First Connection

This guide walks you through connecting ARIS to your rig and your imaging equipment for the first time.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure:

• Your rig is installed and powered on: a Raspberry Pi or other Linux computer running ARIS, or a Windows PC running NINA with the ARIS plugin.
• Your imaging equipment (mount, camera, etc.) is connected via USB to the rig.
• Your phone, tablet or computer and the rig are on the same local network.

Update your equipment's firmware first

Update every device’s firmware with the maker’s own tool before you connect it to ARIS — filter wheels, focusers, rotators, power boxes and mounts alike.

This is not general advice. Some INDI drivers refuse a device whose firmware is older than a minimum they set, and the device then simply never connects. The Wanderer Snowflake filter wheel is a live example: its driver rejects firmware older than 20260124, and the fix is a free update in WandererEmpire (a Windows application), not anything in ARIS.

Vendor updaters are almost always Windows-only, so this is far easier to do at a desk, before the equipment is on the mount in the dark.

Connecting to Your Rig

1. Open ARIS. The first screen scans your network (Scanning network…) and lists each rig it finds as a button under Discovered Rigs, marked with the kind of rig: INDI, NINA or SEESTAR. When you are signed in, your claimed rigs that are not on this network appear too, under Your Rigs.

2. Tap your rig.

3. If your rig is not listed, tap the refresh button next to the heading to scan again. Still missing? Tap Open Array on the Manage Array card and use Connect to Agent: type the rig’s name (such as aris-pi-ai.local) or its IP address in Host, its port in Port (8080, unless you changed it with the pencil next to the rig’s name in Settings → Connection), and tap Connect. Once the Array holds a rig, the same fields are under Add Rig.

Note

A rig flashed with ARIS Rig OS asks each phone, tablet and browser to sign in once after you claim it for remote access. Before it is claimed, and on a hand-installed rig or a NINA rig, nothing asks. See Sign in.

Set up the rig’s equipment

The first time you connect to a rig that has no equipment saved, ARIS asks for it on a page titled Set up and the rig’s name:

• MAIN — the imaging Camera, chosen from the cameras the rig can see, and the telescope: Name, Focal length (mm) and Aperture (mm), or one you saved before under Telescope.
• GUIDE — shown when the rig sees two or more cameras: the guide Camera, and whether it uses an Off-axis guider or a Guide scope.

Tap Done. The rig keeps this record. You can change it later in Settings → Equipment.

Next, if the rig’s setup is not finished, ARIS offers to walk you through it, in two halves: INDOORS (settings and calibration frames) and UNDER THE STARS (focus, polar alignment, plate solve, guiding). Tap Start to begin Rig setup, or Not now to go to Home. ARIS asks this once per rig on each device; Settings → Rig setup always has the list.

Tip

The equipment record is stored on the rig itself, so any device that connects to that rig — your phone, tablet, or a web browser — sees the same setup and skips this step. App preferences (theme, units, display options) stay local to each device.

Verifying the Connection

On Home, the EQUIPMENT line counts the rig’s connected devices (for example 8/8), and each device card shows a green dot once it is connected. A Raspberry Pi or Linux rig connects its devices itself when it starts; Connect All connects any that are not.

If a device stays disconnected, check its USB connection, then open Settings → Advanced → Set up devices, which lists what needs an answer and what ARIS detected.

Troubleshooting Connection Issues

Problem	Solution
Rig not in the list	Scan again, or type its address under Open Array → Connect to Agent. Ensure both devices are on the same network and subnet.
Connection refused	Verify the rig is on. Check the port: 8080 unless you changed it.
”ARIS cannot pair this device with the rig”	The rig runs ARIS Rig OS and has been claimed. Sign in with the account that claimed it — see Sign in.
Devices not appearing	Check USB connections, then open Settings → Advanced → Set up devices.
Intermittent disconnects	Check Wi-Fi signal strength. Consider using 5 GHz Wi-Fi or a wired connection to your rig.

Caution

ARIS communicates with your equipment over your local network. For reliable imaging sessions, a stable network connection is essential. Avoid congested 2.4 GHz networks when possible.

What’s Next

With your equipment connected, you are ready to capture your first image.

Want to reach your rig when you are away from home? Set up remote access pairing to control it securely from anywhere.