19990917: McIDAS-XCD 7.60 installation and configuration

>From: Jim Heimbach <address@hidden>
>Organization: UNCA
>Keywords: 199909141652.KAA04088 McIDAS

Jim,

>I got the ldm-mcidas decoders and am now plotting the lightning.  Piece
>of cake, and thanks!

Super.

>     Next item:  I'm still having trouble getting XCD up.  It's the
>broken pipe thing which I fixed once for ldm-mcidas by properly
>defining a library path.  An example message in the ldm log file is:
>===========================================================================
>
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: child 10784 exited with sta
>tus 127
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pbuf_flush (4) write: Broke
>n pipe
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pipe_dbufput: xcd_runDDS wr
>ite error
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pipe_prodput: trying again
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: child 10786 exited with sta
>tus 127
>Sep 17 20:13:13 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: child 10788 exited with sta
>tus 127
>Sep 17 20:13:14 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pbuf_flush (5) write: Broke
>n pipe
>Sep 17 20:13:14 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pipe_dbufput: xcd_runDDS wr
>ite error
>Sep 17 20:13:14 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: pipe_prodput: trying again
>Sep 17 20:13:14 vortex.atms.unca.edu pqact[15517]: child 10790 exited with sta
>tus 

Broken pipes usually indicate one of two things:

o the application that the product is being PIPEd to from the LDM is
  exiting before the full product is read.  This can be caused by:

  o the program named is not executable by the user running the LDM
  o the program named is not found by the user running the LDM

o the directory into which the application reading the product is trying
  to write is not writable by the user running the LDM

>===========================================================================
>     Below are some relevant items.
>     First the ldmd.conf:
>===========================================================================
>
>exec    "pqexpire"
>exec    "xcd_run MONITOR"
>exec    "pqbinstats -d /home/ldm/logs -q /data/ldm/data/ldm.pq"
>exec    "pqact -d /data/ldm/data /home/ldm/etc/pqact.conf"
>exec    "ddplus -q /data/ldm/data/ldm.pq /dev/ttya"
>exec    "pqsurf -d /data/ldm/data -q /data/ldm/data/ldm.pq -Q /data/ldm/data/p
> qsurf

This looks OK.  I would suggest that if you are not using the stuff provided
by pqsurf, that you comment 'exec "pqsurf' line out and stop and restart your
LDM.

>============================================================================
>     Note that I didn't use the simple default in the above as suggested by
>the on-line instructions since I am putting data in /data/....
>      In pqact.conf I added:
>============================================================================
>
>#Entries for XCD decoders.
>DDPLUS|IDS      ^.*     PIPE
>        xcd_run DDS
>HRS     ^.*     PIPE
>        xcd_run HRS
>#
>============================================================================
>Tabs separate IDS...^.*...PIPE, and are before xcd_run but not after.

OK, good.

>     Next are the items of interest in /home/ldm/decoders/xcd_run
>============================================================================
>
>MCHOME=/home/mcidas
>MCDATA=$MCHOME/workdata
>MCLOG=$MCDATA/XCD_START.LOG
>MCPATH=${MCDATA}:$MCHOME/data:$MCHOME/help
>
>PATH=$MCHOME/bin:/usr/openwin/bin:/opt/SUNWspro/bin:/usr/ccs/bin:/usr/bin:/usr
>/local/bin:/usr/ucb
>
>LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/openwin/lib:/usr/local/ws/SUNSpro/lib:/opt/SUNWspro/SC4.2
>/lib:$MCHOME/lib:/usr/lib:/usr/ucblib

These settings look correct.

>=============================================================================
>I added /usr/local/ws/SUNSpro/lib to the LD-LIBRARY_PATH.  So far there is
>no XCD_START.LOG to be found.

The fact that there is no XCD_START.LOG file is telling us that the
'exec   "xcd_run MONITOR"' invocation in ldmd.conf is not running.  This
tells me that one of a couple of things:

o XCD was never made and installed during the McIDAS installation process

o XCD routines run by xcd_run: startxcd.k, ingebin.k, ingetext.k are not
  executable by the user running the LDM

>    I'm confused over pqsurf.pq.  For my first attempts, the log file
>indicated there was no pqsurf.pq.  I then created this using,
>
>=============================================================================
>
>pqcreate -c -s 1M -S 6881 -q /data/ldm/data/pqsurf.pq
>
>=============================================================================
>and it stopped growling about not finding it.  

The queue files have to be made before they can be used. (The two queue
files are one for the ldm and one for pqsurf).  The typical way that
the queue files are made is by use of ldmadmin:

ldmadmin mkqueue
ldmadmin mksurfqueue

>     I have a feeling its a path problem again.  Hopefully I supplied
>enough to garner a hint from you.

If you installed McIDAS in the account 'mcidas', and the HOME directory
for 'mcidas' is /home/mcidas, then the environment variables that setup
the various paths above (e.g. MCHOME, MCDATA, MCLOG, MCPATH, PATH) look
correct.  If the HOME directory for 'mcidas' is something different,
then these settings are incorrect.

Another thing that might be wrong is the possibility that you did not
specify the needed file REDIRECTions in the 'mcidas' account.  XCD
decoders need the file REDIRECTions in order to locate/write/update
McIDAS data files.  These REDIRECTions would have been setup if you
used the local copy of EXAMPLE.NAM, LOCAL.NAM which would have had
to have been edited by you so directories matched your system setup.
Again, doing this is in the online instructions.

The other thing that might be wrong is that the permissions on the XCD
executables are not set to allow the user running the LDM to execute
them.  This might happen if you did not put the user running the
LDM and the user who installed McIDAS in the same group.

If all of the above is fine, please give me a login so I can poke around.

Tom