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

Bi-monthly release with minor bug fixes and improvements

Indi support for Meade LS (Autostar III) series

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It seems that the serial interface is in fact a PL2303 but it's using Meade's own VID:PID and that is why it is not recognized.

There is some work done on this issue that involves recompiling the kernel/module with that VID:PID but it dates from 2014.
Maybe that should be addressed by now with a new kernel or patch?

Here's the reference I found:
www.cloudynights.com/topic/385710-piastr...page-16#entry5874359
Last edit: 7 years 10 months ago by nMAC.
7 years 10 months ago #8326
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If it is pl2302 it should work after inserting vendor/dev id into list for the pl2302 driver. I believe cdc_acm is a driver for usb modems - they usually have serial port. This is a different device and thus did not get recognized. You can try to make a following test:

1) Block the cdc_acm driver by putting "blacklist cdc_acm" ()no quotes in /etc/modprobe.d/acm_driver.conf (or some other .conf file there
2) dynamically adding a new id to the driver by
- load the candidate driver: modprobe pl2303
- check if there is new_id in /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/pl2303/
- as superuser: echo VID PID > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/pl2303/new_id
- check the logs
3) Party ;)
in your case VID PID will be: 04cc 0000
4) Let us know how it went
The following user(s) said Thank You: Jasem Mutlaq
7 years 10 months ago #8327
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Hi! Thank you guys for helping me.

The commands didn't show any positive result. What I did:

1. Pluged in the usb cable. As root I put: blacklist cdc_acm in /etc/modprobe.d/acm_driver.conf and /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

2. In terminal: modprobe pl2303 (It shows no error message)

3. I found new_id file in the directory: /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/pl2303/new_id

4. In terminal: echo 04cc 0000 > /sys/bus/usb-serial/drivers/pl2303/new_id

5. I checked the VID and PID is written in the new_id file. (Things gone right!)

6. In terminal:
bao@bao-desktop:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 1c4f:0026 SiGma Micro Keyboard
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 09da:c10a A4Tech Co., Ltd.
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 04cc:0000 ST-Ericsson
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMSC9512/9514 Fast Ethernet Adapter
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp. SMC9514 Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

7. Terminal:
bao@bao-desktop:~$ dmesg | tail -n 20
[ 728.051600] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_line_request - failed: -71
[ 728.051771] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_control_lines - failed: -71
[ 728.051941] pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303_vendor_write - failed to write [0000]: -71
[ 737.999606] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_get_line_request - failed: -71
[ 737.999843] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_line_request - failed: -71
[ 738.000016] pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303_vendor_write - failed to write [0000]: -71
[ 738.253778] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_control_lines - failed: -71
[ 738.253928] pl2303 ttyUSB0: error sending break = -71
[ 738.255226] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_get_line_request - failed: -71
[ 738.255333] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_line_request - failed: -71
[ 738.255433] pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303_vendor_write - failed to write [0000]: -71
[ 738.255635] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_control_lines - failed: -71
[ 738.256272] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_get_line_request - failed: -71
[ 738.257479] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_line_request - failed: -71
[ 738.257665] pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303_vendor_write - failed to write [0000]: -71
[ 744.999874] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_get_line_request - failed: -71
[ 745.000100] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_line_request - failed: -71
[ 745.000285] pl2303 1-1.2:1.0: pl2303_vendor_write - failed to write [0000]: -71
[ 745.253391] pl2303 ttyUSB0: pl2303_set_control_lines - failed: -71
[ 745.253552] pl2303 ttyUSB0: error sending break = -71

8. What is the wrong!?
9. Plugged out and plugged in the cable. no result!
Last edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Tarif Santo.
7 years 10 months ago #8389
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That means procedure worked but the device is probably not a pl2303 based serial link - the pl2303 driver is unable to talk to the device.
It is probably not pl2303. Send us the output of lsmod - maybe some other part of ericsson driver is interfering with the communication.
I have only one more idea to try: instal meade driver under windows let it connect to the scope and check with device manager if the
device is still 04cc:0000. The modem chipsets are notorious for having "dual personality" feature - you need to send particular
initialisation sequence to the device to make it switch to the serial adapter mode. It effectively reboots the chipset and brings up other personality of the device. There is a special tool to make these devices switch - usb_modeswitch (and it has a 04cc:225c device in the database - you can add your own devices to the config). That is all I have right now. BTW other people have problems with this - I have found some reports on cloudynights.
7 years 10 months ago #8390
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Thanks.The output of lsmod:

