Starting
and stopping UltraDAS at the WHT
This page is part of the ING manual INS-DAS-29
Operations
manual for UltraDAS.
As described in the introduction, UltraDAS
includes parts of all layers of the observing system. That means that the
starting of UltraDAS isn't neatly separated from the starting of the ICS,
TCS and other aspects of the software. You may expect to find a great deal
of overlap between this section and other manuals.
Starting up
The best order in which to start the sub-systems is
-
CCD controllers;
- DAS;
-
system computer.
The CCD controller on any instrument is normally left running, but you
may have to start it if you come to the telescope immediately after an
instrument change. Similarly, the DAS systems and TCS are normally up,
but you may need to start them. The software on the system computer is
often shut down at the end of an observing night and you will usually have
to restart it. If the CCD controllers and DAS are up when you arrive, then it's
best not to restart them unless you know there's a problem. Hence, a quick
way of getting going is to start the system-computer software first and
only attend to the other sub-systems if the system computer can't make
contact to them.
You don't need to have the TCS running to use UltraDAS, but you won't
get complete headers in your observation files if it's down.
Starting the CCD controller
To get at the controller you may need to slew the telescope.
-
To get to the WHT mosaic on PFIP, bring the telescope to the access-park-2
position. Visiting observers should not do this: please ask ING staff to
do it for you.
-
To get to the WHT ISIS RED and BLUE controllers, bring the telescope to
the zenith-park position. Visiting observers should not do this: please
ask ING staff to do it for you.
UltraDAS science-cameras have the controller mounted on the CCD cryostat,
but the power controls are in a separate rack. Find the cryostat first
and then trace the cables back to the power rack. At the rack, there is
a power supply in a grey box: turn this on.
Turn on power to the shutter controller. For the UltraDAS cameras, the
shutter controller is in the same rack as the detector controller's power
supply. In both cases, the power switch is on the opposite side to
the indicator LEDs.
When you power on the detector controller, it loads sufficient software
from PROM to become accessible from the DAS
computers. There is nothing more that you need to do for UltraDAS in
the dome.
Starting the TCS
Telnet to the telescope computer
and log in as WHT_LOGIN. From the main menu choose
START.
This starts two windows: the TCS' command line, which has the USER>
prompt, and the TCS' information display. Your original
telnet window
may well get logged out during the start-up process.
Starting the DAS
The DAS computers themselves are almost
always up and running their operating system; you just need to start the
application software. (If you do find a DAS computer down, then call technical
support to start it for you.) The DAS computers are as indicated on the
CCD whiteboard. (i.e whtdas, whtdas3, whtdas4, and whtdas5)
Normal procedure:
-
Log on to the console of the system
computer as whtobs.
-
Several xterm windows with an orange background will appear and
will log in to the DAS computers for
you, using the same account that you used on the system computer.
-
Check the CCD whiteboard for information on which of the DAS computers
you need to start the observing system.
-
In the orange terminal-window, give the command obssys.
-
Obssys presents a menu of possible systems. Choose the one that
offers the right instruments, detectors, system version and set of patches.
-
When the DAS> prompt appears, give the command startobssys.
-
Wait for the prompt to come back, indicating the system has loaded.
-
Iconfiy the terminal window; it's not needed for the rest of the operation.
Alternative 1:
-
Log on to the DAS computer via telnet from somewhere other than the system
computer or DAS computer. You still need to log on as whtobs.
-
Do steps 2..6 of the normal procedure.
-
Log out of your telnet session. (This leaves the DAS running in the background.)
Alternative 2:
-
Log on to the console of the DAS computer as whtobs.
-
Do steps 2..6 of the normal procedure.
-
Either leave your session logged in, or log out and leave the DAS running
in the background.
Notes
-
Only the observing account whtobs has the correct settings to run the system
fully and correctly.
-
The obssys command defines which software to use but does not start
it. The startobssys command starts the software but cannot work
unless obssys has defined which software to use.
The DAS does not need a terminal attached to it for the software to
operate. However, it is sometimes convenient to keep the terminal active
if you intend to shut the DAS down later.
Starting the system computer
As with the DAS computers, the system
computer is almost always up and running Solaris. You need to log in
and start the user-interface software for UltraDAS. In the process, you
inevitably start some of the instrument-control software as well.
