206 replies to this topic

[Wallache]

You have to install a driver as well. Here is a link to Mike Swanson's site and the various firmware versions. The link for your scope will probably have instructions for getting the correct driver (if not, the link for Nexstar 6/8 SE definitely does provide one, you might try that).

 

https://nexstarsite.com/Firmware.htm

 

CFM runs fine for me on os Catalina, but be aware that this driver won't be supported in the coming Big Sur, so you'll probably want to keep Catalina around on a separate partition or drive.

Thanks for the reply.  I had intended to update my Evo over WiFi, but can’t even get CFM to run.  

[StuMur]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to do this with a mid-2012 Macbook Pro (OSX 10.11 El Capitan) via one of the USB ports, and my scope is a SkyProdigy 130 - it's the one with an old RJ9 connector in the handset. I don't see any ports on the mount or camera anywhere, so I figure this is the only port I can use to update the scope? (other than the two rj45 AUX and HAND CONTROL ports on the mount, that is).

 

Anyway, I've done everything listed in ths post, but the CFM software won't recognise the scope. Could it be that it's purely because the cable I cobbled together is pure sh1te? There wasn't a USB to RJ9 cable within a hundred miles of my house, so I took an old 4-core RJ9 phone cable and an old 4-core USB charge cable and hacked them together to make a cable. I thought I just needed to use three of the four cores (black, red and yellow - not the green one) and it'd recognise the scope, but no good so far. Is it a waste of time doing it this way - and also, is my scope even suited for this update?

 

Thanks,

Stu

Edited by StuMur, 09 November 2020 - 04:54 AM.

[Craven]

Consider just buying a new HC from the manufacturer.  I tried to update my 2011 from a mac using those resources and it was just a pain in the butt.  The new HC with current software only cost me $110.00.  Im not sure about the need to update the firmware in my mount, itself, but everything is working fine. 

Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to do this with a mid-2012 Macbook Pro (OSX 10.11 El Capitan) via one of the USB ports, and my scope is a SkyProdigy 130 - it's the one with an old RJ9 connector in the handset. I don't see any ports on the mount or camera anywhere, so I figure this is the only port I can use to update the scope? (other than the two rj45 AUX and HAND CONTROL ports on the mount, that is).

 

Anyway, I've done everything listed in ths post, but the CFM software won't recognise the scope. Could it be that it's purely because the cable I cobbled together is pure sh1te? There wasn't a USB to RJ9 cable within a hundred miles of my house, so I took an old 4-core RJ9 phone cable and an old 4-core USB charge cable and hacked them together to make a cable. I thought I just needed to use three of the four cores (black, red and yellow - not the green one) and it'd recognise the scope, but no good so far. Is it a waste of time doing it this way - and also, is my scope even suited for this update?

 

Thanks,

Stu

[StuMur]

Consider just buying a new HC from the manufacturer.  I tried to update my 2011 from a mac using those resources and it was just a pain in the butt.  The new HC with current software only cost me $110.00.  Im not sure about the need to update the firmware in my mount, itself, but everything is working fine. 

Thanks Craven. I'm fiscally challenged at the moment, so I need to make this work at no cost I'm afraid. Who'd ever think that a manufacturer makes it as unweildy as they possibly can to deliver a simple update for their very product and faithful users? Anyway, thank you for the suggestion. If anyone else has any pearls of wisdom, I'm keen to hear them.

 

Thanks, Stu.

Edited by StuMur, 10 November 2020 - 07:57 PM.

[Gastrol]

Consider just buying a new HC from the manufacturer.  I tried to update my 2011 from a mac using those resources and it was just a pain in the butt.  The new HC with current software only cost me $110.00.  Im not sure about the need to update the firmware in my mount, itself, but everything is working fine. 

Firmware version on my brand new HC which I purchased a couple weeks ago was at least a couple years old.   I had to run the update so that the GPS on my cpc1100 would sync up.

[Terrybythe sea]

 Could it be that it's purely because the cable I cobbled together is pure sh1te? There wasn't a USB to RJ9 cable within a hundred miles of my house, so I took an old 4-core RJ9 phone cable and an old 4-core USB charge cable and hacked them together to make a cable.

 

 

 

I know nothing about cables, but this page might provide a clue ... apologies if it's merely describing what you've already done.

 

https://www.nexstars.../RS232Cable.htm

[Michael_Swanson]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm trying to do this with a mid-2012 Macbook Pro (OSX 10.11 El Capitan) via one of the USB ports, and my scope is a SkyProdigy 130 - it's the one with an old RJ9 connector in the handset. I don't see any ports on the mount or camera anywhere, so I figure this is the only port I can use to update the scope? (other than the two rj45 AUX and HAND CONTROL ports on the mount, that is).

