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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Re:Re:Looking for all MAC users of Kstars / Ekos

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Hello everyone! First time poster.

I'm very new to astrophotography, been trying to get StellarMate running with my Mac for a couple of weeks now. Ran in to the familiar issues with v3.0 as discussed above, KStars crashing very frequently. Gave 3.1.0 a go yesterday, it seems much more stable. I'm running it using KStars on my Mac with the StellarMate as host.

A BIG issue was discovered though, it looks like my setup has lost the ability to meridian flip - a couple of pics here show where I had to do an emergency stop before the mount crushed my camera against the tripod! This was just testing the slew functions in KStars, it was NOT during any type of imaging test with an actual meridian flip. In both of these cases the RA counterweight bar was about 15degrees above horizontal and rapidly increasing before I stopped it.

Don't know if I've missed a new feature in 3.1.0 which I was meant to enable/disable, but in v2.9.8 and v3.0.0 it seemed to do the appropriate flip during slew and imaging test without intervention.
5 years 1 month ago #34535
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Capi yes there is some new function in relation to the flip , but i dont think what you show is related to KStars. The programmers made it so that alway the mount will initiated de flip.
Have look in te mount Tab you see there a new option of meridiaan flip. I am still testing this to figure out how it works

have look at, hoop it helps
indilib.org/forum/development/1406-drive...html?start=480#34461

Chris
Last edit: 5 years 1 month ago by Chris Alberts.
5 years 1 month ago #34543

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CAPT BUSCEMI, welcome to INDI forums. What do you mean by testing slews exactly? You you asked it to perform a GOTO from KStars and in ended up in that position? or your use the N/S/W/E slew keys to move it around?

If it is the first case, I suggest you do the following:
1. Check date & time, and location settings to make sure all is correct.
2. If #1 was not the issue. Go to INDI Control Panel --> EQMod Mount --> Site Management --> Park Options --> Purge Data
3. Shutdown KStars/INDI.
4. Move the mount manually (or via Synscan if you have that) to the home position (Facing celestial pole with weights down).
5. Cycle mount power (turn it off, wait 2 seconds, then turn it on again).
6. Start KStars and connect to StellarMate. Is the mount pointing at the celestial pole? If yes, then it's fine.
7. Try to repeat your GOTOs and check for a flip.

Please note that for GOTOs, EQMod will perform a meridian flip by itself if necessary, it does not depend on KStars. The meridian functionality in KStars is for when the mount is in Tracking state.

If you were using N/S/W/E slew controls, then nothing would stop the motion until you stop it yourself.
5 years 1 month ago #34544

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Yes indeed, it was performing a GOTO in KStars, I should have clarified. And yes I am using EQMOD driver.

I am away for work until early next week, I shall test that solution as soon as I get back.
5 years 1 month ago #34553

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Hi!

I am using Kstars on Mac for a while now. I use it on my Macbook Air and on my imac.
So far it working pretty good, but i have an issue with DSLR.
Yesterday it worked flawless at first, but after i had to flip, i couldn´t get the DSLR to run again...

The Problem is shown on the screenshot.
I try to set the information, but that has no effect...
Another problem is that the Polar alignment routine did not work with the Mac version...
It told me that polaris was WAY out of sight, what is just not true.

In terms of connecting and stability, there are nos issues at all.
I am running mojave an both macs.

cheers
Niki
Skywatcher EQ6-R | Lacerta 10" Carbon-Newton | Lacerta MFoc Motorfocus | Moravian G2 8300 Color | Canon EOS 5DMarkIIIa | Lodestar X2 guiding cam | KSTARS 3.4.3. on my outdoor-Laptop with KDE-Neon/Plasma | KSTARS 3.4.3. on Remote-IMac with Catalina | KSTARS 3.4.3 on Remote-Macbook Air with Catalina
5 years 1 month ago #34564
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Allow me to chime in with my thanks too. Hardly need yet another data point, but I do love being able to run the same s/w on my Mac as on the Pi. Lets me work out a lot of issues with dry runs in advance. I have tried to connect directly, but while I've been able to get camera control working, I've never been able to connect to the mount. I use a Keyspan USB-to-serial adapter for my CEM25P. The Keyspan shows up as connected, but KStars never sees the mount in that config.

