K-3II USB tethering making progress; pktriggercord

beholder3 · 01-02-2016, 05:47 AM

There currently is some progress on the USB cable tethering front.

I just tested an early version of pktriggercord which allows triggering, focus activation, setting aperture and transfer of files via cable (unstable yet).
The solution works on Linux and Windows.

Get in touch with the author if you are interested in the topic and help him with testing.

Homepage with email adress of author:
pkTriggerCord

Sources:
https://github.com/asalamon74/pktriggercord/

Last edited by beholder3; 01-02-2016 at 10:14 AM.

**UncleVanya** · 01-02-2016, 07:02 AM

Is this limited to k3ii or will it work on the k3 as well?

dasPaul · 01-02-2016, 07:11 AM

Is this limited to Windows or will it work on Linux (natively) as well?

TropicalMonkey · 01-02-2016, 08:26 AM

This is good news! Hope they support K3 (with flash) as well!
May be we all should ask Pentax to support the project if they are not already doing it.

beholder3 · 01-02-2016, 10:11 AM

Originally posted by UncleVanya

Is this limited to k3ii or will it work on the k3 as well?

As far as I get it both K-3 and K-3II support are in the works.

Originally posted by dasPaul

Is this limited to Windows or will it work on Linux (natively) as well?

It is natively supported on Linux and just ported to Windows.

bobell69 · 01-02-2016, 12:19 PM

Darn, nothing for the mac yet. Well hopefully if it can be ported to windows then it can then be ported to macs

**tduell** · 01-02-2016, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by beholder3

Get in touch with the author if you are interested in the topic and help him with testing.

Homepage with email adress of author:
pkTriggerCord

I would like to contact the author, but can't see an email address anywhere at this URL...but it maybe another attack of domestic blindness.
I would be interested in testing builds for Fedora.

[edit] Greatcoats off! Found the email address, cunningly disguised as "me"

Cheers,
Terry

Last edited by tduell; 01-02-2016 at 02:55 PM.

**jbinpg** · 01-02-2016, 11:13 PM

Tried the latest pktriggercord with my K-3 this evening on my ubuntu 15.10 laptop. Definite progress since the last build but still a bit flaky. I could not find any way to change the shutter speed (including manually entering B time setting) from the gui so best way to approach it now would be to punch in the speed before attaching your camera to the laptop. Can change other settings fine (aperture, ISO, EV, capture format, etc.) with camera attached through gui. The autofocus works well if you switch to Liveview and hit the focus button in the gui. Then you can switch back to manual focus if you want to lock it in. Delayed 2-sec shutter release all OK. A heart-stopping moment when I thought I had bricked the camera after pulling out the USB cable before shutting down pktriggercord. No response from camera at all when turning off and on. Finally opening the SD card door and flipping the cards in and out reset everything. Cool, I learned something. Otherwise performance and capabilities improving. Will follow up with author.

Amoon · 01-22-2016, 10:18 PM

First, I'd like to thank you the developer for his effort in making this kind of software available.

I've tried it but it crashes in my Windows 10 laptop. I'll be looking forward for a new version of the software.

reh321 · 01-23-2016, 02:04 PM

Originally posted by beholder3

As far as I get it both K-3 and K-3II support are in the works.

It is natively supported on Linux and just ported to Windows.

How do we define "native" and "port" here?

When I was system manager of an HP-UX computer, I would download a UNIX app, modify any statements not compatible with HP-UX, and compile it on my machine.
The code I ran was "native" to my system, but most people would say that I had "ported" it to my system.

anemone · 01-23-2016, 04:53 PM

My opinion of porting happens when programming language is changed. If some code to handle new environment, it's adapting. And native stuff is when something is build to machine language which uses interfaces of environment.

There has to be some level of adapting. First of all Pktriggercord works with USB which isn't used active way (with libusb for example) On the USB is transferred data with SCSI protocol and camera shows up as mass media. Like old SCSI (alterative being cheaper IDE (PATA) drives) disks used to show up. However there were SCSI scanners and some other instruments. Operating system takes care USB and SCSI. This SCSI device is what pktriggercord uses.

