BeeSoft User's Guide and Reference beeman~1.htm

BeeSoft User's Guide and Reference

Chapter 12: BeeSoft Installation and Administration

Installing BeeSoft

If you have just received your new robot, BeeSoft™ is already installed on your system. Refer to this chapter when you need to reinstall BeeSoft™ --such as when you receive a new version or a software upgrade.

RWI, Inc. will announce new distributions of the BeeSoft package, including instructions for downloading, on the World Wide Web and in a mailing list called bxx-announce. Go to http://www.rwii.com and follow the "software" link. Releases will be in .tgz format.

NOTE: Please consult the README for the version of BeeSoft™ you are installing. To find the README, go to http://www.rwii.com and follow the "software" link.

Operating System Considerations

Proper installation of the BeeSoft software package depends on several GNU software packages, developed and licensed by the Free Software Foundation. You’ll need the correct versions of make, gcc, and these packages installed on your system. RWI, Inc. pre-installs the correct versions for you.. BeeSoft is able to run on the following operating systems:

Linux (2.0.x)

SunOS (up to 4.x)

Solaris (5.0 and higher)

Only the Linux version of BeeSoft is fully and officially supported by RWI, Inc.

If you are using a different machine and your BeeSoft installation fails, or if you receive any error or warning messages, consult the system administrator at your site.

Expert’s Tip:

If you’ve developed patches to enable BeeSoft to run under a different operating system, you’re welcome to submit these to RWI, Inc. for consideration for inclusion in future releases.

Logging On

Initially, log in as user bee. Your password will be aa6bb7cc.

For security reasons, RWI, Inc., does not supply you with the root password. When you first log into the system, you should select and set your own root password. Always exercise extreme caution when using the root account. In inexpert or inattentive hands, it can be quite dangerous!

The first time you log into the system as bee, you should set a unique root password for your site. To do this:

 sudo passwd root
 (You will see a prompt to enter your password, which is aa6bb7cc)
 aa6bb7c
 (You will see a prompt to enter your new root password)
 [type your site’s unique root password]
 (You will be prompted to retype the password to confirm it.)
 [type your site’s unique root password]

Creating User Accounts

NOTE: To do the following, you need to be logged on as root. Use the unique root password you just created for your site.

Create a user account for each user who will be working with the robot. For each user, type:

 adduser  <username>
 passwd  <username>
 chfn <username>

You’ll be asked to provide some simple information, such as your name and password. If you don’t know the answers to any of the questions, consult your system administrator.

Next, insure that user bee will be able to run as root where necessary. Add user bee to the list of sudoers on each computer. On each computer, type:

 jed /etc/sudoers

And add the line

  bee ALL=ALL

to the file /etc/sudoers.

Do the same for all other user accounts with admin privileges.

Do not do your everyday development and testing work as root or bee unless absolutely necessary as specified in this manual. Using root or bee when inappropriate may cause important files and other resources to become inaccessible, or may cause create or compile scripts to fail.

Most of the time, you’ll be doing your experimental and development work from your own home directory. Add the following lines to your Makefile.

Near the top, add:

 include ~bee/src/Makefile.defines

At the end of your Makefile, type:

 include ~bee/src/Makefile.rules

Troubleshooting

If the computer doesn’t boot, check these things:

Power?

1. Do the robot’s onboard computers have power? The green power LED’s on the left side of the robot’s console should be lit, and the CPU’s fans should be on. If there is no power, make sure you have turned on the circuit breakers and the white main power switch. See the Quick Startup Guide in Chapter 2 for details on powering up your robot.

2. If the power is on but the computers still have not booted, the problem could be one or more of the following:

Incorrect CMOS settings?

To reset your CMOS settings, use the diagnostic login procedure detailed below.

The method of logging in described below is neither recommended nor officially supported by RWI Inc. This login procedure is for use only when no other method is available, or when all other methods fail. For example, you might want to use it if the BIOS fails somehow -- a dead BIOS battery or hard drive configuration change are the usual suspects -- or if the hard drive has been seriously damaged.

On a B21 robot:

1. Plug a standard PC keyboard into the keyboard connector behind the robot’s left door.

2. Plug a PC monitor into the 15-pin, 3-row connector behind the robot’s left door.

On a B14 robot:

1. Lift the top cover and plug in the standard PC keyboard to the keyboard connector.

2. Still under the top cover: plug in the PC monitor to the 15-pin, 3-row connector.

Power up the robot. (See Instructions in Chapter 2, QuickStart Guide.)

Follow the BIOS prompts to properly configure theBIOS.

Timeouts? Is your network connection missing or incorrect?

NOTE: Upon boot up, the access bus LED on your robot should light up momentarily, then start flickering steadily. If it doesn’t start flickering, you’ll need to switch off the MSPs and then switch them back on again.

On the B14 robot: the "flickering" LED is the one just to the left of the MSP toggle. The MSP toggle is the left toggle switch, the one nearest the square red button, on the row of four toggles on top of the robot.

On the B21 robot: The Access bus LED is the second from the bottom one on the left row of LED’s on the left strut on the robot’s console. The reset switch for the B21 robot is located on the base control panel, set into the door with the yellow dot on the base.