This document is intended to be a repository for people to record issues that they commonly have so that others can hopefully solve those problems quickly. Please add more issues as you encounter them and fix anything I say that is not correct. Frederic P Poitevin Mark Hunter Sebastien Boutet Alex Batyuk


  1. I don’t see the beam!?

    Assuming that you have followed the protocol in “Taking Beam in MFX”, here are some common reasons you don’t see the beam on DG1 YAG camera:
    1. The pitch of mirror M2 is far enough off that you cannot see any of the beam.
      Solution: Scan the pitch (maybe ± 20 µrad from the normal value) in 1 µrad steps. Make sure you do not have any pre-focusing or transfocator lenses in.

    2. DG1 YAG camera is not being triggered correctly, so you are not seeing the X-rays.
      Solution: Enter the camera master view and check the current event code triggering.
      $ camViewer -c (camera name) -m
      Check the value in the box labeled “Cam Trig Event Code”. 40 is 120 Hz, 41 is 60 Hz, 42 is 30 Hz, 43 is 20 Hz, 44 is 10 Hz, 45 is 1 Hz, and 46 is 0.5 Hz. Also check that the Trigger Mode is set to “Pulse”.

      If this does not work, but you suspect that there is beam entering the hutch, then you can check the Wave8 for X-ray pulses.

    3. If you see beam on DG1 YAG but not the Rayonix, then the Rayonix may not be triggered correctly.
      Check that the event codes are set correctly. In the DAQ Control window, click the Edit button, click EVR, click EvrConfig, and click the EventCodes tab. For <120 Hz acquisition, the Sequencer Codes should be set to 198 Readout. For 120 Hz, set the Sequencer Codes to 198 Command and enable the Global Codes for 40 (120 Hz). Also make sure that the binning for the Rayonix is set appropriately for the sample and the desired repetition rate. In the DAQ Control window, click the Edit button, click Rayonix, and click Rayonix config.


      Similarly, check that the event codes in the Event Sequencer are correct.


      The number of ΔBeams should be 120 divided by the desired frequency. For example, in the screenshot the sequencer is set up for 30 Hz because there are 4 Δ Add more ΔBeams to Step 0 (code 213). If the Play Status is not “Playing”, click “Start”.

    4. Check if the pulse picker is blocking the beam. First try homing the pulse picker. Then, try removing it from the beam.

      1. With full beam and “open” PP this is usually a sign the pulse picker is not aligned well (lost motor position somehow). Diagonal looking clipped beam.

      2. If the pulse picker becomes misaligned it is usually fixed by rehoming the motor.

      3. Click home motor. It will put it in “home motor mode”

        Click “home motor” the motor moving will change to “moving”

        Wait until it is done moving.

        Then hit Reset Mode

    5. Use xcs_yag3m as a pre-MFX diagnostic to see if the beam is making it past the XRT.

    6. Check again that there is not something blocking the beam upstream (e.g. mfx_dia_yag).

  2. Process in ProcStat fails. This might cause AMI or something else to stop responding. You may also notice a yellow “Shutdown” status in the ProcStat window.
    Solution: Click “Open Console” in the ProcStat window. Click on the ID of the failed process. In the window that opens, type Cntrl + r.


  3. An IOC needs to be rebooted. This might be necessary if a camera or other device stops responding.
    Solution: In the MFX IocManager window, click on the name of the IOC you want to reboot. Then select “Hard IOC Reboot” or “Soft IOC Reboot” from the “IOC Control” dropdown menu.


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