[OpenSPIM] HamamatsuHam, Windows 7 & OpenSPIM

[Johannes Schindelin]

Hi Alexis,

On Tue, 4 Jun 2013, Alexis Maizel wrote:

> > I just tested now (Windows XP, freshly up-to-date
> > OpenSPIM-20130131.zip, with an Orca R^2), and the software can load
> > the mmgr_dal_HamamatsuHam.dll file included in the latest MM nightly
> > build
> 
> Indeed it can now load the mmgr_dal_HamamatsuHam.dll
>
> Unfortunately, it still can not communicate properly with the Camera
> (OrcaFlash4). The errors messages I get are:
> Device HamamatsuHam_DCAM. Error in device HamamatsuHam_DCAM: Error code 40 (28 hex)
> Device HamamatsuHam_DCAM. Error in device HamamatsuHam_DCAM: Native Module failed to load

This might be the "new" error message instead of the old "core property is
read-only" red herring. In our FAQ, we describe the real reason:

http://openspim.org/FAQ#I_get_the_error_that_a_core_property_is_read-only.3F

It is simply a mismatch between the memory management of the device
adapter layer and the Java memory management: Fiji tries to grab as much
memory as possible, not leaving enough for the Hamamatsu driver. So: just
go to Edit>Options>Memory & Threads and limit the RAM to leave enough
space for the low-level driver.

> What is really surprising is that the same device Adapter works
> perfectly (camera is operated and live stream works) when run into a
> 'standalone' MicroManager (tested: latest nightly build, v1.4.13 and
> v1.4.14). Therefore it seems that the issue resides into the MM version
> embedded into OpenSPIM (and/or that I am running Windows 7).

Yep, this is the tell-tale for the memory problem described above.
Unfortunately, we did not get the Hamamatsu people to provide a sensible
error message, and the driver is closed source, so we really cannot do
anything about it.

> > I can't make any certain statements about support for Windows 7,
> > unfortunately, since our goal at present is to maximize support for
> > Windows XP first.
> 
> Trying to downgrade to windows XP is  something I have tried at the very
> beginning, but it seems the laptop we use is too modern for XP and after
> hours of attempts, I dropped that option. (I might add that in the
> medium-long term only supporting XP may really impair the 'Open' nature
> of OpenSPIM). 

Fair enough. You'll probably not be the only person to have that problem,
so I'd appreciate you helping us to get the software working on Windows 7,
too.

> > Regarding the development environment, I'm actively working on
> > bringing it up-to-date, and your assistance in this would be
> > invaluable -- I was hoping you might test something for me: Please try
> > downloading
> > https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57890359/OpenSPIM-dev-env-20130529.exe
> > and installing it. This is a newer version of the installer, and
> > hopefully should at least finish putting everything into place.
> 
> Thanks for this. I am certainly willing/wanting to serve as your
> guinea-pig for this. Idiot-testing  is always useful. 
> 
> Basically, it seems that the 7z archive extracts Git-related files, then
> I am presented with a command prompt inviting me to install Visual
> Express Studio (see screenshot). Nothing beyond this point. 
> 
> I am motivated to get this to work, so please involve me. 

Thank you so much! We really need this to work for all people willing to
contribute, and solving the obstacles you face will help that.

I take it you already have Visual Express Studio installed? If so, which
one? And do you you see the file

	C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0/Common7/IDE/VCExpress.exe

or similar?

Ciao,
Johannes