Kstars 3.5.2

[Doug64]

Hi,

Just a heads up.....Kstars 3.5.2 was released tonight.

Doug

[Ouroboros]

On 01/03/2021 at 23:13, Doug64 said:

Hi,

Just a heads up.....Kstars 3.5.2 was released tonight.

Doug

I have been thinking I ought to update my now rather old versions of KStars for some time. I am slightly worried about disrupting a working system.  How does one go about it? Does it update EKOS and INDI at he same time?  

[wornish]

7 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

I have been thinking I ought to update my now rather old versions of KStars for some time. I am slightly worried about disrupting a working system.  How does one go about it? Does it update EKOS and INDI at he same time?  

Depends what system you are running it on.

If it's a Windows based system then simply go to the Kstars site and download the Windows version.

https://edu.kde.org/kstars/#download

If its Mac or Linux then follow the instructions on the site to download the specific version.

If you are running on a Raspberry Pi then you have two options .

a. If running under Ubuntu linux follow the instructions on the site.

If running Astroberry then you can simply use the software update steps described on the Astroberry site.

Open terminal.

Use: sudo apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

 

When you do this update update it updates EKOS and Indi as well.

 

If you are running some other version of Linux then I am afraid  a full recompile is needed which is not for the feint hearted.

 

[Ouroboros]

@wornishThanks. I’m on a MacBook on which I use KStars/ekos/indi to control my mount, cameras and guiding. I know when I first down loaded KStars it had the ekos and Indi components too. It took a while to get it up an working with various add ons, plate solving databases etc .... and I don’t want to muck it up. I am aware though that were  I to get a new mount or camera, which are on the cards, I’m probably going to have to upgrade. 

[wornish]

15 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

@wornishThanks. I’m on a MacBook on which I use KStars/ekos/indi to control my mount, cameras and guiding. I know when I first down loaded KStars it had the ekos and Indi components too. It took a while to get it up an working with various add ons, plate solving databases etc .... and I don’t want to muck it up. I am aware though that were  I to get a new mount or camera, which are on the cards, I’m probably going to have to upgrade. 

As you are on a Mac the upgrade is straightforward. Simply download the macOS file from the site and a single click will do the upgrade.  Your supporting databases and setups will not be changed and it will work straight away.

[Ouroboros]

34 minutes ago, wornish said:

As you are on a Mac the upgrade is straightforward. Simply download the macOS file from the site and a single click will do the upgrade.  Your supporting databases and setups will not be changed and it will work straight away.

That’s very reassuring to know. Thanks. Do you know if the Ekos + INDI components update too - INDI drivers etc - or do these require a separate update process? 

[Stuart1971]

On 26/04/2021 at 07:09, Ouroboros said:

I have been thinking I ought to update my now rather old versions of KStars for some time. I am slightly worried about disrupting a working system.  How does one go about it? Does it update EKOS and INDI at he same time?  

Yes it’s buggy...so dont upgrade yet.....I am always two versions behind as it takes that long to iron out bugs....👍🏼

[Ouroboros]

 Oh dear! You've got me worried again! 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Ouroboros

[Stuart1971]

1 minute ago, Ouroboros said:

 Oh dear! You've got me worried again! 

There are quite a few bugs, and they are being worked on, but I would wait a while if I were you, and as usual, make sure if you do upgrade that you have a back up SD card of your current working system so you can switch back if needed...👍🏼

[Ouroboros]

Are these bugs in KStars itself or INDI or both? Sorry, I’m not really clear on what the relationship between these different components is. I merely downloaded, set them up and used them.  

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

Are these bugs in KStars itself or INDI or both? Sorry, I’m not really clear on what the relationship between these different components is. I merely downloaded, set them up and used them.  

