Hi,

I'm using both Astrolink4 and Astrolink4 USB devices. With some sensors, these devices can read current temperature/humidity and even cloud coverage.
The drivers are missing some bits here and there, but I managed to change them to make the Observatory module appear under Ekos.

Sadly, the weather panel does not read values provided by the INDI::WeatherInterface of the drivers. I noticed that it seems to be true for every device that inherits from the INDI::WeatherInterface rather than INDI::Weather
I've tested this with for instance both Pegasus UPB and LX200 OnStep drivers (in simulation mode though as I do not own them). Adding a "primary" Weather driver do add values and graphs to the Observatory tab though.

Is this a wanted behaviour ? If so, what is the point of inheriting from INDI::WeatherInterface ?

Regards,
Bertrand

KStars : 3.5.6
INDI : 1.9.3

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Hi,

Thank you very much for the update and the investigation.

I somehow didn't get the notifications from Cloudy nights forums.

I gave up on the issue after that thread being dead (and the one on cloudy nights too) and was using ST4 guiding since then.

Thank you again !

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It could, be there is definitely something wrong with the driver/PHD2.

I bet you'll stumble across the warnings again doing a PHD2 star-cross test (even without actually shooting, just do it inside during daylight). The reason for it seems to be that a call to

StopMotor
is issued, but
StopMotor
does not wait for the motor to actually stop and returns immediately.

PHD2 then tries to reverse direction, which fails because the drivers still thinks (and it's probably right) that the motor is running (
DERunning
haven't been updated since the command was issued). That mess the star cross test every single time on the last part (returning to the original position on the DEC axis) and skips every step. So far I've seen this on two different mounts.

I'm not sure whether the problem is with the driver itself or commands issued by PHD2. I haven't been able to trace the call back in PHD2 code.

So to me, these are two different issues.
Your read errors can certainly be attributed to miscommunication as, in your case, maybe
ReadMotorStatus
was failling and so
DERunning
was not properly updated during guiding.
The star cross test on the other end is easily and consistently reproducible and pinpoint to either a driver issue or a misuse from PHD2.

Glad you've sorted it out though :D

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Well, we have drifted away from the initial subject ;) But since you're asking, I've faced many, many issues with the EQMod driver and kstars/ekos. At the point where it is sometimes barely usable and I lost tens of minutes if not hours of valuable time trying to make the mount answer my godamn orders correctly.

For instance, almost every time I use the "Sync" context menu item from kstars, the mount refuses to move afterwards. Strangely enough, using sync from the alignment module or the mount control does not produce this behavior.

Also sometimes the mount would move in the opposite direction of where it's supposed to go. When it does, the scope pointer in kstars is generally doing some crazy stuff, like going "out" of the sky or jumping from one point to another part of the sky for no reason. The only thing that works in such situations is to completely reset the mount to factory settings **and** purge configuration data. Sometimes even a reboot is needed despite the previous steps.

One time also, kstars refused to set the mount to a precise coordinate. When moving the mount, the coordinates were just "jumping" above a few arc minutes while the mount itself was moving normally. Again, a complete factory reset / configuration purge did the trick.

There is probably more to it I can't remember...

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Well, I just found out that it does occur with the EQMod driver set on Simulation mode as well.
So the issues I'm facing with my mount are not caused by this. Although this behavior during star cross tests is a bit odd and looks like a bug somehow.

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Hi,

For a few months now, I'm driving crazy with the indi_eqmod driver and PHD2.

Out of the blue, guiding in both direction on the DEC axis stopped working. Since then, I have to rely on guiding through ST4, which I'd rather not do (an extra cable etc).

I noticed that during a PHD2 star cross test, the "return path" guiding south always output some warning messages :

[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs).