How and what kind of interface OS gives to access to generic SCSI varies from OS to OS. So "tell camera this( data )" and "get answer from camera ()" need to worked out and rest of the pktrigger-cli should work. There aren't really those functions. I abstracted one level more for those who aren't computer geeks.

What comes to GUI part, it is done with GTK+ which is multi platform and windows libraries are there.

The real work happens in protocol level. How to get something out of the camera which is platform independent. I believe, someone could make this work with Atmel AVRmega328 if wanted.

I just read the code through, I haven't done anything else with it.

Building Windows binary would be rather straight forward, but I don't know as I haven't ever tried build anything on Windows. OS X support would need to get the SCSI interface support for application.

However I believe this isn't right forum for this discussion.

reh321 · 01-23-2016, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by anemone

My opinion of porting happens when programming language is changed. If some code to handle new environment, it's adapting. And native stuff is when something is build to machine language which uses interfaces of environment.

There has to be some level of adapting. First of all Pktriggercord works with USB which isn't used active way (with libusb for example) On the USB is transferred data with SCSI protocol and camera shows up as mass media. Like old SCSI (alterative being cheaper IDE (PATA) drives) disks used to show up. However there were SCSI scanners and some other instruments. Operating system takes care USB and SCSI. This SCSI device is what pktriggercord uses.

How and what kind of interface OS gives to access to generic SCSI varies from OS to OS. So "tell camera this( data )" and "get answer from camera ()" need to worked out and rest of the pktrigger-cli should work. There aren't really those functions. I abstracted one level more for those who aren't computer geeks.

What comes to GUI part, it is done with GTK+ which is multi platform and windows libraries are there.

The real work happens in protocol level. How to get something out of the camera which is platform independent. I believe, someone could make this work with Atmel AVRmega328 if wanted.

I just read the code through, I haven't done anything else with it.

Building Windows binary would be rather straight forward, but I don't know as I haven't ever tried build anything on Windows. OS X support would need to get the SCSI interface support for application.

However I believe this isn't right forum for this discussion.

To my American ear, the word "just" implies a lesser process, so "native Linux" as compared to "just ported to Windows" implies that the Windows version is inferior. I asked my question in the hope that someone would explain in simple words why we would expect that to be true. That question is 100% appropriate as a followup here to the statement originally made here.

anemone · 01-24-2016, 03:06 AM

I think "just" in this case is much like Nike has it. "Just do it" It might be simple task to compile it as all libraries are provided. My English is Nokia-English so it works best with technical documentation.

**newmikey** · 01-24-2016, 03:28 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by reh321

How do we define "native" and "port" here?

When I was system manager of an HP-UX computer, I would download a UNIX app, modify any statements not compatible with HP-UX, and compile it on my machine.
The code I ran was "native" to my system, but most people would say that I had "ported" it to my system.

Good question! I'd say the "native" would be the OS on which the majority of the development and testing work is done, maybe even the original "target" community. "Ported" would then be when a group of users of another OS step up to try and adjust the code so it'll compile and run on their machine as well.

You are indeed right in assuming "native" is probably superior to "ported" and I see that all the time. I use 100% F/OSS and use Win7 at work, ArchLinux anywhere else. Literally all of my tools run better, with less crashes and faster operation, on Linux. Possible exception is Gimp but one could say that by now, its development should be considered "native" across all three OS platforms.

But Digikam, RawTherapee, LuminanceHDR, Hugin all run faster and more stable on Linux.

**sbh** · 01-24-2016, 11:05 AM

Great news and those screenshots look really good. Unfortunately no os x version.

