Table of Contents

Starting the IOC Panels

Can also see these commands with "caget -tS RIX:VLS:CAM:01:LAUNCH_EDM" and "camViewer -c VLS -m".  "camViewer -l will give you a list of cameras"

• TMO: /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R1.01.1/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-tmo-andor1/edm-ioc-tmo-andor1.cmd
• RIX: /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R1.01.1/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-rix-dir-andor/edm-ioc-rix-dir-andor.cmd
                /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R1.01.1/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-rix-vls-andor/edm-ioc-rix-vls-andor.cmd
         /cds/group/pcds/epics/ioc/common/andorCam/R1.01.1/children/build/iocBoot/ioc-rix-norm-andor/edm-ioc-rix-norm-andor.cmd

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NOTE: one can look at the EVR screen by clicking on the EVR button on the top right on main andor window

Slow Full-Frame Tuning vs. 120Hz Full Vertical Binning with DAQ

LCLS2 Timing Panel

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Mike Browne writes:  The "Rate Mode" can be Fixed, AC, or Seq.  Fixed gives you one choice of rates, AC another.  Seq gives you two fields to program... and Matt better knows what values to use here than I.  Destination for now should be "Don't Care".

Slow Full-Frame Tuning vs. 120Hz Full Vertical Binning with DAQ

Many experiments tune the position of the beam on the camera with a slow full-frame image then, after tuning is complete, run fast 120Hz data acquisition in "full vertical binning" (FVB) mode.  To do this, we recommend that users use the IOC's "python viewer" for the full-frame viewing/tuning (without running the DAQ) then switch to FVB for 120Hz DAQ operation.Many experiments tune the position of the beam on the camera with a slow full-frame image then, after tuning is complete, run fast 120Hz data acquisition in "full vertical binning" (FVB) mode.  To do this, we recommend that users use the IOC's "python viewer" for the full-frame viewing/tuning (without running the DAQ) then switch to FVB for 120Hz DAQ operation.

The steps below refer to two IOC panels.  Here are two screen shots of a working Andor.  The first image is the main panel, and the second image is a "detail" subpanel.  It is accessed from the lower box labelled "NewtonD0940P" on the middle-left of the main panel:

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NOTE: when changing running modes, always disable acquisition by hitting the "Stop" button in the "Image Collection" section of the main IOC window, then "Start" after all changes have been made.

The You can turn on crop from the expert screen setting "crop mode" to enable.  The underlying PV for turning this mode on/off is:  RIXRIX:DIR:CAM:01:AndorIsolatedCropMode

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Combining Crop Mode and Partial Vertical Binning

May 8, 2023.  Following a request from Kristjan Kunnus, Dan and Kristjan tried running the andor with a combination of crop mode and partial vertical binning with these settings.  It appeared to work and run at 10Hz, but it needs to be tested with x-rays on the detector to verify that it works.

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Miscellaneous Thoughts on running the Newton Camera

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Power cycle procedure for camera/USB fiber extender

NOTE: This may not be necessary if one uses Dan's ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh script described below.

Occasionally after power cycling the camera or everything if there was a power outage the USB fiber extender will come back in a bad state where it won't communicate with the camera. One time we saw these errors in /var/log/messages when the VLS camera broke:

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1. Power off the camera (NOTE: to do this I believe you have unplug the power supply, since the power supply just has a rocker switch which I think selects between standard-cooling/deep-cooling?).  The only LED that gives any indication of power is a green one inside the power supply, visible only if you put your eye somewhere near the deep-cooling ("||") side of the rocker switch at a specific angle.
2. Power off the camera side of the extenderof the extender
3. Unplug the server-side extender USB cable from daq-rix-andor-01. The DIR andor extender has the black USB cable (top USB port) and the VLS andor extender is the silver cable (bottom USB port).
4. Re-plug Unplug the server-side extender USB cable from into daq-rix-andor-01. The DIR andor extender has the black USB cable (top USB port) and the VLS andor extender is the silver cable (bottom USB port).Re-plug the server-side extender USB cable into .
5. Power on the camera side of the extender. You should see the link led turn on on the extender, and the host led blink slowly.
6. Power on the camera. The host led on the camera side extender show turn on solid now, and the activity led should blink intermittently.
7. Restart the IOC (the existing IOC process my be locked up and may need to be kill -9 to die) or alternatively just reboot daq-rix-andor-01.
8. Power on the camera side of the extender. You should see the link led turn on on the extender, and the host led blink slowly.
9. Power on the camera. The host led on the camera side extender show turn on solid now, and the activity led should blink intermittently.
Restart the IOC (the existing IOC process my be locked up and may need to be kill -9 to die) or alternatively just reboot

Remote Power Cycling of Cameras

As of Nov. 17, 2023 rix now has a control panel to remotely power cycle andor cameras:

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Debugging

You can see log files for the IOC here:  /cds/data/iocData/ioc-rix-dir-andor/iocInfo/.

For camera communication errors ("Unknown" in EDM "Model Number" field) can look for "USB disconnect" error messages in /var/log/messages.  Can see device numbers with "lsusb | grep Andor" and compare to device numbers in /var/log/messages.  Here is an example with two cameras hooked up to one node:

daq-rix-andor-01

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:~$ lsusb | grep Andor
Bus 001 Device 071: ID 136e:0005 Andor Technology Ltd. 
Bus 001 Device 063: ID 136e:0005 Andor Technology Ltd. 
daq-rix-andor-01:~$ 

Other debugging techniques:

• telnet to the ioc and restart
  • when restarting, ioc connects to all the cameras to see if it's the right one
• Sometimes have to reset all usb hubs/bridges like this:

bash-4.2# ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh 3-2
bash-4.2# ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh 3-2.4
bash-4.2# ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh 3-2.4.4
bash-4.2# ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh 3-2.4.4.1
bash-4.2#

Debugging

You can see log files for the IOC here:  /cds/data/iocData/ioc-rix-dir-andor/iocInfo/.

For camera communication errors ("Unknown" in EDM "Model Number" field) can look for "USB disconnect" error messages in /var/log/messages.  Can see device numbers with "lsusb | grep Andor" and compare to device numbers in /var/log/messages.  Here is an example with two cameras hooked up to one node:

daq-rix-andor-01:~$ lsusb | grep Andor
Bus 001 Device 071: ID 136e:0005 Andor Technology Ltd. 
Bus 001 Device 063: ID 136e:0005 Andor Technology Ltd. 
daq-rix-andor-01:~$ 

Workaround for RIX ANDOR-DIR hang

NOTE: We have seen cases where this does not work and we are forced to power cycle daq-rix-andor-01 to recover.

This is for when the camera is visible with "lsusb | grep Andor" (note uppercase "A") but the camera isn't communicating:

• Execute the following command on daq-rix-andor-01 as superuser: ~ddamiani/reset_andor.sh 1-2
• Restart one IOC (e.g. DIR), wait for it to finish
• Restart the second IOC, wait for it to finish

At the moment there is no way to know which camera is which, except for unplugging them one at a time.

The argument to the script ("1-2") can change, in principle but should do so rarely.  The “1-2” is coming from the USB bus and port enumerations from the operating system:
 
ddamiani@daq-rix-andor-01:~$ egrep 136e /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/idVendor
/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-2.3.1/idVendor:136e
/sys/bus/usb/devices/1-2.4.1/idVendor:136e
 
The first part of the for X-Y.blah bit which is 1-2 currently.

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