Just looking at the code and the driver is already identifying the firmware version.
LinuxUser - could you tell me what firmware version is reported on the 'Firmware data' tab of the INDI Control Panel?
On my GTPCP4 controller I get "VCP4-P01-01".

I've added some code to set the guide rate from the INDI Control Panel - I'll try to test it tonight and I'll submit a PR.

Changes have been accepted.
I don't know if this fixes the original problem but hopefully will allow one to reset the guide rate to a desired rate if it gets changed (in a way I'm still not clear about). I hope to get in contact with AP next week to see if anything additional is required.
Note if the interface shows the rate you want selected you will need to select a different rate and then reselect the rate you want to actually get the command sent to the mount.

Hi Mike,
As noted in my earlier post here:
www.indilib.org/forum/mounts/2819-wrong-...l?limitstart=0#20998
I am unable to connect to my mount from the Raspberry PI 3 at all now due to this time format error message. I have updated to the latest KStars 2.8.8 and still have the same error, INDI driver (indi-lx200ap) crash and connection problem. The strange thing is I have the same error message from the latest KStars/Ekos VM, however the driver does not crash and this will connect to the mount despite the error. Not sure what the difference is between the VM and the Pi 3. I can do a screen share with you or Jasem to help get this resolved, we just need to set a time and then "meet" virtually to get this done. I do have TeamViewer on the VM.

My mount reports firmware "E" in the INDI control panel when it does connect. This makes sense as I do have the E1 firmware chip installed, which is the latest available for the GTOCP2 control (if memory serves).

Thanks for adding the guide rate to the INDI driver and interface. Once we can get the mount connecting again after fixing this time format error message then I will give that a test.

I'm using a fairly recent build from git (commit 6cb541faef77ec1d8e65ed9b36d07028a234548f Thu Nov 23 11:41;12 2017) and I'm seeing a time format error as well:

2017-11-29T01:47:55: [INFO] Please initialize the mount before issuing any command.
2017-11-29T01:47:55: [ERROR] Failed to retrieve time format from device.
2017-11-29T01:47:50: [INFO] AstroPhysics is online.

Is this the same error?
I am still able to get the mount working after this error if I do a cold start.

Jasem - what commit is the fix for the time format?

Mike,
Yes that is the same error I am getting, which is then followed by the INDI driver crash.

You can see the function getCalenderDate() in lx200driver. I guess this is where the issue is.

I'll take a look - I just seem to recall you fixed something recently in this driver and time/date functions?

Just returned the correct ISO8601 format.. from YYYY/MM/DD to YYYY-MM-DD

Ok I see that I will take a look tonight and see what is causing my error message.

I talked to Howard @ AP and I know how to fix the CP2 guide rate issue you encountered - I'll have a PR today hopefully.
I think I understand time errors we're seeing but that will take a little more time to fix.

Excellent, I was sure you would get a better understanding from Howard. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think having the guide rate setting in the INDI driver control panel as you have recently implemented will give you the reference for resetting the guide rate when needed.

Will the guide rate in the INDI control panel interact in the EKOS guide module (guide rate setting) the same way other settings in INDI control panel do with various EKOS modules?