01-02-2016, 05:47 AM	#1
beholder3 Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 3,112	K-3II USB tethering making progress; pktriggercord There currently is some progress on the USB cable tethering front. I just tested an early version of pktriggercord which allows triggering, focus activation, setting aperture and transfer of files via cable (unstable yet). The solution works on Linux and Windows. Get in touch with the author if you are interested in the topic and help him with testing. Homepage with email adress of author: pkTriggerCord Sources: https://github.com/asalamon74/pktriggercord/ Last edited by beholder3; 01-02-2016 at 10:14 AM.

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01-02-2016, 07:02 AM	#2
UncleVanya Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2014 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 28,401	Is this limited to k3ii or will it work on the k3 as well?

01-02-2016, 07:11 AM	#3
dasPaul Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Dresden,Saxony Photos: Albums Posts: 51	Is this limited to Windows or will it work on Linux (natively) as well?

01-02-2016, 08:26 AM	#4
TropicalMonkey Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Saint Paul Posts: 304	This is good news! Hope they support K3 (with flash) as well! May be we all should ask Pentax to support the project if they are not already doing it.

01-02-2016, 10:11 AM	#5
beholder3 Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 3,112 Original Poster	Originally posted by UncleVanya Is this limited to k3ii or will it work on the k3 as well? As far as I get it both K-3 and K-3II support are in the works. Originally posted by dasPaul Is this limited to Windows or will it work on Linux (natively) as well? It is natively supported on Linux and just ported to Windows.

01-02-2016, 12:19 PM	#6
bobell69 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Courtenay BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 498	Darn, nothing for the mac yet. Well hopefully if it can be ported to windows then it can then be ported to macs

01-02-2016, 02:43 PM	#7
tduell Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: May 2015 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,514	Originally posted by beholder3 Get in touch with the author if you are interested in the topic and help him with testing. Homepage with email adress of author: pkTriggerCord I would like to contact the author, but can't see an email address anywhere at this URL...but it maybe another attack of domestic blindness. I would be interested in testing builds for Fedora. [edit] Greatcoats off! Found the email address, cunningly disguised as "me" Cheers, Terry Last edited by tduell; 01-02-2016 at 02:55 PM.

01-02-2016, 11:13 PM	#8
jbinpg Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Prince George, BC Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,546	Tried the latest pktriggercord with my K-3 this evening on my ubuntu 15.10 laptop. Definite progress since the last build but still a bit flaky. I could not find any way to change the shutter speed (including manually entering B time setting) from the gui so best way to approach it now would be to punch in the speed before attaching your camera to the laptop. Can change other settings fine (aperture, ISO, EV, capture format, etc.) with camera attached through gui. The autofocus works well if you switch to Liveview and hit the focus button in the gui. Then you can switch back to manual focus if you want to lock it in. Delayed 2-sec shutter release all OK. A heart-stopping moment when I thought I had bricked the camera after pulling out the USB cable before shutting down pktriggercord. No response from camera at all when turning off and on. Finally opening the SD card door and flipping the cards in and out reset everything. Cool, I learned something. Otherwise performance and capabilities improving. Will follow up with author.

01-22-2016, 10:18 PM	#9
Amoon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 155	First, I'd like to thank you the developer for his effort in making this kind of software available. I've tried it but it crashes in my Windows 10 laptop. I'll be looking forward for a new version of the software.

01-23-2016, 02:04 PM	#10
reh321 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: South Bend, IN, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,177	Originally posted by beholder3 As far as I get it both K-3 and K-3II support are in the works. It is natively supported on Linux and just ported to Windows. How do we define "native" and "port" here? When I was system manager of an HP-UX computer, I would download a UNIX app, modify any statements not compatible with HP-UX, and compile it on my machine. The code I ran was "native" to my system, but most people would say that I had "ported" it to my system.

