Joint Research Group Macromolecular Crystallography
BL14.1 specific information
Creating a NoMachine connection
A prerequisite to connect to our experimental infrastructure is a successful connection to our NoMachine server foris.helmholtz-berlin.de using the rex_account credentials via the NoMachine client software.
To establish a new connection, select "Add" in the top left corner to open the corresponding window:
Start screen from which to create a new NoMachine connection
In the window that opens, under the Tab "Address", "Name" refers to the name that you want this new connection to have. For "Host" enter "foris.helmholtz-berlin.de". For "Port" and "Protocol" leave "4000" and "NX". Then press "Connect" in the upper right corner:
Address settings for a new NoMachine connection
You have enter in this new connection using your REX account name and password and in a second window your Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA) code. After this, you will see the available machines:
NoMachine screen with BL14.1 computers
Connection setup
After selecting the anticipated connection, you will get the first setup screen. Here please select: "Scale the Remote Desktop to fit into the window" and Press "OK".
NoMachine display settings I
Now you can see the display setting screen. Here, please select "Don't resize the remote display". In case you have a single display setting, you need to select the "Scale to window" option within the bottom display icon selection. This option creates a single remote display matching to your no machine window.
In case you have a dual-display setup with two equally sized displays (geometry and resolution), you could also choose to display two remote displays alternatively and if present, within your local single NoMachine window. This option might be of advantage for the MXCuBE connection only. Therefore press the "Select remote display" icon and select "ALL". Now, both displays will be shown within your NoMachine window. In order to view these displays at their native aspect ratio side by side, you will need to expand this window over both local displays. This can be achieved in dragging the lower right corner with the pressed left mouse button.
NoMachine display setting II
Alternative NoMachine screen selection for "ALL" display presentation
It is important the set the display quality for an optimal display. You can reach this menu either when creating a new connection or at any time during your session by pressing the keyboard combination Ctrl+Al+0 (Fn+Ctrl+0 or Ctrl+Option+0 on a Mac). Alternatively, during your session, you can reach out to the upper-right edge of your connection screen and click on the "rolling corner." In the menu, you need to select the display button.
Now, select the "Change settings" icon in the bottom right screen and turn the "Quality" and "Resolution" slider to the right, in order to maximize the quality of the remote connection.
These settings are important to enable a good video quality of the zoom microscope to center your samples properly. Do not activate any click-box within this window.
NoMachine display quality settings
BL14.1 video streams
BL14.1 has several high definition video cameras. You can only connect from the HZB intranet to these cameras:
cam1.psf.bessy.de view of BL14.1 experimental hutch
cam141b.psf.bessy.de view to Pilatus cover
cam10.psf.bessy.de view of sample at MD2 goniometer
BL14.1 computer environment
At BL141, you can connect to these machines:
BL141 MXCuBE control:
MXCuBE control machine, dual monitor, login/out using your px-credentials
BL141 Processing:
The multi-core data processing machines hkl6 and hkl8 can be used to run , adxv, albula and xdsapp evaluations.
BL141 Backup:
BL141 Backup is an Linux PC, which has an USB3 interface for hard drive backup. In addition, you can use this PC to connect to the data processing multi core machines hkl6 and hkl8.
BL141 MD2 control:
MD2 control machine for beam location required.
Login credentials not required. Never logout from this machine!
BL141 MXCuBE Control
Startup sequence:
- Login to mxcube141 with your px-credentials
- Add the appropriate keyboard layout, in case you are not connected with an English layout keyboard
- Right-click open terminal windows
- Launch the control environment with <run_141> to start mxcube and adxv at once (alternative launch commands: <run_mxcube>, <run_adxv>)
- In another terminal window start <firefox> and connect to http://cam1.psf.bessy.de
Stop sequence:
- Close MXCuBE application
- Close ADXV application
- Close Firefox
- Logout of mxcube141
- Disconnect from the Nomachine session
BL141 MD2 Control
Startup sequence:
Upon connection, you will find a fully functional desktop environment, with the MD2 control application running. This application must run the hole time.
Stop sequence:
- Simply close the NoMAchine connection without any further action
Do not terminate the MD2 control program! Do not logout from the Linux desktop
BL141 Processing
Startup sequence:
- Login from mxcube141 to hkl6 or hkl8 using the aliases <hkl6> or <hkl8>
- Launch xdsapp with <xdsapp3> to start the processing gui
Stop sequence:
- Close all application
- Logout from hkl6 or hkl8
BL141 Backup
Startup sequence:
- Login to save1 with your px-credentials
- Add the appropriate keyboard layout, in case you are not connected with an English layout keyboard
- Right-click open terminal windows
- Connect to the hklservers via the <hkl6> or <hkl8> alias command.
Stop sequence:
- Close all connections to the hkl servers
- Close terminals
- Close Firefox
- Logout of save1
- Disconnect from the Nomachine session