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Before installing
  1. Please refer to the "Sub-detector test" page to set up the hardware.
  2. Download the TFC framework component (lbFwTFC_vVrR.zip), all files for the CCPC (CCPC_TFC_vVrR.zip), and the JCOP framework component and lbconfDB listed together with the corresponding lbFwTFC version.
  3. Untar the CCPC software on the root of the "tfc" account on the CCPC (untar  -xvzf CCPC_TFC_vVrR.tar.gz)
  4. Make sure that there is a symbolic link TFC_server --> TFC_serverXX in the ./bin directory
  5. Unzip the lbFwTFC_vVrR.zip, the JCOP framework components and the lbconfDB in temporary directories on the computer where you have PVSS installed (use option -a on a Unix based system!)
  6. Download the framework installation tool but don't unzip it.
  7. Create a directory PVSS_tfc (under C: on Windows or under the root of the account you use to run PVSS on )

Creating the TFC PVSS project

  1. Start the application "PVSS Project Administration".
  2. Click on the button "Register new project".
  3. Select project type "Distributed project" (picture).
  4. Specify project name "TFC_LC", language "English", and the project path "..../PVSS_tfc/". Make sure the option "Runnable" is active (picture).
  5. Specify the system name "TFC" (picture).
  6. Click OK to create the project (picture).
  7. Quit the PVSS project administrator.
  8. Copy the framework installation tool into the directory ..../PVSS_tfc/TFC_LC and unzip it there (use option -a under Unix).

Installing the JCOP framework components

  1. Start up the PVSS console, select the project TFC_LC and start it (picture).

  2. Launch the framework installation panel from the PVSS Graphical Editor (picture).

  3. Click OK to create the directory for the framework components ..../PVSS_tfc/fwComponents_2006xxxx/ (picture).

  4. Look for new components in the directory where you unzipped the JCOP framework. Select fwAccessControl, fwConfigurationDB, fwCore, fwDIM and fwGenericExternalHandler and click on install (picture). If the lbFwTFC version requires other versions of the FwConfigurationDB, FwDIM, and FwFSM than those in the JCOP framework, download them and install them separately using the installation tool. Remember that the FwFSM is a sub-component and to see it in the component list you must click on "Show also Sub-Components. (picture)

  5. Restart the project.

Installing the LHCb configuration DB component

  1. Install the lbconfDB with the fwInstallation tool and follow the instructions which are on the lbconfDB download page.

Installing the TFC framework component

  1. Enter the "config" directory in the directory tree that was created when you unzipped the lbFwTFC component.

  2. Open the FwTFC.postInstall and specify the name of the computer on which the DIM_DNS will run (usually the same as where PVSS will run).

  3. ADVANCED: If you are running several PVSS projects on the same computer you must put them on different ports. Alternative ports are specified in the "config" file of the TFC project but they are commented out by default. A better solution might be to merge the projects by installing the different components on top of the same PVSS project. Contact me to discuss this solution.

  4. Launch the framework installation panel from the PVSS Graphical Editor.

  5. Click on Advanced Options and select ..../PVSS_tfc/TFC_LC as installation directory (picture).

  6. Open the directory where the lbFwTFC component was unzipped (picture).

  7. Select and install the lbFwTFC component (picture).

  8. Restart the project.

If you are at CERN:

  1. You are done here!! Just stop the project and never start it again.
  2. To run the TFC control, simply use the icon StartTFC_LC (windows) or scripts (Linux) which you find on the root of the lbFwTFC archive.
  3. You may also write scripts for run sequencing. There are examples in the ./scripts/lbFwTFC/ directory (lbFwTFC_RunScriptExample.ctl and lbFwTFC_HuginScriptExample.ctl) and a file  "StartRunScript" to show how to execute the run script (Windows). You just have to open the icon and specify the name of your run script. You may also create a shell script with a similar line for Linux.

If you are not at CERN, Start DIM_DNS

  1. Enter the directory ..../PVSS_tfc/fwComponents_2006xxxx/bin and start up the DIM_DNS ("Dns") (On Linux, execute the setup script "fwDim.sh" before). You may just as well make sure it runs all the time in the background.

  2. You may want to set up the environmental variable DIM_DNS_NODE in order to be able to run DID to check the DIM services and commands in case of trouble.

Configuring the PVSS managers

  1. Change the run mode of the following PVSS managers (picture):
    • "Control manager lbFwTFC_Subscribe.ctl" - set to run "once"
    • "Control manager lbFwTFC_OdinCtrl.ctl" - set to run "always"
    • "PVSS00DIM ...." - set to run "always"
    • "Control manager lbFwTFC_SubsystemFSM.ctl" - set to run "always"
    • "Control manager lbFwTFC_StartFSMTree.ctl" - set to run "once"
  2. If you are outside CERN, please, don't start the lbFwTFC_InitializeDB.ctl manager!
  3. Restart the project and you are ready to go!

Cold starting the TFC control

On the CCPC of OdinV2xx:

  1. Log into the "tfc" account and go down into the directory "ODIN_V2".

  2. Execute the setup script ".setup_def". This set up the control busses and program the four main FPGAs

    • > source .setup_def

  3. Start the TFC server with the name of the node on which the DIM_DNS runs, e.g:

    • > TFC_server lbontfc01.cern.ch &

  4. Alternatively, you may edit the .setup_def and add to the end of the file your network domain name and start the server directly with the right DIM_DNS_NODE.

  5. There is also a way to make this run at boot but you have to contact me to set it up

You may also run the TFC server in a debug mode (TFC_server -d lbontfc01.cern.ch) in which it dumps the read/write actions.

On the computer running PVSS (interactively):

  1. Start the DIM_DNS in the same way as mentioned above
  2. Start the PVSS console and launch the project

You may also start the project in the background with the following command:

> PVSS00pmon -config ..../PVSS_tfc/TFC_LC/config/config &

and stop it

> PVSS00pmon -stop -proj TFC_LC

You may check the status of the project with

> PVSS00pmon -status

Troubleshooting:

  • In case DIM does not connect properly (diagnose with the tool DID), it might be due to the firewall. Switch it off and try again

Operating the control system

Please, see the operation instructions