Installation Instructions for ASTAP on Arch Linux
Stacking program, astrometric (plate) solver, fits file viewer
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I'm trying to install ASTAP on a Stellarmate Pro OS 2.0 so that Mount Wizzard 4 v3 can plate solve. i have used the debian dowloads in the past, but with the latest SMPro OS 2.0, I have been advised debian will not work on Arch Linux. Does anyone have links to alternative ASTAP app and database and some instructions on how to load via a terminal command prompt on Arch Linux?
Best regards,
Jim
All Linux version are here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/
I'm not familiar with Arch Linux,seems to use Packamn () but but does it accept an .rpm to install?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_amd64.rpm/download
Next days, I will see if I can if I can create .pkg.tar.zst files.
Or just unpack the tar.gz
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_amd64_qt5.tar.gz/download
Put the executable and star database (seperate download) in the same directory. This is normally /opt/astap but you can put them anywhere.
You could also use the command line version astap_cli:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_command-line_version_Linux_amd64.zip/download
Star databases to be upacked in same path as astap, so typically /opt/astap:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/star_databases/
Han
Han - Mount Wizard 4 does not seem to be working with ASTAP using the tar.gz file. here is the MW4 log. What i need are clear instructions with the command istructions you suggest to install this ising a terminal (bash -Konsole) in SMPro OS 2.0. i have sent this to Michel Worian (MW4) and Jasem Mutlaq (SMPro). Appreciate any help you can give us.
This indicates ASTAP is installed:
See below. It looks like the executable is wrong. What kind of processor are your running Intel AMD or something else. For standard PC's you will need the AMD64 executable. Can you test it by running from the cmd prompt this:
/opt/astap/astap
What is the message you get?
For a normal PC you will need this version:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_amd64.tar.gz/download
Place the astap file in /opt/astap and try again the above command.
On possbility is that the GTK2 widget is not available in Arch Linux. Try this ASTAP QT5 widget version:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_amd64.tar.gz/download
Han
Han - this is running on a Stellarmate Pro. The card is RPi based using a CM4 and i have 8gb ram and 1tb ssd.
https://stellarmate.com/products/stellarmate-pro-128gb/stellarmate-controllers/stellarmate-pro-128gb-detail.html
It runs SMPro OS 2.0 which is the new operating system they are going to. Similar to this:
https://stellarmate.com/products/stellarmate-os/for-raspberry-pi/stellarmateos-v2-rpi-detail.html
Recent feedback from Jasem Mutlaq was as follows when I sent him your response.
"It would be best if they can provide native Arch installers". Does ASTAP come with native Arch installers or is there a workaround developed?
I was previously using the debian version of ASTAP, but that does not work. If you have questions, i can pass these along to Jasem or you can go to a discord Stellarmate thread here:
https://discord.com/channels/1155377982878273577/1477464849683579002
Let me know what you think can be done here. I'm also working with Michel Worian who created the Mount Wizard 4 (MW4) modelling program which I need for my 10Micron mount connected the the SMPro. MW4 was using ASTAP to plate solve in creating the sky model.
Last edit: James Thornton 2026-03-13
If it is a RPi then it is most likely a wrong architecture problem. The RPi runs on an ARM64 (aarch64) processor. Put the executable for the RPi 64 inside the following tar.gz file at location /opt/astap
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_aarch64.tar.gz/download
That should most likely fix the problem. If not tell me what happen if you run ASTAP directly by command: /opt/astap/astap
Han
I have created a pkg package for RPI 64:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst/download
Does this work for you?
I can not test it because I do not have an Arch Linux installed. Maybe in an hour.
Han
This is what I get. Maybe im using the wrong commands?
Strange.
I have setup an virtual machine for Arch linux for the amd64 processor. The command:
sudo pacman -U astap_amd64.pkg.tar.zstinstalls it.
So for your RPI
sudo pacman -U astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zstshould work.
Your log indicates something is locked. Can you try a reboot first?
If that doesn't work I have to check more tomorrow.
Can you copy the full log as text to your next post? I can feed it to AI to see if it has a solution.
stellarmate@stellarmate:~$ cd astap
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ unzip astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
Archive: astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
the last disk(s) of this archive.
unzip: cannot find zipfile directory in one of astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst or
astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst.zip, and cannot find astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst.ZIP, period.
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ zstd -d astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst: 20039680 bytes
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ tar -xf astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
tar: astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ zstd -d astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
zstd: can't stat astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst : No such file or directory -- ignored
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ sudo pacman -U astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)
error: could not lock database: File exists
if you're sure a package manager is not already
running, you can remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ ^C
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ sudo remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
sudo: remove: command not found
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$ sudo remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
sudo: remove: command not found
stellarmate@stellarmate:~/astap$
After a fresh reboot.
stellarmate@stellarmate:~$ sudo pacman -U astap_aarch64.pkg.tar.zst
error: failed to init transaction (unable to lock database)
error: could not lock database: File exists
if you're sure a package manager is not already
running, you can remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
stellarmate@stellarmate:~$ sudo remove /var/lib/pacman/db.lck
sudo: remove: command not found
stellarmate@stellarmate:~$
Last edit: James Thornton 2026-03-15
In parallel I have asked Jasem Mutlaq (Stellarmate) for advice as well. He asked me to try the command sudo remove ....