And every pulse south is skipped due to this warning. Doing a star cross test through st4 works fine though.
I've pinpointed the warning to this line .
if (newstatus.direction != DEStatus.direction)
            throw EQModError(EQModError::ErrInvalidParameter,
                             "Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs).");

So at the exact moment PHD2 reverses the DE direction for the star cross test, the driver complains. What's the deal there ? PHD2 seems to take all necessary precautions before reversing the guiding pulses :
  • Guiding at 0.5
  • Guiding at 0
  • Call StopMotor()
  • Guiding at -0.5

So why does the drivers complains, and could it be linked to my guiding issues ?
Troubles start at line 2174 in the attached log
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.607 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = 7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = 0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.607 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = 0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.608 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] SetMotion() : Axis = 2 -- dir=forward mode=slew speedmode=lowspeed "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.608 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[SCOPE] CheckMotorStatus() : Axis = 2 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.609 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] SetSpeed() : Axis = 2 -- period=1240 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.609 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":f2\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.630 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=101\", 5 bytes read "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.630 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":I2D80400\", 10 bytes written "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.645 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=\", 2 bytes read "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.645 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] StartMotor() : Axis = 2 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.646 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":J2\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-15T20:47:17.661 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=\", 2 bytes read "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.106 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = 0 arcsecs/s, computed rate = 0 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.107 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":f2\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.126 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=111\", 5 bytes read "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.126 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[MOUNT] StopMotor() : Axis = 2 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.127 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] dispatch_command: \":K2\", 4 bytes written "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.142 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[COMM] read_eqmod: \"=\", 2 bytes read "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.143 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] End Timed guide North/South "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.157 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.157 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.158 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.163 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.268 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.268 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.268 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.274 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.332 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.332 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.333 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.338 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.379 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.380 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.380 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.383 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.446 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.446 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.446 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.453 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.460 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.461 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] StartDETracking() : trackspeed = -7.52053 arcsecs/s, computed rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.461 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] SetDERate() : rate = -0.5 "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.466 CET INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount :  "[WARNING] Warning: Invalid parameter -> Can not change rate while motor is running (direction differs). "
[2020-11-15T20:47:18.467 CET DEBG ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - EQMod Mount : "[DEBUG] Timed guide South 500 ms at rate 7.52053  "


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@terryfitz I see you've describe your issue on this similar thread as well www.indilib.org/forum/ccds-dslrs/5713-eo...r-latest-update.html (pointed out by @alacant on another duplicate thread I made by mistake).
Hopefully, I'll have free time on the weekend to conduct more tests.

But I do not really know what to look for...

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Hi Steve. It could indeed ! Thanks !
I kind of created a double thread by mistake, and the [link url=https://www.indilib.org/forum/general/5640-qhy-driver-timeout-when-using-gphoto-at-the-same-time.html#43280]other one[/url] draw more attention :)

I already signaled this thread as to be deleted because of my mistake, but so far, no action has been taken.

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To be precise, the problem I described is "reversed" : it is the QHY driver that times out when using gphotos driver at the same time. But who knows, the consequences might be reversed but the cause might be identical :)

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Hello there,

When using both QHY and gphotos driver at the same time, it seems that the QHY driver times out and lead to a crash in PHD2. The QHY driver works fine for hours straight when I'm controlling the camera with a remote control. As soon as I try to use the gphotos driver to control my Pentax DSLR, PHD2 guidescope preview freezes while Ekos is transferring raw files from the DSLR to the Rpi. At some point, PHD2 complains about QHY driver timing out, and I usually need to restart guiding.

Could it be a power issue (I don't use a powered hub at the moment) ? A USB bottleneck somehow ?
I'm not asking for a solution directly (because miracles are rare :D), but I don't really know where to begin with :(. I'm new with INDI and don't really what I could try to do to diagnose my issue.

