uses express scan mode option
Here somewhere the communication will error out.
Using a serial sniffer I was able to see that the LIDAR errors out after the following message to the LIDAR:
a5 f0 02 ff 03 ab a5 25 a5 82 05 00 00 00 00 00 22
Which I tracked to the following library methods, in that order
SetMotorPWMRequestRPLIDAR()
CheckMotorControlSupportRequestRPLIDAR()
StopRequestRPLIDAR()
StartExpressScanRequestRPLIDAR() <-- Error here
To which the LIDAR responds with:
a5 5a 54 00 00 40 82
Where as a successfully connection response from the LIDAR much longer in content.
Things I've tried
Drain (force all write data) the write buffer with the interface libraries DrainComputerRS232Port() method before and/or after any write to lidar.
Setting the TX/Write OS FIFO buffer to FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING (ie. WriteFile()).
Changing the Hardware FIFO buffer form max (16) to min (1).
Using MATLAB's serial() command to flush any input or output buffers prior to loading the library or trying the connections.
This is the system and settings I am working with
Lidar (x4):
Slamtec RPLIDAR A3
Firmware 1.26
Connected via USB (no USB hub used)
No other COM port devices connected
Computer
OS: Windows 10 Pro - Build 1903
CPU: Intel Xeon 3.00Ghz
RAM: 64 GB
HD: SSD - 512GB NVMe
Serial Port Settings
Boud Rate: 256000
Timeout: 1000
Software
MATLAB R2018b (9.5.0)
I've been banging my head on the wall with this. Any help is much much appreciated!
I'm going to answer my own question. And anyone is interested in a more detailed discussion please refer to the issue posted on the MATLAB RPLIDAR repo:
https://github.com/ENSTABretagneRobotics/Hardware-MATLAB/issues/2
As I mentioned, when debugging, the error seemed to happen ConnectRPLIDAR() --> StartExpressScanRequestRPLIDAR(), then specifically here:
// Receive the first data response (2 data responses needed for angles computation...).
memset(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev, 0, sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev));
if (ReadAllRS232Port(&pRPLIDAR->RS232Port, pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev, sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev)) != EXIT_SUCCESS)
{
// Failure
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
What seemed to have happened before that is after the command being send out in WriteAllRS232Port(), sometimes it would not read a response in the ReadAllRS232Port(), esdata_prev would be nothing.
We tried implementing a mSleep(500) delay before that second ReadAllRS232Port(), and it seemed to help (my guess that the lidar was slow to respond), but the issue did not get resolved fully.
The following is what made it work every time with 4 lidars:
inline int StartExpressScanRequestRPLIDAR(RPLIDAR* pRPLIDAR)
{
unsigned char reqbuf[] = { START_FLAG1_RPLIDAR,EXPRESS_SCAN_REQUEST_RPLIDAR,0x05,0,0,0,0,0,0x22 };
unsigned char descbuf[7];
unsigned char sync = 0;
unsigned char ChkSum = 0;
// Send request to output/tx OS FIFO buffer for port
if (WriteAllRS232Port(&pRPLIDAR->RS232Port, reqbuf, sizeof(reqbuf)) != EXIT_SUCCESS)
{
printf("Error writing data to a RPLIDAR. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// Receive the response descriptor.
memset(descbuf, 0, sizeof(descbuf)); // Alocate memory
if (ReadAllRS232Port(&pRPLIDAR->RS232Port, descbuf, sizeof(descbuf)) != EXIT_SUCCESS)
{
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// Quick check of the response descriptor.
if ((descbuf[2] != 0x54) || (descbuf[5] != 0x40) || (descbuf[6] != MEASUREMENT_CAPSULED_RESPONSE_RPLIDAR))
{
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// Keep anticipating a port read buffer for 1 second
int timeout = 1500;
// Check it every 5 ms
// Note on Checking Period Value:
// Waiting on 82 bytes in lidar payload
// 10 bits per byte for the serial communication
// 820 bits / 256000 baud = 0.0032s = 3.2ms
int checkingperiod = 5;
RS232PORT* pRS232Port = &pRPLIDAR->RS232Port;
int i;
int count = 0;
// Wait for something to show up on the input buffer on port
if (!WaitForRS232Port(&pRPLIDAR->RS232Port, timeout, checkingperiod))
{
//Success - Something is there
// If anything is on the input buffer, wait until there is enough
count = 0;
for (i = 0; i < 50; i++)
{
// Check the input FIFO buffer on the port
GetFIFOComputerRS232Port(pRS232Port->hDev, &count);
// Check if there is enough to get a full payload read
if (count >= sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev))
{
// Thre is enough, stop waiting
break;
}
else
{
// Not enough, wait a little
mSleep(checkingperiod);
}
}
}
else
{
//Failure - After waiting for an input buffer, it wasn't there
printf("[StartExpressScanRequestRPLIDAR] : Failed to detect response on the input FIFO buffer. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// Receive the first data response (2 data responses needed for angles computation...).
