ForwardT Software Package

Forward WatchDog
Monitoring of Hardware-Software Systems Based on the FD300 Board

Revision as of June 14, 2007.

Setup Guide
Darim Vision Co., Ltd.

Notice The information in this document is subject to change without prior notice in order to improve reliability, design, or function and does not represent a commitment on the part of this company. In no event will we be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or the inability to use the product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Copyright 1997 - 2008 Darim Vision Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. No part of this reference manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of this company. Throughout this manual, we make reference to product names that are trademarks of other companies. We are using these names for identification purposes only, with no intention of infringement of the trademarks. FCC Information FCC ID: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Shielded cables and I/O cards must be used for this equipment to comply with the relevant FCC regulations. Changes or modifications not expressly approved in writing by Darim Vision Co. Ltd. may void the users authority to operate this equipment. Limited Warranty Our company warrants this product against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. During the warranty period, products determined by us to be defective in form or function will be repaired or replaced at our option, at no charge. This warranty does not apply if the product has been damaged by accident, abuse, misuse, or as a result of service or modification other than by us. This warranty is in lieu of any other warranty expressed or implied. In no event shall we be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, such as lost revenue or lost business opportunities arising from the purchase of this product.

Table of Contents
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4 Reserve Schemes ............................................................................................................ 5 1. Bypass .................................................................................................................... 5 2. Mirroring .............................................................................................................. 5 3. Mirroring with Bypass ................................................................................... 6 Installing USB Drivers for Forward WatchDog ................................................. 7 Adjusting the Parameters of WatchDog in the FDConfiguration Application ......................................................................................................................... 9

Introduction
Forward WatchDog Box is a device intended for the monitoring of hardware-software systems based on the FD300 board (the workability of the operating system, FD300 board, broadcast server). The device is an external block with a USB connection. The device provides solving the problems of reserving the automatic broadcasting systems based on the FD300 board.

In case the main broadcast server fails (the FDOnAir application or OS hang-up/failure), the device provides automatically switching to the input passthrough signal or a reserve server working concurrently with the main one. There are several reserve schemes.

Introduction

Reserve Schemes
There are several reserve schemes: bypass, mirroring, mirroring with bypass.

1. Bypass
Provides switching to the passthrough signal in case of problems on the broadcast server.

Server is the Forward broadcast automation server. Commutator is the 2->1 video/audio signals switch; purchased separately. MD is Forward WatchDog Box monitoring device for monitoring of the video server (workability of the operating system, FD300 board, broadcast server). The device regularly receives messages from the server through the USB interface. Failing messages during a certain interval, switches the commutator to the reserve.

2. Mirroring
Provides switching to the reserve server in case of problems on the broadcast server.

Reserve Schemes

3. Mirroring with Bypass

In case of problems on the broadcast server, provides switching to the reserve server; there being a failure of the reserve server, switches to the passthrough signal.

Note:

For mirroring, you need to purchase a second video server identical to the first one. The mirroring process is implemented by a built-in to FDOnAir (the basic broadcast program of the Forward software package) mechanism of transferring messages to other instances of the program. All the operations (loading the schedule, starting titles, video data, and so on) performed on the first machine are automatically executed on the mirror machine. The schedules on both servers automatically concur, for which all the source materials (video clips, titles, etc.) must have the same full paths. To achieve that, store the data on the same logical drives (e.g., D) in the folders with the same name; the file names must also coincide. The materials can be stored on an external file server. For that, assign the same letter (e.g., V:) on both broadcast servers for the network drive containing the source materials on the file server. Files are not automatically copied to the mirrored servers. It is recommended to use the CopyDR utility (coping files with a specified maximal data rate) from the Forward T software package.

Reserve Schemes

Installing USB Drivers for Forward WatchDog

1. Copy the folder with the drivers to the computer hard disk. 2. Connect WatchDog to the computer USB port. 3. The Found New Hardware Wizard dialog box opens.

Select the Install from a list or specific location... option. 4. In the next dialog, enable the Include this location in the search option.

Installing USB Drivers...

5. Press the Browse button. The Browse For Folder dialog box opens.

Select the directory with the drivers copied to the computer hard disk. Click OK. 6. The system finds the new device and starts installing the software. 7. When the installation is complete, press the Finish button.

Installing USB Drivers...

Adjusting the Parameters of WatchDog in the FDConfiguration Application

Make sure Forward WatchDog appeared in the list of system devices (in the Device Manager dialog box) as a USB Serial Port. For that: 1. Right-click on the My Computer icon located on the desktop to open the contextual menu.

2. Click on the Properties line. The System Properties dialog box opens.

Adjusting the Parameters...

3. Select the Hardware tab.

4. Press the Device Manager button. The Device Manager dialog box opens. 5. Find the Ports (COM & LPT) node. Open the node.

10

Adjusting the Parameters...

6. Find the new COM device. Here: USB Serial Port (COM3).

7. Close the Device Manager dialog. Adjust the parameters of WatchDog in the FDConfiguration application (the FD300 board settings): 8. Launch the FDConfiguration application. For that, select Start > Programs > ForwardT Software > Board Setup > FD300 Configuration or use the shortcut on the desktop. 9. Press the Advanced... button of the FDConfiguration main window. The Board # 1 Advanced Settings dialog box opens.

10. In the WatchDog drop-down list, select the port the WatchDog Box is connected to (see paragraph 6, the information is indicated in the brackets).

11

Adjusting the Parameters...

11. Click OK. 12. The program prompts to restart the SLTM service to apply the new settings. Press the Yes button.

WatchDog is operationally ready.

12

Adjusting the Parameters...

Useful Links

http://www.darim.com http://www.darim.tv http://www.softlab-nsk.com/forward/docs.html

Darim Vision Co., Ltd