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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Question for Pentax users

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Replied by Ray Wells on topic Question for Pentax users

Pentax has not released an SDK/API/protocol list for k series cameras. LibGphoto got some of them working in INDI by making a wrapper for PKtriggercord which in turn utilized some earlier firmware and wire snooping. The later model "consumer" level k-30 k-50 k-70 ones have some firmware issue we've not resolved and so bulb mode has been hit or miss for those models. I had reports that K5 and k3 as well as older models k10d etc. were bulbing correctly.

@KNRO: PKtriggercord made a workaround for the k-70 recently. You might be able to adjust the indidriver to make use of that. ..or Marcus might need to address issues with the new technique on that model at the gphoto end...not sure. I wasn't able to test for it because my k50 didn't like the new procedure.(brrrr shutter of death).
I'm thinking about getting a "flagship" k5 or k3 but it's expensive if it doesn't work out. I'm hoping to hear from users that have been successful using the pentax to bulb.

meanwhile drooling over full frame sony a7's :P ---you hear that RICOH?
5 years 3 months ago #32826

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Hello Jasem, Thank you for the quick response.

I enabled the log for the capture module in INDI and it indicates it is doing everything normally, so the camera seems to not be handling the bulb exposure request correctly. I physically have the camera set to Bulb mode on the dial as well. The camera takes a picture, but the image is always 1/50 of a second shutter speed when the image is captured.

Here are the log messages from INDI:

[2018-12-20T11:00:31.229 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Pentax DSLR K70 >: < DEBUG_LEVEL >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.234 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Pentax DSLR K70 >: < LOGGING_LEVEL >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.239 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Pentax DSLR K70 >: < LOG_OUTPUT >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.251 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Guide Simulator >: < DEBUG_LEVEL >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.255 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Guide Simulator >: < LOGGING_LEVEL >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.261 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - < Guide Simulator >: < LOG_OUTPUT >
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.287 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Toggle Debug Level -- Driver Debug "
[2018-12-20T11:00:31.327 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Guide Simulator : "[DEBUG] Toggle Debug Level -- Driver Debug "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.497 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - Initial hour angle: -1e+06
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.498 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - Initial mount coordinates RA: "01h 11m 57s" DE: " 90° 00' 00\""
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.499 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - Preparing capture job "/home/stellarmate/AstroSubs/Light/Light" for execution.
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.648 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Starting exposure (exptime: 2.5 secs, mirror lock: 0) "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.649 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Mutex locked "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.649 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Using internal bulb widget:bulb "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.650 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Setting toggle widget bulb: 1 "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.650 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server: "2018-12-20T16:01:14: Driver indi_pentax_ccd: pentax/pslr.c:957:get_status(p->fd) failed: 129"
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.651 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server: ""
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.654 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Setting new configuration OK. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.654 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Exposure started. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:14.655 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Time left: 2499 ms "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.103 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Reading exposure... "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.201 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Time left: -1 ms "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.202 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Closing internal shutter. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.203 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Using widget:bulb "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.204 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Setting toggle widget bulb: 0 "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.205 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Setting new configuration OK. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.206 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Exposure complete. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.207 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server: "2018-12-20T16:01:17: Driver indi_pentax_ccd: pentax/pslr.c:957:get_status(p->fd) failed: 129"
[2018-12-20T11:01:17.207 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - INDI Server: ""
[2018-12-20T11:01:20.914 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] File added event completed. "
[2018-12-20T11:01:20.916 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Downloading image... Name: (capt0002.dng) Folder: (/) Delete from SD card? (false) "
[2018-12-20T11:01:21.006 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Downloaded 0x0 (preview 0x0) "
[2018-12-20T11:01:21.007 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Exposure done, downloading image... "
[2018-12-20T11:01:21.075 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Uploading file. Ext: dng, Size: 29318021, sendImage? Yes, saveImage? No "
[2018-12-20T11:01:24.553 EST WARN ][ default] - QImage::scaled: Image is a null image
[2018-12-20T11:01:24.701 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.capture] - All capture jobs complete.
[2018-12-20T11:01:24.721 EST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - Pentax DSLR K70 : "[DEBUG] Upload complete "
[2018-12-20T11:01:24.751 EST DEBG ][ default] - WARNING: Phonon::createPath: Cannot connect Phonon::MediaObject ( no objectName ) to Phonon::AudioOutput ( no objectName ).
[2018-12-20T11:01:24.796 EST DEBG ][ default] - WARNING: Phonon::createPath: Cannot connect Phonon::MediaObject ( no objectName ) to Phonon::AudioOutput ( no objectName ).

Thanks again for your assistance!
Derek Dailey

Equipment:
ZWO ASI071MC Pro
ZWO ASI533MC Pro
Pentax K-70
Celestron C6SE
Astro-Tech AT65
William Optics RedCat 51
Celestron AVX mount

Software:
Stellarmate OS
ASTRO PIXEL PROCESSOR
Deep Sky Stacker
Adobe Photoshop & LightRoom
5 years 3 months ago #32827

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Replied by Ray Wells on topic Question for Pentax users

@phattire72 You might also try testing the camera operation using gphoto bash commands as the indlib library is based on that. I think bulb mode has to be set to a particular type in menus but I can't remember which one works...since mine still does not.
5 years 3 months ago #32868

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Replied by Greg on topic Question for Pentax users

K-5/K-5II are well supported by GPhoto2. They are also awesome astrophotography cameras.

