[AG-TECH] Newb seek a bit of advice

[Eric Hepburn]

Beginnings of an answer:
I think you should be able to get a view-only configuration working on a pIII-800.
I would start by making sure that you have Win2k running with all the service packs and security updates from windows update....
Then you need to download and install the AG 1.2 Release - Personal Interface to the Access Grid (PIG) option.
The other option (Windows2000 display system) will give you video only, no audio.
After you do the installation you will have 2 icons on your desktop: 'Start PIG' and 'Virtual Venues'

First step I would recommend is running the 'Start PIG' portion.
This should bring up several java windows.  The critical thing to look for here is that you are getting a blinking 'heartbeat' in your audio and video windows.  This indicates that you are successfully getting multicast traffic (a prerequisite for the AG to function).  If you are not getting a heartbeat you need to talk with your network support people about your network configuration and support for multicast.

Second, you can open the Virtual Venues page, register and create a logon and then log on... this should automatically launch the MUD and the audio and video clients.  (Assuming that you do not have video capture devices or USB/Firewire cameras attached to the system your system will not attempt to broadcast video).

Other:  You may need to 'mute' some incoming video windows you aren't watching in a venue to get the performance you need out of your pIII system.  Also, to get a better idea of the operation of the video and audio tools you can do a web search for documentation VIC and RAT, they are the video and audio tools upon which AG is based respectively.

Hope this helps get you started please let us know where you get stuck and we'll help if we can.

Eric

PS.  If I've led you astray with my limited knowledge I'm sure one of my more experienced comrades will help set us straight.


-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Hanley [mailto:phanley at temple.edu]
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 12:11 PM
To: Majordomo at mcs.anl.gov
Subject: [AG-TECH] Newb seek a bit of advice


I have been asked to facilitate several faculty being able to access 
the November 8th broadcast of a Benoit Mandlebrot presentation being 
transmitted via accessgrid. Although the best possible scenario is 
being able to fully participate, it doesn't seem to be possible for us 
to build a node by the 8th.

Currently I have installed the AG 1.2 Release on a PIII-800 with 256 
megs of ram, and have not been able to either connect to the MUD nor to 
a video screen. I'm not sure if the reason I can't connect is because I 
have configured something incorrectly, or becasue there was nothing to 
connect to when I was trying it. It has been difficult for me to sort 
through the documentation on the website, I think especially because I 
had only a half idea of what accessgrid is...

I have a few questions that I've tried to answer with the 
documentation, but I think that a confluence of factors is working 
against me...so I thought I'd ask a few basic questions of the list, 
hoping that the answers aren't in an obvious place and assuming that 
they are fairly easy to answer...

1) Is it possible to view a Accessgrid presentation using a single 
PIII-800 with 256 megs of ram and a single projector? If not, what is 
is the minimum amount of hardware to view a transmission? Does this 
even make sense? In other words, is it even possible to set up a 
display only system?

2) Is anyone aware of a guide on how to set up a system for simply 
viewing a presentation on the grid?

3) If either 1 or 2 is possible, is there a way for me to test my 
constructed system before the 8th of November (the Mandlebrot 
presentation)?

Thank you very much in advance,

Peter