PicoQuant MultiHarp 150 - Using the Software under Linux

PicoQuantGmbH MultiHarpSoftwareV.3.1.0.0
8.4. Using the Software under Linux
TheMultiHarpsoftwarecanalsobeusedunderLinux(x86platformonly).ThisrequiresthatWineisinstalled
(seehttps://www.winehq.org).Youcanruntheregularsoftwaresetupasexplainedinsection3.4.Insteadofin-
stallingadevicedriver,runningunderLinuxwithWinerequiresthatyouhaveLibusb1.0installed(seehttps://
libusb.info/).Wehavesuccessfullytestedthreeconfigurations:
-Wine4.0andLibusb1.0.21onLinuxMint19.3(64bit).
-Wine5.0andLibusb1.0.23onUbuntu20.04LTS(64bit).
-Wine6.0andLibusb1.0.23onUbuntu20.04LTS(64bit).
Inallcasesweusedthepackagewinehq-stablewhichistypicallymorematurethantheversionprovidedby
theLinuxdistribution.
Libusb Access Permissions
Fordeviceaccessthroughlibusb,yourkernelneedssupportfortheUSBfilesystem(usbfs)andthatfilesystem
mustbemounted.Thisisdoneautomatically,if/etc/fstabcontainsalinelikethis:
usbfs/proc/bus/usbusbfsdefaults00
ThisshouldroutinelybethecaseifyouinstalledanyofthemainstreamLinuxdistributions.
Thepermissionsforthedevicefilesusedbylibusbmustbeadjustedforuseraccess.Otherwiseonlyrootcan
usethedevice(s).Themostappropriatewayofsettingthesuitablepermissionsisbymeansofhotplugging
scriptsorudev.WhichmechanismyoucanusedependsontheLinuxdistributionyouhave.Mostrecent
distributionsuseudev.
Udev
Forautomatedsettingofthedevicefilepermissionswithudevyouhavetoaddanentrytothesetofrulesfiles
thatarecontainedin/etc/udev/rules.d.Udevprocessesthesefilesinalphabeticalorder.Thedefaultfile
isusuallycalled50-udev.rules.Don'tchangethisfileasitcouldbeoverwrittenwhenyouupgradeudev.
Instead,putyourcustomrulefortheMultiHarpinaseparatefile.Thecontentsofthisfileshouldbe:
ATTR{idVendor}=="0d0e",ATTR{idProduct}=="0013",MODE="666"
AsuitablerulesfileMultiHarp.rulesisprovidedinthefolderLinux/udevonthedistributionmedia.You
cansimplycopyittothe/etc/udev/rules.dfolder.Theinstallscriptinthesamedistributionmediafolder
doesjustthis.Notethatthenameoftherulesfileisimportant.Eachtimeadeviceisdetectedbytheudev
system, the files  are  read  in  alphabetical order,  line  by line,  until  a  match is found. Note that  different
distributionsmayusedifferentrulefilenamesforvariouscategories.Forinstance,Ubuntuorganizestherules
intofurtherfiles: 20-names.rules,40-permissions.rules,and 60-symlinks.rules.InFedorathey
arenotseparatedbythosecategories,asyoucanseebystudying50-udev.rules.Insteadofeditingthe
existingfiles,itisthereforeusuallyrecommendedtoputallofyourmodificationsinaseparatefilelike 10-
udev.rules or 10-local.rules.Thelownumberatthebeginningofthefilenameensuresitwillbe
processedbeforethedefaultfile.However,laterrulesthataremoregeneral(applyingtoawholeclassof
devices)maylateroverridethedesiredacecssrights.ThisisthecaseforUSBdeviceshandledthroughLibusb.
ItisthereforeimportantthatyouusearulesfilefortheMultiHarpthatgetsevaluatedafterthegeneralcase.The
defaultnamingMultiHarp.rulesmostlikelyensuresthisbutifyouseeproblemsyoumaywanttocheck.
Notethattherearedifferentudevimplementationswithdifferentbehavior.OmmostrecentLinuxdistributionsit
issufficienttojustre-plugthedeviceafterinstallingtherulesfile.Onsomedistributionsyoumustrebootto
activatechanges,onothersyoumustreloadtherulesand/orrestartudev.
Wine Limitations
RunningthesoftwareunderWineisanexperimentalfeaturewithlimitedsupport.Aknownissueisthecurrent
implementationofWine'sviewerforchmhelpfiles.Youmayobservefailureorsomeglitcheswhenusingthe
onlinehelpfacility. Another issue  is that underWine theWhiteRabbitconfiguration dialogdoes not  work
properly.YoucanstilluseWhiteRabbitifyoudotheconfigurationbeforehandunderWindows.
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