Kstars is the planetarium and capture software all in one package, and INdI is the driver set...equivalent to windows Ascom, the bugs are nearly always in the Kstars software, sometime there are bugs in INdI, and a couple are this time, with the Pegasus and SX camera drivers...👍🏼

[malc-c]

I stumbled on Kstars many moons ago, and was disappointed that the port from Linux didn't natively support ASCOM.   Years later I'm equally disappointed that now, with more and more people knowing about K-Stars it STIL appears that it doesn't support ASCOM in the windows version.  With EQMOD and now GSS Server being the goto ASCOM interface to control a scope the developers are missing such a wide customer base.   

[Stuart1971]

21 minutes ago, malc-c said:

I stumbled on Kstars many moons ago, and was disappointed that the port from Linux didn't natively support ASCOM.   Years later I'm equally disappointed that now, with more and more people knowing about K-Stars it STIL appears that it doesn't support ASCOM in the windows version.  With EQMOD and now GSS Server being the goto ASCOM interface to control a scope the developers are missing such a wide customer base.   

No there not, the whole point was to steer clear of the awful Ascom software, and besides there is a perfect INdI EQMOD driver that I and many others use, it has all the features of the windows EQMOD driver and my EQ8 loves it...👍🏼

[Stuart1971]

The point of Kstars is it’s a Linux based program, and yes there is a windows version, but the idea is to use that with a Linux based mini single board computer on the mount running INdI, this is much cheaper, easier and smaller and completely wire free, than having a full blown windows PC at the mount...it just works, and far better then windows ever did, for me, and many others anyway..👍🏼

[malc-c]

54 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

The point of Kstars is it’s a Linux based program, and yes there is a windows version, but the idea is to use that with a Linux based mini single board computer on the mount running INdI, this is much cheaper, easier and smaller and completely wire free, than having a full blown windows PC at the mount...it just works, and far better then windows ever did, for me, and many others anyway..👍🏼

If that is the case, then why port it to Windows, or any other platform like a Mac...   Most people will use it for telescope control, and for some having to learn the ins and outs of Linux in order to run it on a Pi or similar is why they stick with the windows PC option.  I hear what you are saying, and that there is a workaround, but it just seems illogical to me...

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, malc-c said:

If that is the case, then why port it to Windows, or any other platform like a Mac...   Most people will use it for telescope control, and for some having to learn the ins and outs of Linux in order to run it on a Pi or similar is why they stick with the windows PC option.  I hear what you are saying, and that there is a workaround, but it just seems illogical to me...

With all due respect, I am not sure you quite understand the logic behind it all, I hope  someone with better communicating skills than me will come along and explain better, as I don’t think I am explaining it properly, but the thousands of us that use it would never go back to a windows based Ascom system....

The actual Kstars software does run in all platforms, but I run it all from the PI itself, but many do use Kstars on there windows or MAC PC and then the PI with just an INdI server on the mount itself with all kit connected to it, in this set up it basically means that Ascom is replaced with INdI drivers which are altogether better IMHO, but that’s not really the best way to use, and to run it all off the PI is better as it’s completely wireless..

Also you need to understand that Kstars first and foremost is a planetarium education package used in education designed for that so it needs to run on all platforms, the Ekos side of it is an add on for full automated telescope control and image capture, that came later....education will always be first, see here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KStars

[Avocette]

1 hour ago, malc-c said:

If that is the case, then why port it to Windows, or any other platform like a Mac...   Most people will use it for telescope control, and for some having to learn the ins and outs of Linux in order to run it on a Pi or similar is why they stick with the windows PC option.  I hear what you are saying, and that there is a workaround, but it just seems illogical to me...

As @Stuart1971 says there is significant logical history in that some people wished (and may still wish) to run KStars/Ekos locally on their Mac or Windows laptops, and use just the Indi Server functionality remotely at the mount/telescope/camera position. In time the ability and speed of Raspberry Pis has made running everything on the Pi, and linking in by VNC Viewer or Browser to control and monitor, a really worthwhile option, especially since a break in communications leaves your imaging running. 