Regards,
Bertrand

INDI Library : 1.7.9 (compiled from d0321cb7, a more recent build like 1.8.0 does not get an image from the QHY5II)
Kstars/Ekos : 3.3.3
Linux raspberry pi 4.19.57-v7l (Raspberry Pi 4) on Raspbian 10 Buster

PHD2 Log extract

00:05:01.679 00.000 3019784208 Enqueuing Expose request
00:05:01.679 00.000 3014258752 Worker thread wakes up
00:05:01.680 00.001 3014258752 worker thread servicing REQUEST_EXPOSE 200
00:05:01.680 00.000 3014258752 Handling exposure in thread, d=200 o=3 r=(0,0,0,0)
00:05:01.680 00.000 3014258752 INDI Camera Exposing for 200ms
00:05:01.935 00.255 2992394304 INDI Camera Receive Number: CCD_EXPOSURE = 0 state = Busy
00:05:16.903 14.968 2992394304 INDI Camera: serverDisconnected
00:05:16.904 00.001 3014258752 INDI Camera: serverDisconnected
00:05:16.936 00.032 3014258752 worker thread setting skip send exposure complete
00:05:16.936 00.000 3014258752 worker thread queueing reconnect event to GUI thread
00:05:16.937 00.001 3014258752 Error thrown from /home/pi/install/phd2-git/worker_thread.cpp:157->Capture failed
00:05:16.942 00.005 3014258752 worker thread skipping SendWorkerThreadExposeComplete
00:05:16.942 00.000 3014258752 worker thread done servicing request
00:05:17.702 00.760 3019784208 Alert: After 15.2 sec the camera has not completed a 0.2 sec exposure, so it has been disconnected to prevent other problems. If you think the hardware is working correctly, you can increase the timeout period on the Camera tab of the Advanced Settings Dialog.
PHD will make several attempts to re-connect the camera.
00:05:17.863 00.161 3019784208 Try camera reconnect, now = 1567461917
00:05:17.865 00.002 3019784208 gear_dialog: ReconnectCamera
00:05:17.866 00.001 3019784208 gear_dialog: DoConnectCamera [INDI Camera [QHY CCD QHY5LII-M-6047e]]
00:05:17.866 00.000 3019784208 Status Line: Connecting to Camera ...


INDI pentax

DEBUG 403.849648 sec : Downloading image... Name: (capt0014.pef) Folder: (/) Delete from SD card? (false)
DEBUG 403.869847 sec : Downloaded 0x0 (preview 0x0)
DEBUG 403.870917 sec : Cannot decode (Unsupported file format or not RAW file)
DEBUG 403.871164 sec : Exposure done, downloading image...
DEBUG 403.890505 sec : Uploading file. Ext: pef, Size: 16941436, sendImage? Yes, saveImage? No
DEBUG 403.896336 sec : Aborting exposure...
DEBUG 403.896471 sec : Closing internal shutter.
DEBUG 403.896499 sec : Using widget:bulb
DEBUG 403.896514 sec : Setting toggle widget bulb: 0
DEBUG 403.899209 sec : Setting new configuration OK.
DEBUG 403.901367 sec : Reading exposure...
DEBUG 403.901430 sec : Exposure complete.
DEBUG 404.246125 sec : BLOB transfer took 0.355503 seconds
DEBUG 404.246175 sec : Upload complete
DEBUG 404.958386 sec : Event timed out #1, retrying...
DEBUG 408.230841 sec : Event timed out #2, retrying...
DEBUG 409.272480 sec : Event timed out #3, retrying...
DEBUG 410.319105 sec : Event timed out #4, retrying...
DEBUG 411.351958 sec : Event timed out #5, retrying...
DEBUG 412.394803 sec : Event timed out #6, retrying...
DEBUG 414.467606 sec : Event timed out #7, retrying...
DEBUG 415.510348 sec : Event timed out #8, retrying...
DEBUG 416.552036 sec : Event timed out #9, retrying...
DEBUG 417.583880 sec : Event timed out #10, retrying...


INDI QHY

I couldn't find anything strange there



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Hi,

I'm trying to setup a simple Rpi 4 based imaging setup, using only QHY 5II and gphoto with a pentax camera. When I'm using only the guider and drive the camera by hand with a remote control, all is working fine.

But when I use both the guider and the DSLR through INDI drivers, I can see that the image freeze a bit on PHD2's side during (or just after) the DSLR raw transfers. Eventually, at some point, the QHY driver time out and and indi server needs to be restarted to continue the imaging session.