memset(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev, 0, sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev));
if (ReadAllRS232Port(&pRPLIDAR->RS232Port, pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev, sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev)) != EXIT_SUCCESS)
{
// Failure
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
// Analyze the first data response.
sync = (pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev[0] & 0xF0)|(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev[1]>>4);
if (sync != START_FLAG1_RPLIDAR)
{
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly : Bad sync1 or sync2. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
ChkSum = (pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev[1]<<4)|(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev[0] & 0x0F);
// Force ComputeChecksumRPLIDAR() to compute until the last byte...
if (ChkSum != ComputeChecksumRPLIDAR(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev+2, sizeof(pRPLIDAR->esdata_prev)-1))
{
printf("A RPLIDAR is not responding correctly : Bad ChkSum. \n");
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
So in the above code, we are waiting for the OS read FIFO buffer to show something within 1.5s, checking every 5ms (WaitForRS232Port()). If anything shows up, makes sure to wait to have enough, the size of the payload (GetFIFOComputerRS232Port()).
I'm not sure if it made a difference but we also removed the OS write FIFO buffer by changing it from 0 to FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING:
File: OSComputerRS232Port.h
...
hDev = CreateFile(
tstr,
GENERIC_READ|GENERIC_WRITE,
0, // Must be opened with exclusive-access.
NULL, // No security attributes.
OPEN_EXISTING, // Must use OPEN_EXISTING.
FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING, // Not overlapped I/O. Should use FILE_FLAG_WRITE_THROUGH and maybe also FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING?
NULL // hTemplate must be NULL for comm devices.
);
...
I have a program that outputs audio via Portaudio. It works for the most part, but there are some USB devices that use the built-in Windows USBAudio drivers that don't work.
I don't get any error and the program shows data being processed in my program, but when the audio stream is sent to portaudio, no sound is output from the USB device. It seems as if portaudio is not initializing the device and therefore can't send the data stream to it.
Some USB devices will work on one USB port, but when I move it to a different USB port on the same computer, it will not work.
Other USB devices will not work on any USB port.
However, all the USB devices work fine when outputting sound from other programs or when using the Windows test audio output.
I cannot figure out why some USB devices work and others don;t even though they are all using the same USB drivers.
Here's the part of my code that initiates the portaudio stream:
static int paPlayCallback( const void *inputBuffer, void *output,
unsigned long framesPerBuffer,
const PaStreamCallbackTimeInfo* timeInfo,
PaStreamCallbackFlags statusFlags,
void *userData ){
if(Out2){
int sz= Out2->Size();
if(sz>QUEUE_SIZE)start=1;
if(sz==0){
for(int i=0;i<10;i++)
averagePower[i]= 0.0;
start=0;
}
if(start){
printf("Output queue size %d\n",sz);
while(sampleCount<OUT_BUF_SIZE)
sampleCount+= AddBuffer();
Resample((float*)output, l,r,framesPerBuffer,dev.parameters.channelCount);
DelBuffer();
return paContinue;
}
}
memset(output,0, framesPerBuffer*dev.parameters.channelCount*4);
return paContinue;
}
static void StreamFinished( void* userData )
{
// exit(-1);
}
BOOL Play(int device){
dev.info = Pa_GetDeviceInfo( device );
dev.parameters.device = device;
dev.parameters.channelCount = dev.info->maxOutputChannels;
dev.parameters.sampleFormat = paFloat32;
if((dev.sampleRate = GetSampleRate(&dev.parameters))<=0){
fprintf(stderr,"Error: Bad output device sample rate.\n");
goto error;
}
int frameSize= (int)floor(dev.sampleRate/FPS);
PaError err;
do{
err= Pa_OpenStream(
&dev.stream,
NULL,
&dev.parameters,
dev.sampleRate,
frameSize,
paClipOff,
paPlayCallback,
0);
if(err ){
fprintf(stderr,"Error: Can't open %s in WASAPI exclusive mode.\n",dev.info->name);
}
}while(err != paNoError );
error_check(Pa_SetStreamFinishedCallback( dev.stream, &StreamFinished ));
error_check(Pa_StartStream( dev.stream ));
return TRUE;
error:
return FALSE;
}
It looks like you are opening the steam in shared mode. You must explicitly set the steam to use exclusive mode with the API specific parameters.
