RPi3B ... new mb for lappy ... what to do? ...

[Gina]

Been reading about INDI and I think everything is covered except possibly the ZWO FW mini filter wheel but will see.  Certainly the mount and camera and I expect to be able to sort out the RPi GPIO for focus control.  I plan to use PixInsight as the client but KStars/Ecos is another possibility.

[Gina]

My no.1 mount is the EQ8 and camera is ZWO ASI1600MM-Cool.  Since the ZWO FW is included in the camera driver, I think the filter wheel will "just work".  Not yet sure but I might use one RPi 3 to drive the mount and another for camera, FW and focuser - it depends on the number of USB ports and the data rates, amongst other things.  For dimmer DSOs with the scopes I may well need guiding and this would be under control of the mount RPi.  I use SX Lodestar X2 for guiding and this is covered in INDI - the web site mentions guiding, so that's OK

1. Mount - Synscan Telescope
2. Guiding - Starlight Xpress CCD
3. Camera - ZWO Optics ASI cameras
4. Focuser - DIY remote focussing - Raspberry Pi GPIO

The next issue is which OS to use for the RPi.  Most of the instructions are for Ubuntu and I'm thinking Ubuntu Mate but the RPi GPIO instructions are for Raspbian. So that might decide the split of services between two RPi 3s.  I have both Ubuntu Mate and Raspbian.

I can see that anyone who isn't familiar with Linux and the command line might be put off by copy-and-paste-ing lines of code from instructions into their system and to cater for this I may produce a custom setup for the specified devices and could upload the micro SD image.  I won't guarantee this at this stage as my internet connection is very slow - particularly for uploading, until the ultra-fast fibre optic broadband is installed in this area - hopefully around Christmas time.

[Demonperformer]

Gina, you are a *star*.

Have they told you which Christmas you are going to get your 'ultra-fast' broadband ?

[Gina]

Work on laying fibre optic cables etc. is scheduled for November '16 - subject to change...    The cable run has several miles to run before it reaches here but how long it will take them I don't really know - I guess it depends on how many roads they need to dig up versus laying the cables in the verges and across fields etc.

[Gina]

Progress report...  I have a Raspberry Pi 3 running Raspbian and using small TV as HDMI monitor, bog-standard wired keyboard and wireless trackball.  This RPi is running Raspbian Jessie (latest version).  I have installed TeamViewer for remote control and currently using wired connection to router - just haven't set up wireless yet.  Now running all the command line commands to install INDI library starting with the dependencies.  There's a lot of them.  Needed sudo apt-get update first.  Next to install INDI Library.

[NickK]

Couple of things to look at with the small system builds:

* write rate - micro cards are ok, although eMMC may be faster still

* USB power supply - this may not cover the full power required by passive hubbing. The power chip used may not supply enough for the hubs on the board.

* vibration - I decided on a C2 (no fan and passive cooling) and an SSD for big storage (128GB)

 

My C2 build: 

 

[Gina]

"We have a problem Huston" - browser disappeared from screen as I was copying and pasting command lines and wouldn't go to the INDI page.  Tried rebooting and now Raspbian goes through all its stuff but ends up with just a flashing underline in the top RH corner of the screen.  No response from keyboard and no pointer

[Gina]

Tomorrow is another day and I might see if I can find out what's wrong with the RPi I'm using.  I think I have 3 RPI 3s - one with Raspbian, another with Ubuntu Mate and the third brand new and untried.  ATM I'm using the Raspbian one and trying it with the all sky camera ASI178MM, while the ASI1600MM-Cool is being run from my Win7 laptop in the observatory.  I can try Ubuntu Mate on another RPi or I could try my Ubuntu Mint laptop with INDI.

[tekkydave]

What size sdcard are you using? I think 8Gb is the minimum that will fit everything on these days with the latest Raspbian. There is also a cut-down version of Raspbian with none of the X window stuff so no gui. It's good if you can operate command-line only.

Try putting the sdcard in your pc and see if it is full. You have also piqued my interest in Indi so I might have a go myself. I only use Windoze these days if I have to.

