Updated Pi's

[stash_old]

Indigo might have a slight lead here - Indi relies mainly on Ubuntu Mate(other Linux variants do work) for RPI and does not sit well on Raspbian due to the use of Launchpad which is used to update software and get the latest updates easily. Indigo already uses Raspbian for some parts and may not (I dont know) need too much changing to run on Raspbian Buster(OS version). 

As far as I know no other Linux variant,other than Raspbian, has an OS image that runs on the new RPI4 - out of the box and online to download.

Then of course Microsoft ,which supports RPI with a variant of Windows, may port Windows 10 Desktop now - but IMO i doubt it.

 

[stash_old]

11 hours ago, StarDodger said:

acts as the replacement for Ascom, and is much better

How do you know this ?  Have you used it if so please give us a report on your findings please 🙂

Apt doesn't work with DSLR's on Indi for a start and will not being adding DSLR until next year (APT v3.90 I believe)

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Before I go the Raspian route, I'll try the Mate Pi version, even though its for the older boards, there may be enough commonality to at least kick it into life....

[stash_old]

3 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Before I go the Raspian route, I'll try the Mate Pi version, even though its for the older boards, there may be enough commonality to at least kick it into life....

Please report your findings Julian 🙂

[StarDodger]

7 minutes ago, stash_old said:

How do you know this ?  Have you used it if so please give us a report on your findings please 🙂

Apt doesn't work with DSLR's on Indi for a start and will not being adding DSLR until next year (APT v3.90 I believe)

How do I know this, because I have been using INdI for 18 months with Stellarmate, on the rpi3b+ and it’s superb in my opinion, it just works and never suffers from the same issues I had with Ascom.. also no USB issues, or COM port problems, what can I say, for me it’s been a godsend to get away from windows..

Indigo is just a slightly updates version of INdI, but really the same thing for the end user...slightly better coded, apparently, I have used a few indigo drivers with Stellarmate as they are interchangeable...

Edited June 27, 2019 by StarDodger

[stash_old]

3 minutes ago, StarDodger said:

How do I know this, because I have been using INdI for 18 months with Stellarmate, on the rpi3b+ and it’s superb in my opinion, it just works and never suffers from the same issues I had with Ascom.. also no USB issues, or COM port problems, what can I say, for me it’s been a godsend to get away from windows..

Indigo is just a slightly updates version of INdI, but really the same thing for the end user...slightly better coded, apparently, I have used a few indigo drivers with Stellarmate as they are interchangeable...

Sorry I was referring directly to using APT  with Indi/Indigo

p.s. I have used Indi for over 2yrs on wide field 🙂

[StarDodger]

Just now, stash_old said:

Sorry I was referring directly to using APT  with Indi/Indigo

p.s. I have used Indi for over 2yrs on wide field 🙂

Yes i have tried it, and works well, but I don’t like the indigosky GUI, it works well, but is very clunky and long winded..but just my opinion, when the new indigo control panel is released that will be much better...

[stash_old]

1 minute ago, StarDodger said:

Yes i have tried it, and works well, but I don’t like the indigosky GUI, it works well, but is very clunky and long winded..but just my opinion, when the new indigo control panel is released that will be much better...

What camera(s) are you using via APT that are on Indi/RPI/Stallarmate and what sort of frame rates are you getting with different ROI ? 🙂 Be good to compare when you change over to he RPI4 in the future.

Obviously not DSLR. 

[stash_old]

At least there is 1 thing that Indi Stellarmate has that is very very good - a PDF manual very comprehensive document. You can also use it to get an idea on what normal Indi can do - a good read for anyone.

[Gina]

I'm pretty sure the INDI people will sort out running INDIserver and INDI drivers on the RPi 4 in Ubuntu Mate or other suitable OS.  I shall be buying an RPi 4 soonish and once I have INDI running on it I'll write a tutorial as I did for the RPi 3B.  I have a few other things I'm working on at present but certainly expect to try the RPi 4 in due course.  Meanwhile, if others get all this working first I shall be very interested.

Edited June 27, 2019 by Gina

[JamesF]

Judging by the way the 4GB model seems to be selling out I wonder if they misjudged the market a bit?