Yes removal could help.
I assume the file at /opt/astap/astap is broken or somehow locked. Try to remove it by:
sudo rm /opt/astap/astap
I have corrected the .pkg.tar.zst file for a warning of the directories and I'm confident that the old or new version will work. So you could download or use the old one:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_aarch64.tar.gz/download
Install:
sudo pacman -U astap_amd64.pkg.tar.zst
I have also created an Arch package for the D50 database:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/star_databases/d50_star_database.pkg.tar.zst/download
I haven't tested it since Sourceforce downloading seems unreliable and it stops when I try to download it in Arch Linux.
Install:
sudo pacman -U d50_star_database.pkg.tar.zst
Tell me if this works for you
Han
Last edit: han.k 2026-03-15
The new D50 package for Arch Linux work correctly.
i think everything downloaded fine to /opt/astap after i followed Jasem's advice to sudo rm (not "remove") a .lck file. This has something to do with atomic updates and someone will be checking how to handle this going forward. Also, when i try to launch astap from a file manager Dolphin, it does not show any kind of GUI, so i think i have to test using MW4. The initial setup of MW4 seems to recognize the locations for the app and database location in the root directory where everything installed (/opt/astap). Currently i have cloudy skies, but will test maybe Tuesday and let you know the results. Thank you very much for your help!
Last edit: James Thornton 2026-03-15
That is not good. It should show the GUI.
Lets bypass pacman.
Try to download the tar.gz file:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_aarch64.tar.gz/download
Extract it at your desktop or in Downloads. With file manager start this new astap executable in Downloads/opt/astap or where it is located. If it runs fine and you see the GUI, then copy this astap executable with sudo to /opt/astap. So something like
sudo cp ./astap /opt/astap
Han
When i launch from dolphin, there is no GUI.
It is possible that the GUI is not working in your Arch Linux version. This requires a widget GTK2.
You could test it with a command line instruction but probably easier to test it with MW4.
Copy the new astap with the cp command to /opt/astap. So something like
sudo cp ./astap /opt/astap
If it still doesn't work let's try the pure command line version of ASTAP called astap_cli. You could just rename astap_cli to astap and put it in the same place /opt/astap. astap_cli gives only command line mesages but is for solving fully compatible.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/astap-program/files/linux_installer/astap_command-line_version_Linux_aarch64.zip/download
Han
Han,
i am planning to try the .zst files you gave me above. i think the root directory may be locked since i was unable to add the D80 files. However, the .zst files seem to have loaded in /opt/astap.
I dont think i will be able to download into the root directory without a .zst file.
Jasem seems to be working on something, i just dont understand exactly what it is and whether it will help the program work. it may be related to something to keep the program in the root direct while an atomic update is applied.
Okay keep me updated if you make progress. If there is no progress, we could try the alternatives.
cs, Han
Tuesday night looks clear so I tried MW4 (uv run mw4) and ASTAP (.zst) on SMPro OS 2.0 (Arch Linux). Another failure on 3 attempts to plate solve a 6 point model. None of the 18 frames solved. I have included a WeTransfer link to the MW4 log and image folders which will expire in 3 days.
https://we.tl/t-XxcgjWgWJQ?utm_campaign=TRN_TDL_05&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&trk=TRN_TDL_05
I think we are waiting on Michel as he mentioned an issue with MW4. Jasem was also going to check some atomic update conflicts in SMPro. Han wants to try some alternatives with ASTAP. We know that SMPro OS 2.0 is not allowing the ASTAP GUI to open.
Here are the links to each of the tickets or discussions going on in your individual systems.
SMPro
https://discord.com/channels/1155377982878273577/1477464849683579002
MW4
https://github.com/mworion/MountWizzard4/issues/393
ASTAP
https://sourceforge.net/p/astap-program/discussion/general/thread/c5c6bf682e/
Hopefully this will encourage and improve communications.
Han - i downloaded the .cli version an ran it from the /Downloads directory using bash Konsole command. Here are the results.
I think the OS is running in 64bit - see pic of AI response.
Good astap_cli is working. Tomorrow I will test the standard astap version with GUI on my RPI just to be sure.
aarch64 and arm64 are equivalent.
If the normal astap is not working, we could rename astap_cli to astap and just copy it with sudo to /opt/astap to get your system working.
Let me know the proper command to do this. i was having issues trying to copy and paste a d80 data file using dolphin file manager so i used the d50 .zst file which worked fine. or maybe let me know the commands in bash Konsole to do this.
i do have some clear skies forecasted tonight and maybe tomorrow for testing...
Thank you Han!
Last edit: James Thornton 2026-03-18