OWG Meeting 20-Nov-2013

Video Conferencing

We will be connected via ESnet using the standard GlueX number: 8542553

Agenda

*** Turn on conference equipment ***

• Announcements
• Review of minutes from 6-Nov-2013 meeting
• DHCP management for DAQ and controls networks - Beni, Bryan, Mark
• CentOS5 and CentOS6 for ROC's - Bryan, Mark D, Elliott
  • /apps, /site, /group
  • python, scons, etc.
• Online Data Challenge - Mark D, Dave L, Elliott
• Front-end module firmware testing - Mark D, Dave L, Elliott
• Readout list management - Elliott
  • rocUtil, ROL, etc.
• Farm Manager - Vardan, Dave L, Elliott
• CODA3 installation and DAQ testing - Mark D, Dave A
• Telecom fiber installation status - Hovanes, Elliott
• Trigger fiber installation schedule - Chris C
• Terminal servers - Serguei P, Hovanes, Elliott
• Online databases - Elliott, Dmitry
  • what level of unification is possible?
  • CCDB, conDB, trigDB, translation table, SiPM, EPICS/Nerses, etc.
• JInventory database update - Elliott, Serguei P
  • FCAL, BCAL/SiPM, FDC, etc.
• EPICS update - Hovanes, Vanik
  • Alarm system, HV/LV, etc.
• Controls update - Dave B, Elliott
  • FCAL darkroom, BCAL, Gas system, CDC, PS, solenoid, etc.
• DAQ group status reports - Bryan M, Dave A, Graham, Carl, Vardan
  • GIT, EVIO, cMsg, CODA3, ECS/CSS, disentangler, readout list, Java/cMsg GUI
• Electronics and trigger status reports - Chris, Alex, Fernando, Ben, Ed, William, Bryan M
• Mantis Task Tracker
• Midas Elog

• Upcoming topics
  • raw data, compressed vs uncompressed
  • Calibration/Alignment issues?
  • Status of processing uncompressed and compressed simulated raw data and monitoring/L3 farm - Dave L, Elliott
  • Ed to talk more on FPGA programming

Time/Location

1:30 PM Wed 20-Nov-2013 CC F326

Next Meeting

1:30 PM Wed 4-Dec-2013 CC F326

Minutes

Present: Elliott W, Simon T, Yi Q, Serguei P, Bryan M, Mark D, Elton S, William G, Beni Z, Alex S, Sean D, Hovanes E, Curtis M, Mark I, Dave L, Dave A, Ivan T.

DHCP, etc.

Bryan M will set up the DHCP server on gluon24. Paul is installing DNS and other servers on the gluon cluster.

CentOS for ROCs

Bryan says the current supported Linux version on the ROCS is CentOS5. Around Feb he will move to CentOS6. When he builds the OS he will add in some packages to eliminate any dependence on /apps or /site. Note that the OS running on the ROCs is a stripped-down version of Linux (no XWindows, etc).

Online Data Challenge

• New plan is to hold a more comprehensive data challenge in early Spring.
• We will develop many milestones with deadlines between now and then.
• Will include full L1 triggering incl. TS and GTP systems.
• Trigger system needs calibration prior to data challenge, should be done by March.
• All crates should be installed with power by then.
• Not all readout modules or detectors will be ready by then.
• It would be great if scalers were working by then.

Front End Firmware

Mark D installed Ed's new firmware in the Rack Room and it appears to output the correct EVIO format. The timestamps from the various modules were out of sync by a few counts, Ed and William and Hai are fixing this. Each board type needs a different sync offset in order for everything to be aligned.

Readout List Management

Elliott implemented ROLs as a package in the normal build system. The scons system was modified appropriately, e.g. each ROL must be turned into its own shared object file. Mark D will test ROLs compiled an linked by scons. A ROC library area rocUtil was also created. Note that code for the rocs must be compiled (currently) for CentOS5 on either an actual roc or on rocdev1 (a Linux box set to boot same as ROCs).

Farm Manager

Dave modified JANA to allow for new types of communication needed in the farm to end runs properly, new tagged release soon. The farm control supervisor will send an end transition message to the farm processes which will actually end when they have no more events in their input ET queues.

CODA3

Currently there are multiple CODA installations in /gluex, we need to settle on one standard version controlled by Hall D. The DAQ group is working towards a first "stable" release, with luck by early Dec. Recent problems solved include dealing with multiple NICs in the EMU nodes and out-of-date LinuxVME libs.

Network Fibers

Tom needs to get drawings to Jason, should be ready soon.

Trigger Fibers

Chris ordered 5 fiber bundles (out of 12) and will install them when the cable trays are ready. Lead time is about 1 week. The 5 bundles cost $8.5k. Note that the trigger crates are not installed in the racks yet, and power to many areas is still being installed.

Terminal Servers

Need a connection for every ROC to access BIOS and other tasks only possible from the console port. Current plan is to install special Linux driver to allow use of ts_connect facility (same as has been used by CLAS for many years). Need to order RS232-to-RJ45 converters for each ROC.

Online Databases

Dmitry is here and has been thinking a little about unification of online databases (along with Elliott). Everyone agrees base information should not be stored in more than one place. The JInventory database stores basic information about all physical devices in the hall and can be used in other applications, e.g. trigger configuration system. This effort needs a lot more work...

EPICS

• Vanik is working on HV/LV gui speedup and development of many scripts.
• Nerses is back in Armenia.
• Hovanes is working on rebuilding EPICS and CSS after the online name changes. He also stumbled across a hard-coded path to the gcc 4.8 compiler, which is not what he expected (4.4 is the RHEL default).

Controls

Dave has been working with Narciso on the gas system PLC programming, and Scot has been installing gas system hardware.