Linux versions

[iandix (Ian)]

the guy behind Ekos (which is included in Kstars) has just uploaded a video on using this program. Its getting better every day by the looks of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt4Gb3Yfh9g

[iandix (Ian)]

looks like Distro Astro have updated their website with the latest version (V2)

Here is the link to the release notes
http://www.distroastro.org/releases/

If you have already installed version 1.02 there is a script you can download to help with upgrading.

[pmrid (Peter)]

I just watched that Ekos tutorial on YouTube. I must say I am pretty darned impressed. I've seen KStars before - it was installed on some old ASUS 7" subnotebooks I have had - but that was before Ekos became part of it. Now, it is looking like a real alternative to Maxim and SGP AND has the great attraction of being a step away from Microsoft and the evil empire.
Peter

[2stroke (Jay)]

Pixinsight is made for linux and freebsd http://pixinsight.com/sysreq/index.html

[Astro_Bot]

I've been watching PixInSight for a while. Assuming I'm still going in a year or two, I'll probably switch to it (on Linux) for processing although I'll still use Windows in the field for capture/control. But, as I have no job right now, I ain't buyin' nuthin'.

[rogerco (Roger)]

Anybody know anything about support for QHY Cameras (8 & 5II) the website for QHY doesn't mention anything in the download section.

[lazjen (Chris)]

According to the hardware list (http://www.distroastro.org/hardware/), it seems only QHY5 is supported. I note that a number of other manufacturers - e.g. QSI, SBIG and Starlight Xpress - don't have a specific model listed, yet QHY does.

[iandix (Ian)]

yep try these drivers from the Indi Library http://www.indilib.org/devices/ccds/qhy.html

[pmrid (Peter)]

I've been gives ISOs of Astro Distro 1 and 2 recently (thanks again Chris) and also have the latest (version 16) of Linux Mint and have been giving them a quick run. The Astro Distro 1 loads easily enough but it's KStars is not bundled with EKos. Distro 2 is the same and in any case had boot-loader problems on my machine. But Mint 16 does have EKos built in with a full INDI library. It's a nice Distro and is currently top of my list.
I'll see what PI says and give it a whirl. All up, it's looking very promising.
Peter

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by pmrid

But Mint 16 does have EKos built in with a full INDI library. It's a nice Distro and is currently top of my list.

Mint is the distro I usually recommend to new Linux converts. I use it myself in one of my virtual machines.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Ah, I see that PI requires a 64 bit Linux OS. Pity, because I only have a 32bit lappie to play with at the moment. But there's always GIMP. Anyone used it for astrophotography processing?
Peter

[2stroke (Jay)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Ah, I see that PI requires a 64 bit Linux OS. Pity, because I only have a 32bit lappie to play with at the moment. But there's always GIMP. Anyone used it for astrophotography processing?
Peter

What cpu have you got? if its a socket m you could cheaply fix that.

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by Astro_Bot

Mint is the distro I usually recommend to new Linux converts. I use it myself in one of my virtual machines.

I switched to Mint when Ubuntu changed its GUI for the worst. Nice distro. Also have SUSE but haven't been bothered playing with it as Mint does all I want.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by 2stroke

What cpu have you got? if its a socket m you could cheaply fix that.

Socket P. Alas.
Peter

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Socket P. Alas.
Peter

It might still depend on CPU. AFAIK, Core 2, inluding Socket P, were 64-bit, though mostly they shipped with a 32-bit OS. There were also older CPU's shipped with that Socket, but even so, some of them are still 64-bit, IIRC.

To be sure, you can check the CPU flags:

In Windows, you can use the CPU-Z utility to determine your CPU architecture. In the linked example, look at the Instructions line, where you'll see the flag EM64T - that means it's capable of 64-bit addressing.

In Linux, open a terminal, copy and paste the following line to the command line and execute (press Enter). You'll get a printout of all the flags per core (they should be identical) - you're looking for the flag em64t or lm:

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -e flags -e "model name" | uniq

Edit: Updated that flag - can be different in Linux! LM literally means "long mode".

