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EPICS is a software system for distributed control systems which uses a database resident in the VME crate to control instrument mechanisms and acquire status from the hardware. EPICS runs on top of the real-time operating system called vxWorks (from Wind River Systems Inc). Tools are available on the Suns to provide status from an instrument as well as a control interface. The primary displays are graphical user interfaces but other utilities are available on the Suns as well as directly on the VME crate to obtain further detailed information.
Extensive documentation on the EPICS systems here at ING are available on the local Intranet. Follow the links
Software group-> Software documentation-> EPICS
A particularly useful page for troubleshooting purposes is the page showing the boot parameters for that instrument's crate. Each instrument section in the EPICS documentation has a page called `Bootconfig'.
For the full worldwide picture, see the main EPICS web site at http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics
EPICS runs on VME crates connected to the network which load vxWorks, EPICS software and data files remotely from a Sun host over the network. Currently all ING EPICS systems run on a Motorola CPU card (either the MV147 or MV167, both based on the 68000 series). The instruments using the EPICS software system at ING are (as of October 2000):
| Instrument | VME Crate full host name | IP address | Sun Host |
| WYFFOS | wyffos.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.16 | taurus |
| ISISP | isisp.roque.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.190 | taurus |
| INTEGRAL | integral.roque.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.192 | taurus |
| INGRID | ingrid.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.194 | crater |
| NAOMIOMC | naomiomc.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.129 | navis |
| NAOMISDSU | naomisdsu.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.128 | navis |
| OSCA | oscaioc.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.134 | taurus |
| LIRIS (not yet commissioned) | lirisioc.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.87 | taurus |
| USP | usp.ing.iac.es | 161.72.6.185 | taurus |
The "Sun host" listed above is the computer from which the vxWorks and EPICS system software is loaded for that crate. This is subject to change (many Suns have the same set of files available using shared disk access).
While a system is operational it is possible to log in to an EPICS crate
remotely over the network, without having to use a directly connected terminal.
Each crate has a login username that is the same as the crate name (e.g. user name `wyffos' to log in to crate
wyffos etc).
All VME crates should have a connection to a portserver which will allow a tip session from the whtics console. The information is in the document COMMS-PORT-1: Portserver Configurations, which describes the tip sesion name to use for connection.
If the portserver connection is not available then crates may have a boot console connected directly to the
crate's serial port. When troubleshooting with suspected network problems or the system
does not boot properly, it may be necessary to set up a suitable console.
A suitable account to be used when troubleshooting EPICS is
whtmimic. This account is configured to be able to easily run up the instrument
EPICS engineering screens as well as other EPICS utilities. It is recommended that the
whtics or whtics1 machines should be used for this purpose.
If there appears to be no response from the EPICS system a likely cause is problems with the network or the EPICS crate's connections to the network. To check whether the crate is on the network use the `ping' command from any Sun terminal. e.g. if the wyffos crate is online then the command issued from the Sun and its (quick) response would be as follows:
> ping wyffos
wyffos.ing.iac.es is alive
If the crate is not able to respond over the network there would instead be a pause (20 seconds or so) after the ping command: eventually the response would be :
> ping wyffos
no answer from wyffos.ing.iac.es
There are several commands available to examine or alter the values in the EPICS control database. Changing a value should only be done in the full knowledge of its effect! In practice, these commands are only useful when used in conjunction with the EPICS software source or a list of the database records. Ideally, a list needs to be made available to show the most important EPICS records in a system, particularly those which interact directly with the instrument hardware.
Commands available from the Sun include:
|
caget record.FIELD |
Display the value of the FIELD in the named EPICS record. |
|
caput record.FIELD value |
Set the specified value in the FIELD of the named EPICS record. |
|
cau |
An interactive utility to get, set or monitor changes in a specified EPICS record. Type help at the cau: prompt for further details. |
|
probe record.FIELD |
An interactive GUI utility to get, set or monitor changes in a specified EPICS record. |
Unfortunately, the " " (quotes) shown below surrounding all symbols are necessary when working at the vxWorks prompt.
|
dbl |
List all the EPICS records on this crate |
|
dbgrep "*string*" |
Search for records specified by the quoted string (analogous to grep on the Sun) |
|
dbgf "record.FIELD" |
Display the value of the FIELD in the named EPICS record. |
|
dbpf "record.FIELD", "value" |
Set the specified value in the FIELD of the named EPICS record. |
|
dbpr "record","level" |
List all the fields of a record along with their values. Level 1 is basic, level 3 or 4 shows almost all record fields. |
|
dbior "drivername","level" |
Print data about the specified I/O card and its data signals. Drivers available in ING systems include: "drvXy220", "drvXy240", "drvOms" and "drvXy566". |
The EPICS system runs with the vxWorks operating system. vxWorks uses the following boot parameters. The example below shows the actual boot parameters used for booting the INGRID crate, see the Intranet pages for each instrument's Bootconfig.
| Parameter | Comment |
| boot device : ln | Network device: do not change |
| processor number : 0 | do not change |
| host name : crater | Name of Sun host to load vxWorks from |
| file name : /home/epicssm/ingrid/bin/mv147/vxWorks | vxWorks boot filename |
| inet on ethernet (e) : 161.72.6.194:ffffff00 | This crate's IP address and netmask |
| inet on backplane (b): | (Not used) |
| host inet (h) : 161.72.6.51 | IP address of host (crater) |
| gateway inet (g) : | Gateway if required |
| user (u) : epicssm | Username for accessing the Sun host |
| ftp password (pw) (blank = use rsh): | Normally left blank |
| flags (f) : 0x8 | Boot flag (0x8 = fast boot) |
| target name (tn) : ingrid | Name of this crate on the network |
| startup script (s) : /home/epicssm/ingrid/bin/mv147/st.cmd | Startup script file for running EPICS |
| other (o) | (Not used) |
Normally there should be no need to change boot parameters. They should only be changed in the event of the host name being changed (e.g. the usual Sun host is unavailable) or if for some reason the boot parameters were corrupted (e.g. accidentally or due to a VME hardware fault).
From the EPICS console (directly or via remote login) the command bootChange should be used. This will prompt for a new value for each parameter. Simply hitting <Return> will preserve the current value. Special characters available include: "." (set the parameter value to blank) and "-" (step back to the previous boot parameter).