This post should demonstrate the correct syntax.
You might verify this by modifying the windows device settings to match your stream settings. If the settings match you should be able to open the device and stream to it successfully.
You may leave the device in shared mode if you query the device to get the default sample rate and type. In shared mode you can only open the device with the default settings.
MSDN article on exclusive streams
I am using OpenCV in Visual Studio 2010 to track an object, and I am trying to send a value to the Arduino to rotate servos attached to the camera. I am using an Arduino Uno. I have completed the C++ code that tracks the object and determines which direction the camera needs to be rotated, but I am having trouble sending this data to the Arduino. I am currently trying to use an RS-232 cable for this. I am using a Type-B USB cable to program my Arduino and an RS-232 to try to send the data from Visual Studio to the Arduino. Here is my code for the Visual Studio serial communication:
int portspeed(int centerpix, int xmid)
{HANDLE hDevice = CreateFile(L"COM5",GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE,NULL,OPEN_EXISTING,0,0);
DCB lpTest;
GetCommState(hDevice,&lpTest);
lpTest.BaudRate = CBR_9600;
lpTest.ByteSize = 8;
lpTest.Parity = NOPARITY;
lpTest.StopBits = ONESTOPBIT;
SetCommState(hDevice,&lpTest);
DWORD btsIO;
if (centerpix<xmid)
{
char test[] = "2";
WriteFile(hDevice,test,strlen(test),&btsIO,NULL);
cout << "Turn right " << test << endl;
}
else
{
char test[] = "3";
WriteFile(hDevice,test,strlen(test),&btsIO,NULL);
cout << "Turn left " << test << endl;
}
return 0;
}
On the Arduino code side I have this, which I am using to attempt to light two different LEDS to see if the program is able to correctly communicate which direction it needs to rotate:
int incomingByte = 0; // For incoming serial data
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600); // Opens serial port, sets data rate to 9600 bit/s
}
void loop()
{
// Send data only when you receive data:
if (Serial.available() > 0)
{
incomingByte = Serial.read();
if (incomingByte==50) //if =2
analogWrite(9,100);
else
analogWrite(9,0);
if (incomingByte==51) //if =3
analogWrite(10,50);
else analogWrite(10,0);
delay(3000);
}
else
analogWrite(9,255);
}
My interpretation is that I need to start the C++ program (which continuously sends the data over the serial communication), and then attach the TX pin from the RS-232 into the RX pin (digital 0) on the Arduino. When I try to upload the program to the Arduino I am given an error,
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
This only occurs when I have a wire going into the RX pin, even if this wire is not connected to anything. I believe that this error occurs because the RX is looking for an input with a baud rate of 9600, but it still gives me this error when the C++ program is running and sending the data with a rate of 9600.
How can I send a value from a Visual Studio project doing real time image processing on a laptop to an Arduino via serial communication?
Speaking as someone with limited Win32 experience (more of a .NET guy, really), I think your problem may be in write buffering.
By default, writes to a file or port are buffered in memory. Perhaps the write is never getting sent to the port as you are never closing the file handle nor calling [FlushFileBuffers][3].
Try adding this prior to return 0;:
//After a time, sensitive write
FlushFileBuffers(hDevice);
//or, more properly for the end of the program.
CloseHandle(hDevice);
I have a C++ pipe server app and a C# pipe client app communicating via Windows named pipe (duplex, message mode, wait/blocking in separate read thread).
It all works fine (both sending and receiving data via the pipe) until I try and write to the pipe from the client in response to a forms 'textchanged' event. When I do this, the client hangs on the pipe write call (or flush call if autoflush is off). Breaking into the server app reveals it's also waiting on the pipe ReadFile call and not returning.
I tried running the client write on another thread -- same result.
Suspect some sort of deadlock or race condition but can't see where... don't think I'm writing to the pipe simultaneously.
Update1: tried pipes in byte mode instead of message mode - same lockup.
Update2: Strangely, if (and only if) I pump lots of data from the server to the client, it cures the lockup!?
