4. Software
4.1. Logging in
and firing up the Arcon/Mosaic software
Before you can begin to take data you must log in on both
the data acquisition (rush/rust) and data reduction (tan/emerald)
computers. We are currently controlling the Mosaic-1 with rush (KP4m) or
rust (W0.9m) with the data handling and analysis being done with tan
(KP4m) or emerald (W0.9m). Both emerald
and tan have 3 monitors labeled tan/emerald:0.0
(center monitor), tan/emerald:0.1
(left monitor), and tan/emerald:0.2
(right monitor). At the 4m there is an additional data reduction computer, nutmeg,
which has a dual processor. Note that the home directory for tan is
/md1/4meter and on nutmeg is /md4/4meter.
To begin your observing
session you should follow these steps at either the 4m or 0.9m.
- Log on to tan (emerald) as user 4meter (36inch). The computer tan is a fast computer with two CPUs (1.667 GHz AMD processors) and 1 Gbyte of memory operating under Linux. The computer emerald is also a fast Linux box with a 3.4 GHz (Pentium 4) CPU and 2 Gbytes of memory.
- On the central console (tan:0.0 or emerald:0.0) right click on the background to bring up the menu of options. The top option is "Start Interfaces for MOSAIC CCD". Select this option. This will open the VNC[1] client in tan:0.1 (or emerald:0.1) in which the windows from rush (or rust) will be displayed. It will also start the DCA (Data Capture Agent) and associated GUI of the data handling system in the center monitor (tan:0.0) as well as the Ximtool display in tan:0.2 (or emerald:0.2), displayed on the right monitor. The right monitor is only an 8-bit display (to accommodate the current version of X-imtool; a new version with 24-bit color is under development) and should only be used for the display window or there will be problems with the allocation of colors to the display window. We are still working out some undesirable features in this display. If you would rather use DS9 as an option for the image display, kill the Ximtool window, right click on the background of tan:0.2 to bring up the menu, and select DS9. DS9 should work fine as your display device. If you want to switch back to Ximtool, you will have to log out of tan and then log back in and restart as described above. This will not affect the operation of rush, but should not be done when you are reading out an exposure or you will lose that exposure.
- In the VNC viewer window on tan or emerald, click in the background of the display and select (Re)START ARCONS. This should bring up all of the MOSAIC GUI's controlled by rush (rust).
This process takes about 2 minutes and you must also answer one question. A small window labeled "ARCON Console" will appear near the left center of the screen in which various messages will scroll by. After a few seconds a larger window labeled "ARCON Acquisition" will open immediately below this; this is the window you will use for entering all data acquisition commands. A brief greeting message will appear in this window and, eventually, you should be asked
Do you want to synchronize parameters? (yes)
When you reply "yes" (or just hit [cr]), the detector parameters loaded into Arcon will match those stored in detpars and the positions of the motors recorded in instrpars will correspond to reality. We currently recommend saying yes at the start of an observing run, but "no" during subsequent restarts. This saves slightly on the start-up time. In either case the IRAF package menus will be printed and the cl> prompt will appear. Some further windows will also pop up at this point. The system is now ready for you to begin observing.
Occasionally things will get hung up during the process of downloading and initializing the Arcon software. If this happens you may see the message (but probably not)
****************************************
**
*FAILURE DURING ARCON STARTUP !!!*
**
*Use re-start button to try again*
**
****************************************
In the majority of cases, simply performing the restart procedure will fix this problem, although it may be necessary to try this more than once. If after repeated attempts the system will not start, refer to the Frequently Encountered Problems section for further advice.
Right click on the background of TAN:0.0 (or Emerald:0.0) and select (Re)start DCA. When you started ARCONS on rush (rust), the start-up procedure will have killed the previously started DCA. You can restart the DCA right after you start the ARCONS on rush (rust), you do not need to wait until the ARCON start-up has completed.
The system is now ready for you to start observing.
4.2. Autologging
If you would like to use electronic auto-logging of your observations, you will need to follow the instructions here (http://www.noao.edu/kpno/manuals/aol), including running loginit in a data-reduction window on tan (or emerald)
4.3. Restarting
the Arcon software
Every so often, something or other happens which causes the Arcon software to hang, or otherwise get confused. In the vast majority of cases this can be fixed by simply restarting the software running on rush/rust. This takes only a couple of minutes.
