Can't connect to mini efw on Rock64 (running INDI)

wimvb

Recently I've purchased a Rock64 single board computer with USB3 port to control my ASI 174MM-Cool and filter wheel.

https://www.pine64.org/?page_id=7147

I use Ubuntu Mate (latest community pre-release) as operating system and have the latest INDI software installed. The camera connects fine, but the filter wheel is completely unresponsive. I tried the following combinations, all without success:

1. ASI on USB3, efw on ASI hub

2. ASI on USB2, efw on ASI hub

3. ASI on USB3, efw on USB2

4. INDI CCD simulator, efw on USB2

5. ASI & efw on Raspberry Pi, running the same setup (this works flawlessly)

Both the camera and the filter wheel are visible in the usb list, and indiserver can see the filter wheel. It can send commands to the filter wheel, but these get queued. The connection indicator in Ekos/Kstars lights yellow, meaning that connection is in progress, but never finishes.

I've posted this problem on the INDI forum, but it seems that nobody else is using this hardware combination.

http://indilib.org/forum/focusers-filter-wheels/2776-problems-connecting-to-zwo-efw-rock64.html

The reason I test this combination is that the Rock64 has a fast USB3 port, so faster image download, and possibly less amp glow (?), than the Raspberry Pi.

Does anyone have experience with this computer? What can I do to test what's going on?

Or can I recompile the efw driver for this system?

Any suggestions to come to grips with this issue are appreciated.

TIA,

chad

Hi Wim,

Don't worry.

Although I don't have Rock64（RK3328）, but we have another motherboard, which is running RK3399 and should be able to reproduce your problem. So I'll try to get back to you.

Thanks

chad

Hi Wim，

I am very sorry for the trouble caused to you.

I have repeated the issue. But I didn't know anything about the INDI protocol before. So it might take some time to solve it. Hope it won't affect your using.

Thanks

chad

wimvb

Thanks for the reply. It isn't critical for me, as everything works fine on the raspberry pi that I normally use. But I would like to get it working on the Rock64 because of the faster usb3 port.

If it's of any help, I have posted my problem on the indi forum as well.

http://indilib.org/forum/focusers-filter-wheels/2776-problems-connecting-to-zwo-efw-rock64.html

This thread contains everything I have tried so far.

It seems that any messages to the efw get queued, and the driver process dies when trying to connect to the fw from a client. Building from source doesn't solve the problem.

chad

Hi Wim，

yes， I noticed that.

I also noticed the other one ：

http://indilib.org/forum/focusers-filter-wheels/2312-trouble-connecting-zwo-asi-efw-wheel.html

You can have a try。

Thanks

chad

wimvb

Thanks. I've seen that topic too. I'll try this tonight. So far, I've only used the configuration with indiserver on the Rock64 and ekos/kstars on windows.

I'll also try linux Jessie as operating system.

wimvb

Tonight I tested from a fresh Ubuntu setup:

Rock64 with xenial-mate-rock64-0.5.15-136-arm64 image

installed INDI full and Kstars bleeding according to instructions on indilib.org

installed python & tools

installed indi web manager

Connected efw mini to ASI 174MM-Cool usb hub

Connected camera to rock64 usb3 port

Tested with everything running on rock64, even Ekos/Kstars.

Tested indi-web local and remote (localhost)

indi_asi_wheel crashes as soon as I try to connect to it.

Managed to get a crash report from ubuntu, which I attach here (zipped)

Incidentally: using the command lsusb -t shows the camera connected as usb 3 (speed 5000M), but the wheel as usb1 (speed 12M). Is this relevant?

I also tried installing Debian (Jessie), but got a bunch of errors when trying to install the indilib dependencies, so I gave up on this.

chad

for USB3.0 and USB1.0, I don't think they are relevant.

As you know, EFW has a very small amount of data， So USB1.0 is enough. When connecting, device speed only meet the requirements of USB1.0， So it will be identified as USB1.0。

Beside，I checked your log and the crash was caused by the indi_asi_wheel drive. I have found the place where the crash occurred in the source Code, but how it happened and how to solve it is not clear to me.

Thanks

chad

wimvb

Yes, I thought so too, regarding usb1. But I just wanted that confirmed.

As for the driver crash, do you think that Jasem Mutlaq or someone from the indi group might be able to help with that? Or is the driver developed by ZWO?

chad

I am not sure。I think we need more information。Now we don't know the root cause, even if he helps us, they don't know how to do it.

Thanks

chad

Hi Wim，

We found that it could be a cross-compiler problem.

I will offer you a new library in the attachment.

You can get the indi Code from here:

https://github.com/indilib/indi

then, using our new library libEFWFilter.a in the tar_pkg instead of libEFWFilter.bin (indi/3rdparty/indi-asi/armv8/) in the source code.Do not forget to rename it to libEFWFilter.bin.

After that, recompile the indi according to the introduction in building in README.md。

Then the EFW should works fine.

Thanks

chad

wimvb

Thanks, I will try your solution. It may take a few days thiugh, as I got a lot to do at work. And tonight it's supposed to be clear (which is rare in my part of the world), so I'll be doing some astrophotography rather than compiling.

I will report back and let you know the outcome.

wimvb

I have now tested the solution offered by ZWO

Jasem Mutlaq of INDI updated the indilib driver/files, so all that was needed from me was to update and upgrade the system.

There was an initial failure, but that turned out to be a kink in my USB3 cable. Replacing it temporarily with a USB2 cable (in the Rock USB3 connector), solved that problem.

Sofar I have tested this in my living room, just using the indi_asi_ccd and indi_asi_wheel drivers. No first light for a while, because it's clouded out again...

Thanks for the help Chad, and others.

chad

It doesn't matter.

Your work is also very helpful to us。

Thanks

chad