Normal procedure:
-
Log on to the console of the system
computer as whtobs.
-
An xterm window with an pink background will appear, logged in to
the system computer.
-
In the pink terminal-window, give the command obssys.
-
Obssys presents a menu of possible systems. Choose the one that
offers the right instrument, detector, system version and set of patches.
-
When the SYS> prompt appears, give the command startobssys.
-
Give the identification data requested by the identify window. If
you are starting the system during daily checks, please enter the observer's
details from the summary schedule.
-
Wait for the prompt to come back, indicating the system has loaded.
Alternative 1 (not recommended for observing):
-
From an X-terminal, or from another SPARCstation, start a remote X-session
on the system computer.
-
Follow steps 2..7 of the normal procedure.
Alternative 2 (not recommended for observing):
-
From an X-terminal, or from another SPARCstation, start a telnet window
on the system computer.
-
Set your DISPLAY variable and X-server permissions to bring the display
back to your screen.
-
Follow steps 3..7 of the normal procedure. The telnet window you opened
explicitly stands in lieu of the "pink" window used in in the normal procedure.
Notes:
-
In starting "the observing system" on the system computer, you are actually
starting the part known as the "central intelligence", plus some portion
of the instrument-control system (ICS) that happens to live on the system
computer.
-
The system computer may have two screens in its console. If you use the
remote login in the alternative methods, windows that should have come
up on the second screen will not appear.
-
It is impractical to start the full system from a terminal without X-windows
graphics; too many imporant display would be lost.
-
The remarks about obssys and startobssys made for the DAS computer apply
equally to the system computer.
It is crucial to choose the same system-option for the DAS and system
computers.
-
Please give identify the data it wants. This information is added
to the header of each observation file and helps in the administration
of the ING archive.
-
If by mischance you have run startobssys on the system
computer before some of the other sub-systems are started, then you
will get error reports. Start the missing machines, and then re-issue the
startobssys
command. Startobssys will make add the missing connections and restart
a few displays. It is not necessary to shut down the system-computer software
and start it from scratch.
Starting a second session on the system computer
Once you have your applications running on the system
computer, you can start another command session from a different terminal
if you wish. Typically, the telescope operator does this to get access
to autoguider commands. Telnet to the system computer and log in as whtobs
as described above. Give the obssys command
and select the system. Don't give the startobssys
command (the system is already running and does not need restarting), but
instead give the command talker &
to get a status display.
Shutting down
In general, there is no need to shut down any part of UltraDAS at the end
of an observing session. You may want to log off the system computer at
the end of observing, but this is not strictly necessary. In any case,
you should not normally need to halt the operating system on the system
computer or DAS computer. The
DAS and the CCD controller should only be shut down for instrument changes
or other engineering work.
The best order for a full shut-down is
-
system computer.
-
DAS;
-
CCD controller;
-
TCS;
Shutting down the system computer
Stop the display software and instrument-control programmes by giving the
command shutdownobssys. You may
be left with a few display windows. Close these manually. Now log out.
If you need to stop the computer itself, log back in to the shut
account. (If you don't know the password for this, call technical support).
The log-in script for the shut account will lead you through the
process of closing down Solaris.
Shutting down the TCS
At the USER> prompt, give the command tcsexit. This causes
the TCS to shut down and logs you out from the captive account that was
running the TCS.
If the TCS is running but you don't have a USER> prompt, you
will have to log in again to the telescope computer. Telnet to the telescope
computer and log in as WHT_LOGIN. Choose STOP from the
main menu. This stops the TCS and logs you out.
Shutting down the DAS
Log in to the DAS computers as described
above under "starting the DAS". (If
the terminal sessions which started the DAS are still running, use them.)
Follow that procedure as far as the obssys
command, but don't go on to give the startobssys
command.
Now give the shutdownobssys command. Wait for the programmes
to die off, then log out.
If you need to stop the computer itself, log back in to the shut
account. (If you don't know the password for this, call technical support).
The log-in script for the shut account will lead you through the
process of closing down Solaris.
Shutting down the CCD controller
Find the controller's power supply and shutter-control rack as described
under "starting the CCD controller". Switch
off both these units.