New mini PC won't boot after remote imaging session

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025, 12:34 AM

3) Why are you turning off the PC?

Most important question here, just set the PC to sleep or win+L to lock it. Turning it off will just introduce problems like this.

V · Sep 18, 2025, 01:10 AM

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025, 12:34 AM

3) Why are you turning off the PC?

Most important question here, just set the PC to sleep or win+L to lock it. Turning it off will just introduce problems like this.

How do you prevent the computer from going to sleep, say at 2am when imaging is taking place?

Jerry Gerber · Sep 18, 2025 at 03:20 AM

V · Sep 18, 2025, 01:10 AM

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025, 12:34 AM

3) Why are you turning off the PC?

Most important question here, just set the PC to sleep or win+L to lock it. Turning it off will just introduce problems like this.

How do you prevent the computer from going to sleep, say at 2am when imaging is taking place?

It will not go to sleep as it is actively doing something. It might disable the display, but you can set that to never happen in the settings if you want.

Jerry Gerber · Sep 18, 2025 at 03:23 AM

It’s working now, Greg went into the observatory and told me the password was the problem, so I got rid of the Windows password. It was never an issue over the past year and a half since I’ve had my scope at a remote site.

I guess I should just leave everything on, 24/7?

Yes, there is no good reason to ever turn it off.

Jerry Gerber · Sep 18, 2025 at 05:08 AM

Dark Matters Astrophotography · Sep 18, 2025, 04:04 AM

Jerry Gerber · Sep 18, 2025 at 03:20 AM

V · Sep 18, 2025, 01:10 AM

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025, 12:34 AM

3) Why are you turning off the PC?

Most important question here, just set the PC to sleep or win+L to lock it. Turning it off will just introduce problems like this.

How do you prevent the computer from going to sleep, say at 2am when imaging is taking place?

It will not go to sleep as it is actively doing something. It might disable the display, but you can set that to never happen in the settings if you want.

Jerry Gerber · Sep 18, 2025 at 03:23 AM

It’s working now, Greg went into the observatory and told me the password was the problem, so I got rid of the Windows password. It was never an issue over the past year and a half since I’ve had my scope at a remote site.

I guess I should just leave everything on, 24/7?

Yes, there is no good reason to ever turn it off.

Anyone use hibernation instead of sleep mode when using a PC remotely?

No, I change the settings to turn all of that off.

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025, 05:53 AM

Jerry,

Aside from power outages, my observatory PCs have been on for years. I go into the power settings and turn off any setting that would cause it to sleep, hibernate or shut down. I also have found (special with QHY cameras) that you need to dig deeper and turn off the USB power saving setting that can cause the USB to stop responding.

Kevin

I definitely don't have sleep or hibernation turned on when the computer is idle during the night or when it's imaging!

That being said I'm thinking why not have the PC sleep or hibernate after I've downloaded all the subs in the morning? It saves energy and the computer isn't doing anything until the evening when I start imaging again.

I usually set up my mini PCs with a local account, disable any settings requiring a password to access the PC, and disable the lock screen, which allows for automatic login on power on or reboot.

Annoyingly, even with “sleep” set to “never” under power options, I’ve still had my mini PC randomly sleep or shut down during an imaging session.

Then I discovered Windows PowerToys, which includes a module called “Awake”. There’s a setting in there to “keep awake indefinitely” which keeps the PC from ever going into sleep unexpectedly. Since installing this, I haven’t had a problem.

Also, make sure your “active hours” are set to your normal imaging times, so the PC doesn’t randomly reboot for an update during those times.

Jerry,

I turn my remote PCs off every single night and I’ve been doing that for 8-9 years without any problems. If you can’t turn off your PC for fear that you won’t be able to get it booted again, there is something wrong. Kevin and I have discussed this topic as a question of best practice a couple of times. One way of thinking is that the thermal cycles that happen during a power cycle are what might accelerate age induced failures. Another line of thinking is that the electronics (including fans) last for a certain amount of run time before something fails so it’s best to keep it running only when needed. I’m not sure which is right but with Windows, I personally prefer to start with a freshly booted PC that doesn’t contain some lurking problem that will shut my system down after a I get it started. I’ve run into enough problems along the way that require a full system reboot to fix to be very skittish about Windows (I run Win10 on both of my machines). My Macs run for a year between reboots but I personally want to do a fresh reboot every day with Windows, which is why I shut down all of my equipment every single morning.