I have been using my K-5II with Kstars via StellarMate for about 1.5 years now.

However, the drivers do not work on a Mac - I don't know about PC but probably yes.

I also have a K-3II but it doesn't work. Its something to do with the bulb mode operation, which seems to be different than the K-5. I've tried the K-3 with click-open/click-shut and click-hold-open bulb modes but neither works with GPHoto2. I guess the K70 and k-50 probably have the same issue as the K-3. I've raised an issue with the developer but he seems to have left his post :-s I don't know if anyone is working on it now.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Ray Wells
5 years 3 months ago #32869

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Replied by Ray Wells on topic Question for Pentax users

Minus 1 for the K3 then.
Thanks @Pentaxian23, thats's good to know. I've been watching Ebay for a k5 but stopped, unsure of driver status. Gphoto dev @msmeissn is a busy guy(so many cameras!), but if you offer to run testing for him and do the logs he may work on it a bit to see if it's got that firmware problem nobody has gotten around yet. He may also already know it does and so hasn't spent time on it for that reason, though he's usually pretty quick to respond in either case. Life may have indeed slowed work as it does to all of us. :) You might try poking him with a sharp stick(bump the post) to get an answer, though he's probably on holiday right now on way up on some alp safely away from emails. :P
5 years 3 months ago #32902

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Replied by Greg on topic Question for Pentax users

Thanks @blueshawk. I’ll give that a try. Easy enough to test the driver. Just a little weak on building the code.
5 years 3 months ago #32913

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I won a k5 at auction the other day and started wrangling it...I remember now what a pita all this was when I was testing for it. I'm thinking about starting a new thread in hopes of getting a tutorial on getting an up to date libgphoto, gphoto2 and camera setup etc. Any help here would also be appreciated and well..helpful. :P
I can build libgphoto but it doesn't appear to build latest gphoto2. Seems like I recall something weird I had to do but its fuzzy. I'll reread issue 31 and see what I did when I had a few more brain cells connecting. Why do ubuntu based repos all have to have 5 year old junk?

questions for the k5:
what mode ptp or msc?
which bulb mode?
what version of gphoto2 works and what command got results?
Are we using indi_gphoto_ccd or indi_pentax_ccd in indiserver?
Is there already a tutorial I'm not finding?
Will it ever stop raining in Virginia?
Cheers! Happy new Year everybody :D
5 years 2 months ago #33265

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Replied by Greg on topic Question(s) for Pentax users


MSC
K5 has only one Bulb mode that I know of - not the same as K3
indi_gphoto_ccd and indi_pentax_ccd both work but I was told to use indi_pentax_ccd so that's what I do and its working nicely
only issue I have is that bulb of <1sec is about 1/32 sec and >1sec is about 3+ secs so its hard to get short exposures for flats.
Also, I use native (DNG raw) rather than fits capture otherwise you won't get the colour matrix for post processing - although it seems most processors ignore that anyway.
5 years 2 months ago #33269

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@pentaxian23: Thanks. That's a good start and pretty much what I had. looks like I'm still struggling with out of date libgphoto stuff on this new notebook.
Some thoughts on that timing issue you're having: In the gphoto driver, "force bulb mode drops back to regular exposure for <1sec. That may be a clue. I'll know more once I get things working.
5 years 2 months ago #33279

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Replied by Greg on topic Question(s) for Pentax users


Oh! Good to know! That'll help a lot for doing better flats. Thanks!
5 years 2 months ago #33280

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Continuing to have difficulty getting the k5 connected to either Gphoto2 or indi drivers. I now have the latest Gphoto2 and LibGphoto compiled. When I try to connect I get no camera found, unless I set the camera to PTP mode, which won't do any controls or capture. I feel like I'm missing something. It shows up on lsusb as "pentax" and is not mounted as a drive. I've got clear sky for the first time this year. HALP!

Update: I messed it up when I tried it on ptp the settings file in .gphoto got updated with
gphoto2=port=usb:001,006
I realize now this was a mistake. It should have usbscsi: /dev/sg0
Now it just says -7 I/0 error yay!
Last edit: 5 years 2 months ago by Ray Wells.
5 years 2 months ago #33328

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Replied by Ray Wells on topic Question for Pentax users

  • Solved the I/o error. It was related to firmware. We'll need to note that in the tutorial. I had 1.11 and updated to 1.16 which solved the i/o error. Folks can find it at RICOH Japan

  • A udev rule to properly assign the port when "pentax" is found might be nice too and might stop the port creep I found after I figured out that first error.
I got some weird results when I set it up in user mode then my one working battery went dead again.(now charging) I've got a supply and batteries on the way which should be here by midweek.
[UPDATE:] New batteries came in and I did get capture to work in user mode, as well as a test 50second bulb shot in the focus module. --so of course snow by the weekend. B)
Last edit: 5 years 2 months ago by Ray Wells.
5 years 2 months ago #33374

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