Control Computer Exploration

20230404T1600-20230406T2000

Onkar, Tara, Roy

PHYS 401, 433C

Goals

1. create 1:1 copy of tcs c: drive (Local Disk)

2. boot tcs using copy drive and not original drive

3. install lightweight win10 OS on tcs copy drive

Log

1. onkar was bored so onkar wanted to restart the p3 project (end goal is to have dc control everything)

2. brain dump:

   1. things stopping us from full integration:

      1. ISA card that sends the motor commands cannot be installed on a modern PC due to the lack of ISA slots on modern motherboards

      2. unclear at this time whether ISA cards work properly on win10 and newer OS's

      3. DFMTCS (TCS software) does not want to open on DC even after all files had been copied over

         1. either an issue with drivers or with not properly running an "install DFMTCS" program on the dc

   2. possible solutions to solve these issues

      1. find PCIE to ISA internal or external conversion thingy

      2. fuck around and find out

      3. find wherever this install dfmtcs program would be or social engineer it out of someone at another DFM observatory

3. onkar and tara unplugged all telescope cables from control computer and extracted control computer from the desk too access its innards, specifically its harddrive
   
   

   1. boot HDD connected to cc mobo via sata data cable

   2. onkar repurposed rolly desk from 401 to act as a bench for control computer

4. the great copying

   1. onkar plugged in external SSD (borrowed from dr meyer in 306a) to black USB port on control computer

   2. onkar booted up control computer as normal and used AOEMI backupper to clone the cc boot drive to the ssd

   3. had to change ssd from GBR to MBR, believe this has something to do with the win7 OS being a 32bit OS and not 64 bit

   4. onkar waited hours for this to finish bc USB2.0 is just so gosh darn fast

5. booting from ssd

   1. onkar unplugged sata data cable connecting HDD to motherboard

   2. installed SSD via USB cable to cc motherboard rear usb2.0

   3. turned on PC, windows 7 splash screen, black screen, PC restarts, cycle repeats

   4. tried fixing the win7 install via command prompt in safe mode, no joy

   5. tried recopying the HDD to SSD in case it was a bad copy, no joy

   6. tried setting the SSD as the primary boot option in cc bios, no joy

   7. onkar is very sad and frustrated at this point

   8. roy advises onkar tries to boot from the ssd on a separate device and to use another drive to boot from for the cc

      1. attempts to boot dc via ssd, ssd doesn't even show up in the bios as a bootable option, no joy

      2. need another drive to attempt the second recommendation

Notes

1. windows is lame

2. having an internal SSD would be great for further testing and may be repurposed for data storage afterward so its not a one-off purchase

3. control room kinda messy, also whenever the cc is reinstalled into the desk, the telescope cables must be correctly hooked up and a functions test would be in order

4. speakers and webcam installed for dc

ToDo

1. look into drives, what gbr and mbr mean, 32bit vs 64 bit, and anything else that may be relevant for this

2. resintall cc

3. return cart rolly thing to 401