ComptonDaqDev

Here are some notes on the Compton DAQ Development.

Maybe should go into a logbook.

Start date Sept 26, 2012

Bob Michaels, Kalyan Allada

Will work on adev account.

Want to use CODA 2.6. Save the old tcshrc file cp .tcshrc tcshrc_22feb2012

VME cpu bbvme1 presently on bbps1 2002

FADC library for VME /adaqfs/halla/adev/fadc/v1.2

crl is /adaqfs/home/adev/fadc/v1.2/fadc_list.crl

Decoding of FADC /adaqfs/halla/adev/fadc/ComptonAnalyzer

Attempts to make CODA 2.6 work on adev

1. Adjusted .tcshrc, adding things at top (comments there).

2. Create coda26 directory. Put $COOL_HOME there.

3. Minor problems. Had to start msqld by hand (/etc/rc.d/rc5.d/S82msqld_s on adaql2). Had to run cedit or dbedit on adaql1, not adaq1, b/c on adaq1 it complains cedit: error while loading shared libraries: libXm.so.3: (adaq1 has libXm.so.4)

4. Minor problems (part II). Needed links on adaq1, else CRLs don't compile. in /usr/local: ln -s /adaqfs/coda/vxworks-linux gcc-vxworks and ln -s /adaqfs/halla/apar/vxworks/5.5/gnu_vxworks gnu-ppc

5. Minor problems (part III). Can't run rcgui on adaq1 b/c missing libXtst.so.6. I guess it's looking in the wrong place since it's here: /usr/lib64/libXtst.so.6. Punt on adaq1. Use adaql1 (with the "l") for now.

6. startcoda on adev was a link to startcoda_2.5. Change this to startcoda_2.6

7. Bootscript on bbvme1 changed from /adaqfs/home/adev/bbite/vxworks/bbvme1_coda25.boot to /adaqfs/home/adev/vxworks/bbvme1_coda26.boot

8. Adjusted hardware address of TIR and FADC in CRL.

9. Started all the DAQ components "by hand" (startcoda not working yet). A working config is $SESSION=Compton, Configuration = Compton2. A seemingly ok data file is /adaql1/data4/AComp_1012.dat.0

10. "startcoda" and "kcoda" are now working on adev account. A working configuration is "Compton2".

to be continued ....

Date : 28th Sept 2012 (K.Allada)

1. As a first step trying to decode fadc data using /adaqfs/halla/adev/fadc/fDecode which prints data on screen.

2. The 'fadc_decode' prints data with any slot and crate number as an argument ...this is not expected.

3. I tried to change some parameters in the crl (such as PTW and PL) and the decoder shows correct changes made to PTW, at least that works!(run 1019)

4. Now I increased the delay of the trig to TI so as to catch the pulse (it wasn't sufficient), but the decoder still see no signal, only pedestal. (run 1020)

5. Added some more delay(~200ns) between trigger and signal, changed PL=100(400ns) and PTW=80(320ns) in the crl code. Now I can see the signal from the decoder in fDecode!! See halog (run 1028)

6. For now, this is the only working decoder (/adaqfs/halla/adev/fadc/fDecode)... more later.

Date : 1 Oct 2012 (R. Michaels)

1. Got my own version of fDecode to compile and run in ~adev/bob. Spent about an hour figuring out where the heck the slot number comes from (I did). Slot 5 for now.

2. Latency 300 nsec. Trigger window 260 nsec. I learned how to adjust this. Runs 1040 - 1045 are ok. I can see the data, and it moves to another channel when I move the input cable, but there are some strange things: (a) For data in chan 15, I see many times a repitition of the same ADC data, it's not physical. Meanwhile for chan 16, the data looks normal (monotonic, looks like a pulse). And (b) When I do run #N the first few events look like run N-1 conditions, as if the ADC is not cleared. Obviously, some work to do here.

3. Neither fDecode nor decoder_new compiles on adaq1. Instead must use adaql* (with the "L"). The CODA-related problems for adaq1 were allegedly fixed, so we may try running CODA there again sometime. I'm more interested in the FADC for now, though.