Hello,
I have a problem with using KSTARS and indiserver. Perhaps someone knows the solution?


I connect my Losmandy mount, with Gemini Controller, to the serial port on my PC.
I start with "indiserver indi_lx200generic" and indiserver starts.
I go to another window and start KSTARS. I do Devices -> Device Manager -> Client. I "add", giving Name:somename Host: localhost and port: 7624. Then OK. I highlight the item I have just added and hit Connect.
The INDI control panel opens. Disconnect is pressed in I se - I set up the port that I assume the telescope is connected to (it doesn't matter - I can cycle through any and all combinations of serial port names - I can also use a USB-Serial port dongle and cycle through all the /dev/ttyUSB012345 etc variations; doesn't matter)
I press Connect in the INDI control panel and in the message window I get a message like this one: "Error connecting to port /dev/ttyS0. Make sure you have BOTH read and write permission to the port." The port name is changed if I try other port names - always the same - it is telling me I must have permissions to the port.

So, no connection.

While I undersatnd in principle what the message is telling me I have no idea why the port is not accessible. Is it something simple like I ought tostart indiserver as su? or kstars? or is the error message something completely different, having to do with installation or setup of my operating system?

Any advice would be most welcome!

Thanks,

Peter

Well, the message says error connecting to /dev/ttyS0 so make sure to set the port in INDI control panel to /dev/ttyUSB0 first before you hit connect. Also in KStars options, you can tell it to set the port automatically if it detects a telescope.

Hi, yes, I tried every version of ttyS12345.. and ttyUSB01234... - same problem: the system reminds me to make sure I have BOTH read and write rights to the port. I can see that root is the owner of the /dev/tty ports and the group is 'dialout'. I am a member of dialout ... so still confused.
If am unable to start KSTARS as root as the X terminal is not reachable - I am SURE we are not supposed to start kstars as superuser.

I have the answer now. Just in case someone else stumbles over this - here is the solution:

To run kstars and access, say, /dev/ttyUSB0, you must be a member of the 'dialout' group - this is from Linux.

You add yourself as a member to that group with:

sudo usermod -a -G dialout XXX

where XXX is your user name. Then - and this was the important part - log out and log in again. So simple (especially when you knwo it!)

Great you got it resolved. This is actually already mentioned in the FAQ of the website.