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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

RPi CCD Simulator GSC Installation Problem

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(Sorry about this - I'm fine with C/C++ dev but not familiar with Linux so what should be straightforward for some is not so straight forward for me .... so you gte daft questions)

I'm having problems building the INDIWebManagerApp. Following you instructions from github.com/rlancaste/INDIWebManagerApp . Installed all the packages listed (using sudo apt-get install). The cmake step is failing:
phobos@Phobos-1r:~/AstroRoot/INDIWebManagerApp-build $ cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr ~/AstroRoot/INDIWebManagerApp/
CMake Error at /usr/share/cmake-3.13/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:137 (message):
  Could NOT find Gettext (missing: GETTEXT_MSGMERGE_EXECUTABLE
  GETTEXT_MSGFMT_EXECUTABLE)
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  /usr/share/cmake-3.13/Modules/FindPackageHandleStandardArgs.cmake:378 (_FPHSA_FAILURE_MESSAGE)
  /usr/share/cmake-3.13/Modules/FindGettext.cmake:80 (FIND_PACKAGE_HANDLE_STANDARD_ARGS)
  /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/cmake/KF5I18n/KF5I18nMacros.cmake:28 (find_package)
  /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/cmake/KF5I18n/KF5I18nConfig.cmake:43 (include)
  /usr/share/ECM/find-modules/FindKF5.cmake:74 (find_package)
  CMakeLists.txt:58 (find_package)
 
 
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "/home/phobos/AstroRoot/INDIWebManagerApp-build/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
CMake Error: Unable to open check cache file for write. /home/phobos/AstroRoot/INDIWebManagerApp-build/CMakeFiles/cmake.check_cache
phobos@Phobos-1r:~/AstroRoot/INDIWebManagerApp-build $

Again, apologies what what is probably blindingly obvious to a Linux dev.
I'm running or Raspbian Buster (latest release, installation without apps (not "minimal" but without all the Libre Office, etc.). It's a new installation only for Indi so does not have lots of other packages installed for other stuff.
4 years 6 months ago #43973

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AstroNerd,

What I mean is that if he wants to run the Ekos client on his Mac and the INDI Server on his Pi, but The camera he chooses to use remotely from the pi is the CCD Simulator, he would need to have GSC installed on the pi so that the CCD simulator running on the pi can get stars in its images so that when it sends images back to the Mac client, the images have stars.

I believe the use case you are thinking of is when the simulators are running on the Mac, not the pi. In which case GSC would need to be on the Mac in order to get stars.

Ekos doesn’t use GSC, CCD Simulator does. So whatever computer you are running the INDI Server on that has the CCD Simulator running on it is the one that needs GSC, whether the client computer is the same one, or a remote one like his Mac .

Is that clearer?
The following user(s) said Thank You: AstroNerd
4 years 6 months ago #43978

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Try sudo apt install gettext?

If a dependency is missing I will add it to the list on the readme.
4 years 6 months ago #43980

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Yes and I understand. I am not a “Linux dev”. I am a physics and computer science teacher with an astrophotography hobby who likes to tinker and improve software for astronomy. My computer is a Mac not a Linux one. I learned everything about out all this to support my hobbies. It’s because I find it fun and interesting.
4 years 6 months ago #43981

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Many thanks. That solved the build issue.

Unfortunately I can't use your app as I wont be running the desktop (totally "headless" and without VNC is the plan).

BUT
After loads hunting and messing I've found the issue and (pardon my misuse of Linux terms) it looks like when run as a service, even under a given user the environment variables from .bashrc are not passed to the indi-web (as identified in IndiLib instructions www.indilib.org/support/tutorials/139-in...on-raspberry-pi.html )
IndiLib instructons www.indilib.org/support/tutorials/139-in...on-raspberry-pi.html state
cp ~/.bashrc ~/.bashrc.copy
echo "export GSCDAT=~/gsc" >> ~/.bashrc
as part of the installation. It's not the value of the environment variable which obviously has to be right depending on where the GSC is installed to, but that the (correct) value is not being passed to indi-web application.

Also the same applied to putting the environment variable into /etc/profile (as per AstriPi3).

Way I found to get it to work was to add
Environment="GSCDAT=/usr/share/GSC"
to the indiwebmanager.service.

Assuming I have not made a big mistake and inadvertently done something else and that the indiwebmanager.service change is the answer, how does one draw attention so web pages/git instructions can be updated?