In the field (i.e. away from mains power) I'm actually just using the Mac as a terminal and running KStars and Ekos on the Pi side. That way, I can just close the Mac and save its battery without interrupting the imaging session; my SLA battery can run the Pi, mount, and cameras all night.
5 years 1 month ago #34590

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Hey guys, so I am sorting through some of the comments and trying to find anything that relates to what I am working on which is getting any issues with the Mac build sorted out. Any issues related to KStars that also exist on Linux are not going to be caused by the script that I'm currently writing that builds KStars.

Ok, so Niki, were you using the older KStars 2.9.8 or are you trying the new version? When you say the Polar Alignment did not work at all, are you talking about this new beta version? Is this a Mac issue or is it a general KStars issue, another words did you try it on Linux and find the same issue? If there is a problem with the current version of the Alignment tool, you should ask Jasem for some help with it. If this is an old version of Mac KStars you should try the new version that I posted before you contact him and see if it is sorted out already. The other problem you posted about the camera size information not being entered or saved correctly is more alarming to me. Is this specific to the new Mac build or is this the old build, or does it happen on Linux too?

Capt Buscemi, this slew issue sounds like it is not actually an issue with the Mac build of KStars but a general feature in KStars that has changed, correct?

For the Pentax issue, this is really a Mac related issue, but it is not caused by my build script, the required driver or modifications just haven't been written yet to make this functionality work on a Mac. For anybody interested, pentaxian23 has opened a new Forum post about this:
www.indilib.org/forum/ccds-dslrs/4550-pe...orking-on-macos.html
Some good things could come out of this, please stay tuned. . .

As for my build script and the KStars beta build. There is still an issue related to building XPlanet with running my build script on Sierra machines (but not Mojave it seems) because there is a Sierra bug in the system math headers. I'm working on how to resolve this to make it ignore the system header files because it doesn't actually need them. There is also currently an issue with Translations not being built in the current built script so there are no new translations in the Mac build. This is an issue with craft, not my script and I already emailed Hannah about the issue and am awaiting a response.

Please, if you haven't tested yet, test the beta version to see if there are any strange crashes or resolution issues, or malfunctions in the program caused by the new build script. So far, it doesn't look like it.

Thanks,

Rob
5 years 1 month ago #34663

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It was with the 3.0.0. version on mac.
It was not that it did not work, so no crashes. But the system told me that i am WAY out of alignment, which just was not able, i mean not so extreme...
It was a Mac-only issue, since i used the tool on the linux-laptot without problems most of the time.

The Camera size information problem was solved by Jasem quite fast. He told me to click on the trash-bin icon next to the camera in the capture module.
Then i was asked bout the cams specs again and it worked then.
This was on BOTH systems.

Is there a newer version for mac that i did not see yet? i have 3.0.0 running atm

cheers
Niki
Skywatcher EQ6-R | Lacerta 10" Carbon-Newton | Lacerta MFoc Motorfocus | Moravian G2 8300 Color | Canon EOS 5DMarkIIIa | Lodestar X2 guiding cam | KSTARS 3.4.3. on my outdoor-Laptop with KDE-Neon/Plasma | KSTARS 3.4.3. on Remote-IMac with Catalina | KSTARS 3.4.3 on Remote-Macbook Air with Catalina
5 years 1 month ago #34684

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Yes Niki, I posted an experimental 3.1 version in this forum post that I have been asking for feedback on. Please scroll up through the responses and check to see if it works in that version.

Thanks,

Rob
5 years 1 month ago #34691

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OK, Thanx.

