Orange PI 3B 8Gb

[AngelSerra]

Orange PI 3b, It is much more than raspery pi 5 and cheaper.
CPU
Quad-core 64-bit Cortex-A55 processor, 22nm advanced process, up to 1.8GHz
Support eMMC module:16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB/256GB
SPI Flash: 16MB/32MB
M.2 M-KEY slot（optional; SATA3 or PCIe2.0 NVME SSDs
Micro SD slot
Ethernet: 10/100/1000Mbps
Camera: 1MIPI CSI 2 lane camera interface
USB
1USB 2.0 support Device or HOST mode
1USB 3.0 HOST
2USB 2.0 HOST
Does allsky support those features? I want to buy one and I wanted to know if it can be compatible with AllSky, it has an integrated M.2 disk, however the Rapsberry Pi 5 requires an external one, the Raspberry 5 is much more expensive than the ORANGE PI 3b.
http://www.orangepi.org/html/hardWare/computerAndMicrocontrollers/details/Orange-Pi-3B.html

[EricClaeys]

Per our main GitHub page

The Le Potato is the only "Pi-compatible" board that we've found to actually be compatible, so buyer beware.

If you decide to try the Orange board, we can't provide any support, so you'd be on your own. However, if you find it works fine, let us know and we'll update the main GitHub page.

[aaronwmorris]

There should be very little problems with an ZWO ASI camera on the Orange Pi boards. I have tested many different astronomy cameras on Orange Pi, Banana Pi, Rockchip, etc with the INDIlib platform. The drivers and SDKs are fairly platform agnostic across the ARM platform.

The MIPI CSI cameras like IMX477 are a different story. The only boards that have the overlays for even the IMX477 is the Raspberry Pi. Raspbian (and more recently Ubuntu for Raspi) are the only kernel trees that have those overlays. Some of the alternative boards might have older drivers for Raspberry Pi V1 and V2 cameras, but not for the IMX477, IMX519, V3 Camera, etc.

[EricClaeys]

@aaronwmorris, by any chance have you ever tested Thomas' Allsky on an Orange Pi?
IIRC, the problems we had running Allsky with some non-Raspberry boards was they didn't run Pi OS and so some administrative commands we use were missing. And we've never taken the time to investigate further.

[aaronwmorris]

Things like vcgencmd are not going to work because that is Raspberry Pi specific (VideoCore processors, more specifically). If that is a hard requirement, then TJ's Allsky will only ever work on Raspberry PI.

[jsalsburg]

I use an orangepi5plus to monitor my AllSky Camera. I know it costs almost twice that of the RPi5 but it is many times faster and much more robust. I installed Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS on it. It runs for months without interruption. I could go on and on about this SBC's merits but you can investigate it on your own. I will say that this SBC is more powerful than all but one of my desktop towers no matter the cost. In my opinion, if I could, I would port AllSky to it and not look back.

[EricClaeys]

@jsalsburg, if you are able to get Allsky working the Orange device, let us know what changes you had to make.

[jsalsburg]

I have succeeded with other feature-rich Open Source Apps to compile them and run them on the orangepi5plus that no one else has attempted before or since which was a big surprise to the Author of the App. My first concern with AllSky would be how to get it to work with other USB cameras. If this shortcoming was overcome with the RPi, then it would be prudent to proceed with compiling AllSky for the orangepi5plus. Being that the orangepi5plus is expensive, I would first try to compile for the orangepi Zero 2W, a low cost version on which I have been running the MOTION App with a USB camera.

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On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 11:09 PM Eric Claeys ***@***.***> wrote: @jsalsburg <https://github.com/jsalsburg>, if you are able to get Allsky working the Orange device, let us know what changes you had to make. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3749 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABFLI46BWDFFRV6VI5PUV4LZRGPLFAVCNFSM6AAAAABLDRUO4KVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTAMZSGE3DOMQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[EricClaeys]

@jsalsburg, we're not likely to support other USB cameras for quite a while, if ever. A few people have asked about other cameras, but only a few, and for those we suggested Indi Allsky.

[jsalsburg]

May I inquire the reasons behind "not likely to support other USB cameras"?

[EricClaeys]

Other non-ZWO cameras.
There has been very little demand and we would have to install other libraries and port all the "capture" code to work with those libraries. Or do what Aaron did and get Indi working with Allsky, which we believe would be a very large effort and make Allsky more complicated. Many of our users are not technical and not familiar with the Pi or Linux.

What other cameras are you looking at?

[jsalsburg]

Two examples of HDMI to USB. There are many wireless options that do similar things, which will allow DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras to connect wirelessly to the RPi. Personally, I would love to be able to use my obsolete Canon Rebel T3i and its fisheye lens for AllSky imaging. https://www.adafruit.com/product/4669?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiOy1BhDCARIsADGvQnDmPdSwxgdtSdM_DM5POpiSQlozdwEKKgAhONMn2cTELprRFpy3xRUaAvhzEALw_wcB https://www.amazon.com/Capture-Recorder-Nintendo-Streaming-Broadcasting/dp/B0CDLH7DMK/ref=asc_df_B0CDLH7DMK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693310954762&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9143346025213915097&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031738&hvtargid=pla-2244872761096&mcid=efe4f1ec76153d7996c576c11750b089&gad_source=1&th=1

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On Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 9:25 PM Eric Claeys ***@***.***> wrote: Other non-ZWO cameras. There has been very little demand and we would have to install other libraries and port all the "capture" code to work with those libraries. Or do what Aaron did and get Indi working with Allsky, which we believe would be a very large effort and make Allsky more complicated. Many of our users are not technical and not familiar with the Pi or Linux. What other cameras are you looking at? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3749 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABFLI43K6Y2PM3SZ45GU2E3ZRLL4FAVCNFSM6AAAAABLDRUO4KVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTAMZTGI4DOMI> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[EricClaeys]

I suspect very few people other than yourself would use those, and they would likely be hard to port and not likely to support all the features of ZWO or RPi cameras. I suggest asking Aaron on the Indi Allsky site if he support them. Likely not, since I believe Indi requires ASCOM drivers IIRC.

[aaronwmorris]

@jsalsburg indi-allsky supports DSLRs. I know a few people have deployed a DSLR based all sky camera. This should work with the indi_gphoto_ccd or indi_canon_ccd (alias) drivers.

There are some pictures of one here: aaronwmorris/indi-allsky#681

The HDMI capture devices might work with indi-allsky using the indi_v4l2_ccd or indi_webcam_ccd drivers. However, I generally advise people to avoid them in favor of cameras like the Raspberry Pi HQ Camera. The USB capture devices are usually meant for video streaming and not image capture, so the image quality will be limited.

https://github.com/aaronwmorris/indi-allsky

[EricClaeys]

@aaronwmorris, thanks for chiming in.
Eric