Hi Guy's

I've just purchased the new Baader Diamond Steeltrack focuser together with the Baader Diamond Steeldrive motor-focuser.
I have been insured by Baader that the protocol of the new Diamond Steeldrive and the original Steeldrive should be excactly the same.

The Steeldrive works fine if I use the handcontroller or the Windows application... But I really wan't it to work on INDI, so I can use it with my raspberry Pi remote control setup.

The Steeldrive is mounted as /dev/ttyACM0, which is also the default configuration in Ekos.

I have attached the contents of the indi_steeldrive_focus log file with the data that is generated, when I attempt to connect to the Steeldrive directly from my laptop.
I'm running Ubuntu 15.10 and the latest release of INDI + Kstars-Bleeding

Hope this is an easy fix!

Kind Regards
Anders Lange

It's not responding, so it could be:

1. Permission problem?
and then log out and login back again.

2. Parameters? Is it still 9600? no communication parameters changed?

3. Use different USB ports and see if that makes a difference.

Hi Jasem

I't shouldn't be a permissions problem, since I already ran thecommmand.

I have no idea about the communication parameters.... but under windows it works fine using the SteelGo software with version 1.1.16, which matches the version used by Fliker09 in the Baader Steeldrive thread. So I would assume the connection parameters to be the same.

I've tried several USB ports on my Linux Laptop, nothing seems to help. I also have the exact same problem on my Raspberry Pi setup...

I have just tried using Cutecom to send various commands:

• :FVERSIO#
• :FNFIRMW#
• :F1MUP00#
• :F3MUP00#

I've tried both 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600 and 115200 baud, all with 8 data-bits, 1 stop-bit and no parity.But nothing seems to be working...

I will try on windows later today....

Best regards
Anders Lange

It seems you tried pretty much all options. If there is serial log in the SteelGo software, take a look at that, maybe they're using something a bit different with this one.

Hi Jasem

The SteelGo software dosn't have a serial log.... sadly.
But I've just succesfully tested the focuser under windows, using PuTTY and the commands documented in the thread Baader Steeldrive .
The communication settings are still: 9600 baud, 1 stop-bit, and no parity.

So it seems the commands a exactly the same, so the big question now is just, why isn't it working on linux...?

Once you plug in it, find out what happens by typing dmesg. Maybe there is some issue going on with the Linux driver.

Hi Jasem

I'm not very experienced in Linux lingo, but as far as I can see, nothing looks to be wrong when look at the dmesg log.

Beside from that I have experimented a bit more, and I think I might have found an the problem...
I haven't confirmed it on Linux yet, but I will do so as soon as possible.

First of I can confirm that the protocol is still the same as described in the Baader Steeldrive thread. I verified this on windows using the SteelGo software and WireShark

On windows I havn't had any problems sending commands to the Steeldrive using PuTTY. But it doesn't seem to work on Linux (Ubuntu).
Then I noticed that if I type in the command manually, instead of pasting them, the Steeldrive doesn't respond...
This lead me to experiment with the transmit delay for each character. Using TeraTerm on windows I found that increasing the transmit delay above 15 milliseconds/character resulted in an "unstable connection" meaning not all requests resulted in a response/action from the Steeldrive.
I can also see that all requests/commands send by the SteelGo software are send using a single package over the USB interface, i.e. there is no delay between each character.

But since I can't get the commands to work on Linux from neither CuteCom, GtkTerm or PuTTY I suspect that the problem might lie in the driver for the USB UART, which is an EXAR XR21V1410.
The linux driver for this device can be downloaded from this link XR21V1410 driver for Linux 3.6.x and newer .

As I wrote earlier, I'm not that experienced on Linux, and especially not in device drivers.... But I can read and write code (I develop firmware for Collaborative Industrial Robots for a living), so I might be able to figure out a solution by myself, but any input and help will be much appreciated!

Best Regards
Anders Lange

I was just reading the following in the docs:
So can you check if you have any of these devices nodes up? or even /ttyUSB[0-3] ?

Hi Anders,
I do also have Baader Diamond Steeldrive. I haven't used it yet in the field, just dry tests with indi on raspberry pi and I have to say it works flawlessly. I do not quite know how to help but maybe there is something i could check?
Do You have it connected directly to RPi2? (is it RPi2?)
I have plugged mine directly to RPi2 USB ports along with all equipment that I use and therefore I have also made all those magic changes to the settings of the RPi to allow more amperage on USB ports - maybe this is why Your Steeldrive does not work? As far as I know it needs more than few amps to work properly Maybe this is the case?

Hi Jasem

I haven't seen any /dev/ttyXRUSB* devices... but I must admit I haven't looked for them either
But I do know that the /dev/ttyACM0 device is mounted when I connect the Steeldrive...

I can see in the README.txt on GitHub for the EXAR driver, that the ACM driver should not be loaded...

So I will try to do this when I get of work later today

Hi Chris

I started having the Steeldrive connected to my RPi2. I run UbuntuMate 15.10 on the RPi2...
I intended to have the Steeldrive powered through a powered USB hub, but so far my test seem to show that the Steeldrive is MUCH stronger when powered through the handcontroller... Maybe this is because my USB hub isn't providing enough power (I do use a USB Y-cable to draw power from two ports at the same time, but this doesn't seem to be enough...).
I will have to experiment a bit more, perhaps using a USB charging-adapter on the one end of the USB Y-cable.
On the other hand I have also thought about powering the Steeldrive through the minijack plug used to connect the handcontroller...

But I'm very interrested in hearing about what "magic" changes you've done to be able to use the RPi2 directly!!!

Thanks for your input, looking forward to hearing your two cents

Best Regards
Anders Lange

I'm using raspbian so it might be a bit different.
I just added this lineto this fileBe aware that it only works for Raspberry Pi 2, what it does is it allowes more amperage throughput on usb ports (standard is 600 mA, with this option it allows for at least 900 mA). Also make sure You have decent power supply for the Pi (at least 2.5A).