iraf.net

I am trying to install IRAF on a LINUX box running Fedora.I logged in as root and set up an iraf user account with /iraf/iraf/local as the home directory and bin/csh as the shell.When I tried to log in as iraf I get the following:home directory listed as /iraf/iraf/local does not exist. Do you want to log in with the / root directory as your home directory?I select YES and then get the following:Users $HOME/.dmrc file is ignored. File should be owned by user and have 644 permissions. Users $HOME directory must be owned by user and not writable by other users.And then everything bombs and I am logged out.Any ideas? As you can guess I am not familiar with admin stuff.David

Hi David,You can usually just create the 'iraf' account and let the system create the /home/iraf directory by default, then unpacke the distribution files. Once the files are in place the /iraf/iraf/local directory will be valid and you can change the /etc/passwd entry to use the new login directory. You'll need to be root to run the install script anyway.Otherwise you can unpack everything as root and 'chown' it to the iraf user later. An iraf user account isn't strictly required but since it has a pre-defined environment IRAF things it makes stuff like compilation and updates easier.-Mike

Howdy All:I tracked down the issue on my previous post...it was some glitch within LINUX involving directory permissions. Now that I have installed the core IRAF package I need to install mscred. Unfortunately I cannot make heads or tails of the steps outlined in the site managers guide. Could someone please walk me through this for LINUX? Thanks,

David,I just uploaded the 'mscred.readme' file to the download area (thought it was there all along), this contains the detailed instructions for installing the package. The simplest thing is to just used the pre-built binaries, i.e.[code:1:dbbbb9d627]
% mkdir /iraf/extern/mscred
% cd /iraf/extern/mscred
% wget http://iraf.net/iraf/extern/mscred-src.tar.gz
% wget http://iraf.net/iraf/extern/mscred-bin.reedhat.tar.gz
% tar zxf mscred-src.tar.gz
% tar zxf mscred-bin.redhat.tar.gz
[/code:1:dbbbb9d627]Then complete the installation by cleaning up the dist file and declaring the package in the hlib$extern.pkg file.-Mike

Howdy MikeI dont see the iraf.net/iraf/extern/mscred-src.tar.gz file at the ftp site. Thanks, David

Sorry, it's https://iraf.net/ftp/iraf/extern/...... I left out the "/ftp/..."-Mike

Hi MikeWhat do you mean by "cleaning up the dist file and declaring the package in the hlib$extern.pkg file. "?Also, on a bizarre note my backspace key does not work since I installed IRAF and I am now using control h. Have you ever seen that???Thanks so much for your help! David

OK, so I finally found the hlib$extern.pkg file and edited it following the instructions in the readme file located at the ftp site. I then logged into IRAF and typed mkpkg -p mscred but now I get the follwoing message when I try to use mscred: "task mscred has no param file."When I type help mscred I get "cannot open help database file mscred$lib/helpdb.mip"David

Dave,If you installed the binaries, the 'mkpkg' command isn't necessary. The usual problem with a 'param not found' message is that there is something wrong in the path definition for 'mscred' in the extern.pkg file, typically something like a forgotten trailing '/' on the path. This would also explain the help problem since the logical paths are expanded to real paths on the system.Do a forum search on 'Backspace' and you'll find a lot of mail on the subject. If you're using the ECL (standard in the V2.13 release) this shouldn'e be an issue but there are a number of ways the backspace/delete keys can be reset.-Mike

Thanks Mike!Now that I can "see" mscred the real fun begins! I need to mount the DLT7000 onto the Linux box so I can use mscwfits to read my old tapes, and then repeat with Exabyte and DAT tape drives. More to follow...David

Hi there,well, I have the same problem as the previous fellow, i.e. I have installed mscred and can see it, but running it or asking for help gives the "usual" error messages. I have quadruple-checked my extern.pkg path definitions and they seem OK. Any other clue what could be wrong?Or, maybe there is a trick that can help me? In fact, I am trying to reduce data from a mosaic, where only one chip was in use. Is there anything (like hedit x y z) I can do to make IRAF believe it is only one chip, so I can use the "standard" reduction packages?Thanks!

[quote:eec4b42273]
well, I have the same problem as the previous fellow, i.e. I have installed mscred and can see it, but running it or asking for help gives the "usual" error messages. I have quadruple-checked my extern.pkg path definitions and they seem OK. Any other clue what could be wrong?[/quote:eec4b42273]Depends on what your version of 'usual' means 8-) A 'cannot open connected subprocess' means the binaries either can't be found (aren't installed, installed in wrong bin dir, etc) or executed (wrong permissions, very rarely a system shared lib problem, other startup error). A "task not found' when loading the package is a path error, e.g. a missing trailing '/' in the extern.pkg definition or sometimes a permission problem somewhere in the tree leading up to the dir (e.g. /iraf only readable by 'iraf' user). Something like a "cl> dir mscred$" will tell you if you can read the directory, otherwise please post a specific error.[quote:eec4b42273]
Or, maybe there is a trick that can help me? In fact, I am trying to reduce data from a mosaic, where only one chip was in use. Is there anything (like hedit x y z) I can do to make IRAF believe it is only one chip, so I can use the "standard" reduction packages? [/quote:eec4b42273]MSCRED assumes mosaic images are stored in a MEF (Multi-Extension FITS) format, copying out the image to make a single 2-D image should be all you need to use the "normal" tasks, e.g.[code:1:eec4b42273]cl> imcopy mef.fits[1] single.fits[/code:1:eec4b42273]will copy out the first extension of the 'mef.fits' file to 'single.fits'.Cheers,
-Mike

OK, all fixed! Thank you very much. I sincerely appreciate the excellent and quick help provided through this site.Cheers,
GeraldP.S.: "Usual" meant the same error messages as described by ddevine before.