Supporting Documentation

Useful Tools

There are a number of useful tools in the python directory.

sim_server

This is run as part of the top level simserver script to provide emulation of the Panda hardware. The version of this tool provided with the server is very basic, for a more functional emulation use the corresponding tool in the PandaFPGA project.

tcp_client [server [port]]

This tool connects to the Panda server configuration port and helps with sending and receiving configuration commands.

save-state server file

This saves the entire configuration state for the given Panda to the given file.

load-state server file

This writes the given configuration file to the Panda.

Panda Status LEDs

Two LEDs on Panda show a rough indication of the current status of Panda. There are two LEDs, STA (status) and DIA (diagnostic); the status LED is green and is used to indicate normal activity, the diagnostic LED is red and is used to indicate various fault conditions.

The table below shows the possible LED indicators and their meaning:

Mnemonic	DIA	STA	Meaning
-	Off	Off	System not running
BOOTING	Off	Blink	Panda booting
SYSTEM_OK	Off	On	Panda running ok
ATTENTION	Blink	Off	User attention required
NW_ERR	Blink	Blink	Network problem detected
-	Blink	On	(not used, should not occur)
ZPKG_ERR	On	Off	Problem loading installed package
SYSTEM_ERR	On	Blink	System error
-	On	On	(not used, should not occur)

The detailed meaning of these conditions is described below.

BOOTING

The system is currently booting. Unless a new image is being configured this should only take a few seconds, but during image installation this can take a few minutes.

SYSTEM_OK

Booting has completed and the system is running normally.

ATTENTION

User attention is required. Either a fresh installating is prompting for a MAC address, or no system packages have been installed. Connect a serial port in the first case, connect to the administration web page on port 8080 in the second case.

NW_ERR

A network error has been detected.

This function is not currently implemented.

ZPKG_ERR

An installed package has failed to start. Try power-cycling Panda first, if that fails check the logs and the serial port for relevant diagnostic messages.

SYSTEM_ERR

An internal system error has been detected.

This function is not currently implemented.