============================= README-McIDAS-V-BetaDVD.TXT ============================= This DVD contains three directories of information: Tutorials/ - documents (doc and pdf) with directions for installation, introductions to using different data types with McIDAS-V, and an installation FAQ text document. Installers/ - installation files necessary for installing McIDAS-V on Linux (32 and 64 bit), Mac OS X (Intel), and Windows (XP or Vista, 32 and 64 bit). Data/ - Bundles, AREA files, ABI-netCDF files, MD, MODIS and AIRS data files for use with McIDAS-V. To begin using this DVD, open the Installation-and-Introduction PDF or Word document in the Tutorials directory and follow the instructions for installing and running McIDAS-V. Please check the System Requirements below to ensure that your workstation or laptop meets the minimum system requirements for McIDAS-V. An Installation FAQ document has also been included in the Tutorials directory of this DVD, which lists common problems encountered during the installation. The version of McIDAS-V included on your DVD is version 1.0beta7. This is a beta version of the software, which means that the software may contain bugs and not always work as expected. If you encounter any errors or have any questions, please post them to the McIDAS-V Support Forums - http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/forums/ . You will be notified at the startup of McIDAS-V when new versions of the software are available from the McIDAS-V webpage - http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/software/v/ . ========================== McIDAS-V System Requirements ========================== McIDAS-V should run on any platform that fully supports Java and Java 3D. This DVD contains installers for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It has been tested on Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows. AIX and IRIX support the requirements in certain configurations, but have not been tested. For reasonable performance, it is recommended that an Intel system running McIDAS-V have at least a 1.2 GHz processor and 1 GB memory (RAM). Performance will be even better with faster processors and more memory. Detailed requirements for the following are listed below: * Operating Systems * Java Versions * Disk Space * System Memory and Processor Speed * Graphics Cards * Internet Connection for Downloading McIDAS-V and Accessing Data Operating Systems =============== McIDAS-V is known to run on the following operating systems: Linux(1) Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 4.0 (32 bit) Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 5.0 (64 bit) Mac OS X(2) Mac OS X 10.6 (Intel) Solaris- SPARC(3) Solaris 10 OS SPARC Platform Edition Solaris - x86(4) Solaris 10 OS x86 Platform Edition Windows(5) Windows XP with Service Pack 3 and Vista If other platforms fully support Java (version 1.6+) and Java 3D (version 1.3.+) (e.g. AIX, IRIX), they should also work, but have not been tested. Your graphics system must support 3D. Make sure that you have the latest video driver for your graphics card. This is included in the Windows operating system. On Linux the driver must support GLX, an X windows system extension to OpenGL programs. NOTES: (1)The version of the Mesa library that comes with RedHat Linux may be incompatible with Java 3D packaged with McIDAS-V. If you experience X server crashes when exiting McIDAS-V, you will need to build and install Mesa from source available at http://www.mesa3d.org. (2)Due to changes in the requirements of the netCDF package, McIDAS-V version 1.0beta5 will require Java 1.6. Some Mac OS X systems do not support Java 1.6 and will not be able to run future versions of McIDAS-V. These include: - All with PPC processors - Intel Core Solo and Core Duo running OS X 10.5 or earlier (3)OpenGL must be installed for Java 3D to run on Solaris. (4)For Solaris - x86 you must have Java 1.5+ and Java 3D 1.4+ installed and a compatible video card. For more information, see https://java3d.dev.java.net/binary-builds.html (5)You must have DirectX version 8.0+ installed on your Windows system if you use the DirectX rendering mode of Java 3D (the default is to use OpenGL). Java Versions =========== McIDAS-V runs on any platform that supports: * Java version 1.6+ (non-beta versions only) AND * Java 3D version 1.3.1+ McIDAS-V is packaged with the following versions included(1): JRE (Java Runtime Environment) - 1.6.0 Java3D - 1.5.2 JOGL (Java OpenGL) - 1.1.1 packaged with Mac OS X only (1)Java is included with Mac OS X. To find and/or update your default Java version, follow these steps: 1. Open the "Java Preferences" application located in /Applications/Utilities 2. Look for "Java SE 6" in the "Java Applications" section 3. The version at the top of the "Java Applications" list is the version being used by McIDAS-V. If "Java SE 6" is not at the top of the list, click and drag it to the top of the list (using the 64-bit option, if available). If "Java SE 6" is not in the "Java Applications" list, you may need to manually run the Software Update feature in the Apple Menu. Disk Space ========= You will need about 100 MB disk space for the installer file, which will uncompress into twice that size. The necessary versions of the JRE, Java3D and JOGL are included with the Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows installers. On other platforms, you will need to install Java and Java3D before installing McIDAS-V. System Memory and Processor Speed ============================= McIDAS-V can be demanding of hardware speed and memory depending on the size of the datasets you wish to work with. It is recommended that the system have a minimum of 512 MB of RAM free for McIDAS-V use. Performance is significantly better with 1 GB RAM or more. Please note that 32 bit Java Runtime Environments (JRE) can utilize a maximum of 1536 MB RAM, while 64 bit JREs can utilize all of the RAM available to the operating system (64 big OS required). Recommended processor speed will vary by platform, but a 1.2 GHz CPU and 1GB memory (RAM) is about the minimum you would need for reasonable performance. You can run on a system as slow as 500 MHz or even less, but response will be correspondingly reduced. In general, the faster the processor, and the more memory your system has, the better the performance will be. Graphics Cards ============ McIDAS-V works on systems with graphics cards that support OpenGL (all systems) and Direct-X (version 8.0+, Windows only). In most cases, you should make sure you have the latest video driver for your system. Even if the system is brand new, the video driver may be old. McIDAS-V also works on systems with stereo video cards. Internet Connection for Downloading McIDAS-V and Data Sources ==================================================== The current version of McIDAS-V is included on this DVD. With subsequent versions of McIDAS-V, you will have to download an installer file (~ 100 MB) in order to begin installing McIDAS-V. McIDAS-V is designed to access data on remote servers on the Internet, as well as from local files. Downloading data from remote servers benefits from a fast connection to the Internet, since many data fields are large.