I will try that as soon as all problems are solved...

cheers
Niki
Skywatcher EQ6-R | Lacerta 10" Carbon-Newton | Lacerta MFoc Motorfocus | Moravian G2 8300 Color | Canon EOS 5DMarkIIIa | Lodestar X2 guiding cam | KSTARS 3.4.3. on my outdoor-Laptop with KDE-Neon/Plasma | KSTARS 3.4.3. on Remote-IMac with Catalina | KSTARS 3.4.3 on Remote-Macbook Air with Catalina
5 years 1 month ago #34701

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OK, I’m at my wit’s end, seriously. I’ve been going for weeks and weeks now trying to get KStars/EKOS working through my Mac, I feel like I’m going backwards.

My problems as of this morning, using Version 3.1.0 (whatever is the latest):-

1. I followed all of Jasem’s directions above to stop the mount from going past horizontal during GoTos, and crushing the camera and telescope against the tripod legs, but it keeps doing it (see picture - I stopped it manually).
2. KStars randomly crashing, STILL!
3. Preview function on Image Capture module very slow, or won’t give preview or live video feed at all. Tried ASI120MM, Canon DSLR even worse, updated all drivers to the very latest less than a week ago.
4. Attempting to solve the above problems by connecting my equipment directly to StellarMate and taking the Mac out of the equation, but further problems arise...
5. Opening KStars direct on the StellarMate gives a full screen which does not allow me to access the INDI control panel for ANYTHING! The window seems to be hidden behind the EKOS control panel, but it disappears when I click on it. The taskbar at the bottom does the same (see picture). I select/deselect Full Screen Mode from KStars VIEW menu - no difference at all. Don’t seem to recall this was a problem in 2.9.8. This is the same whether I connect via VNC (pic is snapshot from my iPad), or connecting StellarMate directly to a monitor.
6. StellarMate enters Emergency Mode during every startup, meaning I have to connect a monitor and keyboard to do Control-D to get it started, thereby negating the whole notion of a miniature, portable setup. Doesn’t matter which method I use to shut it down, it’s emergency mode on startup every single time now.

This is just crazy. It’s a brand new unit, and every piece of equipment works fine connected directly to my Mac or Windows computers. I acknowledge that most developers here are volunteers, I’m trying to be respectful, but I think there are some fundamental problems.

I estimate I’ve spent about 30 hours working on this, and still not a single photo of the sky using this package.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Craig
Last edit: 5 years 1 month ago by Mark Sandford.
5 years 1 month ago #34806
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CAPT BUSCEMI,

Please separate the issues here. Some of the things you have mentioned here are specifically StellarMate issues. You are a paying customer of the StellarMate, so you should talk to Jasem about any issues with that. He is very patient and will work with you and for you indefinitely. Problems 4-6 are exclusively for StellarMate I think. Problem 2 might be related to what I am working on. And problems 1 and 3 could be a couple of different things.

For problem 1, If the mount and scope slewing are hitting your tripod's legs, then I would think that is an issue with either your mount's limits not being set properly or with your location being set incorrectly. But that is a guess. On my mount, I set that using my hand paddle when I set it up. If you are using EQ Mod, that could be internal to the driver instead. See Jasem about that I think. He owns one of these mounts I think. He is the most qualified to help you with this one.

For problem number 3, you should also try running KStars on the Mac with the camera directly connected to the Mac and running KStars on the Pi with the camera directly connected to the PI, so you can see if this is a problem on Mac, Linux, or between the 2 of them. You have to narrow down the cause of this. I have several ZWO cameras and I use them all the time on my Mac, on my Pi, as both a guide camera and as a primary camera at different times. This is a strange one.

For problem number 2, does this happen only with the new beta 3.1.0 or does it happen with the older versions on the Mac? Is it crashing on Linux or Just Mac? Can you run KStars with lldb to see what causes the crash?

You are correct we are unpaid volunteers. So thank you for your patience. Jasem gets money from sales of StellarMate, but he was developing this software for free for everyone long before he sold those devices. We all do this in our "free" time outside of our full time jobs. Yes it is a little crazy and yes this is a very big project with lots of "moving" parts. Not everything is going to work all the time. But it is worth all the effort in my opinion and we have managed to produce software that works on basically all operating systems that can control devices from many manufacturers wirelessly and over networks and it is being offered for free for everyone.

Rob
5 years 1 month ago #34808

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