VME Crate Setup Instructions

Front view of crate–The gray cable is the one that is connected to our parallel port and which we use with kermit. The blue cable is connected to an ethernet switch.

Rear view of crate–The rightmost slot here is the slot where the crate computer is connected on the other side.

Front view of power supply

Rear view of power supply

Here is a scan of our crate computer.

A close-up view of the area with the jumpers.

Hi,

   We created the cable and downloaded kermit but our Linux machine is down at the moment.

We downloaded the Windows version of kermit. We have tried using the set line /dev/ttyS(0-3)  commands but each time says ” Sorry cant open connection” .

How important is using the linux machine?

We tried set Port COM(0-2) and even tried set Port LPT1 but that did not work.

Please advise.

Thank you 

Once you have the cable connected and kermit monitoring the crate computer, you can use the computer to setup the crate computer. When you first turn on the create, you should see some text go by in kermit. And you should be given the opportunity to stop the boot process, so you can change the settings so that they’re suitable to your environment. So you have something to compare to, here are our settings:

boot device : dc
processor number :0
host name : enter the host name of the computer from which you will download Vxworks
file name : full path to the location of the vxworks package
inet on ethernet: ip address of the crate computer
host inet: ip address of the host name listed above
gateway inet: ip address of your gateway
user: user you have set up to allow to log in to your computer
flags: 0x0
target name : dns name of crate computer
startup script: script you want to run–should be located in user’s home directory

For a more concrete example, use the following:

crate computer: crate.uchicago.edu 10.35.52.25
computer with vxworks: black.uchicago.edu 10.35.52.30
location of vxworks on black: /products/prd/vxworks/v5_3b/target/config/mv2301/vxWorks
gateway: 10.35.52.1
user on black: vxworks
startup_script: crate_startup

The boot info should then look like:

boot device : dc
processor number : 0
host name : black.uchicago.edu
file name : /products/prd/vxworks/v5_3b/target/config/mv2301/vxWorks
inet on ethernet : 10.35.52.25
host inet : 10.35.52.30
gateway inet : 10.35.52.1
user : vxworks
flags : 0x0
target name : crate
startup script : crate_startup

Take an ethernet cable and cut off one of the connectors. Attach a parallel port (printer) connector. The diagram and photos below show how the pins should be connected.

Once you have the crate connected to the computer, use the program kermit to watch the connection. Download kermit from here. Once kermit is installed and the cable has been connected, start kermit with the command kermit. Once in kermit, run the following commands to connect to the parallel port.

set line /dev/ttyS0 (you may have to change the device to ttyS1 or something else)
set speed 9600
set carrier-watch off
c (this will connect)

You should then be able to see everything coming over the debug port on the crate computer. And now be able to set the crate computer up.

Thanks for doing this. We really appreciate you taking the time to help us set this up. Question though….How did you strip the ethernet wire to connect it to the parallel port?  What program did you use after to communicate with the board through the parallel port.

                                                          Xerxes

There is a page to the right called “Basic Details” which gives a very high overview of our setup. I’ll add details as I can. Feel free to post any comments or ask a question.