Hi All,

I have been able to connect a simple aliexpress gamepad to Ekos in a Mac environment, but I have an issue (I guess) with the read values. I do not know whether it is EQMOD driver related, or if it can be fixed anyway.

First of all, how I enabled it, i case someone wants to try this, too:
- I have used the free Indigo Server to have a remote indi server (localhost:7664 in my case) just for the gamepad, since it includes an HID Joystick driver that detects it. The important thing to do is to write down the devicename (in my case USB gamepad #14200000)
- In the Ekos profile editor, I add the connection ("devicename"@localhost:7664) to the remote server at the end (Remote field) after all other devices.
This brings me a new tab with the remote device, with all its options.
- In the EQMOD options tab, enable Joystick, enter devicename in the Snoop joystick field
- In the EQMOD Joystick tab, enter the AXIS options corresponding to the gamepad axis I want to use for N/S and W/E
- After that, Save EQMOD driver options

With this done, when I press the axis button the mount moves to the right direction, but after relasing the axis button, it keeps moving in NW direction, regardless the movement I pressed. In the original (remote) driver tab, the buttons get pressed/released correctly, it is just happening in the EQMOD part.
I guess it may be because the idle value of the axis is not zero, but -258. After noticing that, I have tested an XBOX controler from my son (through bluetooth), and it does the very same; the idle values are also not zero, and even bigger.

Any ideas about this?

I will try to test with a remote linux box with the original joystick driver and will report the results.

If you have any input on what to try, it would be great. Thanks for your help.

Jordi.

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Hi Alessandro,

I had the same problem, and I solved it by downloading the QHY SDK for arm64 from QHY and replacing /sbin/fxload with the one in the SDK.

You may find references to this problem by searching QHYCCD USB3 linux support.

Regards,

Jordi.

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Just in case anyone is interested...

I have been able to install Raspbian 64bit (bullseye); I then added astroberry repo.
That way I was able to install PHD2 and kStars (bleeding: 3.6.0) which are in the astroberry repo.

At first, kStars crashed, but following a trick I found in a german forum in which they where discussing this installation (www.indilib.org/forum/astroberry/12390-6...rry/reply/86978.html), I removed kstars-bleeding, installed the standard kStars in raspbian, started it with a simulator profile, and then installed again kstars-bleeding - it worked!

Anyway, I'm still configuring the system but it seems to work, and without compiling a thing.

I don't know whether the packages are being built right now, the 3.6,0 64bit version I got installed corresponds to Build: 2022-08-27T18:31:54Z


Regards,

Jordi.

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I think I worked out your *strange behaviour*, Alfred. I guess the target focus position gets updated the moment we click, calculating the destinantion position adding to the current position, and not the to the end of the previous click (the ongoing movement)

In this log, every click should move 500 steps, but look what happens every time we meet Focusing outward by 500 steps

[2022-10-04T19:45:43.663 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 6500 "
[2022-10-04T19:45:43.894 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6004 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:45.460 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6038 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:47.026 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6168 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:48.587 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6324 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:50.152 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6461 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:51.718 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6496 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:53.282 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6500 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:45:53.312 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser reached requested position. "
[2022-10-04T19:45:58.067 CEST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing outward by 500 steps..."
[2022-10-04T19:45:58.083 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 7000 "
[2022-10-04T19:45:59.443 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6520 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:01.005 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6604 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:02.567 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6760 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:03.248 CEST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing outward by 500 steps..."
[2022-10-04T19:46:03.263 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 7260 "
[2022-10-04T19:46:04.123 CEST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing outward by 500 steps..."
[2022-10-04T19:46:04.138 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  6916 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:04.159 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 7260 "
[2022-10-04T19:46:04.861 CEST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing outward by 500 steps..."
[2022-10-04T19:46:04.881 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 7416 "
[2022-10-04T19:46:05.693 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  7071 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:07.254 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  7227 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:08.815 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  7372 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:10.379 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  7410 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:11.945 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  7416 State: Busy
[2022-10-04T19:46:11.975 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - OnFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser reached requested position. "

Hi Alfred, welcome to the thread!

Very interesting. I also wanted to test that usleep, it's great reading that it works for you!

And about that strange behaviour... Have you enabled the debug log? All clicks should move a fixed amount of ticks/steps and go to an absolute position. Do you have a backlash value defined?

Regards from Barcelona,

Jordi.

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Yes Gene, of course. Here you have the log of that session.

Hi Gene, thanks for your suggestions.

