"Can't reach this page" error

[KOAFAR WU]

Hi,

I am a new Fusion VM (Win11) user. I have been running some astrophotography-specialized apps successfully. Recently, I acquired a new device (Celestron SSAG) to employ guiding assistance for my AP gear. Unfortunately, the device firmware can only be updated via a PC, and fortunately, I have the Win11 VM running on my Mac now. I followed the update instructions: first, SSAG is connected to VM (checked); second, browse to the SSAG web interface site (http://169.254.54.1) for updating...  It took a while to try to connect to the site, but it failed and gave the error "Can't reach this page"  (see attached)

I have been using Edge for browsing without problems, even the FB page that gives the instructions and the link to the web interface site (however, the instructions and link are for real PC machines). 

Please, advanced users and Paul, come to help resolve this issue. Thanks

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[a_p_]

The mentioned IP address is an APIPA ( Automatic Private IP Addressing)  address, i.e. one that a device assigns to itself, if there's no DHCP server which offers a lease.

To get access to the device over IP, either ensure that it gets a lease from a DHCP server or assign a static IP to it.

André

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[KOAFAR WU]

Pardon me, as an IT amateur, for knowing little about networking. So, how to ensure it gets a lease from a DHCP server, or assign a static IP to it?  Thank you.

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[Technogeezer]

How is this device connecting to the VM? The documentation says that the device either connects via a USB port or Wi-Fi.

Is this an Apple Silicon (M-series) Mac? If so it's running a Windows 11 ARM VM. If this device requires a Windows driver, you will need to verify with the device manufacturer that they have a driver compatible with Windows 11 ARM. It will not work otherwise. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for responding. The device is connected to the VM via the USB-C port (on Mac). Yes, this is an M2 Mac running a Win 11 ARM VM. I have downloaded/installed the device PC driver provided by the device manufacturer (Celestron) in the VM. A member of the Cloudynights forum who updates the device's firmware also mentioned that "have to set up the IP configuration manually ("static")". I have little IP knowledge on this matter. Could you try to access (from your Win 11 VM) this IP address and see how it works?  Thank you for your assistance.

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[Technogeezer]

I assume that once you plugged the USB cable into your Mac (or a USB hub attached to your Mac) that you connected the USB device to the VM via Fusion's menu options. You'd then be able to see the device in Windows' Device Manager and if it has a device driver assigned  

Just because the manufacturer provides a PC driver for the device, it's likely a driver that only works on Intel PCs. Drivers must be specifically compiled for Windows ARM and that's a Microsoft requirement. Many hardware vendors have NOT done that - and until they do, the device won't work on Windows 11 ARM. That's why I suggested contacting the manufacturer and asking if their driver supports Windows 11 ARM. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Yes, I connected the USB device to the VM. But I don't remember checking if the device was in Windows Device Manager...  Let me check. 

BTW, if it's true that Celestron's PC driver for the device does not support Win ARM, even the device is shown in Win Device Manager, it still does not work?

I am really confused about how the driver issue is related to the web interface being inaccessible? Please help.

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[Technogeezer]

Some quick research says that the PC driver provided by Celestron does not support Windows ARM. So you won't be able to use USB control for the device if that's true.

Do you have a SkyPortal WiFi module for that telescope?

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Ok, I checked Windows Device Manager, and the device was not in the list, although it was connected to Windows, not Mac. Evidently, because of the unsupported driver? I can check with Celestron, but don't expect a quick fix or driver update... (they are kind of hopeless for software development)

And yes, Origin (telescope) does have built-in WiFi, and it's compatible with the general SkyPortal ecosystem concept. Does it help the updating matter? Let me know. 

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[Technogeezer]

Reading through their documentation, you still need USB connectivity to install firmware on that device. If they aren't able to provide a USB driver for Windows ARM, you might want to investigate using the free, open-source UTM application (https://mac.getutm.app) and installing Windows for x86_64 on it using Intel CPU emulation. UTM has USB redirection capabilities similar to what's available with Fusion. The Celeston driver should install on an Intel windows installation.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Hi Paul,

Thank you so much for bearing this issue with me so far. I have taken your suggestion of using a Windows VM from UTM. First, I installed a Win 11 x86 VM. It's awfully slow to set up, and to the point of checking CPU requirements, it ended unfinished with an error: CPU requires 2 or more cores! I was shocked that my system has 8 cores... don't know what's going on? AW, a member of the UTM Discord group, suggested emulated Win 11 x86 VM runs too slow to be usable. The older one would be Win 7 x64 to be usable. So I switched to Win 7 x64, and it did run faster (though incomparable to Fusion Win 11). However, it has an Internet connection issue: it does not open most websites, except for just a few. Most of the websites I browse and work with are inaccessible, and the specific web interface site I need to access is, of course, inaccessible too. So it looks like a dead end there, using UTM VM for my needs. I just keep wondering, despite the maybe faulty driver, why the specific web interface site is inaccessible for all the different OS and browsers (from my end)? Do you have any hints/tips? 