 

Anyway, I've done everything listed in ths post, but the CFM software won't recognise the scope. Could it be that it's purely because the cable I cobbled together is pure sh1te? There wasn't a USB to RJ9 cable within a hundred miles of my house, so I took an old 4-core RJ9 phone cable and an old 4-core USB charge cable and hacked them together to make a cable. I thought I just needed to use three of the four cores (black, red and yellow - not the green one) and it'd recognise the scope, but no good so far. Is it a waste of time doing it this way - and also, is my scope even suited for this update?

 

Thanks,

Stu

Hi Stu,

 

It isn't possible to connect an RS-232 serial port like the RJ-22 jack on the bottom of that hand control directly to a USB port.  You must have an RS-232 to USB adapter.  On this page of my website:

https://www.nexstars...m/PCControl.htm

see the section "Wired Connections for RS-232 Hand Controls" for suggestions on such adapters.  

 

Then, updating via a Mac can also be challenging but El Capitan is less trouble than newer versions of MacOS.  

 

But first, what is the current version displayed for "HC" in the menu of the hand control?

 

Best regards,
Mike Swanson
https://www.NexStarSite.com

[StuMur]

Hi Stu,

 

It isn't possible to connect an RS-232 serial port like the RJ-22 jack on the bottom of that hand control directly to a USB port.  You must have an RS-232 to USB adapter.  On this page of my website:

https://www.nexstars...m/PCControl.htm

see the section "Wired Connections for RS-232 Hand Controls" for suggestions on such adapters.  

 

Then, updating via a Mac can also be challenging but El Capitan is less trouble than newer versions of MacOS.  

 

But first, what is the current version displayed for "HC" in the menu of the hand control?

 

Best regards,
Mike Swanson
https://www.NexStarSite.com

Thanks so much Mike - I SO appreciate it! A week ago, prior to seeing your reply, I bought a USB to RJ9 (same as RJ-22?) cable, as my HC has an RJ9/22 connector at the bottom of it, so I figured USB to RJ9/22 was what I needed.. but now that I see your message, it sounds like that's an error? Anyway, I installed the driver that came with it, and it seems to have installed, as when I check my Macbook's system profiler, the FTDI "FT231X USB UART" driver seems to be there under the USB 3.0 Bus. But in any case, it sounds from what you're saying that this cable's not going to work, on either my Macbook, or on my old Windows XP machine? If I've bought the wrong cable, I can probably send it back to Amazon as a refund, and then buy what you advise me to. Oh also!, My SkyProdigy 130's scope's specs are:

 

Starsense HC
Ver: 01.10.14050
Bld: Feb 20 2014
01:02:21

 

StarSense Camera
Ver: 01.02.13343

 

Motor Control
Mdl: Sky Prodigy
Azm Ver: 6.17
Alt Ver: 6.17

 

Edit: fyi, here's the cable I bought.. It plugs into the bottom of the Hand Controller perfectly - that's a good start, but to confirm, it's definitely the wrong one?: https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

Edited by StuMur, 16 November 2020 - 06:51 PM.

[StuMur]

Further to the above, Mike.. I presume my star camera isn't updateable? It does have a little hatch at the back though, that when removed, reveals this long thin cable, but I presume it's only a service port? 

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by StuMur, 19 November 2020 - 06:08 PM.

[binaryflow]

You have to install a driver as well. Here is a link to Mike Swanson's site and the various firmware versions. The link for your scope will probably have instructions for getting the correct driver (if not, the link for Nexstar 6/8 SE definitely does provide one, you might try that).

 

https://nexstarsite.com/Firmware.htm

 

CFM runs fine for me on os Catalina, but be aware that this driver won't be supported in the coming Big Sur, so you'll probably want to keep Catalina around on a separate partition or drive.

I updated all of my MacOS devices to Big Sur right around the same time I received my brand new NexStar 8se. I'm stuck regarding firmware updates until Big Sur support is released. Do we know if there will be new software available that does offer Big Sur support?

[Terrybythe sea]

 

Do we know if there will be new software available that does offer Big Sur support?

 

Not that I'm aware of. You might ask Prolific if they're planning an upgrade, or else borrow a Windows computer.