On rush/rust (inside the VNC window on tan:0.1 or emerald:0.1): Move the mouse pointer to an empty section of the desktop and hold down the right hand button to bring up the desktop menu. Select the item "End ARCON Session" and release the mouse button. After a few seconds the ARCON console, Acquisition, status and countdown windows will disappear. Once the windows have successfully closed, and the CPU meter has dropped to zero you can then restart the Arcon Session. Again bring up the desktop menu via the right hand mouse button and select "(Re)Start ARCON session". The software will go through the startup procedure described in [4.1]. You should normally answer "yes" to "do you want to synchronize parameters". This ensures that the detector parameters and filter positions, etc. match those in use prior to the re-start. Any other windows on the desk top will be untouched so any processes running in them will be unaffected, and you can continue to work in these windows.
When you (Re)Start Arcons the DCA on tan or emerald will close. You will need to restart it again. To do this, hold down the right hand button to bring up the desktop menu and select "(Re)Start DCA" and release the mouse button.
4.4. Restart and
Power Cycling of the Arcons and Nexus/Tram box
Occasionally, the Arcon controllers get into a weird state. There are roughly 5 levels of severity with which the user can respond.
1) Restart the Arcons: Use the pull-down menu on the data taking computer (rush/rust) to select End ARCON session. After the windows have successfully closed and the CPU has returned to zero, select Start ARCON session from the background pull-down menu. This will take a little while. It may take several (3-5) Restarts to succeed. Always try at least 3 Restarts before proceeding to the next level of severity listed below.
2) Logout and Restart the Arcons: End the ARCON session on the data acquisition (rush/rust) computer and completely log out of the data reduction (tan/emerald) computer. Log back in and select "Start Interfaces for MOSAIC CCD". This will start the ARCON session, DCA, and Ximtool-alt. If there are still problems starting the ARCONs go to level 3.
3) Try some diagnostics: open a Unix window on the Data Acquisition computer, and then run the following diagnostic commands that check for communication with the Arcons:
/xp/source/sun/bin/nexus0123
/xp/source/sun/bin/aset0123
These should complete normally for all 4 Arcons. If they fail to complete, try a few more times. If the errors are persistent, power cycle the TRAM box (see figures 4.4.1). At the KP4m power cycling the TRAM box is done remotely. At the W0.9m this is done manually (see below).
REMOTE POWER CYCLING OF THE TRAM BOX (4M ONLY)
a) Open an xterm window on Rush.
b) Telnet 4m-nexus-power (140.252.52.74).
c) Log in as 4meter - enter the password.
d) This window will print some information. Type off 1 and confirm with Yes.
e) Count slowly to 50. Type on 1 and confirm with Yes.
MANUALLY POWER CYCLING OF THE TRAM BOX (0.9M ONLY)
a) Locate the TRAM box in the computer room (see figure 4.4.1 below).
b) Turn the power on the TRAM box off, wait 30 seconds and turn the power back on.
Try the "/xp" commands again. If the "/xp" commands succeed, then try the following commands from a Unix window on the Data Acquisition computer. This is a subset of the normal Arcon startup.
cd
arcon_user
This will take a few minutes and tries to bring up the Arcons completely, but not the other windows (GUI, IRAF). If it fails the first time, try a few more times. If it succeeds or fails, type "arsh stop" to exit the window. If successful, attempt another Arcon restart. If it fails, try 3 more times. If you still cannot get arcon_user to complete, go to level 4.
4) Reboot the data-taking computer (rush/rust):
a) End the ARCON session by selecting "End ARCON session" on the Data Acquisition computer (rush/rust).
b) Open an xterm window from the background menu on rush/rust.
c) Type "reboot-rush" (at KP4m) or "reboot-rust" (at W0.9m).
d) Wait a couple minutes for the reboot to complete. While waiting, cycle the power on the TRAM box (see the TRAM box power cycling procedures above).
e) Restart the VNC client to rush/rust via the background menu on tan/emerald and start the Arcons via the background menu "(Re)Start Arcon Session".
f) You may have to execute the level 3 commands to make any progress.
g) At this point, it probably won't hurt to restart the DCA on the data reduction computer using the pull-down menu.
5) This is the most serious mode and it should be done with the cognizance of NOAO personnel. This will be a total restart of the system. Follow the process in item (4) above for the data-taking computer, but only through step (c). Then quit the DCA on tan or emerald
AT THE 4-M it is possible to cycle power to the instrument and Nexus/Tram box remotely:
a) From a UNIX prompt type telnet 4m-nexus-power. Use 4meter as the username. The password is posted in the control room. To turn off the power to the Nexus/TRAM box type off 1 at the prompt and confirm with Yes.
b) From another UNIX prompt type telnet 4m-pf-power. Use 4meter as the username. The password is posted in the control room. To turn off the ARCON power controller type off 1 at the prompt and confirm with Yes.
c) Slowly count to 50.
d) Turn on the ARCON power controller by typing on 1 at the prompt in the 4m-pf-power window.
e) Turn on the Nexus box by typing on 1 at the prompt in the 4m-nexus-power window.
f) If the system still fails to run, try steps (1-3) several
times. If that fails, call for help.