Can anyone help me looking in the right direction for a solution to this issue ? Power issue (I don't have a powered hub at the moment) ? USB bottleneck on the pi ? Driver bug ? I'm a novice in this kind of stuff and I don't really know where to start to find the culprid :(

PHD2 2.6.6dev1
Kstars 3.3.3
libindi 1.7.9, recompiling last sources as I write this

Here is an extract of PHD2 log

21:35:48.188 00.000 3020460048 INDI Camera: connectServer done ready = 1
21:35:48.189 00.001 3020460048 Connected Camera: INDI Camera [QHY CCD QHY5LII-M-6047e]
21:35:48.190 00.001 3020460048 FullSize=(1280,960)
21:35:48.190 00.000 3020460048 PixelSize=3.75
21:35:48.190 00.000 3020460048 BitsPerPixel=8
21:35:48.190 00.000 3020460048 HasGainControl=0
21:35:48.190 00.000 3020460048 HasShutter=0
21:35:48.190 00.000 3020460048 HasSubFrames=1
21:35:48.191 00.001 3020460048 ST4HasGuideOutput=1
21:35:48.191 00.000 3020460048 GetBoolean("/profile/2/camera/AutoLoadDefectMap", 1) returns 1
21:35:48.191 00.000 3020460048 auto-loading defect map
21:35:48.206 00.015 3020460048 Loading defect map file /home/pi/.phd2/darks_defects/PHD2_defect_map_2.txt
21:35:48.214 00.008 3020460048 Loaded 81 defects
21:35:48.215 00.001 3020460048 Status Line: Defect map loaded
21:35:48.883 00.668 3020460048 Status Line: Camera Connected
21:35:48.900 00.017 3020460048 Camera Re-connect succeeded, resume exposures
21:35:48.901 00.001 3020460048 ScheduleExposure(100,3,0) exposurePending=0
21:35:48.901 00.000 3020460048 Enqueuing Expose request
21:35:48.901 00.000 3014934592 Worker thread wakes up
21:35:48.902 00.001 3014934592 worker thread servicing REQUEST_EXPOSE 100
21:35:48.902 00.000 3014934592 Handling exposure in thread, d=100 o=3 r=(0,0,0,0)
21:35:48.902 00.000 3014934592 INDI Camera Exposure is busy. Waiting
21:36:04.005 15.103 2991386688 INDI Camera: serverDisconnected
21:36:04.005 00.000 3014934592 INDI Camera: serverDisconnected
21:36:04.006 00.001 3014934592 worker thread setting skip send exposure complete
21:36:04.006 00.000 3014934592 worker thread queueing reconnect event to GUI thread
21:36:04.006 00.000 3014934592 Error thrown from /home/pi/install/phd2-git/worker_thread.cpp:157->Capture failed
21:36:04.006 00.000 3014934592 worker thread skipping SendWorkerThreadExposeComplete
21:36:04.006 00.000 3014934592 worker thread done servicing request
21:36:04.007 00.001 3020460048 Alert: After 15.1 sec the camera has not completed a 0.1 sec exposure, so it has been disconnected to prevent other problems. If you think the hardware is working correctly, you can increase the timeout period on the Camera tab of the Advanced Settings Dialog.
PHD will make several attempts to re-connect the camera.
21:36:04.041 00.034 3020460048 Try camera reconnect, now = 1567452964
21:36:04.041 00.000 3020460048 More than 3 camera reconnect attempts in less than 60 seconds, return without reconnect.
21:36:04.041 00.000 3020460048 OnExposeComplete: enter
21:36:04.041 00.000 3020460048 OnExposeComplete: Capture Error reported
21:36:04.041 00.000 3020460048 StopCapturing CaptureActive=1 continueCapturing=0 exposurePending=0
21:36:04.044 00.003 3020460048 Changing from state SELECTING to UNINITIALIZED
21:36:04.044 00.000 3020460048 guider state => SELECTING
21:36:04.050 00.006 3020460048 Status Line: Stopped.
21:36:04.773 00.723 3020460048 Error thrown from /home/pi/install/phd2-git/myframe_events.cpp:488->Error reported capturing image


Regards,
Bertrand

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