Frequently Asked Questions about Hpe^®_IRP

The factory settings of the Hpe_IRP employ a German keyboard layout as described here.

You can change the settings with the command: 'loadkeys'. For instance if you want to set the keyboard to a US style keyboard layout you need to log in and type

loadkeys us

In order to type 'loadkeys' you may want to have a look at the above mentioned Wikipedia page to determine which keys to press.

In case everything fails you may try to login via network:
Connect the Hpe_IRP to your local network via the Ethernet port labeled 'ETH2'.
If you have a DHCP server in your local network, the Hpe_IRP will be assigned a proper IP address. Then you can log-in from a remote machine via SSH (for instance using putty).
When using the network log-in, the keyboard settings are determined by the remote machine and not by the Hpe_IRP.

An update to date list can be found here.

The term "soft-PLC" usually refers to a software package which turns an ordinary PC into a PLC -- as opposed to a dedicated DIN rail mounted box which is specifically designed as PLC.

In the case of the Hpe_IRP the soft-PLC consists of two parts:
A development environment running a Windows PC and a run-time system running on the Hpe_IRP (Linux).
The development environment is called CoDeSys and is a product of the company 3S [1]. Within CoDeSys you can develop your automation application. CoDeSys is like a typical software development environment where you can edit your source code, manage the source files, automate the build process, debug your application, and download it to the target system (the Hpe_IRP). The programming languages used in CoDeSys are the ones standardized in IEC 61131.

The run-time system is called CoDeSys SP and is running on the Hpe_IRP. It is necessary to execute the applications which are created with the development environment. The run-time system essentially is a piece of software which turns the Hpe_IRP into a PLC.
The automation application created with the development environment can also be installed permanently on the Hpe_IRP. In this case you don't need the development environment any more, but the run-time system is always required.

www.3s-software.com

The 'customer logic', i.e. the FPGA contents handles the IOs connected to the FPGA. For instance it can contain Ethernet MACs, CAN controllers, UARTs, GPIO and of course the PCIe core. The FPGA design can be created through the Hpe_AIM by plugging together a set of given IPs. Of course it is also possible to integrate your own IPs. It is also possible to extend the IO capabilities of the Hpe_IRP through the child boards.

Furthermore, the FPGA might be used to off-load computationally intensive tasks from the CPU to the FPGA. For example, digital signal processing or low-level video processing operations might be handled more efficiently in hardware depending on the application.

By default the Hpe_IRP tries to obtain an IP address via DHCP on the ethernet port labeled 'ETH2'. The hostname of the system is hpe_irp. The obtained IP address will be printed on the character display on the front-panel of the Hpe_IRP. It might take up to a few minutes until it gets its IP address.

If DHCP is not available in your environment, it is necessary to log in via USB-keyboard and to set-up your specific network settings manually. In most cases it should be sufficient to edit /etc/conf.d/net.

The Hpe_IRP can be accessed either via a Windows share (Samba) or via SSH. In the default configuration the Hpe_IRP offers a share called irp which is the irp user's home directory /home/irp. Depending on your network environment this share can be accessed from a Windows machine as \\hpe_irp\irp. User name and password are stated in the manual.

The installation of software packages is handled through a system called 'portage'. Portage is part of the installed Linux distribution, namely Gentoo.

The intended workflow is as follows: Your Hpe_IRP is connected to your localnetwork and has internet access. When you instruct the Hpe_IRP to install a certain package, it will check the dependencies of this package, download all necessary sources from the internet, compile and install the newly compiled package.

In order to install (or update) a package use first need to find out its name within the portage tree. You can find a list of all potentially available software packages here. Alternatively you can browse the directory /usr/portage on your Hpe_IRP.

Once you figured out the package name you can install the package by typing 'emerge '. However it is usually a good idea to run a 'emerge -pv ' first. The "-pv" means "pretend" and "verbose". The command will show you what would happen when you install the given package, but it will not download or install anything.

Important: Your local copy of the portage tree, i.e. the files in /usr/portage are in general not the same as the ones you find here. In order to synchronize your local portage tree to the official one, run 'emerge --sync'.

Note that 'emerge' always works with respect to the local copy of the portage tree. So when you type 'emerge something' it will install the latest known version of 'something' as stored in your local portage tree. If you want to be sure to get the latest version you have to run 'emerge --sync' as described above. Note that it is strongly recommended *not* to run 'emerge --sync' more than once a day.

A detailed description of portage can be found in the Gentoo handbook.

The general workflow is the same as described in ["How do I install additional software on the Hpe_IRP?"], i.e. the installation is handled through portage with the command 'emerge'.

For instance if you want to install the latest driver for the hmi just type 'emerge sys-drivers/hmi' or just 'emerge hmi' [The short version works as long as it is unique with respect to all available packges. If it is not unique, emerge will complain and not install anything].

The main difference, however, is that the list of available software packages is not held in the official portage tree (and neither its local copy in /usr/portage), but in a so-called portage-overlay. A portage overlay is like a second portage tree which will also be considered when running 'emerge'. If you want to know which Hpe_IRP-specific packages are available you can examine the directory '/usr/local/portage/layman/Hpe_IRP' or run 'find /usr/local/portage/layman/Hpe_IRP -type f'.

The local copy of the overlay can be updated by running 'layman -S' provided that the Hpe_IRP can access the internet. By default your Hpe_IRP is pre-configured to download the most recent overlay from www.ge-research.com. Unlike the offical portage tree it is not browsable with an ordinary web browser.

By default only 'nano' is installed. To install vi, type 'emerge vim'. To install emacs, type 'emerge emacs'. For this to work your Hpe_IRP needs to be configured with network access.

See also

"How do I setup a network connection?"

"How do I install additional Software on the Hpe_IRP?"

This depends on what exactly you want to update. In general there are two different kinds of software involved: Software running on the Hpe_IRP and software running on your host PC (Windows). The latter one comprises Hpe_desk as well as the Altera Quartus software. The latest Hpe_desk version can be found here.

For updating the software on the Hpe_IRP please refer to:

"How do I install additional software on the Hpe_IRP?"

"How do I install additional/new Hpe_IRP-specific software (e.g. drivers)?"

Please note that the DVI connector on the Hpe_IRP just provides a digital signal (DVD-D). These cheap adapters you get for free with almost every new monitor do not work. These adapters simply connect the analog signals which are available in DVI-I to a VGA connector. You can find some details here

You need an adapter which contains a D/A converter.

You can delete the local overlay and re-initialize it again:

rm -rf /usr/local/portage/layman
layman -L
layman -a Hpe_IRP