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INDI Library v2.0.6 is Released (02 Feb 2024)

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Ekos and Canon 6D setup

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Ekos and Canon 6D setup was created by Lars

Now I have come to the point where Ekos is running and I can connect to my EQMod mount, it seems to work perfect.

My Canon 6D camera is more difficult to get to work. I can do exposures, but the download from camera to Ekos doesn't work, it's is just waiting and waiting for this to happen. I have read that someone use his Canon 60D camera in manuel mode, not bulb. I have tried both bulb and manuel, but the same problems appier. I don't use a bulbcable, only USB connection, that's how I control the Canon camera in Windows and APT with 30+ seconds exposures.

Now last day it's even worse, after start a shooting sequence in Ekos the camera start with exposure and waiting to download. After about 20 seconds the Kstars/Ekos shut down, maybe crash.

I have Ubuntu Mate 16.04 and Kstars Bleding installed and updated, and they are all installed on the astroserver which I control over VNC. The computer is a Raspberry Pi 3.

Any idea what's wrong ?

/Lars
Last edit: 7 years 5 months ago by Lars.
7 years 5 months ago #10829

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I'm working on an updated release of Ekos within the next few days, please stay tuned.
7 years 5 months ago #10892

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I have the exact same setup, so I'm looking forward to your update!
7 years 5 months ago #10953

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Replied by Lars on topic Ekos and Canon 6D setup

Hi Jasem,
Thank you for take a look at this Canon 6D problem.

It looks to me that Raspberry and Kstars/Ekos are a perfect concept, light weight, small, free software and cheap computers. And it also lower the powerconsumption compare to my today minipc setup.

I hope it can be solved because I'm eager to start using it :-)

/Lars
Last edit: 7 years 5 months ago by Lars.
7 years 5 months ago #10986

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Trying to get my 6D to work. Jasem has plans to remote in but maybe someone can give me an answer before we get that far.

INDI/Ekos is connecting to my 6D. when I then go to the "CCD and Filter wheel" tab in Ekos (the camera icon) and click on Preview, a progress wheel appears and it cycles the shutter for the 1 second. Then a second progress wheel appears (I think it's the MATE progress wheel) followed seconds later by Kstars closing down.

The default folder for my images is Home/user but no images appear there, do I wonder if they ever get transferred.

Are there some screen shots of what the right settings for the camera need to be that I can reference?
7 years 5 months ago #10996

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Replied by Jamie Smith on topic Ekos and Canon 6D setup

I had some trouble when trying to set up my nikon, and this is what I got to work

First, on the pi, rather than use a command line, set up the "INDI Web Manager" to start the server on the pi rather than SSHing in (indilib.org/support/tutorials/162-indi-web-manager.html). That way you can easily pick "Canon DSLR" rather than "GPhoto", which, at least for me, seemed to make a difference when you connect from ekos.

Second - at least for now, try using "FITS" mode in the indi control panel for the Canon rather than native. It takes a good minute plus to transfer.

I am very new to this, so if this all sounds remedial, well, it might be!
7 years 5 months ago #11050

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I'll take a look at the web manager option; I'm currently working directly at the Pi at this time and not SSH or VNC into it. When I open Ekos in Kstars, I just start the INDI sever right there and the Canon camera connect is right there. But I'll go back and look and see if there is something else that I'm missing.

I'll also look at the FITS vs native thing and see what happens - I can deal with a time delay as long as it works! I haven't been playing with too many settings yet since I assume the defaults for my camera are best place to start.

Thanks for tips; I'll let you know!
7 years 5 months ago #11052

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Follow up on my previous post. I posted a comment about this on another forum thread but...

I created a 2Gb swap file on my Pi to give it more "RAM". Amazingly, after doing that my Canon 6D appears to be working just fine. I haven't tested it outside for real, but the issues I posted about previously went away. I'll spend more time with it in the next few days, but at the moment my problem seems to have been fixed by giving the system a bit more memory to play with.
7 years 5 months ago #11101

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Ok, so I did a swap file and I'm getting the camera to take images now. I have to as what may be a dumb question. Is there somewhere that I've missed that has detailed explanations of what all the setting in the INDI conttol panel does for the camera? I'm getting freezes and stuff with various selections on the various tabs. So to avoid obvious user error issues, I'll like to see a full explanation of what all those options on all those tabs really do and mean. I haven't found one yet.
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Any pointers?
Last edit: 7 years 5 months ago by James Taylor. Reason: Spelling errors
7 years 5 months ago #11132

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Most are self-explanatory. Some settings are generated from the camera itself it varies from model to model. What settings are you have problem with?
7 years 5 months ago #11140

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Well, I'm not smart enough to know where to start.

I did do an update to INDI and Kstars last night and I can see some changes to the INDI/Ekos panels, so I know something changed. My 6D is recognized fine.

But if I don't set things up just right, the captures get screwed up. WithTransfer Format set to FITS, it won't stop taking images. If I simply press the Preview button in the "CCD & Filter Wheel tab", it starts taking repeated exposures and won't stop unless I hit the stop bottom under the sequence screen. If I build a short sequence to test it, it starts and never stops. The progress box never shows a completed image. If I try to save images onto the SD card on the camera, I get that problem where the camera won't power off; the camera screen says something about saving or loading an image when I try to shut it down.

BUT, if I change the Transfer Format from FITS to Native in the image settings tab for the camera - everything seems to work fine. Of course, at that point I'm saving .cr2 files and am I getting the fits images I need to do Astrometry? Are there some options I can change that will allow the astrometry program to solve a .cr2 image instead of FITS?

I'm systematically changing settings to try and find what works (or doesn't) without knowing what those settings mean. Transfer Format: FITS or Native?, Image: Compress or RAW?, Capturetarget: Internal RAM or Memory Card (doesn't appear to do anything if I select it, or does it?)?, Upload: Client, Local or Both?, etc. If I change a setting in the Ekos-Kstars window for the camera, do I need to go back to the INDI control panel and make sure those settings match there as well to avoid problems?

PLEASE do not take any of this as a complaint. I'm trying to work through forum discussions, etc. to find answers to all of this; which is what my question above was driven by. Since I'm having to play with settings to make it work, it would be nice to know what to change and what those things do. It's a bit scary to do that if you don't have a manual in front of you that explains what each of those settings do. I am managing to figure most of the setting out, but not quickly - so I was just wondering if someone had created a manual of sorts that I might benefit from.

At the moment, I do have a functioning camera and I'm able to create a sequence and take images but I'm finding that some settings, although they appear obvious enough, can cause a system hiccup fairly easily.

Of course, you're welcome to remote to my system if you would like and see what's going on. If you need me to get logs, I'll go watch the video and stuff and see if I can generate some for you.
7 years 4 months ago #11176

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Hi James, sorry for your troubles. Ekos is designed to be simple, so believe me when I say none of these problems are acceptable to me as well. But I cannot work only from descriptions from problems, I need logs, and better yet, remote access via TeamViewer so IF I find an issue, I can solve and test it right there. Not everything can be solved by Teamviewer but most problem are.

I am also working now so that Align modules can solve cr2 (or any images) captured from the camera. If you have TeamViewer ready, let me know.
7 years 4 months ago #11193

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