James

[stash_old]

I see someone is selling rpi4 4gb (no psu) for £100 on ebay. Mad  - CPC have 2500 4gb models in by 7/7/2019 - does anyone now days  have any patience any more - they wouldn't make good fishermen/fisherwomen

[bottletopburly]

2 hours ago, StarDodger said:

So your just going to need indigo in the rpi, so that should work ok, as a lot of us need to wait for Ubuntu to work with it...let us know how you get on..

Yes once apt updates to cover dslr , I’m in no rush .

[StarDodger]

4 hours ago, stash_old said:

What camera(s) are you using via APT that are on Indi/RPI/Stallarmate and what sort of frame rates are you getting with different ROI ? 🙂 Be good to compare when you change over to he RPI4 in the future.

Obviously not DSLR. 

I use Starlight Xpress Cameras, I have a SXVR M25c OSC and an SXVR H18 (KAF8300 sensor) mono...with Lodestar guide cam...so no region of interest needed, as I am just deep sky...

Wanted the rpi 4 for other reasons than the USB 3...

Edited June 27, 2019 by StarDodger

[stash_old]

So you all bought a RPI4 - how is it all coming along Astro wise that is 🙂 Any startling decoveries ?

[StarDodger]

1 hour ago, stash_old said:

So you all bought a RPI4 - how is it all coming along Astro wise that is 🙂 Any startling decoveries ?

Yes, i need a new power supply, as the raspberry one I had at 2.5amp will not run it, I knew it required 3 amp, but stupidly thought with nothing attached it may work for testing purposes, but alas it was not to be..  (

[han59]

My Pi4 will come in about 2 weeks, but in preparation, I have installed the binaries of Libindi, CCDCiel program, PHD2 and ASTAP on a blank Pi3 with the new Raspbian Buster (32 bit). I expect this should also work on a Pi4 :
 

1) Install libindi and 3rd party driver
#Follow ALL instructions in README.md to compile and install INDI and 3rd party drivers at:
#https://github.com/indilib/indi/blob/master/README.md

sudo apt-get install libnova-dev libcfitsio-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev zlib1g-dev libgsl-dev build-essential cmake git libjpeg-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libtiff-dev
sudo apt-get install libftdi-dev libgps-dev libraw-dev libdc1394-22-dev libgphoto2-dev libboost-dev libboost-regex-dev librtlsdr-dev liblimesuite-dev libftdi1-dev

cd /home/pi
git clone https://github.com/indilib/indi.git
cd indi

mkdir -p build/libindi
cd /home/pi/indi/build/libindi
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../../libindi
make
sudo make install


cd /home/pi/indi/build
mkdir 3rdparty
cd 3rdparty
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../../3rdparty
make
sudo make install
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../../3rdparty
make
sudo make install

#note for some unknown reason the QHY_CCD driver is missing but could compile&install it separately. 

#For QHY5 or QHY5-II and probably some other cameras to make them work you have to install fxload:

sudo apt-get install fxload

 

2) Install indistarter from SourceForge
Download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/indistarter/files/indistarter-2.0.0/indistarter_2.0.0-140_armhf.deb/download

Don't use the standard file explorer package installer. It will not see INDI 1.7.9 and wrongly install INDI 1.75. as dependency wrecking the INDI driver 1.7.9 Installation. See INDI forum

First install GDEBI:

sudo  apt-get install gdebi
Install the INDIstarter by file explorer right mouse click popup menu "GDEBI package install"

3) Install 32 bit libpasastro (required by CCDCiel) from:
webpage: https://sourceforge.net/projects/libpasastro/
File: https://sourceforge.net/projects/libpasastro/files/version_1.1-20/libpasastro_1.1-20_armhf.deb/download
Install the .deb installer by right mouse click, "GDEBI package install"

4) Install CCDCiel from: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ccdciel/files/
File: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ccdciel/files/ccdciel_0.9.59/ccdciel_0.9.59-1621_armhf.deb/download
Install the .deb installer by right mouse click, "GDEBI package install"

5) Install PHD2
Download  https://launchpad.net/~pch/+archive/ubuntu/phd2/+files/phd2_2.6.6.rev20190524-0ppa1~ubuntu18.10_armhf.deb
Install the .deb installer by right mouse click, "GDEBI package install"
There are two dependencies. I used GDEBI installer (sudo apt-get install gdebi) which takes care of the dependencies. If it doesn't install do first
sudo apt-get install libwxbase3.0-0v5
sudo apt-get install libwxgtk3.0-0v5

