ASIAir Pro & CGX Mount Integration

NorthernNeck1

Let me start by saying how pleased I have been with the ASIAir Pro since I first began using it in summer 2020 with my then Celestron alt-az mount. I have augmented the ASIAir Pro with a ZWO cooled camera and auto-focuser, and both work beautifully.

Within the past week, I have purchased a brand new Celestron CGX mount and also a ZWO guide camera. Unfortunately, I have run into a problem that is likely familiar to many others on this forum, the inability to connect the CGX mount to the ASIAir Pro.

I have made a careful study of many helpful responses both on this forum and on Cloudy Nights and the Facebook. I am aware of the rather elaborate written procedures for integrating the ASIAir Pro. In brief, I performed a successful polar alignment via the ASIAir app, then switched on the CGX mount and hand controller, went to switches, quick aligned, and attached the ASIAir Pro to the hand controller using a USB2.0 cable to the mini-USB input. Alas, when attempting to connect to the CGX mount via the app, I repeatedly receive the "USB device not recognized" alert and serial connection "not found" message that have plagued some others.

At the suggestion of the ZWO support staff, I then purchased a new SD card, installed a new operating system, re-authorized the operating system, and underwent the upgrade in firmware to version 8.11. All of this appeared to work flawlessly, but when I attempted to test the integration during daylight, no luck: the USB device remains unrecognized.

Given that there are clearly people who have been able to use ASIAir Pro along with a CGX, I wonder whether CGX mounts of a more recent vintage have a USB connection to which ZWO has not yet caught up?

I am a devoted follower of the ZWO product suite, and I have been favorably impressed with the responsiveness of the technical support staff. I would be very grateful to know whether integrating the ASIAir Pro with the CGX is simply a lost cause, or whether there might be something else I can do to make this work. It would be a great shame to lose the excellent functionality of the ASIAir Pro and app, and I'm willing to entertain any lengths to resolve this problem.

I would be very grateful for any thoughts you might have.

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 I have purchased a brand new Celestron CGX mount

The work around for the ASIAIR bug (driver for the Prolific chip set missing in ASIAIR firmware) can be found starting at about post 51 of this recent thread. You can follow post 51 to check what chipset is in your current mount, and confirm if the workaround will work for you:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12787-connecting-asiair-pro-to-celestron-evolution-mount/51

Celestron has apparently gone from the FTDI chip set to the cheaper Prolific chip set.

Chen

Timbo

NorthernNeck1 I am in the same situation as you are. I bought a brand new CGX Celestron mount as well. I am running into the exact same problem as you are. I have just been letting the ASI air pro run the camera only. Then I star align the mount (The ASI air plate solve works lots better than the Celestron star alignment from what I have found out so far ) and let them it track on its own. But I have not done any long exposure shots yet. Just now getting this situation to work. Another bad thing is I have no dithering now. I have not tried any longer exposure shots with the CGX on its own. I have just done about 30 to 45 second shots with a RASA8 inch. It seems to track well on very short shots.

NorthernNeck1

w7ay

Dear Chen,

Many thanks for your swift response. I believe that the updated operating system that I installed today is, more or less, what you’re referring to. To put a fine point on it: I bought a new SD card (256 gB), used ApplePi Baker to place an IMG file that ZWO supplied me via a Google Drive download, inserted the new SD card into the ASIAIR Pro, then booted it up. When I next connected to my iPad, the app told me to upgrade to firmware 8.11. That duly completed, and after re-authorization, I gave it a whirl during the daytime by “pretending” to do a quick align, etc. with the mount. No luck!

Have I missed a trick here?

NorthernNeck1

For example, assuming that the USB connection between the ASIAIR Pro and CGX hand controller is defunct—as seems to be the case—is there an alternative? Connection by Ethernet or WiFi? Connection via telephone jack? Should I abandon the attempt and substitute a PC or Mac for the ASIAir Pro, keeping the EAF, guide camera, and main camera from the ZWO ecosystem? It would be a pity to lose use of the excellent ASI app on my iPad, but I fear that ZWO may be at the end of their tether when it comes to some of these Celestron mounts, and it does not appear from the various online fora that much progress has been made over the past 18 months, suggesting that the problems may be nigh insuperable.

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 Have I missed a trick here?

Check the thread again for the link to the "EQ6-R" firmware workaround.

The firmware on the Google drive is from way back when v1.5 was first release (together with the Raspberry Pi 4 version of the ASIAIR). That does not have the Prolific driver.

But did you first check if your mount actually has the Prolific chipset before wasting time burning new microSD cards?

