A Guide to Guiding: Installing PHD2 on a Raspberry Pi 5

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The Raspberry Pi 5, with its improved processing power and versatility, opens up a world of possibilities for astrophotography enthusiasts. One such possibility is installing PHD2, a popular guiding software used by amateur astronomers for precise tracking during long-exposure astrophotography. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to install PHD2 on your Raspberry Pi 5, turning it into a capable guiding platform for your telescope.

This article describes a procedure to install software on a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8G RAM running Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) (Debian v.12 bookworm) booted directly from a 1TB NVMe SSD PCIe drive. This procedure may work for other configurations, so please do let us know if it does, or tell us about any issues you faced and your configuration. Thanks!

Prerequisites

Step 1: Prepare Your Raspberry Pi 5

Begin by ensuring that your Raspberry Pi 5 is up to date. Open a terminal or SSH session and run the following commands:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

This will update the package lists and upgrade any installed packages to their latest versions.

Step 2: Build PHD2 from Source Code

We want to be sure that we are building PHD2 from the latest packages that are known to work properly with INDI server when the latter is built from source. The latest PHD2 source requires INDI server v2 or higher, which our guide shows you how to install. To start the PHD2 build process, we first need to install some prerequisites:

sudo apt install build-essential git cmake pkg-config libwxgtk3.2-dev \
   wx-common wx3.2-i18n libindi-dev libnova-dev gettext zlib1g-dev libx11-dev \
   libcurl4-gnutls-dev libeigen3-dev libgtest-dev

Create a project directory into which the source will be downloaded:

mkdir ~/Projects
cd ~/Projects

Download the source code from the official PHD2 repository on GitHub. We will use a shallow clone to speed things up and save space:

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/OpenPHDGuiding/phd2.git

Build the code:

mkdir -p ~/Projects/phd2/tmp
cd ~/Projects/phd2/tmp
cmake -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBINDI=1 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ~/Projects/phd2
make -j4
sudo make install

PHD2 is now installed. The version can be found by entering the command:

phd2 --version

2.6.13dev2

There may come an occasion when you want to remove your source built PHD2 package from your Raspberry Pi 5, or you want to make a portable package that you can use to install on other Raspberry Pi 5 devices. To achieve this, we can make a Debian package from our build, then use the Raspberry Pi 5’s package manager to install and remove it. First, we need install the Debian package builder:

sudo apt install checkinstall

Then we create our Debian package:

cd ~/Projects/phd2/tmp
sudo checkinstall

The builder process will ask you a number of questions. Generally, the default response is fine:

Should I create a default set of package docs?  [y]: y

Please write a description for the package.
End your description with an empty line or EOF.
>> PHD2
>>

The package name will default to the folder we are in, and we probably don’t want that, so we will change it from the menu using option 2:

*****************************************
**** Debian package creation selected ***
*****************************************

This package will be built according to these values: 

0 -  Maintainer: [ root@orion ]
1 -  Summary: [ PHD2 ]
2 -  Name:    [ tmp ]
3 -  Version: [ 20240403 ]
4 -  Release: [ 1 ]
5 -  License: [ GPL ]
6 -  Group:   [ checkinstall ]
7 -  Architecture: [ arm64 ]
8 -  Source location: [ tmp ]
9 -  Alternate source location: [  ]
10 - Requires: [  ]
11 - Recommends: [  ]
12 - Suggests: [  ]
13 - Provides: [ tmp ]
14 - Conflicts: [  ]
15 - Replaces: [  ]

Enter a number to change any of them or press ENTER to continue: 2
Enter new name: 
>> phd2

The other values should be fine as they are, so just hit ENTER to continue. Once the package is built, there are a few more questions:

Some of the files created by the installation are inside the home directory: /home

You probably don't want them to be included in the package.
Do you want me to list them?  [n]: n
Should I exclude them from the package? (Saying yes is a good idea)  [n]: yes

After some time, the package should be created and installed:

**********************************************************************

 Done. The new package has been installed and saved to

 /home/ian/Projects/indi/tmp/phd2_20240403-1_arm64.deb

 You can remove it from your system anytime using: 

      dpkg -r phd2

**********************************************************************

To remove the package, use the package removal option:

sudo dpkg -r phd2

And to reinstall it, or install it afresh on a different Raspberry Pi 5:

sudo dpkg -i phd2_20240403-1_arm64.deb

Don’t forget to change the package name to match your own!