I do not have a developer environment in the rPi (it runs from an SD card), but I can do it in the Mac. I will try to modify the driver following your advice, but it may take longer to test.

In the meantime, yesterday night I switched to the Polynomial algorithm and the autofocus process (I ran it three times) worked without timeouts. Perhaps it has to do with how the Linear algorithm works? well, anyway, it is a positive change.

I will go on with my tests and update this thread with my results. If you have any other suggestions, they will be very welcome!

Thanks for your help, and regards,

Jordi.

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Hi all,

New test tonight, and same results in the log. After every "Linear: un-doing extension. Moving back in by XX", there is a tty error.
I post here the lines, no need to attach all the log file, it's the very same.

[2022-10-01T23:40:04.814 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus :  "[INFO] Moving outward... "
[2022-10-01T23:40:04.841 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus :  "[INFO] Stopped. "
[2022-10-01T23:40:04.841 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to  10301 State: Ok
[2022-10-01T23:40:04.841 CEST DEBG ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Linear: un-doing extension. Moving back in by 15"
[2022-10-01T23:40:04.841 CEST INFO ][     org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing inward by 15 steps..."
[2022-10-01T23:40:04.847 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus :  "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 10286 "
[2022-10-01T23:40:08.102 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus :  "[ERROR] TTY error detected: Timeout error "
[2022-10-01T23:40:08.107 CEST INFO ][           org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus :  "[WARNING] Bogus position: (00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00) - Bytes read: -1 "

Thanks for your replay Gene,

Yes, the latter log was obtained in the Mac, where I clicked as fast as I could both manual focus buttons in order to reproduce the same response from the driver. It is not the same operation, but the resulting response was the same.

The Astroberry based kstars/ekos enabled/disabled debug without my intervention and seemed a bit more obscure, that's why I cropped it in the first message... I'm attaching it now anyway, I hope it shows the issue in a better way.

I have done the same test in my Mac, with the most recent 3.6.1 beta (Build: 2022-09-30T18:04:42Z), another serial/USB cable, and it behaves the same way.

When It gets the timeout, I wait some seconds, click again on a manual focus button and starts working again. If I don't click, it goes on with the timeout/bogus errors

Hi All,

I'm running current kStars/eKos 3.6.0 under Astroberry. Recently I added a Robofocus to my setup. I seems to work fine in manual mode but I have problems with the autofocus process. I have other focusers (diy OnStep/OnFocus) autofocusing fine, I only have issues with the RoboFocus.

I have noticed that the RoboFocus indi driver produces errors (tty timeout / bogus position) when autofocusing. I usually manually disconnect/connect the indi driver for the process to continue.

Trying to know what happens in order to tell it more clearly, I have managed to reproduce it when moving the focuser manually: It works fine in normal use, but this issue happens when I change focus directions very fast. In the log, it always reads State: Busy at the end of the position notice, just before the timeouts occur:

INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - "Focusing outward by 3 steps..."
[2022-09-30T19:20:35.358 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[INFO] Moving outward... "
[2022-09-30T19:20:35.752 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[INFO] Stopped. "
[2022-09-30T19:20:35.753 CEST DEBG ][ org.kde.kstars.ekos.focus] - Abs Focuser position changed to 10175 State: Busy
[2022-09-30T19:20:35.758 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[INFO] Focuser is moving to position 10181 "
[2022-09-30T19:20:39.007 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[ERROR] TTY error detected: Timeout error "
[2022-09-30T19:20:39.012 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[WARNING] Bogus position: (00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00) - Bytes read: -1 "
[2022-09-30T19:20:46.014 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[ERROR] TTY error detected: Timeout error "
[2022-09-30T19:20:46.020 CEST INFO ][ org.kde.kstars.indi] - RoboFocus : "[WARNING] Bogus position: (00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00) - Bytes read: -1

I am testing latest OSX beta (Build: 2022-09-17T18:07:01Z). It seems that it does not like duplicated drivers...

I wanted to check dual camera setup with simulators (if not simultaneous, at least alternative). I created a driver alias of the CCD Simulator driver and named it 'CCD Simulator_2'.

I then added it in a profile as Aux1 (since there's no other option right now) and CCD Simulator as main CCD camera. The result was that the Optical Trains interface stopped working. It did not appear when connecting drivers, and when called, it was blank, and it closed the app when clicking the '+' button to add a train.

This also happened when modifying an existing profile with just one camera when adding the alias as Aux, not just with new profiles.

I guess it is easy to reproduce. If you need any more info, just let me know.

Thanks for your time, and regards from Barcelona.

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