A copy of the email Bob sent to the list about Linux software (9/15/00)
Our current release of software is now Version 1.4 and is available
on the ftp site with the username GenII on the machine named
roswell.sdsu.edu, in the directory /PCI/ver1.4. It is all geared for
using the PCI interface board. It contains -
- A Solaris device driver,
- A Linux device driver, written by Marco Bonati of CTIO,
- An image acquisition program named Voodoo, written in Java,
- Two new programs named PciRomBurn and TimRomBurn that write DSP code
to EEPROMs installed in their respective boards,
- A library of DSP code in the directory DSPlib,
- A library of C-callable functions for those who wish to write their own
image acquistion programs,
- A programmers reference manual for the device driver and a user's manual
for the image acquisition program.
There is a web site (www.astro-cam.com) maintained by the company we've
founded to manufacture and distribute controllers that will be the site
for distributing software in the future. We'll be maintaining both the
astro-cam.com and roswell.sdsu.edu sites in parallel for a few months.
Users should write to me for account information for the new astro-cam
site. The documentation and software distribution areas of the web site
will be username and password protected. Please send the username you
wish to use and I'll send you a password.
Several users have had some success recently with the Linux device driver.
The runtime environment of Java in Linux that we currently use appears to
produce failed image readouts occasionally, which does not happen when the
C-library functions are used in a Linux environment. We are, of course,
looking into this issue with considerable enthusiasm.
Bob Leach
Here is an copy of an email from Bob Leach about the 50 MHz fiber optic parts on the Generation I and II controllers. (date 5/23/00)
"I found a source for the fiber optics TX/RX pairs, part numbers ODL1261AAC and ODL1361AAC manufactured by CTS. They're new parts, kinda expensive, but definitely available and new. Contact dbertucelli@class-ic.com, Daniel. Or try 310-539-5500, ext. 342. I bought a bunch and just received them - they look good."
Having a source for these parts is great, now we can keep getting the 50MHz versions of the boards and don't have to upgrade to the faster 250MHz version.