6) Install solver from http://www.hnsky.org/astap.htm
6a) Install solver program astap_armhf.deb from:
Download   https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_armhf.deb/download
Install the .deb installer by right mouse click, "GDEBI package install"
6b) Install solver star database g17_star_database_mag17.deb from:
Download: https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/star_databases/g17_star_database_mag17.deb/download
Install the .deb installer by right mouse click, GDEBI package install

SOFTWARE SETUP:

A) Setup indiserver program:
-Start program indiserver.
-Add drivers for your equipment, mount, camera....
-Start

Start up CCDCiel
- Set in menu FILE, DEVICE SETUP your equipment....
- Menu EDIT, PREFERENCES, ASTROMETRY, select ASTAP, set binning at 2

- Set any other preference in EDIT, PREFERENCES
- Connect all equipment

I'm not a Linux expert. Please correct me if there is a better method. I could not connect to ppa's

Han

Edited September 13, 2019 by han59
1) update to compile and install latest INDI drivers, 2) fixed a problem with the standard package installer

[StarDodger]

Webpage for libastro not working, it goes to an SGL Page..

[han59]

I have fixed it now.

Han

[han59]

I have updated the instruction for installing the latest INDI drivers. Installing INDIstarter.deb using the file explorer popup menu installs INDI v1.7.5 over version 1.7.9 wrecking the INDI driver installation. See INDI forum

Edited July 7, 2019 by han59

[StarDodger]

38 minutes ago, han59 said:

I have updated the instruction for installing the latest INDI drivers. Installing INDIstarter.deb using the file explorer popup menu installs INDI v1.7.5 over version 1.7.9 wrecking the INDI driver installation. See INDI forum

I have the latest INdI compiled from git hub, working perfectly on rpi4 with no issues at all, plus all 3rd party drivers and GSC, plus full Kstars / Ekos too, all on raspbian buster...

The one thing you really need to watch with this new rpi4 is the heat produced during compiling, it tends to overheat and throttle back, this then means it takes a long while to compile and had errors, mine would not work at all i it’s case with no fan, but just a heatsink, I had to remove from case and run a desktop fan over the top of it, it then compiles very quickly and worked without errors, then back in the case to use Kstars seems fine...they do get really really really hot, I have a metal case for mine, and I could barely pick it up.. 😮

[stash_old]

3 minutes ago, StarDodger said:

they do get really really really hot

Yes already noted that "bonus" others reporting similar problems. Compiling is CPU intensive but I wonder what happens when you run RPI4/Kstars/Ekos fully loaded and do a Platesolve.  Maybe its advisable to fit a fan anyway and heat sink so no throttling occurs at any point.

You just need a first light 🙂 

Good Luck

[han59]

Good you managed to install Ekos & Kstars . This means you store the images locally on the RPi4. Are the image download and disk storage speed as fast as expected?

I had already planned to buy a passive heatsink with a plastic case.Your experience is worrying. I'm not familiar with Kstars, but I remember it was CPU hungry. I assume CCDCiel&PHD2&ASTAP will be less CPU intensive but time will tell. 

Han

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by han59

[StarDodger]

5 minutes ago, han59 said:

Good you managed to install Ekos & Kstars . This means you store the images locally on the RPi4. Are the image download and disk storage speed as fast as expected?

I had already planned to buy a passive heatsink with a plastic case.Your experience is worrying. I'm not familiar with Kstars, but I remember it was CPU hungry. I assume CCDCiel&PHD2&ASTAP will be less CPU intensive but time will tell. 

Han

 

I will let you know as soon as I use in anger...but does seem to be a bit cooler when just running the software, it is the compiling that is the real bottleneck... 

[stash_old]

Interesting article,thanks to Astronerd on IndiLib forum, here on the likely (or not) production of Ubuntu Mate for RPI4. Doesn't look hopeful for a quick fix.

However if you read the bottom piece you will notice perhaps a get around for Mate 16.04 - which is ,I believe ,how some got around the problems with RPI3b+. 

Quote If you want to run Ubuntu on the pi4 now then I suggest you copy the kernel and firmware from Raspbian. This is how ubuntu mate 16.04 used to work. If you don't know how to do this then look up the many threads on getting the 3B+ working.

Edited July 10, 2019 by stash_old