Step 3: Launch PHD2

Once the installation is complete, you can launch PHD2 from the Applications menu on your Raspberry Pi 5. Alternatively, you can launch it from the terminal by running the following command:

phd2

Conclusion:

With PHD2 installed on your Raspberry Pi 5, you now have a powerful guiding solution for your astrophotography endeavors. Whether you’re capturing images of distant galaxies or tracking the movement of celestial objects, PHD2 running on the Raspberry Pi 5 offers a convenient and reliable platform for precise guiding. Enjoy exploring the cosmos with your newly configured setup!

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By Guiding, INDI, PHD2, Raspberry Pi 5, Software9 Comments on A Guide to Guiding: Installing PHD2 on a Raspberry Pi 5

9 Replies to “A Guide to Guiding: Installing PHD2 on a Raspberry Pi 5”

  1. i’m having a problem building PHD2. I followed the instructions and when trying to build the code I get this:

    davidjkreiton@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $ cmake -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBINDI=1 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ~/Projects/phd2
    — PHD2 version ‘2.6.13’ (extracted from source)
    — Using system’s CFITSIO.
    — using libcurl /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so
    — Using system’s Eigen3.
    — Using system’s libindi
    — INDI version 1.9.9 found in /usr/include/libindi, but at least version 2.0.0 is required
    CMake Error at cmake_modules/FindINDI.cmake:136 (message):
    INDI not found. Please install INDI and try again.
    Call Stack (most recent call first):
    thirdparty/thirdparty.cmake:598 (find_package)
    CMakeLists.txt:122 (include)

    — Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
    See also “/home/davidjkreiton/Projects/phd2/tmp/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log”.

    I looked at the .log file but could not make any sense of it as I have no real knowledge of how to build PHD2 and am just blindly following the instructions. FWiW if I type indiserver I get this:

    davidjkreiton@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $ indiserver
    2024-05-08T17:45:23: startup: indiserver
    Usage: indiserver [options] driver [driver …]
    Purpose: server for local and remote INDI drivers
    INDI Library: 2.0.7
    Code 2.0.7-tgz. Protocol 1.7.
    Options:
    -l d : log driver messages to /YYYY-MM-DD.islog
    -m m : kill client if gets more than this many MB behind, default 128
    -d m : drop streaming blobs if client gets more than this many MB behind, default 5. 0 to disable
    -u path : Path for the local connection socket (abstract), default /tmp/indiserver
    -p p : alternate IP port, default 7624
    -r r : maximum driver restarts on error, default 10
    -f path : Path to fifo for dynamic startup and shutdown of drivers.
    -v : show key events, no traffic
    -vv : -v + key message content
    -vvv : -vv + complete xml

    What do I need to do to build PHD2?
    Thank you for your help.
    Best regards, David Kreiton

    Reply

    1. Hi David, it looks you have an older and incompatible version of libindi installed, as suggested by the error message:

      INDI version 1.9.9 found in /usr/include/libindi, but at least version 2.0.0 is required

      Did you install libindi from the Debian package or using our guide?