Many thanks for all your help.
4 years 5 months ago #43985

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Oh I see, you want to run totally headless and not even have any GUI access. Gotcha. There are some benefits to that but also drawbacks. Note that I run my raspberry pi's with the desktop enabled, but headless so that I access them over VNC when I want to do so. One of the biggest reasons for that is that I run PHD2 on the pi since it is more configurable and better to run guiding as close to the equipment as possible. I believe PHD2 requires a GUI. I am not constantly using VNC when using the PI, but I get in there when I want to change wireless networking settings, or change something about PHD2, or doing something to the INDI Server, etc. It also serves as a backup in case there is something wrong with running KStars on my laptop, and it also serves as a different way of running my system when I am in the field that doesn't require my laptop to be constantly on. But yeah you can certainly use the PI totally headless and in that case, my program doesn't make much sense for your use case.

I can update both the requirements for building INDI Web Manager App and the instructions for the INDI Web Manager Service on INDIlib. I will check over your ideas carefully before posting of course. Thank you for finding these things out.
4 years 5 months ago #43987

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Thanks for your thoughts. I'm not 100% set and certainly always open to alternative ways of doing things (time to get worried when you aren't prepared to consider different ides).

I'm not yet on guiding (not even got a guide scope). I looked last year (but disappeared off to S America for the winter so no astronomy) - but got uncertain on selecting a guide scope with all the focal length field of view issues and different configurations (e.g. through main scope or separate guide scope, and then I've also got a focal reducer ,etc.

My main aims in the short term are DSLR and I can stay warm indoors (I hate cold).

Again thanks for your help on this.
4 years 5 months ago #43988

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Ok I just updated the build requirements for gettext in INDI Web Manager App.

I found what you mentioned on this page: www.indilib.org/support/tutorials/139-in...on-raspberry-pi.html. and can change that

But where are you looking at instructions for setting up the INDI Web Manager as a service. That doesn't seem to be on that same page. Did you get it from the INDI Web Manager Github readme page?
github.com/knro/indiwebmanager

Or maybe you mean that there were not instructions and you just edited this file?
github.com/knro/indiwebmanager/blob/mast...diwebmanager.service

If it is one of the last two, I can ask Jasem to update them because those are in his Github repo.
4 years 5 months ago #43989

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Yes - github.com/knro/indiwebmanager - does not give instructions on GSC (that I noticed) but does have a sample indiwebmanager.service that has a comment about configuring username so could maybe benefit from a commented out line #If you are using GSC - though probably less important (or maybe not even relevant as it's a separate installation)
4 years 5 months ago #43991

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I will speak with Jasem about updating the information and maybe the service file..

So not too long ago, I used to use the INDI Web Manager Service in my raspberry pi setup script for Ubuntu MATE. When I made the Web Manager App in June, I didn't change that. I actually made the change to using my INDI Web Manager app in those scripts after I started making a script for Raspbian and just like you, I found that for some reason my new Raspbian Script didn't seem to pass the GSCDAT environment variable to the Indi server when launched by the service. It worked great on Ubuntu MATE, but didn't work on Raspbian. I couldn't figure out why that was at the time. So I figured that a good solution would be to switch to using my new web manager app in my scripts, since I think the app is better for beginners anyway. But the good news is that I think you in fact found out why it didn't work on Raspbian. So I might add that back to my scripts as an option, though I do still think the better option for beginners and for my scripts is to use my new app.

Thank you for finding the issue!
4 years 5 months ago #43996

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Thank you (and others) for providing such an amazing suit of software.

It might be overkill to change the INDIWebManager template .service file, particularly if it's specific to Raspbian and if the GSC instructions make it clear.

I was previously on UbuntuMate but for a rebuild became worried about the slow/delayed update release timescales for RPi versions and as the underlying OS is pretty much the sam and as it's a tool (small black box) Raspbian would undoubtedly "do the job".

I'm probably unusual in wanting totally headless, but I'm very aware of how limited RPi RAM is (and I'm open to suggestions from others).

Anyway, thanks for your time and assistance.
4 years 5 months ago #44003

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Well we should probably at least mention it in the documentation. I know I couldn't figure out why it wasn't getting the environment variable and I finally just gave up and changed my script to compensate. So we should get the info out there someplace.
4 years 5 months ago #44006

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