[TerryMcK]

Since upgrading I have had issues with meridian flip not working consistently - whereas in earlier versions it worked flawlessly. I have reported it in both the kstars/ekos forum and the indi forum.

[malc-c]

55 minutes ago, Stuart1971 said:

With all due respect, I am not sure you quite understand the logic behind it all, I hope  someone with better communicating skills than me will come along and explain better, as I don’t think I am explaining it properly, but the thousands of us that use it would never go back to a windows based Ascom system....

The actual Kstars software does run in all platforms, but I run it all from the PI itself, but many do use Kstars on there windows or MAC PC and then the PI with just an INdI server on the mount itself with all kit connected to it, in this set up it basically means that Ascom is replaced with INdI drivers which are altogether better IMHO, but that’s not really the best way to use, and to run it all off the PI is better as it’s completely wireless..

Also you need to understand that Kstars first and foremost is a planetarium education package used in education designed for that so it needs to run on all platforms, the Ekos side of it is an add on for full automated telescope control and image capture, that came later....education will always be first, see here...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KStars

So where I have my observatory PC running CdC, and communicating direct to the mount via an EQDIR cable which gives me the option to undertake an imaging session in the observatory, or remotely using remote desktop form my main PC, in order to do the same with Kstars I would have a Pi attached to the mount running INDI server, presumably with the EQDIR cable connected to it and the mount, and then use EKOS on the Observatory PC (or any other PC on the network) to communicate with the INDI server running on the Pi...  Interesting...  So in essence, I could either install the Linux variants of APT, PHD2 and Kstars  on the Pi and do away with the observatory PC, or run the windows versions on any PC on the network and have it connect to the pi running the INDI server... again, doing away with the observatory PC ??

I have to ask though, why are you so against the ASCOM platform?

[Stuart1971]

32 minutes ago, malc-c said:

So where I have my observatory PC running CdC, and communicating direct to the mount via an EQDIR cable which gives me the option to undertake an imaging session in the observatory, or remotely using remote desktop form my main PC, in order to do the same with Kstars I would have a Pi attached to the mount running INDI server, presumably with the EQDIR cable connected to it and the mount, and then use EKOS on the Observatory PC (or any other PC on the network) to communicate with the INDI server running on the Pi...  Interesting...  So in essence, I could either install the Linux variants of APT, PHD2 and Kstars  on the Pi and do away with the observatory PC, or run the windows versions on any PC on the network and have it connect to the pi running the INDI server... again, doing away with the observatory PC ??

I have to ask though, why are you so against the ASCOM platform?

All correct....👍🏼
you PC indoors would run Kstars, and the little RPI on the mount with all your kit attached to it, you then connect wirelessly, OR the way I run it, is to run all the software, Kstars and INdI, on the RPI, attached on the mount, and just wirelessly VNC into it from another PC, this is faster as it’s all being done on one little RPI...

Ascom just forever gave me issues with drivers, serial port conflicts, and I loathe windows too, so that does not help. My PC indoors runs Linux Kubuntu...and I VNC into my RPI from that...

[Stuart1971]

1 hour ago, TerryMcK said:

Since upgrading I have had issues with meridian flip not working consistently - whereas in earlier versions it worked flawlessly. I have reported it in both the kstars/ekos forum and the indi forum.

This is why I never upgrade until I am at least two versions behind, it gives time to iron out the bugs....👍🏼

[Xilman]

On 26/04/2021 at 07:09, Ouroboros said:

I have been thinking I ought to update my now rather old versions of KStars for some time. I am slightly worried about disrupting a working system.  How does one go about it? Does it update EKOS and INDI at he same time?  

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

That is what I have been told. I tend to follow the advice: "if it aint broke, fix it until it is".

 

[Stuart1971]

4 minutes ago, Xilman said:

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

That is what I have been told. I tend to follow the advice: "if it aint broke, fix it until it is".

 

Good advice....👍🏼