      Reply

      1. Hi,
        I ran into the same problem (indi 1.9.9 instead of 2.0.0), following your instructions to install the indi server from source, then installing phd2 from source. I suspect that installing the prerequisites per your instructions for phd2 which include “libindi-dev” is the culprit. When I recompiled/installed indi after installing the prerequisites for phd2, it worked except for the fact that I also needed to sudo apt-get install libopencv-dev before (on a freshly installed rpi5 with bookworm lite).
        Cheers,
        Karl

        Reply

  2. Hello, I just followed the whole process step by step. First I installed the INDI Server version 2 or higher as per your guide:
    Harnessing Astronomy with Raspberry Pi 5: instalación de INDI para la exploración estelar

    Everything went ok and the testing gave the following result:

    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $ indiserver
    2024-06-27T21:05:25: startup: indiserver
    Usage: indiserver [options] driver [driver …]
    Purpose: server for local and remote INDI drivers
    INDI Library: 2.0.8
    Code 2.0.8-tgz. Protocol 1.7.
    Options:
    -l d : log driver messages to /YYYY-MM-DD.islog
    -m m : kill client if gets more than this many MB behind, default 128
    -d m : drop streaming blobs if client gets more than this many MB behind, default 5. 0 to disable
    -u path : Path for the local connection socket (abstract), default /tmp/indiserver
    -p p : alternate IP port, default 7624
    -r r : maximum driver restarts on error, default 10
    -f path : Path to fifo for dynamic startup and shutdown of drivers.
    -v : show key events, no traffic
    -vv : -v + key message content
    -vvv : -vv + complete xml
    driver : executable or [device]@host[:port]
    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $

    As far as I understand the version is 2.0.8, then so far so good.

    But when I compile PHD2 this is the result:

    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $ cmake -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBINDI=1 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ~/Projects/phd2
    — PHD2 version ‘2.6.13’ (extracted from source)
    — Using system’s CFITSIO.
    — using libcurl /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libcurl.so
    — Using system’s Eigen3.
    — Using system’s libindi
    — INDI version 1.9.9 found in /usr/include/libindi, but at least version 2.0.0 is required
    CMake Error at cmake_modules/FindINDI.cmake:136 (message):
    INDI not found. Please install INDI and try again.
    Call Stack (most recent call first):
    thirdparty/thirdparty.cmake:598 (find_package)
    CMakeLists.txt:122 (include)
    — Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
    See also “/home/pijavier/Projects/phd2/tmp/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log”.
    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $

    So surprisingly it says:
    — INDI version 1.9.9 found in /usr/include/libindi, but at least version 2.0.0 is required
    INDI not found. Please install INDI and try again

    Why finds version 1.9.9, if after executing “indiserver” it says is version 2.0.8?

    What should I do to complete PHD2 installation?

    Thanks

    Javier

    Reply

    1. Hi Javier, the PHD2 installation checks the installed INDI version by looking at the header file in the include folder:

      cat /usr/include/libindi/indiapi.h | grep INDI_VERSION
      #define INDI_VERSION_MAJOR 2
      #define INDI_VERSION_MINOR 0
      #define INDI_VERSION_RELEASE 7

      Do you see something else? Do you find instances of indiapi.h in other folders?

      sudo find / -name indiapi.h

      Reply

  3. Hi again, surprisingly I recompiled INDI and afterwards recompiled PHD2 ¡AND IT WORKS!

    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $ phd2 –version
    2.6.13dev4
    pijavier@raspberrypi:~/Projects/phd2/tmp $

    Reply

  4. Hi again, now a different issue appears when running phd2 on Raspberry Pi 5. When connected to the ToupTek camera, GPCMOS02000KPA, it does not work. It allows connection, but que you try to execute the CONTINUOUS LOOP OF EXPOSURES FOR CENTERING AND FOCUS it fails. After 15+ seconds you get the message:
    After 16 seconds camera has not completed the 1 second picture. Camera disconnected to prevent other problems. Check the troubleshooting section for help.

    Reply

    1. This can happen for a number of reasons, including having multiple applications trying to use the same camera at the same time. Do you use the camera for imaging and guiding? Do you use an INDI camera, and you have it connected in the INDI client, or in KStars/EKOS, and also in PHD2? If you continue to have problems then we would suggest you raise it with the PHD2 community (https://openphdguiding.org/getting-help/).

      Reply

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