[tekkydave]

If you are looking for a compact wifi solution I find these work very well

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008FZO1A2/ref=pe_385721_149291171_TE_3p_dp_1

 

[tekkydave]

To get the wired and wifi network interfaces working with a static ip address, which is useful for remote operation. These examples use the vi editor but change to nano if you prefer it.

sudo vi /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

add lines:

network={
    ssid=<your_AP_SSID>
    psk=<Your_wifi_password>
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

sudo vi /etc/dhcpcd.conf

add lines:

interface eth0
static ip_address=<wired ip address>
static routers=<ip address of your router>
static domain_name_servers=<ip address of your router>
static domain_search=

interface wlan0
static ip_address=<wifi ip address>
static routers=<ip address of your router>
static domain_name_servers=<ip address of your router>
static domain_search=

Reboot and the interface ip addresses should now be the ones you set above. To check use:

ifconfig

 

[Gina]

Thanks Dave   I presume those N wifi dongles are a lot better than the wifi in the RP1 3.  Seems to be mixed reports in the Amazon feedback though. 

I'm currently using a 32GB micro SD card.  I think Ubuntu Mate is on a 64GB card - I'll check when I can find where I put the board

I definitely agree regarding Windoze!!  With knobs on!!  And I'm quite enjoying playing with Linux again

[tekkydave]

I forgot the Rpi3 had built in wifi. I dont have one at the moment ony an Rpi 2, a B+ and three model Bs. I use one of the dongles in my remote weather station which is outside about 15 metres from the AP and no problems. Its an RPi model B but its only mounting the 1-wire devices on owfs and running owserver so the indoor Rpi can take remote readings so no stress on it really.

[Gina]

Maybe one day I might have time to get my weather station working...  OTOH....     I would like to have a weather station again.  Mine uses owfs and programmed in Python.  It's mostly done.  I had the 1-wire cabled but the rodents put paid to that!!  A WiFi version would be a good idea.  I have an RPi 2 B+ as well as the 3s.  The indoor unit uses an Arduino UNO with a shield for the RTC and pressure sensor.

[tekkydave]

When I redesigned mine I decided to have no processing going on in the remote units which just have owserver running. These can then be mounted onto the internal unit's owfs filesystem for readings & processing. I need to build another remote unit to gather data from the current sensor I have on the consumer unit in the garage. Keeps an eye on our leccie usage

The indoor Rpi2 does all the processing in Java and web pages in PHP. I'll put the details in a separate topic at some point when I feel its finished enough.

[Gina]

Linux astro is my top priority ATM as is probably obvious   Windoze is driving my right up the wall - clear last night and I grabbed 50 Ha subs but as soon as I tried to capture OIII all hell broke loose and everything went wrong that could have.  The forecast was for cloud coming in around midnight followed by rain in the early hours and without automation I couldn't just leave things running.  I'm think that maybe I should give up the idea of proper imaging until I get the software sorted out!

[Gina]

Just taken the micro SD card out of the RPi and put in in my Win7 laptop and had a look.  First thing it said was "scan and fix problems? - Recommended" or something like that - I didn't because it's not a Windoze format as such.  BUT on opening it in "Computer" it showed 31.3GB of 59.?GB used yet it's labelled as 32GB so I guess it's full.  Certainly something looks wrong with it.  My Linux laptop doesn't have an SD card slot and I'm wondering if it needs to be examined with a Linux OS.

[tekkydave]

Windows may not be reading the sizes correctly because it doesn't understand the linux filesystem.

Did you expand the filesystem to use the full sdcard using raspi-config when you first booted the card in the RPi?

sudo raspi-config

 

[Gina]

Yes, I did.

Think I'll just start again.  Now transferring Raspbian and Ubuntu Mate plus Win32DiskImager to my Win7 laptop ready to reinstall the OS on the micro SD card.  Didn't get very far so not much to re-do.  Maybe Win32DiskImager will tell me something about the card before I wipe it.

[tekkydave]

It's well worth copying an image of the sdcard back to your pc every now & again as a backup - can save hours later.

[Gina]

Yes, good idea, I plan to do this as soon as I've got something working.  Hardly worth it for just TeamViewer and I didn't complete the INDI library installation.

[tekkydave]

Are you planning to use the gui on the RPi (via teamviewer) or run the client apps on another machine?

[Gina]

I'm thinking of using the GUI just for installing and setting up.  For astro use I'm planning to use either PixInsight or KStars/Ecos.

[billyharris72]

Just a thought, but are there not touchscreen shields that fit on the Pi now? Could save a lot of space, trailing wires etc.

On the software front, it takes a bit if time getting used to the fact that almost none of your current software will work, but the Linux software ecosystem for scientific software is more expansive than the Windows offering and you'll find alternatives. You just need to accept that the workflow might be quite different.

[Gina]

Yes, I have a touchscreen but found the display rather small so I'm using full size GUI equipment.  I've used Linux a fair bit in the past and I'm back into it now