[AG-TECH] Newb seek a bit of advice

[Jon Johansson]

My apologies to Eric, I replied to his message here and the address
was to him, not this forum (I've got to watch that reply button).

I am also new to the AccessGrid and following Eric's instructions
I have started the PIG and gotten into the MUD.
As I move from room to room the video and audio are trying to
connect and do things, but there doesn't seem to be any video or
audio streams going that I can connect to. What I get on
changing rooms is an error:
    Runtime Error!
    Program c:\ag\agapps\bin\ddvic.exe
    abnormal program termination
could this be because there is no video to get, I have some
sort of config issue or do I need a particular piece of
hardware installed for this to work? Is there a test video feed
that I could connect to, to check things?

I have a dual 1 GHz P3 with:
     memory: 4 GB
     video: 3DLabs Oxygen GVX210
     sound: SoundBlaster Live
     OS: Win2000 SP3 + latest patches as of last week

Thank you,
Jon.

Eric Hepburn wrote:
> 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
> 
> 


-- 
Jon I Johansson             *  Research Computing Support
jon.johansson at ualberta.ca   *  Computing and Network Services
Tel.: (780) 492-9304        *  University of Alberta
Fax.: (780) 492-1729        *  Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA