[OpenSPIM] HamamatsuHam, Windows 7 & OpenSPIM

[Luke Stuyvenberg]

Hello Alexis,

On 06/04/13, Alexis Maizel wrote:
> 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
> 
> 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).



I think the difference, as Johannes mentioned, is Fiji's approach to memory usage. OpenSPIM uses the Fiji loader, which is generally greedy about memory, where (if I recall correctly) plain ImageJ (which the standalone MicroManager software runs off of) is more conservative. Specifying a sensible memory limit in Fiji should resolve the issue -- though oddly, I still get it the first time I start OpenSPIM after a reboot. Please let me know if you encounter the same issue.


> 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). 



I agree completely; it would be excellent to get this software running on Windows 7 -- moreover, I aim to support x64. Now that Micro-Manager has released a 64-bit version, this is looking promising, though I have the suspicion it will entail another rebase.


> 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. 



Yes, this is the error the startup script provides when it doesn't find Visual C++ Express. Unfortunately, the script's current detection is limited to checking 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\Common7\IDE\VCExpress.exe' for existence -- meaning it expects an entirely normal hard drive setup and default VC Express installation. I hope to have an updated version of the script (and, with luck, perhaps another new installer) available in a few hours which will be considerably more flexible in its detection (hopefully, it will find and use VC Express 2008/2010 wherever it is installed, but in the worst case, you can change the aforementioned location by editing /src/micromanager/openspim.sh -- right at the top we tell it where to look).


Thank you for your help!
Luke Stuyvenberg