SPCM Enable driver debug logging

This page is valid for all products based on SPCM platform driver.   Read More

Products based on MICX platform driver are not covered by this explanation as they use a different driver. Please see the MICX Debug Log explanation.

Background

The Spectrum driver includes a complete driver communication logging that has to be enabled and disabled by software due to performance reasons. The debug logging helps the Spectrum support team in case of a support issue but can also help you when doing programming by yourself.

How to set-up the debug logging

The below description works on all systems with a GUI. If you do not have a GUI to run the Control Center then edit the config file ~/.spcm_drv/spcm_drv.conf manually and set "LogLevel" to 3. Then save the file and run your application

The logging can be enabled from the support tab of the Control Center application, as shown in screenshot. The control center can either be installed from the CD that has been included in the delivery of your product or the latest version can be downloaded from the download center. Please select your card and family there and download and install either the Windows or the Linux version of the software.

To produce a log file of your application do the following steps:

1. Completely close the application which is using the Spectrum product. Closing the current file is not sufficient as the driver can be still laoded and locked in the application (especially true for a VI in LabVIEW )
2. Start the Control Center and set the log level to the highest possible value Log all, including library calls. A performance warning will occur, informing you that logging will affect the maximum performance.
3. If necessary change the log path to a folder that is accessible by you.
4. Remember the log path and file name or write it down.
5. Close the Control Center.
6. Start you application until the error occurs ... all calls are stored in the log file (it's a simple text file and you can open it with every editor: an example of a textual log file is shown below).
7. Close the application
8. Copy the created log file and send it to us.
   IMPORTANT: It is necessary to copy the file as the next start of any application or the control center will overwrite the log file again.
9. Disable the logging again (or in fact set it to the lowest default log level Log all errors). That way you have a convenient way of debugging your own code in case that any driver error occurs and still have the maximum performance

Log File example