root@bao-desktop:/home/bao# lsmod
Module Size Used by
pl2303 8189 0
usbserial 21779 1 pl2303
rfcomm 33586 14
fuse 80694 3
bnep 10336 2
hci_uart 13533 1
btbcm 4196 1 hci_uart
bluetooth 317981 37 bnep,btbcm,hci_uart,rfcomm
evdev 10278 3
joydev 9024 0
brcmfmac 177635 0
brcmutil 5501 1 brcmfmac
cfg80211 407580 1 brcmfmac
rfkill 16036 7 cfg80211,bluetooth
bcm2835_gpiomem 2860 0
bcm2835_rng 1763 0
uio_pdrv_genirq 2944 0
uio 7753 1 uio_pdrv_genirq
bcm2708_rng 961 0
snd_bcm2835 19802 1
snd_pcm_oss 37389 0
snd_mixer_oss 13919 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 73474 2 snd_bcm2835,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 1105 0
snd_seq_oss 30666 0
snd_seq_midi 4323 0
snd_rawmidi 18300 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 5370 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 52634 6 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_device 3445 4 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer 18848 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd 50779 11 snd_bcm2835,snd_pcm_oss,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_device,snd_mixer_oss
ipv6 338660 46

### I have connected the telescope in Windows8.1. Installed Autostar driver. The telescope is connected in COM3 port. I checked the VID and PID didn't change. That means no dual personality. Please check the attached screenshots.
7 years 10 months ago #8392
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Yeah. You are probably right. On the other hand they have certainly used some off the shelf part - and most if not all have drivers in linux kernel.
There are two paths I can spot. Both are not 100% safe. First - look inside and check what chib they have used - warranty void ;( - I would not do that. Second - try each driver from /lib/modules/your_kernel_version/kernel/drivers/usb/serial/ with the same procedure - it may work but there is remote chance you will brick your scope if it is really badly designed and programed. I am not recommending any of this! You can also look inside the windows drivers with the hex editor to find which chipset manufacturer really has written the code - sometimes there are left-over notes from the original manufacturer - people are lazy. Celestron is using WiFly firmware without attempting to really hide who is the author. Even the firmware download addresses are intact. This is what I would do. There is also a tear-down post on cloudynights forum (www.cloudynights.com/topic/412910-etx-ls-tear-down/) but the pictures are too low res to be of any use.
7 years 10 months ago #8393
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Hi! Thank you for your help. This is not possible to open the telescope to see the chip. I have sent an email to Meade corp. for the details of the chipset. I don't know whether they will tell me or not. In the mean time I have installed Ekos VM on Windows machine and ran it. In the same way Kubuntu detect ST-Ericssion, but not as USB. So I don't know what to do next. May be I should leave it here before someone make a linux driver for this telescope.

Thank you guys for all the help.
Last edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Tarif Santo.
7 years 10 months ago #8461
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There is a Linux driver for the telescope, but it appears there is no Linux driver for the serial chip.
7 years 10 months ago #8463
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My thoughts exactly ;)
You can try one more trick. It is only natural that virtual linux did not recognize the usb chip the same way the real did. The virtual box uses a pass-trough to give access to usb devices of the host. But you can install the windows driver in the windows host and configure (or try to - I have no windows machine to try it on - but it should work) *serial* device in virtual box configuration to be connected to the correct serial device of the windows host. In linux virtualbox you can even do it with software controlled pipe - so it is pretty flexible. Try it - there is no risk in this approach, since you are not talking to the device directly. Let us know of the results. I would not hold your breath for the response from the manufacturer. These guys are usually pretty hostile and do not understand that being hacker/tinkerer friendly improves your position in the market. They rather prefer to sell you serial cord for 50USD or power cord for 25USD.
7 years 10 months ago #8466
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I have one more idea - but to test it I would need the windows drivers for the scope. Where can I download those?
7 years 10 months ago #8474
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Hi Jochym!

I have tested installing windows driver, oracle virtual box and ekos vm. Then piping the COM4 (My windows detects LS8 on COM4) to the virtual box. But failed. However here is the link for the windows driver:

Download Page: www.meade.com/support/auto.html
File Link: www.meade.com/support/auto/Au2ver6.0.0.exe

Thanks!
7 years 10 months ago #8477
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I have done little investigation and it looks like there is no actual driver for the serial over usb device there. It is using standard windows usbser.sys driver and just telling it "please drive this strange 04cc:0000 device". So I got one more idea to test if you like.
Revert the changes you have done:
1) unblock the cdc/eriksson drivers in /etc/modprobe.d
2) remove any forced driver load you may have configured
3) let it load the default driver
4) do the "echo 04cc:0000" magic for the default driver
5) show us the logs
7 years 10 months ago #8497
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