Server code:
DWORD ReadMsg(char* aBuff, int aBuffLen, int& aBytesRead)
{
DWORD byteCount;
if (ReadFile(mPipe, aBuff, aBuffLen, &byteCount, NULL))
{
aBytesRead = (int)byteCount;
aBuff[byteCount] = 0;
return ERROR_SUCCESS;
}
return GetLastError();
}
DWORD SendMsg(const char* aBuff, unsigned int aBuffLen)
{
DWORD byteCount;
if (WriteFile(mPipe, aBuff, aBuffLen, &byteCount, NULL))
{
return ERROR_SUCCESS;
}
mClientConnected = false;
return GetLastError();
}
DWORD CommsThread()
{
while (1)
{
std::string fullPipeName = std::string("\\\\.\\pipe\\") + mPipeName;
mPipe = CreateNamedPipeA(fullPipeName.c_str(),
PIPE_ACCESS_DUPLEX,
PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | PIPE_READMODE_MESSAGE | PIPE_WAIT,
PIPE_UNLIMITED_INSTANCES,
KTxBuffSize, // output buffer size
KRxBuffSize, // input buffer size
5000, // client time-out ms
NULL); // no security attribute
if (mPipe == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
return 1;
mClientConnected = ConnectNamedPipe(mPipe, NULL) ? TRUE : (GetLastError() == ERROR_PIPE_CONNECTED);
if (!mClientConnected)
return 1;
char rxBuff[KRxBuffSize+1];
DWORD error=0;
while (mClientConnected)
{
Sleep(1);
int bytesRead = 0;
error = ReadMsg(rxBuff, KRxBuffSize, bytesRead);
if (error == ERROR_SUCCESS)
{
rxBuff[bytesRead] = 0; // terminate string.
if (mMsgCallback && bytesRead>0)
mMsgCallback(rxBuff, bytesRead, mCallbackContext);
}
else
{
mClientConnected = false;
}
}
Close();
Sleep(1000);
}
return 0;
}
client code:
public void Start(string aPipeName)
{
mPipeName = aPipeName;
mPipeStream = new NamedPipeClientStream(".", mPipeName, PipeDirection.InOut, PipeOptions.None);
Console.Write("Attempting to connect to pipe...");
mPipeStream.Connect();
Console.WriteLine("Connected to pipe '{0}' ({1} server instances open)", mPipeName, mPipeStream.NumberOfServerInstances);
mPipeStream.ReadMode = PipeTransmissionMode.Message;
mPipeWriter = new StreamWriter(mPipeStream);
mPipeWriter.AutoFlush = true;
mReadThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ReadThread));
mReadThread.IsBackground = true;
mReadThread.Start();
if (mConnectionEventCallback != null)
{
mConnectionEventCallback(true);
}
}
private void ReadThread()
{
byte[] buffer = new byte[1024 * 400];
while (true)
{
int len = 0;
do
{
len += mPipeStream.Read(buffer, len, buffer.Length);
} while (len>0 && !mPipeStream.IsMessageComplete);
if (len==0)
{
OnPipeBroken();
return;
}
if (mMessageCallback != null)
{
mMessageCallback(buffer, len);
}
Thread.Sleep(1);
}
}
public void Write(string aMsg)
{
try
{
mPipeWriter.Write(aMsg);
mPipeWriter.Flush();
}
catch (Exception)
{
OnPipeBroken();
}
}
If you are using separate threads you will be unable to read from the pipe at the same time you write to it. For example, if you are doing a blocking read from the pipe then a subsequent blocking write (from a different thread) then the write call will wait/block until the read call has completed and in many cases if this is unexpected behavior your program will become deadlocked.
I have not tested overlapped I/O, but it MAY be able to resolve this issue. However, if you are determined to use synchronous calls then the following models below may help you to solve the problem.
Master/Slave
You could implement a master/slave model in which the client or the server is the master and the other end only responds which is generally what you will find the MSDN examples to be.
In some cases you may find this problematic in the event the slave periodically needs to send data to the master. You must either use an external signaling mechanism (outside of the pipe) or have the master periodically query/poll the slave or you can swap the roles where the client is the master and the server is the slave.
Writer/Reader
You could use a writer/reader model where you use two different pipes. However, you must associate those two pipes somehow if you have multiple clients since each pipe will have a different handle. You could do this by having the client send a unique identifier value on connection to each pipe which would then let the server associate the two pipes. This number could be the current system time or even a unique identifier that is global or local.