 

https://prolificusa....dge-controller/

[Michael_Swanson]

Thanks so much Mike - I SO appreciate it! A week ago, prior to seeing your reply, I bought a USB to RJ9 (same as RJ-22?) cable, as my HC has an RJ9/22 connector at the bottom of it, so I figured USB to RJ9/22 was what I needed.. but now that I see your message, it sounds like that's an error? Anyway, I installed the driver that came with it, and it seems to have installed, as when I check my Macbook's system profiler, the FTDI "FT231X USB UART" driver seems to be there under the USB 3.0 Bus. But in any case, it sounds from what you're saying that this cable's not going to work, on either my Macbook, or on my old Windows XP machine? If I've bought the wrong cable, I can probably send it back to Amazon as a refund, and then buy what you advise me to. Oh also!, My SkyProdigy 130's scope's specs are:

 

Starsense HC
Ver: 01.10.14050
Bld: Feb 20 2014
01:02:21

 

StarSense Camera
Ver: 01.02.13343

 

Motor Control
Mdl: Sky Prodigy
Azm Ver: 6.17
Alt Ver: 6.17

 

Edit: fyi, here's the cable I bought.. It plugs into the bottom of the Hand Controller perfectly - that's a good start, but to confirm, it's definitely the wrong one?: https://www.amazon.c...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

That cable has a USB to serial adapter built in but is wired for a iOptron telescope.  I do not know if the pin connections on the RJ-22 (RJ-9) end are correct for a StarSense/NexStar hand control.  

 

There are links to correct adapters and cables on the page of my website I referenced before.

 

Regarding your camera, it is up to date.  If Celestron ever does release another update for the camera, you would update it via a connection to the bottom of the hand control.  Your motor control is also up to date and I doubt that will ever get an update.  Only your hand control is out of date and quite a bit so you probably do want to work on that:

https://www.celestro...-update-history

 

Here are the instructions at my website for updating StarSense hand control firmware:

https://www.nexstars...om/Firmware.htm

the article "How to Upgrade Hand Control Firmware - NexStar+ and StarSense"

 

Best regards,
Mike Swanson
https://www.NexStarSite.com

[StuMur]

That cable has a USB to serial adapter built in but is wired for a iOptron telescope.  I do not know if the pin connections on the RJ-22 (RJ-9) end are correct for a StarSense/NexStar hand control.  

 

There are links to correct adapters and cables on the page of my website I referenced before.

 

Only your hand control is out of date and quite a bit so you probably do want to work on that:

https://www.celestro...-update-history

 

Here are the instructions at my website for updating StarSense hand control firmware:

https://www.nexstars...om/Firmware.htm

the article "How to Upgrade Hand Control Firmware - NexStar+ and StarSense"

 

Best regards,
Mike Swanson
https://www.NexStarSite.com

Understood.. Thanks a lot Mike - I'll return this Ioptron cable to Amazon and grab the one you suggested. Hopefully I get it sorted this time - Celestron should have you on the payroll!

[MLM]

 

Down load all required software   (note: the recommended "prolific" USB driver, isn't required.  WIFI process doesn't use it.)

1. Download & install Java.  It was compatible.

2. Download & install CFM from Celestron.  It was compatible.

3. With computer connected to internet, open & run CFM.jar application.  The Celestron firmware update window opens.  The only thing it successfully does at this point is the only thing that mattered: to download from their web sight, all of the updates needed for my telescope.  It doesn't matter that it doesn't find any of my telescope's devices, and fails to update anything.

4. Close the internet connection.  CFM doesn't need it anymore.

 

Update the hand control only

5. Connect only the StarSense hand control to the telescope. (and optional power cord, if you want.  I did. )

6. Press & hold down both the Celestron Logo button and the Menu buttons (#7).  Then turn on the telescope.  The hand control displays, "Boot Loader Serial" and 2nd line "User Keypad Entry".  Once this is displayed you can release these two buttons.

7. Turn on the iMac's WIFI.  In network choices, select the telescope's WIFI network.   "Celestron-??" was Mine.

8. Reopen CFM.  From main window, select options menu.  Select connections.  At the top of this popup window select "WIFI".  Then return to CFM's home page.

9. Now, when you click on SEEK, it finds the telescope's devices.  Wait, until it has found them all.  Since, CFM has already retrieved the telescope downloads, it doesn't need to access the internet, nor will it try. 

10. Click on the "UPDATE" button, and wait until it indicates, that all updating is finished.

11. Turn off the telescope.

 

After failing with USB connection to my Mac I followed your instructions and connected by WIFI - it worked!!! Thanks for posting.

Curiously my MC version updated but the HC did not and stayed at 5.31.9102 even though the celestron cfm website lists 5.31.9200 as the most recent version, and 5.31.9102 is lot listed.