If it is the Prolific chip set, then you need the "EQ6-R" firmware (which includes a Prolific driver). If you are familiar with Rasbian, you can also load the driver yourself; I included a link in that thread for the driver update (at GitHub, I think).

Also, if you have a Prolific chipset, just Google for "Prolific & ASIAIR"; there should be plenty of links by now.

Chen

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 Have I missed a trick here?

See here:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12655-how-to-connect-the-new-sky-watcher-eq6-r-pro-to-asiair

It mentions EQ6-R, but it is really just a Prolific driver fix.

Chen

NorthernNeck1

Many thanks. I jumped to the conclusion that I have the Prolific chipset, given that my CGX is brand new. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t begin to understand how to determine definitively whether I have the Prolific chipset or not, as the discussion was a bit deeper into the computer science weeds than I was willing to go…

Thus, if we assume that my CGX has the Prolific chip set, is it fair to say that I burned the wrong IMG on my SD card today? This is the link that ZWO tech support provided me when I asked:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JAtW5I-RH2XD5qDjWKWRqhnjUjt_z73-/view

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 I couldn’t begin to understand how to determine definitively whether I have the Prolific chipset

Did you read post #51 that I mentioned earlier?

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12787-connecting-asiair-pro-to-celestron-evolution-mount/51

I had step by step instructions on how to check for it on macOS, no less.

Chen

NorthernNeck1

Thank you very much for your reply. I have confirmed that I have the Prolific chipset. I am re-downloading the IMG file from the link you provided above, although I worry that the filename is precisely the same as what ZWO technical support sent me yesterday, with unfortunate results.

I wonder, is a resolution likely to be forthcoming from ZWO? Given the relative size of the investments between the CGX and the ASIAir, I am increasingly inclined to excise the ASIAir Pro from my setup somehow and replace its function with a laptop. Abandoning the CGX--let alone returning it via the post--and replacing it with a mount that is compatible with the ASIAir Pro is not really an option. Plainly, whatever the outcome of these various steps, we are deep into work-arounds that somewhat undermine the case for using an ASIAir Pro in the first place.

For the sake of other users of this board, is there a reliable list of mounts that are actually compatible with the ASIAir Pro? I wish I had been aware of one before purchasing the CGX, and perhaps others would benefit from such a list.

NorthernNeck1

With apologies for belaboring the point, I am still working to create an appropriate SD card to allow my ASIAir Pro to work again.

ZWO sent me the below links to restore my operating system:
https://astronomy-imaging-camera.com/manuals/How_to_Restore_ASIAIR_OS.pdf
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JAtW5I-RH2XD5qDjWKWRqhnjUjt_z73-/view

Above, Chen helpfully suggested that this may be an earlier build of the operating system that does not include the upgrade for the Prolific USB drivers. He kindly supplied a separate link to a RAR file designed to support the Skywatcher mount, which I understand may help also with the Celestron CGX.

Not to put too fine a point on it, is the advice provided by ZWO technical support incorrect in this case? For fear of mistakenly burning another SD card, is the solution here to transfer the Skywatcher RAR file to an SD card using ApplePi Baker and to ignore the file ZWO supplied to me directly? Or should I transfer both files to the same card?

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 ZWO sent me the below links to restore my operating system:

That is for usual restoration, not to use alternate firmware. You need to just burn the EQ6-R firmware, which has the proper Prolific driver. ZWO did not change the EQ6-R driver; they merely added the Prolific driver. That that is what you also need for your mount.

Names don't matter, the contents of the EQ6-R version of the IMG are different from the ZWO link that you got. In fact, if you had read the thread that I linked to carefully, people have found that the EQ6-R version of the binary is too large to burn into a 32GB microSD card; that had to use the next large size card.

Don't be stubborn; just burn the EQ6R firmware.

Be sure to follow my recommendation to first uncompress the RAR file (from the Google drive) first, to get an IMG file. And then use Apple Pi Baker to burn the IMG file into a microSD card. You read of people not getting Apple Pi Baker to work, and that is because they are going directly from RAR to the microSD card, and Apple Pi Baker has problems with compressing on the fly.

Or you can wait for the next ASIAIR release. I was told by email that they will include the Prolific driver next time. However, you will probably have to wait until they release the upcoming version of the ASIAIR hardware (the one with the external antenna) to get a software/firmware update. There is no ETA given for that.

Chen

NorthernNeck1

w7ay

Thank you once again. How does one open an RAR file to produce the IMG? The "Unarchiver," I take it?

