Hello,
After trying many times to start tethering with my Nikon Z7II and macbook pro m1 via usb. Darktable refuse to connect to my camera!
Darktable sees my camera correct. But when i try to connect i get a message that my usb port is not available or taken by a another process. I tried a another port. And even reboot te system. But i still get the same message.
Is there a known solution?
Can i install gphoto manualy?
Hoping for a fast answer.
Nikon Tether works ok.
I’m collect some extra data. Via brew installed gphoto2. And tried the workflow as mentioned in the user manual.
Next test: When i do the commands as sudo then the test is succesful and gphoto2 get access to the usb port and shoot a photo. and delete it
I hope that i done enough so you can find a solution for this problem.
Ron
HIRAM
April 26, 2025, 5:42am
4
Hi Ron, was tethering working in previous macos?
zisoft
April 26, 2025, 6:09am
5
I think there is nothing which darktable can do to solve this:
opened 06:15PM - 23 Nov 24 UTC
I have discovered that to consistently run the standard gphoto2 commands I've be… en using for years on Macs with the Canon 5DS R cameras via usb, the Macs running above MacOS 14.1 and newer need to always use "sudo gphoto2" to avoid running into the dreaded "can not claim usb". In this case the can not claim usb is caused by a kernel driver that won't detach. The legacy camera work around that Apple giveth back a while away with 14.1, they quickly decided to take away ( [see here]( https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255343788?sortBy=rank) ) The only way I can get it to detach is to turn the camera off and back on.
[Others have been discussing this sudo issue on MacOS 14.1 and above with gphoto2 for a while](https://github.com/gphoto/gphoto2/issues/562), and I see work arounds, I am likely just missing it, but I've looked through the discussions, but I don't see if there is a permanent development within gphoto2 so that sudo is not required with gphoto2 to consistently ( remote capture and download using --wait-event-and-download="FILEADDED" repeatedly, every 7 to 15 seconds) run a gphoto2 command on a Mac running MacOS 14.1 or newer?
In summary, to get MacOS and gphoto2 to work without sudo like it was prior to MacOS 14.1, is this developed into a recent version of gphoto2 intended to run on the latest versions of MacOS ( MacOS 15 was released back in September 2024. Seems to perform for standard applications just fine, I have not tried gphoto2 on it yet)?
That is the question I'm asking. These commands I've been using for a while so I don't think they are wrong. The underlying MacOS hardware and operating system are just not playing nice anymore with gphoto2 ( at least challenges with the MacOS software and hardware security environment via usb).
Use an Apple Silicon Mac with legacy camera support set to on ( I don't really see that the legacy camera support toggled on does anything to help) to replicate environment exactly - others report that the sudo requirement happens on Intel Macs as well when they went to MacOS 14.1 or newer . The Intel Macs won't be around/supported much longer, so I don't think those Macs and gphoto2 are worth worrying about much longer. The ARM CPU/APU based Macs and gphoto2 should probably be the priority.
I'm using several Canon 5DS R at latest firmware with Macs running ARM based CPU/APU on MacOS 14.7 ( processing power and hardware setup is not the issue. Top of the line everything. All the cameras and computer hardware works perfectly independently).
Note it is important which physical Thunderbolt ports you use when you have multiple cameras ( especially the same model of camera) connected to the same Mac - the usb port numbers have to be very distinct for gphoto2 to tell them apart. That has been the case for a while. Nothing to do with this sudo issue though).
Command is as follows:
gphoto2 --port usb: xxy,yyx --set-config eosautofocusdrive="1" --filename somefilename.%C --set-config eosremoterelease="Immediate" --set-config eosremoterelease="Release Full" --wait-event-and-download="FILEADDED"
Note: from my observations, --set-config eaosautofocusdive="1" does not seem to work, at least with the 5DS Rs. It tends to lead to the cameras locking up. Remove it and this command below works just fine provided the usb port is not claimed by ptpcamerad ( an internal Apple MacOS process that is very hard to disable or remove) ahead of gphoto2
gphoto2 --port usb: xxy,yyx --filename somefilename.%C --set-config eosremoterelease="Immediate" --set-config eosremoterelease="Release Full" --wait-event-and-download="FILEADDED"
Even with the standard --capture-image-and-download on the Canon 5DS R with MacOS 14.1 or newer, I have to use sudo before the gphoto2 command to get the gphoto2 command to run and override the usb port claimed roadblock.
I use another version of the command where I've already focused the cameras and don't need to use the --set-config eosautofocusdrive="1" - Note: Make sure the lens is set to auto. Make sure the camera itself is set to either AI servo or Oneshot focus. Don't use any other AI driven focus method.
**Note - I was getting an error unknown during the file download of the image file to the Mac. I realized that I no longer see the "FILEADDED" message in the PTP messaging like I used to. When I switch to "CAPTURECOMPLETE" on the wait-event-and-download, the error unknown went away. Using "FILEADDED" was just faster to complete the process, so I could get faster access back to the command line prompt on the Mac. Also, you don't get the error unknown on the file download with --capture-image-and-download. I just don't like using --capture-image-and-download as it causes a focus to occur when I don't need it. Less control over when to focus and when not to focus ( unless I'm mistaken). That is why I've always like the Canon EOS platform ( especially vs Sony) and gphoto2 with Mac for programmatic photography because of the finer control over the focusing and shutter.
***Note: The users prefer Mac over Linux ( which is not surprising). But that means there are some challenges for gphoto2 as Apple does things their way and the peripheral equipment maker vendors have to fall in line. I run into it all the time. I've seen these MacOS security and operating system interface issues between Apple and the peripheral equipment makers at times never get resolved over many years - which is unfortunate. QNAP storage devices and MacOS poor stability over Thunderbolt is a case in point. Both companies acknowledge the issue, but it has never been resolved. Had to stop using QNAP.
I hope these notes help.
gphoto2 2.5.28 clang, popt(m), exif, no cdk, no aa, jpeg, readline
libgphoto2 2.5.31 standard camlibs, clang, no ltdl, EXIF
libgphoto2_port 0.12.2 iolibs: disk ptpip serial usb1, clang, no ltdl, EXIF, USB, serial without locking
I’m affraid your right.
I’ve read the github post. And it is clear now where the problem is. Perhaps it is best to make a note on the Darktable site that tethering is not working anymore on macos 14 and up.
Hello,
As noted in the next reply. From 14.x and upwards. The communication between gphoto2 (the intermediate for darktable) and macos failed due to security concerns.
We can only hope that this can be fixed.
MStraeten
April 26, 2025, 12:00pm
8
at least with my recent macports based builds i’m able to connect and tether EOS R6mII from my m1max macbook running macos 15.4.1 - so no darktable issue (maybe no issue because it’s built on my machine
maybe check, if you have some autostart jobs that connects to your camera before darktable can get access
Just checked my brew libgphoto2 version and seems the correct version.
I just look at MacPorts and see that the latest ‘port’ of DarkTable is in the 4.8.x range. also for the -develop version. Brew delivers version 5.0.1 i know not much difference.
But thx for your info.
MStraeten
April 26, 2025, 2:17pm
11
macports isn’t the best source for darktable since there are recent macOS builds provided by darktable team.
Hi all, (MStraeten)
I installed via macports libghoto2 and now i can connect to my camera!
Now its time how to work with de module
Thanks all for your help.
when i discovered that with sudo gphoto2 worked. I suspected that this was a new Apple security point. (or is it an keep others out of my back yard?) at least i can tether with nikons tether tool. But for al those other brands?
)
