Shoestring FCUSB on Mac

Last night I started trying out my newly acquired Shoestring FCUSB focus controller with a 6 V DC motor. I noticed the drivers were not available in Ekos on neither my MacBook nor my Ubuntu MATE Raspberry Pi. A quick search on the INDI website revealed that the drivers need to be downloaded separately and for Ubuntu this is quite straightforward. Simply go to

www.cloudmakers.eu/shoestringdrivers/

and download the ARMHF .deb file. Once installed the driver shows up and it works like a charm.

However, for Mac it is not that easy. According to that same website a complete specific INDI server version needs to be installed with a lot more bells and whistles than merely the Shoestring drivers. In itself this is not a problem however isn't there a stripped down file to download somewhere with only the Shoestring drivers?


Thanks, Wouter

Also, the filename of the Mac dmg file suggests this is for Ekos 2.7.0 while Ekos 2.8.0 recently was released. Can anyone tell me if this dmg is compatible with Ekos 2.8.0 and if a 2.8.0 version will be released?

I tried last night by copying the indi_shoestring.xml file from /Applications/INDI Server.app/Contents/Resources to /Applications/kstars.app/Contents/Resources/DriverSupport and indi_fcusb_focuser from /Applications/INDI Server.app/Contents/MacOS to /Applications/kstars.app/Contents/MacOS/indi but when I started KStars and Ekos and tried to use the Shoestring Focuser driver it crashed.

Using otool -L on indi_fcusb_focuser it turned out to need libindi.dylib and libnova.dylib from the INDI Server and luckily they are linked such that they can be copied from /Applications/INDI Server.app/Contents/MacOS as well and put in /Applications/kstars.app/Contents/MacOS/indi next to the drivers. When I now start KStars and Ekos and try to use the Shoestring Focuser it doesn't crash anymore. I need to confirm that it also works with the physical device attached (now I am only using the simulator) but I am confident it will work. And it will continue working when I remove the INDI Server app.

Hi wvreeven,

Nice work, yes that should work fine. Most likely the files it needs to function are already in the app bundle in the Frameworks folder. You could just copy the executables into the app bundle's indi folder and using the install_name_tool and otool tools you could point the executables to the dylibs.

Possibly it might be a good idea to ask Peter if we can bundle the Shoestring driver with KStars. He already agreed to let us bundle the ATIK drivers. I can look into it.

Thanks,

Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for confirming I am on the right track here. I didn't know about install_name_tool so thanks for pointing that out! It will come in handy at some point.

Due to other things to do (I bought a SkyWatcher EQ6-R yesterday and did some guitar playing) I forgot to confirm that it is working now. I'll (try to remember to) do this tonight.

And it would be great if the Shoestring driver can be bundled with KStars! Could you please ask Peter about that? Fingers crossed!!!


Clear skies, Wouter

And indeed it works like this on MacOS.

Last night I installed the shoestring driver deb file on Ubuntu MATE 18.04 and the driver crashed. Inspecting the logs I saw that it expects libnova 14 while only 16 is available for this OS version. I simply created a symlink with the correct name and then the driver worked like a charm.

Where did you create the symlink and what does it look like?

GREAT !!
Works fine on RPI3 with this symbolic link.

rlancaste wrote: Possibly it might be a good idea to ask Peter if we can bundle the Shoestring driver with KStars. He already agreed to let us bundle the ATIK drivers. I can look into it.

Reviving al old thread. Rob, did you ever get around asking Peter if the Shoestring driver can be bundled with KStars/INDI?


Thanks, Wouter

I already sent him an email where I noticed the ln - s process.
He replied me good news.
But nothing else because it's, for him, an old driver.