BTW, I also run wide temperature range, ruggedized industrial grade, fan-less PCs on both of my remote scopes. The control enclosures have fans to keep the internal temperatures reasonable (and to spread a uniform deep lay of dust over everything inside). They have been out there for years and so far, these PCs just keep on ticking! I have these things set up to never sleep and never update. They are simply controllers and as long as they are working, I don’t care if they are running code that’s 10 years old.

John

Kevin Morefield · Sep 18, 2025 at 05:26 PM

The primary reason I don’t turn off my PCs is that I’m running a perpetual script. So the PC starts the session, selects the targets and finishes the session and waits for the next night without requiring my intervention.

John is right, of course, that there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to turn off the computer and reboot daily. I just want to be sure you have a reason to do so.

Kevin

Exact same use case as I have for our systems. Voyager runs perpetually for me and pulls its work from RoboTarget then restarts after the night is over to wait for the next.

The problem I was having not being able to log in was because I had a Tailscale setting that wasn’t checked. If any of you are using Tailscale, be sure that the Remote PC has the following parameter checked: PREFERENCES-RUN UNATTENDED.

Greg and Justin, over at HCRO, also advise to leave everything on 24/7, particularly in the winter when temperatures can get low. If condensation forms on any gear, that can be bad. The warmth of the power being on helps prevent that.

I know there’s pros and cons about leaving gear on 24/7 in terms of which choice might lessen the life of the equipment (not to mention wasting electricity when something isn’t being used) but the condensation argument makes sense. Observatories are not air conditioned, at least I don’t think any are…

John Hayes · Sep 18, 2025, 03:34 PM

Jerry,

I turn my remote PCs off every single night and I’ve been doing that for 8-9 years without any problems. If you can’t turn off your PC for fear that you won’t be able to get it booted again, there is something wrong. Kevin and I have discussed this topic as a question of best practice a couple of times. One way of thinking is that the thermal cycles that happen during a power cycle are what might accelerate age induced failures. Another line of thinking is that the electronics (including fans) last for a certain amount of run time before something fails so it’s best to keep it running only when needed. I’m not sure which is right but with Windows, I personally prefer to start with a freshly booted PC that doesn’t contain some lurking problem that will shut my system down after a I get it started. I’ve run into enough problems along the way that require a full system reboot to fix to be very skittish about Windows (I run Win10 on both of my machines). My Macs run for a year between reboots but I personally want to do a fresh reboot every day with Windows, which is why I shut down all of my equipment every single morning.

BTW, I also run wide temperature range, ruggedized industrial grade, fan-less PCs on both of my remote scopes. The control enclosures have fans to keep the internal temperatures reasonable (and to spread a uniform deep lay of dust over everything inside). They have been out there for years and so far, these PCs just keep on ticking! I have these things set up to never sleep and never update. They are simply controllers and as long as they are working, I don’t care if they are running code that’s 10 years old.

John

Hi John,

At the observatory where my scope is at I was told by several people that it’s better to leave everything on 24/7, particularly in the cold months as condensation can form on circuit boards if the temperature is low enough. By keeping gear on, this provides enough warmth to prevent this from happening.

Do you turn your mount, camera, filter wheel, etc. off every night as well, or just the computer?

Jerry

John Hayes · Sep 20, 2025, 07:28 PM

Jerry Gerber · Sep 20, 2025, 04:21 PM

particularly in the cold months as condensation can form on circuit boards if the temperature is low enough. By keeping gear on, this provides enough warmth to prevent this from happening.

Hmm. Is all of your gear (other than the scope) just sitting out under the sky? This is one reason that I keep all of my gear in an enclosure. It will never get wet as long as there isn’t fog and when the temperature-dew point spread gets small enough, they close the roof so none of my electronics ever gets wet even when there’s fog.

John

Everything is under the roof of the observatory. I don't control when the roof opens or closes, but NINA knows and responds accordingly.

In very cold weather I've been told to leave all equipment on 24/7 to keep everything just warm enough to avoid condensation.