[DaveBolton]

I took delivery of my Evolution 8 plus StarSense just a month ago and naively thought the firmware might be something approaching up to date. I was wrong!

 

I found my Starsense hc was running on firmware from March 2016 and there had been seven updates since then including a major update from 2019.

 

I use an iMac desktop with Mojave OS (which I think is 32 bit) and a Macbook Pro also with Mojave. I tried the desktop but it ignored my attempts to load the CFM and I had come to the conclusion that I had to Bootstrap the Macbook and go down that route to Windows. Then I had a moment of inspiration and remembered I was running Chrome os on the desktop rather than Safari. Once I switched back to Safari the CFM loaded up without further problem.

 

I got up bright and early this morning so I could get to it in a quiet house. I loaded up CFM, switched to wifi through the connections tab on the dropdown menu ( a new window opens with the options) then pressed the obvious button marked 'seek'. The CFM reported at that stage that the loaded firmware on the Evo was dated July 2019. I hadn't yet connected the Starsense unit or hc but it found the Evo and Nexstar hc after a few seconds plus another item I have no idea what it might be (could have been the nearby kettle for all I know but it had firmware). I pressed 'update' and it went ahead downloading 11 packages and updating everything without further intervention by me. It then took about five minutes for the scope to cycle through the new firmware and leave Boot Mode but I could see it was doing something as the power button was flashing. Once it had finished that I added Starsense and hand controller before pressing 'seek' and off it went again. Six more packages found and updated and I now have a fully updated system. It took about 20 minutes in total.

 

To everyone who has tried and failed since HAZYNIGHTS posted (page 3 of this thread) are you running Safari or some operating system other than Safari? My only other question would be have you updated beyond Mojave to a 64 bit os? Either of those could be the route of continued problems but I offer no solutions.

[mlord]

Note:  Running CFM doesn't always install the latest firmware first time around -- it may take several iterations to get everything up to date.  Eg. see here: http://https://www.c.../#entry10718175

[SkyBus]

I updated all of my MacOS devices to Big Sur right around the same time I received my brand new NexStar 8se. I'm stuck regarding firmware updates until Big Sur support is released. Do we know if there will be new software available that does offer Big Sur support?

Is there something that you had to do to Catalina to get it to run.

I D/L'd CFN an unzipped.    At first MacOS didn't trust it but I figured out how to get around that.

 

Then it said I didnt have java JDK so I went to Java and there were two d/l's available one had an executable file (macOS Installer) - the other (macOS Compressed Archive) I just downloaded but not sure what to do with it, if anything.

 

Now it pauses for about 15 seconds then says "The Java Jar file "CFM.jar could not be launched?

 

My brand new starsense HC has a software version from 2016.   Huh?

[Terrybythe sea]

Is there something that you had to do to Catalina to get it to run.

 

I've run CFM in Catalina. I forget exactly which installation of Java I had, but it was one that showed up as a control panel in System Preferences.

 

The one thing I had to do was install serial port driver. Following the appropriate links on this page of Mike Swanson's site will show you how to get it.

 

https://nexstarsite.com/Firmware.htm

[SkyBus]

I was never able to get it to work in Catalina on my iMac, but I have Mojave running on my MacBook Pro.  (I think I'll defer upgrading the notebook from Mojave for now) but I was able to get it to work on Mojave.    Something about the java install in Catalina that did not go well.   I used Chrome to d/l everything with no issues.

Edited by SkyBus, 12 December 2020 - 11:52 AM.

[Wallache]

Is there something that you had to do to Catalina to get it to run.

I D/L'd CFN an unzipped.    At first MacOS didn't trust it but I figured out how to get around that.

 

Then it said I didnt have java JDK so I went to Java and there were two d/l's available one had an executable file (macOS Installer) - the other (macOS Compressed Archive) I just downloaded but not sure what to do with it, if anything.

 

Now it pauses for about 15 seconds then says "The Java Jar file "CFM.jar could not be launched?

 

My brand new starsense HC has a software version from 2016.   Huh?

All of the downloaded files need to be trusted to get it to run. 

[paulap21]

Just in case anyone tries this and runs in to a problem with the CFM finding your controller and telescope, I had

an issue with my macbook-air finding the telescope.  After messing with it for about a half hour, I rebooted the

computer with the cable still plugged in to the controller.  When I re-started CFM, it found the controller and

telescope right away and the update worked flawlessly.

[Danz567]

Thank you very much for posting this. I was fighting with my Mac for a couple of hours trying to update my new NexStar SE with no success until I found this post. 10 minutes later it was all done.