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[Technogeezer]

I do think that trying to use Windows 11 ARM to update that firmware is a dead end.

I've looked at the driver that Celestron is providing. It's definitely Windows Intel only.

A bit more inspection reveals that the driver is built to create an IP network over a USB connection. That might explain why the IP address you're being told to use in the instructions can't be accessed. It's local to the USB connection between Windows and the device -- and not made available to any wi-fi network. Without the driver, there's no way to get to the address.

I think that either a physcial PC or UTM VM (running Windows 10 x64) is the best way to go to get the firmware updated. I wouldn't use Windows 7 - it's very difficult to set up with an initial installation these days. Windows 7 needs critical updates so that it can talk to Microsoft servers (and access other web sites with modern SSL security protocols). Unfortunately no updates can be installed in a fresh Windows 7 installation because Microsoft's software update infrastructure have been updated to require the updated components that aren't installed yet in your Windows 7.  There's a manual workaround for this, but in the essence of sanity I'd forgo Windows 7 and use Windows 10.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Thanks, Paul. Ok, I am sold. The final anguish: I have heard from the UTM Discord group that any emulated Win x64 VM on an ARM Mac runs miserably slow! But I guess I have to fight... So, facing the final choices: Win 11 x64 or Win 10 x64? I think I am ready to install Win 11 VM, but you bring up Win 10 as the best. Can you confirm this at the last time before I go for it?  Appreciate.

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[Technogeezer]

I'd go with Windows 10 personally. You won't have to deal with the Windows 11 requirements such as a TPM device. It's not great either, but in your case I'd pick 10 over 11.  I'm in the middle of installing Windows 10 on UTM and it's going slowly because of all the updates that it's trying to install. 

Another possible choice if you can get the installation media is Windows 8.1. That has all the updated security modules available as part of the base install. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Hi Paul,

I didn't have patience and started to install Win 11 x64 VM on UTM before seeing your comment. Right now, it is installing Win 11, 55% complete... It had started a long while ago, though. Celestron has cost me so much for using the device, including the price, time/effort to update the FW (even worse if the Win 11 VM does not work). I'll see how this goes...  Thank you always.

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[KOAFAR WU]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for all the help. I installed the emulated Win 11 x64 VM on UTM. It took a long process (~4-5 hours), including SPICE tools installation. I then downloaded the latest SSAG FW and the Windows driver. Took a while to figure out how to install the driver. Connected SSAG to the VM. After two attempts browsing to the web interface site, the first successful connection was established (but the browser still said: insecure connection). Update FW started with loading the new version relatively fast, but then the restarting process got stuck for a long, long time... After 40 min. of restarting with no end, I gave up and tried to go back to the starting page, and it became "inaccessible" again! I closed the browser and reopened to connect to the web interface several times, all hit "inaccessible". I believe the web interface site is vulnerable to connection issues (other than the driver issue). 

The recent response from Celestron brought some light to the matter. They admit that the SSAG Web Interface update is currently not compatible with macOS, and recent testing shows it is not supported through a Windows virtual machine either. They are committed to finding a long‑term solution that will allow macOS users to easily update their SSAG, though they do not yet have an estimated timeline for when this will be released. And then the rep offered two workaround options: 1. Borrow a Windows computer (they didn't specify ARM Win or Intel Win) to update, 2. Update by Celestron with no cost. (I chose the second option because the bad weather is extending to at least the rest of December, which forbids me from doing AP.)

The last thing I would say about this is: it's insane!

How did you go with installing Windows 10 on UTM? How speedy does it perform? The Windows 11 x64 I installed runs pretty slowly, yet it is usable for light work. But disappointing for the poor connectivity issue with the special site. AW, I really appreciate all of your help and advice.

Thank you and Happy Holiday!

KW

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[Technogeezer]

Windows 10 under UTM on my M1 Mac mini works about as well as your Windows 11. It's not very fast but might be usable for light tasks.

If I were to take Celestron's advice to borrow a PC, make sure it's an Intel/AMD PC, not a Copilot+ Pc (with a Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM processor). The physical ARM PC will have the same driver issue as your Windows ARM VM.

I'm sorry this has been such a tough journey for you trying to get that device to work.

Happy holidays and enjoy the stargazing! 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Happy New Year to you, Paul.

Just a quick question for you: Will a UTM Intel-Win VM on an Intel Mac run much faster than on an Arm Mac?  Thank you.

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[Technogeezer]

I've not used UTM on an Intel Mac but from what I know it should be able to run Intel VMs with virtualization (not emulation). That should make them run better than using UTM on Apple Silicon because there is no emulation of the Intel CPU involved. How much "better" is dependent on a number of factors (Intel chip speed, available memory, number of cores available, and disk speed are those that come to mind immediately). 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[KOAFAR WU]

Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you, Paul.

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