NorthernNeck1

@support@zwo: May I ask what you would charge to FedEx me a properly formatted SD card? I've just blown through $200 in attempts to burn micro SD cards with various operating systems. I appreciate everything w7ay is trying to say, but I haven't the time to learn four more systems in addition to astrophotography. USB drivers are not my hobby--photographing nebulae is.

The latest thing for me to google is what ApplePi Baker means by "Error copying data before Linux partition."

NorthernNeck1

NorthernNeck1 : To provide an update to anyone inclined to follow this sad tale, following decompression of the EQ6 RAR file, I attempted to mount the IMG to a 256 gB SanDisk micro SD card. It failed almost immediately, owing to an “Error copying data before Linux partition.” I tried on another card to place the RAR file itself, which proceeded to “Success.” Upon introducing the SD card to my ASIAIR Pro, the green Card light flashed green and continues to do so. The ASIAIR pro appears to be entirely without operating system now, and no telltale WifI beep any longer.

No doubt my failure is something obvious to a computer engineer. I am just a lawyer and amateur photographer, and I would be delighted to pay labor, materials, and shipping to anyone who can send me a working SD card that allows integration with a Prolific-USB-bearing CGX mount. Offer stands to ZWO itself, naturally, or to any member of thus community. Please email me at Cwd.financial@gmail.com if interested.

Tech@ZWO

NorthernNeck1
Can you do this on a Windows PC? I think it is easier since you have difficulties with ApplePi Baker.

NorthernNeck1

@tech@zwo#48830 Surely the less burdensome approach would be for you to send this to me in the mail? Are you suggesting that I purchase a PC just in case it works to burn a single SD card to correct a software failure?

w7ay

Timbo I bought a brand new CGX Celestron mount as well.

1) First confirm that your mount has the Prolific chipset. See post #51 of this thread:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12787-connecting-asiair-pro-to-celestron-evolution-mount/50

2) if it does, then the problem is simply the lack of the Prolific USB virtual serial port driver (the USB chipset inside the mount).

3) you can wait for ZWO to do a real ASIAIR app update that was promised for sometime this month. That update, as promised, will contain the Prolific driver, and when you update the firmware, your ASIAIR will be able to see the mount.

If you prefer not to wait, and you have a version 2 ASIAIR (the Raspberry Pi 4 based ASIAIR; ZWO calls it a "PRO"), you can fix it now by burning a new firmware image which ZWO had released as a temporary workaround to fix an "EQ6-R Mount problem." It is the same problem -- newer EQ6-R uses the Prolific chipset. To do that, download and burn the image that is mentioned in this link:

https://bbs.astronomy-imaging-camera.com/d/12655-how-to-connect-the-new-sky-watcher-eq6-r-pro-to-asiair

Not mentioned by ZWO is that this image will only work with version 2 of ASIAIR. It will not work with the original ASIAIR (the one that came in the Raspberry Pi red and white plastic box). Further, as the folks in the first link has found out, the "EQ6-R" image is also larger than 32 GB, and you will need a larger microSD card to burn that image into. 64 GB appears to work dandy for the people who participated in that thread (I recommend reading that thread carefully starting at post #51 -- the first success was reported in port #64, followed rapidly by the other two that were affected -- all three of them have working drivers today).

If you are using Apple Pi Baker to burn Raspberry Pi microSD cards, in addition to using a 64 GB microSD card, it was also advisable to first uncompress the RAR file (the one from the Google drive in the "EQ6-R" link from ZWO). After uncompression, you will have an IMG file (Disk Image). Point Apple Pi Baker to the IMG file. Apple Pi Baker does not reliably uncompress an RAR image on the fly. (The RAR is about 11 GB, and the IMG is about 32GB.) This was also discussed in post #76 and #77 in that same "51" thread.

As mention further down the "51" thread, be damn sure to use a microSD card that is larger than 32GB.

Chen

Timbo

w7ay Thanks for the quick response. If there is a new release going to be out this month I think I will just wait for it. Thank you very much I appreciate your time. The weather around here is very limited. Right now I don’t have any clear skies showing for about a week.

NorthernNeck1

w7ay But not too much larger than 32. I have tried with 128 and 264 and no luck. Will try 64 today.

Timbo

NorthernNeck1 the chip in my asiair pro is 32gb. Like everyone else. Does that mean I have to move everything to a 64gb chip? I was just going to wait for the app update? I love the asiair pro with my eq6 r pro. Works perfectly. Multi star guiding is very tight and dithering. Works like a champ

w7ay

NorthernNeck1 But not too much larger than 32. I have tried with 128 and 264 and no luck.

Raspberry Pi 4s take up to 2TB (1 TB is the largest I tried). You just need to format them properly.

Chen