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We have many Windows computers for SpinQuest.  This page collects commonly-used methods of setting these Windows computers.

BOS+EOS Handler

A program to detect the BOS & EOS signals to update the BOS, EOS & SPILLCOUNTER variables on EPICS.

Turning Off

  1. Click the "STOP" button.  It might show an error, but it is fine for now.
  2. Close the VI file, by clicking the right-top Close button of the window.  Do not  save any change, if asked.

Turning On

  1. Make sure that the NIM bin with the gate generator for BOS/EOS is on.  It is in the bottom of the right most rack.
  2. Double-click "bos_eos_mostreal_atBOS_sid_saved.vi" (which is a shortcut) on the desktop.
  3. Click the VI "Start" icon.
  4. Right-click "monitor_spill.ps1" on the desktop and click "Run with PowerShell".  It pops up a small text terminal.
  5. Wait for one minute at max to confirm that the text terminal shows new records of BOS, EOS and SPILLCOUNTER.

Communication with Slow Control Devices

All devices in the slow control rack are connected with the target computer through the interface converters.  The hardware configuration is explained in README.md, note_converter.md, etc. in this repository:

https://github.com/uva-spin/Temperature-Pressure-VIs

All virtual USB devices are usually disconnected.  You have to connect/disconnect each device before/after you use it via "SX Virtual Link".  You can click the icon in the taskbar to bring up the user interface like this. 

Usage of Git Repository

The "uva-spin" GitHub repository ( https://github.com/uva-spin ) is cloned at "github" on desktop.  Our default software to manipulate the repository is "Git Bash" in "Git for Windows" ( https://gitforwindows.org/ ).


You can right-click the desktop and click "Git Bash Here" in the menu, or you can click the icon of "Git Bash" in the task bar.  Once a text terminal of "Git Bash" is opened, you can do "cd github/e1039-target-controls", "git pull", etc.

Environmental Variables for EPICS

The target computer has to communicate with the EPICS server to set BOS, EOS and SPILLCOUNTER.  We follow this procedure.

  1. Search for "env" in the search box.
  2. Bring up "Edit the system environment variables".
  3. Click the "Environment Variables..." button.
  4. Add or modify the EPICS variables; EPICS_BASE, EPICS_CA_ADDR_HOST and EPICS_HOST_ARCH.  Example.
  5. Reboot.

NFS Mount

The target computer mounts the E906/E1039 network disk (i.e. "/data2") to record slow-control data.  The disk is automatically mounted when the main user logs in.  It was configured on 2021-11-21 by the following procedure.

...

The standard configuration about the Windows update is available at "Settings" -> "Update & Security" -> "Advanced Options".  It allows us to only postpone an update up to 35 days.

USB Device Server: Silex DS-510

We use Silex DS-510 to connect USB devices in the hall to Windows computers in the counting house.  To change the IP address of new device, it might be easier to connect the device to a DHCP-enabled network (like your home network) and access it via web browser (rather than installing the utility software, "Device Server Setup).