Threads
If you are determined to use the synchronous API you can use threads with the master/slave model if you do not want to be blocked while waiting for a message on the slave side. You will however want to lock the reader after it reads a message (or encounters the end of a series of message) then write the response (as the slave should) and finally unlock the reader. You can lock and unlock the reader using locking mechanisms that put the thread to sleep as these would be most efficient.
Security Problem With TCP
The loss going with TCP instead of named pipes is also the biggest possible problem. A TCP stream does not contain any security natively. So if security is a concern you will have to implement that and you have the possibility of creating a security hole since you would have to handle authentication yourself. The named pipe can provide security if you properly set the parameters. Also, to note again more clearly: security is no simple matter and generally you will want to use existing facilities that have been designed to provide it.
I think you may be running into problems with named pipes message mode. In this mode, each write to the kernel pipe handle constitutes a message. This doesn't necessarily correspond with what your application regards a Message to be, and a message may be bigger than your read buffer.
This means that your pipe reading code needs two loops, the inner reading until the current [named pipe] message has been completely received, and the outer looping until your [application level] message has been received.
Your C# client code does have a correct inner loop, reading again if IsMessageComplete is false:
do
{
len += mPipeStream.Read(buffer, len, buffer.Length);
} while (len>0 && !mPipeStream.IsMessageComplete);
Your C++ server code doesn't have such a loop - the equivalent at the Win32 API level is testing for the return code ERROR_MORE_DATA.
My guess is that somehow this is leading to the client waiting for the server to read on one pipe instance, whilst the server is waiting for the client to write on another pipe instance.
It seems to me that what you are trying to do will rather not work as expected.
Some time ago I was trying to do something that looked like your code and got similar results, the pipe just hanged
and it was difficult to establish what had gone wrong.
I would rather suggest to use client in very simple way:
CreateFile
Write request
Read answer
Close pipe.
If you want to have two way communication with clients which are also able to receive unrequested data from server you should
rather implement two servers. This was the workaround I used: here you can find sources.
I want to read and write from serial using events/interrupts.
Currently, I have it in a while loop and it continuously reads and writes through the serial. I want it to only read when something comes from the serial port. How do I implement this in C++?
This is my current code:
while(true)
{
//read
if(!ReadFile(hSerial, szBuff, n, &dwBytesRead, NULL)){
//error occurred. Report to user.
}
//write
if(!WriteFile(hSerial, szBuff, n, &dwBytesRead, NULL)){
//error occurred. Report to user.
}
//print what you are reading
printf("%s\n", szBuff);
}
Use a select statement, which will check the read and write buffers without blocking and return their status, so you only need to read when you know the port has data, or write when you know there's room in the output buffer.
The third example at http://www.developerweb.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2933 and the associated comments may be helpful.
Edit: The man page for select has a simpler and more complete example near the end. You can find it at http://linux.die.net/man/2/select if man 2 select doesn't work on your system.
Note: Mastering select() will allow you to work with both serial ports and sockets; it's at the heart of many network clients and servers.
For a Windows environment the more native approach would be to use asynchronous I/O. In this mode you still use calls to ReadFile and WriteFile, but instead of blocking you pass in a callback function that will be invoked when the operation completes.
It is fairly tricky to get all the details right though.
Here is a copy of an article that was published in the c/C++ users journal a few years ago. It goes into detail on the Win32 API.
here a code that read serial incomming data using interruption on windows
you can see the time elapsed during the waiting interruption time
int pollComport(int comport_number, LPBYTE buffer, int size)
{
BYTE Byte;
DWORD dwBytesTransferred;
DWORD dwCommModemStatus;
int n;
double TimeA,TimeB;
// Specify a set of events to be monitored for the port.
SetCommMask (m_comPortHandle[comport_number], EV_RXCHAR );
while (m_comPortHandle[comport_number] != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
// Wait for an event to occur for the port.
TimeA = clock();
WaitCommEvent (m_comPortHandle[comport_number], &dwCommModemStatus, 0);
TimeB = clock();
if(TimeB-TimeA>0)
cout <<" ok "<<TimeB-TimeA<<endl;
// Re-specify the set of events to be monitored for the port.
SetCommMask (m_comPortHandle[comport_number], EV_RXCHAR);
if (dwCommModemStatus & EV_RXCHAR)
{
// Loop for waiting for the data.
do
{
ReadFile(m_comPortHandle[comport_number], buffer, size, (LPDWORD)((void *)&n), NULL);
// Display the data read.
if (n>0)
cout << buffer <<endl;
} while (n > 0);
}
return(0);
}
}