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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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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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Hi!
I am not Linux geek. Please see the attached picture. Don't know what to do.
7 years 10 months ago #8510
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Sorry. I was too brief. On the second look at your logs I have noticed that the cdc_acm serial driver is actually trying to talk to the device but fails. So my previous idea was wrong. I think that Jasem's guess that the cdc_acm driver needs to be patched to support this usb-serial chip. Unfortunately without knowing what is really inside this seems to be next to impossible.
7 years 10 months ago #8511
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If you still want to get the scope working under Linux we can try to sniff the USB traffic of the windows driver to figure out how to talk to the device. Yo would need to install a USB snooper under windows and record the initial sequence when the scope is connected. I can guide you with this if you decide to do it. Are you primarily windows or Linux user?
7 years 10 months ago #8514
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Hi Jochym!
Many thanks for your help. I really am interested to control this telescope under linux Kstars. I am primarily a Windows user, but have 3-4 months experience of using linux ubuntu. I have Raspberry pi3 loaded ubuntu mate 16.04LTS, installed kstars-bleeding. I have connected the telescope in the windows8.1 machine and ran Cartes de ciel planetarium software and used usb analyzer to monitor the telescope port. Please download the USBlyzer software capture log from this google drive link:

drive.google.com/file/d/0ByntE7ZqdSzoTTZ...WDg/view?usp=sharing

It's a html exported file. download and open it with browser.

Thanks.
7 years 10 months ago #8515
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