Dan

[johnnydecimal]

Another thanks here, worked a treat.

 

As this is now an old thread, and we're all on new technology, I'll do another simple list of steps in case it helps.

 

My technology

• 2020 MacBook Pro, USB-C ports
• Big Sur 11.3.1 (the latest, as of writing)
• Plain old USB-A to USB-mini cable, plus Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter
• New (woohoo!) Celestron 6SE

Steps for success :-)

1. Install the Prolific driver.
   • ​Note there are two links on the page. Confusingly the one at the top isn't coloured and doesn't look like a link! This got me first time.
   • So you need the top one, which is currently v2.1.0. The lower one is v1.5.1 and this will not run on Big Sur.
   • Don't forget to to go System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General tab and click the Allow button at the bottom. Then reboot.
2. Install Java.
   • ​Ugh, Java.
   • Go to java.com, follow the prompts, do the install. Pretty routine stuff.
3. Download CFM.
   • ​It comes as a .zip, which should decompress itself. If not, do that.
4. Run CFM.
   • ​Here's where it gets interesting. Double-clicking CFM.jar didn't work for me, not even with the trick where you have to right-click then select Open because the package isn't signed.
   • Instead, I had to run it from the Terminal. So, go ahead and launch Terminal.
   • Navigate to the place where CFM.jar is located. For me the file was still in my Downloads folder, so this did it:
     • cd ~/Downloads/CFM_2.7.9144
   • You will need to update this command with new version numbers as they're released, but this should work for anyone's Downloads folder because the ~/ part just means "this user's home drive".
   • Now run the Java file with this command:
     • java -jar CFM.jar
   • This assumes that the file name doesn't change from CFM.jar. Update accordingly if it does.
   • Bingo! CFM launches and does a bunch of updates.
5. Connect to the device.
   • ​CFM will look for your device and fail to find it. Because it's not plugged in yet!
   • It'll try to help you with instructions on how to connect, but these didn't work for me.
   • The problem was the step where you turn on while holding the Celestron + number 7 buttons on the controller. It should then display the BOOT LOADER Serial message.
   • I forgot that I have batteries in my device, and also as soon as I connected my controller via USB, my Mac started delivering power to the hand controller.
   • So "powering on while holding the buttons" wasn't working, because I wasn't really powering on.
   • So:
     • Unplug the USB-mini cable, if you've already plugged it in.
     • If you're using AC power, remove any batteries you have installed.
     • Check that your device really is powered off. The display should be dead.
     • Holding down the Celestron logo + number 7 buttons on the controller, power the device on.
     • The screen should say BOOT LOADER Serial.
   • And now you can connect the USB-mini cable to the controller.
6. Boom! That's it.
   • ​Mine picked up the connection almost immediately.
   • Give it 20 seconds to recognise the device and the Update button should become active.
   • Press the button, stand back, and wait for it to finish. Don't touch it! Interrupting a firmware update is really dangerous.

Hope that helps someone! This forum is terrific, it's why the internet was meant to be.

 

This is my first telescope, which as a 44-year-old astronomy nerd (since I was a kid) is quite a thing. We get clear skies here in Canberra, Australia, over winter, so I'm going to head out shortly and try to use the moon to practice my tracking ahead of the eclipse next week.

 

j.

[jpengstrom]

johnnydecimal,

 

thanks for the excellent write up.  I'm sure it's going to save me some time whenever my mount does arrive!

[eebclee]

Thanks all for the details.  I'm on day two of trying to get this to work with no luck.  What I've got:

• Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15"
• macOS 11.4 (also didn't work with 11.3)
• Java jre-8u291-macosx-x64
• PL2303HXD_G_Mac Driver_v2.1.0_20210311.zip driver

CFM connects to the internet and downloads updates, but never finds the StarSense handset.  I've tried several variations of when I connect the cable, rebooting with and without it connected, etc.

I also tried from a Windows 10 virtual machine via Parallels, but my mac has a kernel panic when I click ok on letting Windows have access to the USB port.  Should have kept a bootable Windows partition . . .

 

Edit: finally got it to work following Eduardo's instructions:

• ls /dev/cu* to get the name of the serial port
• In connections, set discover method to manual, serial, and enter the name
• Stop and restart CFM -- for me it locks up after I use menu items
• Go through a few iterations of which order you start CFM vs plug in the cable, I can't recall now which worked.

 

It now sees the StarSense controller and the StarSense camera, but doesn't mention the CGEM II mount.  Is there separate firmware for the mount or only the handset?

Edited by eebclee, 29 May 2021 - 03:29 PM.