beadpull 19.10

Description:

beadpull 19.10

Description
This is a measurement software for particle acceleration structures using bead pulling method.
It utilizes PyVISA device communication library as an intermediate device communication layer in order to support multiple platforms.
Device specific code is isolated in driver objects; adding new device driver is a matter of implementing a set of object methods.
This program includes drivers for motors:

Fake motor (placeholder driver)
Randomly failing software motor (for program debugging)
UIRobot motor driver

This program includes drivers for vector analyzers:

Fake analyzer (placeholder driver)
Randomly failing software analyzer (for program debugging)
Agilent8753et

Installation
Get python and pip
Download and install python and pip.
You may use a package manager for this. For example, in Debian installation command looks like this:
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip
If you don't have a package manager, download installer from the python web site.
You will need to install either NI drivers (for Windows installations) or Linux-GPIB drivers.
Install NI drivers
If you need to use NI drivers, use this manual for installation.
Install Linux-GPIB drivers
In order to use Linux-GPIB drivers, one must compile them and install python bindings.
Note. Drivers are build for current Linux kernel. So, after kernel update one needs to recompile GPIB drivers.
Getting sources
In order to proceed, you will need to install additional programs:
apt install -y git git-svn

Getting the latest sources:
git svn clone -r HEAD https://svn.code.sf.net/p/linux-gpib/code/trunk linux-gpib-code

Now you have the latest sources of Linux-GPIB:
cd linux-gpib-code

Compiling drivers
For driver compilation you will need Linux sources:
sudo apt install linux-source

cd linux-gpib-kernel

Issue following command to start compilation:
make

And then:
make install

That's it for driver compilation. Return one folder back.
cd ..

Compiling userspace utilities
cd linux-gpib-user

Since we use source from project repo, we need to prepare autotools installation scripts:
apt install autotools-dev
./bootstrap
./configure --sysconfdir=/etc
make
make install

Installing Python3 bindings
Go to python bindings folder:
cd language/python

Creating and installing Python3 module:
python3 setup.py sdist
pip3 install dist/*.tar.gz

Configuring GPIB device
Download GPIB board firmware form https://linux-gpib.sourceforge.io/firmware/.
Later in this document agilent_82350a device will be used.
Firmware archive is assumed to be located in ~/Downloads/ folder.
Configure your board in /etc/gpib.conf. Consult configuration manual.
Configuration will look something like this:
interface {
minor = 0 /* board index, minor = 0 uses /dev/gpib0, minor = 1 uses /dev/gpib1, etc. */
board_type = "agilent_82350b" /* type of interface board being used */
name = "violet" /* optional name, allows you to get a board descriptor using ibfind() */
pad = 0 /* primary address of interface */
sad = 0 /* secondary address of interface */
timeout = T3s /* timeout for commands */

eos = 0x0a /* EOS Byte, 0xa is newline and 0xd is carriage return
*/
set-reos = yes /* Terminate read if EOS */
set-bin = no /* Compare EOS 8-bit */
set-xeos = no /* Assert EOI whenever EOS byte is sent */
set-eot = yes /* Assert EOI with last byte on writes */

/* settings for boards that lack plug-n-play capability */
base = 0 /* Base io ADDRESS */
irq = 0 /* Interrupt request level */
dma = 0 /* DMA channel (zero disables) */
}

device {
minor = 0 /* minor number for interface board this device is connected to */
name = "analyzer" /* device mnemonic */
pad = 7 /* The Primary Address */
sad = 0 /* Secondary Address */
timeout = T3s

eos = 0xa /* EOS Byte */
set-reos = no /* Terminate read if EOS */
set-bin = no /* Compare EOS 8-bit */
}

Upload board firmware, if necessary:
sudo gpib_config --init-data ~/Downloads/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/hp_82350a/agilent_82350a.bin

Configure udev rules
Some boards require firmware upload on every start.
Also, superuser privileges are required for communication with device.
In order to remove these problems, lets add udev rule for device.
Firstly, lets create new group, which will be able to use GPIB devices:
addgroup gpib

Copy your device's firmware to /usr/local/sbin.
Command will look something like this:
cp Downloads/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/hp_82350a/agilent_82350a.bin /usr/local/sbin/

Then, create a file /usr/local/sbin/load_agilent with contents:
#!/bin/bash

gpib_config --init-data /usr/local/sbin/agilent_82350a.bin

And allow its execution:
chmod 755 /usr/local/sbin/load_agilent

Add the following line to the /etc/udev/rules.d/99-gpib.rules file:
KERNEL=="gpib0", SUBSYSTEM=="gpib_common", GROUP="gpib", MODE="0660", RUN+="/usr/local/sbin/load_agilent"

Now device will be available for users in group gpib, its firmware will be automatically loaded.
Install BeadPull
From the terminal issue the command
pip3 install beadpull
for system-wide installation, or
pip3 install --user beadpull
for the local installation.
Add user to device communication groups [Optional]
Gnu/Linux distributions restrict access to peripheral devices.
To grant access to serial devices to user, issue command:
adduser user dialout

USB devices:
adduser user plugdev

GPIB devices (if configured):
adduser user gpib

Run
In order to run the program, from the terminal issue the command
beadpull
If it's not found, you have to modify the PATH environment variable to include the python scripts folder (unix guide,windows guide) or supply the full path to the program.
Other
Update beadpull
To update program, from the terminal issue the command
pip3 install --upgrade beadpull
for system-wide installation, or
pip3 install --upgrade --user beadpull
for the local installation.
Reset beadpull settings to defaults
Program saves its settings under
APPDATA/beadupll on Windows and $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/beadpull or $HOME/.config/beadpull on other systems.
In order to reset settings, simply delete saved settings folder.
Issue submission
In case of a problem with the program, create an issue in the issue tracker.