ubuntu/debian startup question

[philme500]

hi all,

i am still testing the spacenavigator with maya under ubuntu 7.04. so far s good... how is this driver supose to work? i am using this device in maya. for now i am starting the driver with

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sudo /etc/3DxWare/daemon/./3dxsrv -d usb

befor i start maya.
1- how do i start it without a script asking me for the root password on startup - or in a script befor starting maya?
2- why do i need the spacenavigator configuration window open while working in maya? i would just like to configure the device and then close the window...

thanks, phil

ps.: great that connexion is supporting linux!!!!

[UtaSH]

Hi Phil,

during installation you are asked if you want 3DxWareUnix being started with every login (from the /etc/inittab). You should answer this question with [y]. Then an entry in the /etc/inittab is made which starts the driver if someone logs in.

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3dx:2345:respawn:/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb </dev>/dev/null 2>&1

If you finished to configure the device you can minimize the driver GUI. I know that a close would be more convenient and this is what we plan for one of the next driver releases.

Uta Ludwig
3Dconnexion

[philme500]

hi,

thanks for the reply. is it possible to change the navigators behavior with one of the spacen. buttons to a jog ****** mode in maya? this device is getting more useful every day... if i could review my animation turning the spacen. in the y axis, letting me scrub in the timeline foreward and backward changing the speed seamlessly would be a great feature!
i cant find any documentation on the functions in the maya plugin... i just found installation instrucions...no docs on the functions in the connexion window in maya

thanks, phil

[UtaSH]

Hi,

I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly. Unfortunately I am not familiar with Maya.

But you can not assign another function to one of the axis of the device. It is just the pan or zoom or rotate along resp. around an axis.

Uta Ludwig
3Dconnexion

[philme500]

hi,

i am sure you know how a video jog ****** works. refering to your datasheet pdf, one can "spin" the space navigator... it would be a nice feature to "spin", rotate the knob around the y axis, letting you scrub in the timeline.

i found a serious issue with the linux drivers... took me a while to track it down to the spacen. maya plugin. it is not possible to render in the command line aka batch rendering, if the spacen. maya plugins are loaded within maya. i get this error.

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maya encountered a fatal error

Signal: 11 (Unknown Signal)
Stack trace:
  /lib/libc.so.6 [0x2aade5e2f760]
  XtAppAddWorkProc
  TeventHandler::addIdleEventTimer()
  TeventHandler::addIdleCommand(Taction*, TidleCommandPriority, unsigned short)
  TeventHandler::addIdleCommand(Taction*, TidleCommandPriority)
  TidleTrigger::addClientHook(Tclient*, Tmetaclass*)
  TclientServer::addClient(Tclient*, Tmetaclass*, void (*)(Tclient*, TclientServer*, TserverMsg const&))
  MEventMessage::addEventCallback(MString const&, void (*)(void*), void*, MStatus*)
  initializePlugin(MObject)
  Tplugin::load(Tstring const&, Tstring*)
  TloadPluginAction::loadPlugin(TfilePath const&, Tstring const&, bool, Tstring&)
  TloadPluginAction::execute(TargList&)
  TloadPluginAction::doCommand(TargList&)
  Mel_Command_Dispatch(SphNode*)
  node_exec
  f_catch
  f_not
  fc_if
  node_exec
  fc_ifelse
  node_exec
  f_function_entry_node
  node_exec
  sophia_call_executable
  SophiaExecutable::evaluate(void*)
  TcommandEngine::executeCommand(Tstring const&, bool, bool, TmelCmdResult*, unsigned int)
  TscriptAction::doIt(Tevent const&)
  TevalDeferredAction::doCommand(TargList&)
  Mel_Command_Dispatch(SphNode*)
  node_exec

Fatal Error. Attempting to save in /usr/tmp/phil.20070815.1730.ma
Writing crash report in /usr/tmp/phil.20070815.1730.crash

this disapears once i unload the drivers. phil

[philme500]

please let me know if this bug got to the developers. your device is great, but i have to render all the time, so disabling the maya plug all the time is not so fun.... thanks, phil

[UtaSH]

hi phil,

we will check this. at the moment some people are on vacation so the office/lab is quite abandoned. we will come back here then.

uta

[crobl]

Hi Phil,

sorry for my late reply to your post!

Since I'm not a Maya professional, can you please give me step by step instructions on the batch rendering stuff, so that I can try to reproduce your error.

Thank you!


Christian
3Dconnexion

[philme500]

sure! open maya. load the 3dconexion plugin.
goto create/polygons primitives -> cube. save the scene. exit maya
open a terminal goto the dir where you saved the file.
type: Render myfile.mb (case sensitive!) you can switch to mental ray if you ad the flag "-r mr"... like Render -r mr myfile.mb

when i had the problem i tryed almost every combination. so the render should stop no matter if you use the software render or mental ray. i am now using maya 2008 so i cant test it now on this machine. but i am pretty confident that this should reproduce the problem. this problem disapears once you deactivate the maya spacenavigator plugin.

phil

[fiepel]

Ubuntu does not work with init anymore, but it uses "Upstart".

You can start the driver automatically during boot if you create the following file:

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/etc/event.d/3dx

with the following content:

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# 3dx
#
# This service starts the driver for the Space Navigator

description     "3DConnexion Space Navigator Driver"
author          "3DConnexion"

start on runlevel 2
start on runlevel 3
start on runlevel 4
start on runlevel 5

stop on runlevel 0
stop on runlevel 1
stop on runlevel 6

exec /etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb </dev/null >/dev/null 2>&1

respawn