01-23-2016, 04:53 PM	#11
anemone Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 165	My opinion of porting happens when programming language is changed. If some code to handle new environment, it's adapting. And native stuff is when something is build to machine language which uses interfaces of environment. There has to be some level of adapting. First of all Pktriggercord works with USB which isn't used active way (with libusb for example) On the USB is transferred data with SCSI protocol and camera shows up as mass media. Like old SCSI (alterative being cheaper IDE (PATA) drives) disks used to show up. However there were SCSI scanners and some other instruments. Operating system takes care USB and SCSI. This SCSI device is what pktriggercord uses. How and what kind of interface OS gives to access to generic SCSI varies from OS to OS. So "tell camera this( data )" and "get answer from camera ()" need to worked out and rest of the pktrigger-cli should work. There aren't really those functions. I abstracted one level more for those who aren't computer geeks. What comes to GUI part, it is done with GTK+ which is multi platform and windows libraries are there. The real work happens in protocol level. How to get something out of the camera which is platform independent. I believe, someone could make this work with Atmel AVRmega328 if wanted. I just read the code through, I haven't done anything else with it. Building Windows binary would be rather straight forward, but I don't know as I haven't ever tried build anything on Windows. OS X support would need to get the SCSI interface support for application. However I believe this isn't right forum for this discussion.

01-23-2016, 06:25 PM	#12
reh321 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: South Bend, IN, USA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,177	Originally posted by anemone My opinion of porting happens when programming language is changed. If some code to handle new environment, it's adapting. And native stuff is when something is build to machine language which uses interfaces of environment. There has to be some level of adapting. First of all Pktriggercord works with USB which isn't used active way (with libusb for example) On the USB is transferred data with SCSI protocol and camera shows up as mass media. Like old SCSI (alterative being cheaper IDE (PATA) drives) disks used to show up. However there were SCSI scanners and some other instruments. Operating system takes care USB and SCSI. This SCSI device is what pktriggercord uses. How and what kind of interface OS gives to access to generic SCSI varies from OS to OS. So "tell camera this( data )" and "get answer from camera ()" need to worked out and rest of the pktrigger-cli should work. There aren't really those functions. I abstracted one level more for those who aren't computer geeks. What comes to GUI part, it is done with GTK+ which is multi platform and windows libraries are there. The real work happens in protocol level. How to get something out of the camera which is platform independent. I believe, someone could make this work with Atmel AVRmega328 if wanted. I just read the code through, I haven't done anything else with it. Building Windows binary would be rather straight forward, but I don't know as I haven't ever tried build anything on Windows. OS X support would need to get the SCSI interface support for application. However I believe this isn't right forum for this discussion. To my American ear, the word "just" implies a lesser process, so "native Linux" as compared to "just ported to Windows" implies that the Windows version is inferior. I asked my question in the hope that someone would explain in simple words why we would expect that to be true. That question is 100% appropriate as a followup here to the statement originally made here.

01-24-2016, 03:06 AM	#13
anemone Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Posts: 165	I think "just" in this case is much like Nike has it. "Just do it" It might be simple task to compile it as all libraries are provided. My English is Nokia-English so it works best with technical documentation.

01-24-2016, 03:28 AM - 1 Like	#14
newmikey Site Supporter Join Date: May 2007 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,287	Originally posted by reh321 How do we define "native" and "port" here? When I was system manager of an HP-UX computer, I would download a UNIX app, modify any statements not compatible with HP-UX, and compile it on my machine. The code I ran was "native" to my system, but most people would say that I had "ported" it to my system. Good question! I'd say the "native" would be the OS on which the majority of the development and testing work is done, maybe even the original "target" community. "Ported" would then be when a group of users of another OS step up to try and adjust the code so it'll compile and run on their machine as well. You are indeed right in assuming "native" is probably superior to "ported" and I see that all the time. I use 100% F/OSS and use Win7 at work, ArchLinux anywhere else. Literally all of my tools run better, with less crashes and faster operation, on Linux. Possible exception is Gimp but one could say that by now, its development should be considered "native" across all three OS platforms. But Digikam, RawTherapee, LuminanceHDR, Hugin all run faster and more stable on Linux.

01-24-2016, 11:05 AM	#15
sbh Site Supporter Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Black Forest, Germany Photos: Gallery Posts: 849	Great news and those screenshots look really good. Unfortunately no os x version.