Ok, Watch dog driver & client are ready for testing. Also, Ekos was updated to include support for Watchdog drivers. You can find the watchdog driver under "Auxiliary". For regular cases (park dome and/or mount), you do not need to use an external script, it will be done by the driver. The driver uses a client to issue commands, so by default it connects to localhost at port 7624.

In case there is more required than park dome & mount, then specify an external scripts which will be executed last. The heartbeat threshold sets the timeout for when the shutdown process kicks it. The value is in minutes. Once you change all the settings for your environment, save config file so that it gets loaded on subsequent use.

Any testing or feedback is appreciated.

I've done some testing and wanted pass back my results:

I'm using raspberry pi 2 updated to the latest software and also kstars bleeding. I have the watchdog set to park the mount after 1 minute with no response. So far the mount has not parked once i unplug the network and the timeout is passed (i minute in this case)

I am attaching screen shots of my settings and log files.

I tried it under Raspberry PI 2 and it's working fine. I noticed that you must run indiserver in the background otherwise it gets shutdown once you disconnect I guess because it's still attached to the SSH terminal. So if you login, run it like:

The & will make it run in the backgroud and you can exist normally. This is what I got from the watchdog log:

I've missed that post, off to testing this too.

Seems to be working nicely, ran the telescope/dome sim and the watchdog on the remote server, fired up the VM on the client then killed the WIFI to simulate a connection loss. I can see in the terminal the telescope and dome being shutdown.

Great job Jasem again.
(I need to test this with the gonzo_box now....)

It is platform dependent but for folks using Raspberry Pi you can consider using on-board watchdog. See details here

Hi,

I have been wrestling with getting the WatchDog to work and I must be doing something wrong.
I have a Raspberry Pi 2 running latest Raspbian and indi code connected to an HEQ5 mount via USB<>TTL cable and it works fine. I can remotely connect from Ekos (Ubuntu with latest kstars bleeding) on my laptop to the Rasp. Pi and control the mount without issues. Park, unpark, track, etc. all work fine.

Here's what I run on the Pi: indiserver indi_eqmod_telescope indi_joystick indi_watchdog indi_simulator_ccd &

In Ekos, I have a profile configured to use a remote Indi server with IP of the Rasp Pi. The WatchDog device set to time out after 1 minute and I have checked "park mount". I have tried setting the WatchDog server to localhost and the IP of the Rasp Pi. Either way, I am always able to connect the WatchDog device (Debug output shows a connection) but when I disconnect the Rasp Pi from ethernet network and wait a minute or more, the watchdog never kicks in and parks the mount.

I do not see any messages in the IndiServer.log on the Pi about the WatrchDog trying to park the mount. I only see these messages: 2016-07-23T20:09:30: Driver indi_watchdog: Receiving EQMod Mount Device... I do see messages about my Ekos client connecting.

Any suggestions on how to get this going would be appreciated. I'm afraid I must be confused about how this should work.

I've just again tried the watchdog, and same tests as you, it is not working. After I disconnect the network on my VM, the mount is still not parking after the 1 min threshold. Not sure what I'm doing wrong and I would love to have this working.

I just tested it and it works fine. If you just use ssh command & and then disconnect, indiserver will be terminated. You should use something like this:

Then if you disconnect, indiserver would still be running in the background uninterrupted.

Worked for me last night I think, KStars crashed in a session (as I didn't see it open anymore the next day, no usual crash dialog either though) and the mount is parked.

I shall try again, I must be doing something wrong then.

Could someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong as this is not working at all for me.
(everything server and client are fully up to date)

server:
nohup indiserver -v indi_eqmod_telescope indi_simulator_ccd indi_simulator_wheel indi_watchdog > /dev/null 2>&1 &


client (vm):
connect to the server, slew the mount over to Polaris, kill the wifi on the laptop (running the VM), wait a couple of minutes and the mount still doesn't move.
It's still pointing to Polaris.