Operation

MTD operation
 

Detector operation

For MTD operation, please see STAR operation


Trigger documents

TOF_MTD_PP2PP_Run14

TOF_MTD_PP2PP_Run13

QT_Algorithm_MTD_Run13

STAR_DSM_MapE

More trigger related documents can be found on trigger page.















MTD HV CAEN Board (A1534) Settings.

 When installing a new board into a SY4527 mainframe, the settings on the board are configured to the previous use-so factory settings or test bench settings.  To check/configure the board, there are (at least) two ways to go about it [ CAEN HV Control Software or EPICS].

The boards used in mtd-hv are A1534s.

Easiest(?) Method:
Use CAENHVControlSoftware. so on mtd@mtd-cr, cd to /home/mtd/CAENHVControlSoftware-1.1.2/bin/
then: ./CAENControlSoftware

[This software is outdated, but does the job.]

A GUI should pop up, on the top left menu- click File->Connect.

log in to mtd-hv as admin.

and then a couple more guis should pop up inside the main GUI and look something like this: https://drupal.star.bnl.gov/STAR/system/files/MTDResetFlagConfig.png .

Then click on the parameters you want to adjust and type in the new value and carriage return.

[02/02/2016 a new board was installed into slot 5]

In this case, Board05_Chan00*.

 So here I changed:
 V0Set to 6400 for full voltage (was 0, could have set to standby if wanted instead)
 I0Set to 100uA to match the other boards(was 20uA)
 RUp to 8Vps (was 50Vps)
 RDWn to 30Vps (was 50Vps)

Everything else was the same on the board(except for V1Set & I1Set, but we do not use those--we could for standby&change the control operations a bit...).

Second Method:
Use EPICS. The commands to monitor and set the parameters through epics can be sent almost anywhere on starp that has epics running, but use mtd-cr just to be safe.

To monitor:
caget MTD:HV:Negative:5:0:v0set
[MTD:HV:$Polarity:$Board:$Channel:$variable]

v0set = the demand voltage setting
i0set = the max current setting
rampup = ramp up rate
rampdn = ramp down rate

To set:
caput MTD:HV:Negative:5:0:v0set 6400

To check to see which variables are available to read/set, you can look at (on mtd-cr) /home/mtd/MTD/HV/HVCAENx527_3.7.2/db/MTDHV.db . Use less to look at the file, we do not want to modify it!


Random tidbits:
New board installed: A1534 (neg.) ser. no. 71 board fw: 04.
Current boards(A1534s) slot(1,3,5,7);  ser no (59, 69, 71, 61); fw(3.01,3.01,04.,03.); charge(-,+,-,+)  ramp up rate: 8v.s, down: 30v/s, max current 100uA.  max V 8k.



Random


MTD HV SY4527 Firmware Upgrade

An entry describing the steps needed to update the firmware for the MTD HV Crate(mtd-hv.starp & model: SY4527)
(install by Joey & Shuai)

Originally,
MTD crate firmware: 1.0.0
FPGA firmware: 0.04 build c723

This is indicated from the tech. info. page through the CAEN HV Control Software, as indicated here:

To update the crate, the firmware(1.3.1) was downloaded from the caen website, http://www.caen.it/csite/CaenProd.jsp?parent=20&idmod=752 .
The package, sy4527-5527-HVFw-1.3.1-b20150608.zip, was unzipped on a local directory at mtd@mtd-cr.starp
And the firmware, sy4527-5527-HVFw-1.3.1-b20150608.bin, was used to upload to the crate.

To upload the firmware to the crate, there are two possible methods(at least).  Uploading via webserver or usb stick.  Uploading via webserver was used for this upgrade.
This was done by going to the Upgrade Firmware menu.  This should be accessible through the crate's web configurator.  In this instance, the CAEN HV Control Software was used to access the web configurator.
To get there, click on the "Settings" button located on the left menu in the image listed below:

Once clicked there, go to the "Upgrade Menu" on the top and select "Firmware Upgrade"
Here, select to upload the firmware bin file.
Once done, you should see the message: "Update Done!" in a green box as indicated in the image below:

Turn off the crate.
Wait 30 seconds.

At this point, make sure everything trying to talk to crate is turned off.   Eg: CAEN HV Control Software, HV IOCs, etc.  [Do not worry about the ethernet cable itself]
We do not want to mess with the crate while it is installing the new firmware.  (no inadvertent power reset, etc.)

Turn on the crate.
Wait 10 minutes for the installation to be complete.  [Do not touch/access until 10mintues have passed.]

Check that the installation is complete.
One can check the tech. info. page(or the web configurator's sidebar) and see that it was successful:

Note: the firmware version is mis-reported via this version of the CAEN HV Control Software, but it correctly reported through the web configurator.

The crate firmware has now been updated with the FPGA firmware.
firmware: 1.3.1
FPGA firmware: 0.06 build d910