[rcheshire (Rowland)]

I have Windows XP installed in Virtualbox on my Linux desktop, sharing folders, so no need for a dual boot.

I was also running XmCCD, controlling an SBIG camera in Linux - INDI - Xephem - ds9 - FITS Liberator in Wine.

StarTools is a cross platform Astronomical post processing program - 32 and 64 bit Linux, Windows, Apple.

Xubuntu (Xfce desktop - low resource demand) is a better choice of desktop, in my view. Linux Mint also has an Xfce version.

There are adequate options.

if you are tight on resources you can extend your memory by adding the following line in /etc/fstab

none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by rcheshire

if you are tight on resources you can extend your memory by adding the following line in /etc/fstab

none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

That mounts a temporary file system at the /tmp folder, which has the effect of wiping the /tmp folder at shutdown (when the temporary filesystem is unmounted). It's a useful security measure (in some circumstances) but doesn't "extend memory" and in fact, tmpfs is usually (I think always) coded to use memory rather than reside on disk. I use this mechanism for certain small system directories that would otherwise store permanent files that I would rather be transient.

As for memory management: The default Swap partition setup by the distro installer is probably sufficient - swap is the equivalent of Windows' page file, i.e. the swap space where memory pages are stored when not actively in use, assuming memory is ever full enough to cause it to be used. A swap entry in /etc/fstab is also written by the installer but needs no alteration, unless you want to encrypt it. You can adjust the size of the Swap partition during installation if you think it's too small, but usually the installer picks a healthy size based on system RAM size. The Swap partition can also be re-sized manually, and its (new) full size will be used at next boot up.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Astro_Bot

It might still depend on CPU. AFAIK, Core 2, inluding Socket P, were 64-bit, though mostly they shipped with a 32-bit OS. There were also older CPU's shipped with that Socket, but even so, some of them are still 64-bit, IIRC.

To be sure, you can check the CPU flags:

In Windows, you can use the CPU-Z utility to determine your CPU architecture. In the linked example, look at the Instructions line, where you'll see the flag EM64T - that means it's capable of 64-bit addressing.

In Linux, open a terminal, copy and paste the following line to the command line and execute (press Enter). You'll get a printout of all the flags per core (they should be identical) - you're looking for the flag em64t or lm:

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -e flags -e "model name" | uniq

Edit: Updated that flag - can be different in Linux! LM literally means "long mode".

Interesting. Here is part of what I get:
" model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U7700 @ 1.33GHz
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U7700 @ 1.33GHz "

So I see that one of the flags is lm . I haven't opened it up yet so I can't say if the CPU is hardwired into the MB but assuming it isn't, what does this mean. Do you think it might run PI in 64 bit mode?
Peter

[Astro_Bot]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Interesting. Here is part of what I get:
" model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U7700 @ 1.33GHz
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm lahf_lm dtherm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU U7700 @ 1.33GHz "

So I see that one of the flags is lm . I haven't opened it up yet so I can't say if the CPU is hardwired into the MB but assuming it isn't, what does this mean. Do you think it might run PI in 64 bit mode?
Peter

It definitely shows the lm flag, so it's 64-bit capable.

It means you can install a 64-bit distro (e.g. the 64-bit version of Mint), and that will then let you install and run 64-bit PixInsight.

Edit: Although you can run PixInsight, it mightn't run too well on that hardware:

Originally Posted by PixInsight Website

Processor

Minimum required processor: Intel Core Duo or equivalent.
Minimum reasonable processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 or equivalent.
Minimum recommended processor: Intel quad-core Xeon, quad-core Core i7, or similar.
Recommended performance processor: Dual processor system: Intel Xeon E5-2670 @ 2.60 GHz / Single processor system: Intel Core i7-3960X @ 3.30 GHz.

And here's a comparison between the "minimum reasonable processor" and your processor (on the right):
Intel CPU Comparison

[pmrid (Peter)]

Thanks for all that. I've just finished loading the full INDI library of drivers for CCDs, Guidecamss, FWs and the like and am busting to try our EKos/KStars with my gear. My Apogee Alta just came back from a full service today as well. It's all go!
Peter