Very strange, I can’t get the Steeldrive II focuser connect with Ekos.
It will always time out. However it’s working without any issues with TheSky X.

I‘m a MacBook Pro (2016) user with KStars 3.5.5 and Big Sur 11.6. 

Any idea what’s going wrong?
Ekos:
 

TheSky X:

 

Can you check what baud rate is it using in TheSkyX?

In TheSky it just says „as fast as possible“.
I also tried with 9600 as suggested here: www.indilib.org/focusers/baader-steeldrive.html

But I haven’t tried with higher rates to be honest.

Today I got through all possible baud rates in Ekos. Error remains.
After that I started TheSky X and the focuser connected within 1 second or so.

Here is the log while going step by step through speeds:

INFO 2210.084188 sec : Session log file /Users/oliverforster/.indi/logs/2021-10-26/indi_steeldrive2_focus/indi_steeldrive2_focus_11:28:12.log
ERROR 2281.788801 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2305.437501 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2318.258756 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2334.572043 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2349.191013 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2362.852254 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.
ERROR 2379.920532 sec : Serial read error: Timeout error.

Not sure what could be causing this. Could be a MacOS specific issue for INDI. What about SteelDrive 1 focuser driver, did you test that? just to see if it somehow works. Were you able to test this on Linux?

Could this be an access rights issue ?
nvm i see it's a read timeout, weird.
Maybe debug level logging shows something ?

The SteelDrive 1 driver you suggested to try gave me:
2021-11-09T13:10:38: [INFO] Error retrieving data from SteelDrive, please ensure SteelDrive controller is powered and the port is correct.
2021-11-09T13:10:38: [ERROR] getHWVersion error: Timeout error.

What's really makes my head scratch: It works out of the box with TheSky.
What am I doing wrong?

I still need help as I'm really lost with this.
When I try to connect with Ekos (KStars 3.5.7 stable) I can hear clearly a short "tick" or "click" from the focuser but then the connection timed out.The focuser will connect without problems with TheSky X and X2 driver (also hear that "tick" before it will connect:
rti-zone.org/software_x2focuser_plugins.php#steeldriveII

Then I installed Astroimager with INDIGO to test the connection.
Focuser won't connect on first try but will on second attempt and runs without any issues, also hear the tick/click sound before it will connect.

My equipment:
MacBook Pro M1 Max 32GB Ram
macOS Monterey 12.2.1
KStars 3.5.7

I tested with following connectors (all have an FTDI 232 chip)
Synchwire OTG USB Typ C Adapter, Thunderbolt 3 to USB
FITFORD USB 3 Hub

After having no success with Ekos I installed FTDI VCP Driver 1.4.7 Beta.
No success with Ekos but with TheSky X.

Any help would be appreciated.

Here is the log. As I mentioned before the device will connect but time out.
cu.usbserial-3 = FTDI Driver
cu.usbserial-A907KE80 = macOS Driver

INFO    191.490656 sec    : Session log file /Users/oliverforster/.indi/logs/2022-03-10/indi_steeldrive2_focus/indi_steeldrive2_focus_12:28:29.log
INFO    201.037250 sec    : Scan complete. Found 3 port(s).
DEBUG    215.775934 sec    : Connecting to /dev/cu.usbserial-3 @ 57600
DEBUG    215.806306 sec    : Port FD 4
DEBUG    215.806347 sec    : Connection successful, attempting handshake...
DEBUG    215.808286 sec    : CMD <GET VERSION>
ERROR    222.985217 sec    : Serial read error: Timeout error.
DEBUG    222.985459 sec    : Handshake failed.
INFO    237.060988 sec    : Scan complete. Found 3 port(s).
DEBUG    243.912767 sec    : Connecting to /dev/cu.usbserial-A907KE80 @ 57600
DEBUG    243.950647 sec    : Port FD 4
DEBUG    243.950798 sec    : Connection successful, attempting handshake...
DEBUG    243.953440 sec    : CMD <GET VERSION>
ERROR    251.126075 sec    : Serial read error: Timeout error.
DEBUG    251.126507 sec    : Handshake failed.

Unfortunately I won't get any logs out of TheSky, as it connects without any issues on Mac or Parallels. 
However, Baader Steel track II works also onIDGIGO without any issues here's the log:

13:46:09.145 INDIGO Bus: property definition
13:46:09.145 'SteelDriveII (focuser)'.'DEVICE_PORT' TEXT rw Ok 2.0 0  { // Serial port
13:46:09.145   'PORT' = '/dev/cu.usbserial-A907KE80' // Device name or URL
13:46:09.145 }
13:46:09.151 INDIGO Bus: property definition
13:46:09.151 'SteelDriveII (focuser)'.'DEVICE_PORTS' SWITCH rw Ok 2.0 0 OneOfMany { // Serial ports
13:46:09.151   'REFRESH' = Off // Refresh
13:46:09.151   '/dev/cu.usbserial-A907KE80' = Off // /dev/cu.usbserial-A907KE80
13:46:09.151   '/dev/cu.usbserial-3' = Off // /dev/cu.usbserial-3
13:46:09.151 }
13:46:09.160 INDIGO Bus: property definition
13:46:09.160 'SteelDriveII (focuser)'.'CONNECTION' SWITCH rw Ok 2.0 0 OneOfMany { // Connection status
13:46:09.160   'CONNECTED' = Off // Connected
13:46:09.160   'DISCONNECTED' = On // Disconnected

Please, help.

Jasem, is it possible that there is in fact no Baader Steeldrive II driver for EKOS available?
On the devices site there’s only Baader Steeldrive but not Steeldrive II: www.indilib.org/individuals/devices/focu...ader-steeldrive.html

And Baader also saying it’s only compatible with INDIGO and TheSkyX.
Is there anything I could do to help to bring this driver to EKOS?
www.baader-planetarium.com/en/blog/steel...-theskyx-and-indigo/

While I have no Mac and no Baader Steeldrive focuser either I'll try to help.
In the INDI log you posted I see a baud speed of 57600 . Is that also the port speed in TheSkyX and INDIGO ?

Another approach is to try to access the Steeldrive serial port via another program like Screen or Minicom pbxbook.com/other/mac-tty.html in a console. You have to 'talk' the protocol to see anything assuming it is ASCII based. This may help diagnose the issue.

is there a published command set for SteelDrive II? If yes, then perhaps the current driver can be modified to communicate with it.