FocusCube3 not working - INDI / StellarMate / EKOS

[dostergaard]

I received my new FocusCube3 a few days ago. Installed it yesterday and tried to test it.

The INDI device manager in EKOS shows that it is connected but when I use either the focus module in EKOS or the Absolute Position setting in the device manager I get no movement of the focuser and errors in the INDI driver logs.

The logs record the following errors, which repeat until I disconnect the FocusCube3 and reconnect it. Note, EKOS displays logs most recent entry first so the Serial error occurs first followed by the Error on... error.

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2024-05-11T09:50:01: [ERROR] Error on [Cmd=FA Res=] 
2024-05-11T09:50:01: [ERROR] Serial error: Write Error: Input/output error 

The write error suggests a permission issue but then the next error shows the 'Res=' parameter is missing and may be required. I can't find a setting in the INDI device manager for the FocusCube3 or in the EKOS Focus module where that might be set.

I connected to the StellarMate via ssh and checked the permissions on the port configured for the FocusCube3 in INDI and they appear to be correct. So, I don't believe this is a permissions issue. The code below shows the device permissions and that the stellarmate user is in the dialout group which has read and write (RW) permission on the port. It also includes info about the StellarMateOS host and versions.

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root@stellarmate:~# l /dev/serial/by-id/*PegasusAstro*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 May 11 05:49 /dev/serial/by-id/usb-PegasusAstro_FocusCube3_70:04:1d:f9:e7:70-if00 -> ../../ttyACM3
root@stellarmate:~# l /dev/ttyACM3
crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 166, 3 May 11 06:56 /dev/ttyACM3
root@stellarmate:~# groups stellarmate
stellarmate : stellarmate adm dialout cdrom sudo audio video plugdev games users input render netdev spi i2c gpio lpadmin
root@stellarmate:~# uname -a
Linux stellarmate 6.6.28+rpt-rpi-2712 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.6.28-1+rpt1 (2024-04-22) aarch64 GNU/Linux

If anyone has a similar setup and has any ideas how to troubleshoot this I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

[dostergaard]

Further diagnostics (in case anyone lurking is troubleshooting their own device):

Hooking up the FocusCube3 to a power supply (no computer or data connection) and accessing it via the built-in WiFi hotspot it appears that any command I send to it via the web interface on focuscube3.local results in a reboot of the FocusCube3 when the command completes.

This does not completely clear the driver software since I was unable to even get it to accept a command via the serial interface. It does suggest to me that there is some issue with the firmware.

[dostergaard]

I tried various cables and ports but the results were the same.

Pegasus support expressed a concern that it might have been a USB port low power issue.

I tried connecting the FocusCube3 to every USB compatible power adapter that I could dig up around the house and repeated the Hotspot / Browser test. (That is, connecting to the FC3 WiFi and controlling via browser interface. Isolating the FocusCube3 from any other device or software.)

Things that did not work:

• 100W USB-C port on my Bluetti EB3A Power Generator

• USB-A 5V/3A ports on my Bluetti EB3A Power Generator

• None of the ports on the RaspberryPI powered from the above mentioned 100W USB-C port

• 96W Power Adapter for my MacBook Pro

• Several other power / charging adapters (mostly Apple)

Only two things did work:

• USB Charging ports built into one of my wall power outlets (not sure of the specs.)

• Apple 12W USB Power Adapter for iPad

At 900mA @ 5V draw while slewing, it seems like there should be plenty of supply voltage capacity from my Bluetti USB-C through the RaspberryPI 5. (Even more when plugged in directly.)

All of this has been shared with Pegasus Astro support. They were very responsive and asked me to send photos of the PCB. After checking the photos they said the PCB looks fine and would get back to me if they could reproduce the issue.