AT THE 0.9-M you will need to bring the telescope to zenith and cycle the power on the instrument manually:
a) Power off the Nexus/TRAM box in the computer room (see figure 4.4.1).
b) Go to the instrument and power off the Arcons. There are 4 red power switches located on a power plug strip (see figure 4.4.2). Wait 10 seconds. Power on the 4 Arcons.
c) Complete step (4d) by powering the TRAM box on.
d) Log back into both computers to restart the Arcon and DCA software.
e) If the system still fails to run, try steps (1-3) several times. If that fails, call for help.
Figure 4.4.1: The Arcon "TRAM" box with Power Switch noted. At the KP4m you should not need to use this switch - see section 10.2.
Figure 4.4.2: The Arcon power strip with 4 power switches noted.
4.5. Shutting down the software and Logging out
During your run, you may wish to stay logged in continuously to maintain your window environment, especially if you've taken some time to move and resize dozens of windows. On the other hand some folks feel that a "clean" environment makes for healthier observing, thus you may wish to log out at the end of every night to reset any gremlins back to their initial conditions. In all cases, after your last night, you should log out completely from both rush/rust and tan/emerald.
To log out of tan or emerald it is not necessary to shutdown Arcons - you can simply close the VNC window. However one can first end the Arcon session on rush/rust if desired.
On rush/rust: Move the pointer to an empty section of the desktop (in the rush-VNC window) and hold down the right hand button to bring up the desktop menu. Select the item "End ARCON Session" and release the mouse button. After a few seconds the Arcon console, acquisition, status and countdown windows will disappear. Any other windows on the desk top will be untouched so any processes running in them will be unaffected, and you can continue to work in these windows. Then close the VNC window by clicking the 'X' in the upper right-hand corner of the window.
On tan/emerald: select "Logout '4meter'..." from the 'K' start menu at the bottom left corner of the screen.
4.6. OBSINIT
At the very beginning of your observing run, you should clean off all of the previous observer's images and files, and reinitialize all of the IRAF parameters to their default values. This must be done separately on both rush/rust and tan/emerald.
You, or the instrument assistant, can accomplish this as follows:
On tan (or emerald)
Log on using the observer login and password posted on the machine.
In the IRAF "Data Reduction" window, and any other IRAF sessions that may be running, type logout. The window should vanish.
Select "Unix Xgterm" from the root menu. (Move the mouse to any blank area of the screen, and hold down the right mouse button. Slide the mouse down to "Unix Xgterm".)
In the new window, type obsinit and answer the questions appropriately.
On rush (or rust):
If an Arcon session is active on rush or rust,
Shutdown the Arcon session. (Move the mouse to any blank section of the desktop and hold down the right hand button. Select the item "End ARCON Session" and release the mouse button.
Log out of any IRAF cl sessions that may be running.
Select "Unix Xgterm" from the root menu. (Move the mouse to any blank area of the screen, and hold down the right mouse button. Slide the mouse down to "Unix Xgterm".)
In the new window, type obsinit and answer the questions
On rush (or rust):
If an Arcon session is not active on rush/rust,
Open a "xgterm" window in the VNC window for rush/rust.
At the rush UNIX prompt, type obsinit and answer the questions
The reason for the above procedure is that you cannot have IRAF running during an obsinit because parameters will not be reset correctly. Make sure that you have logged out of each IRAF window before running obsinit.
Note that the user has the option of selecting whether CNTL-z or CNTL-d will be the default for an end-of-file command; the former is the standard at NOAO, but the latter is the standard at many other places. If you simply wish to set all of the IRAF parameters back to their default values, you may run this in the middle of your observing run without losing any files.
4.7. Re-starting the MSE and related software
The software (MSE) which controls the instrument (filter track, TV cameras, etc.) and the communications software which links everything together (MPG-router) are normally started by support personnel when the instrument is installed on the telescope. However, a restart may be necessary from time to time. If the MCCD configuration screen shows ????? instead of numbers for the TV camera focus and temperature readouts, then there may be a problem with this software.
rush% rsh taupe
(at the 0.9-m, or cinnamon at the 4-m)
taupe% ps -ax |
grep msmid
is it there ? no
taupe%
start-msmid