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December 21st, 2012: McStas 2.0 released!!!
McStas 2.0 is finally ready and has been uploaded to our download page!
The full and long list of changes since last official release is available here.
McStas 2.0 is available for the following platforms
- Linux deb based distros 32 and 64 bit - tested on Debian testing and Ubuntu 64bit
- Linux rpm based distros 32 and 64 bit - tested on Scientific Linux and CentOS 64bit
- Mac OS X 64 bit, packages for 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion and 10.6 Snow Leopard
- Windows 32 and 64 bit - tested on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8
Important info:
- !! Please read the README file provided with each platform type before installing !!
- !! On Unix, please use the provided migration script for moving your 1.12c or earlier out of the way !!
- !! On windows, please install all the dependencies we ask for, don't rely on those from 1.12c working !!
Hope you will enjoy this little X-mas present! :-)
Please contact us if you experience trouble with McStas 2.0 (we might not answer this side of New Year's ;-) )
Seasons greetings from all of the McStas team,
Peter Willendrup
December 2nd, 2012: McStas 2.0RC2 public beta released
A bug in the internal path definitions of the RC1 packages prevented the tools from working properly on Unix systems. For this reason, I have pushed the update 2.0RC2 to http://mcstas-20rc2.mcstas.org
Sorry for any inconvenience
Peter Willendrup
November 30th, 2012: McStas 2.0RC1 public beta released
A public beta release of McStas 2.0 called 2.0RC1 has finally been released!
McStas 2.0RC1 is a public beta leading up to the long awaited official McStas 2.0. It is a beta release, but we expect that differences to 2.0 will be minimal.
The full and long list of changes since last official release is available here: http://mcstas-20rc1.mcstas.org/CHANGES_McStas
* If you do not find yourself credited in the long list of contributions - please remind me *
* There is still time if you have contributions you would like us to include in the official 2.0 *
McStas 2.0RC1 is available through this link: http://mcstas-20rc1.mcstas.org for the following platforms
- Linux deb based distros 32 and 64 bit - tested on Debian testing and Ubuntu 64bit
- Linux rpm based distros 32 and 64 bit - tested on Scientific Linux and CentOS 64bit
- Mac OS X 64 bit, packages for 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion and 10.6 Snow Leopard
- Windows 32 and 64 bit - tested on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8
!! Please read the README file provided with each platform type before installing !!
For Unix systems we provide a migration script that will allow you to let an existing 1.x release (i.e. 1.12c) co-exist with the new release.
Enjoy! :-)
On behalf of the McStas team, Peter Willendrup
July 27th, 2012: McStas 1.12c on Mac OS X Mountain Lion - new DMG added to download section.
A new DMG for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion has been put together and can be found in the download section.
As Apple have discontinued distribution of X11, you need to install XQuartz before installing McStas.
You also need to install Command Line Tools inside Xcode (Xcode -> Preferences-> Downloads -> Components) and also allow installation of third party software (System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General -> Allow applications downloaded from: Anywhere) - can be reset after installation of SciPDL etc. from the DMG.
Note that to enable multi-core / parallel simulations, you need to compile openmpi yourself before installing McStas, since it is not provided by Apple on Lion and Mountain Lion. Alternatively you can perhaps get it via MacPorts.
The DMG should also work on Lion - but all software on the DMG must be reinstalled if McStas was previously installed.
July 5th: PSI RITA-II instrument available for download
Linda Udby has contributed her detailed description of the RITA-II instrument for use with McStas 1.12c. RITA-II is a so-called re-invented triple axis with a multiplexed analyzer system. The contribution can be downloaded from our share section (instrument info).
As part of her PhD thesis, Linda used this very detailed model of RITA-II to perform virtual experiments, thereby deriving analysis parameters for her studies of Superoxygenated LSCO.
The hkl routine embedded in the instrument code is similar to what is found in templateTAS by Emmanuel Farhi. Further, the instrument features a multitude of input parameters to control all aspects of the virtual experiment. The instrument contains both an incoherent scatterer, a powder sample, a single crystal and a phonon-simple that can be selected using input parameters.
The McStas team are really greatful for this nice contribution that will also be be part of McStas 2.0.
Vacancy at the ESS DMSC as scientific software developer
The interim ESS DMSC (Data Management and Software Center for the European Spallation Source) located at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen is seeking a candidate for scientific software development within areas of data analysis and simulation. More specifically, the work is oriented toward integration of the McStas and Mantid software packages.
The advert is available through this link.
For further questions or enquiries, please contact Prof. Stig Skelboe, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, skelboe@nbi.dk, phone +45 35321449
March 12th: Respin of McStas 1.12c dmg for OS X Lion
As reported to mcstas-users@mcstas.org, the McStas 1.12c dmg for OS X Lion was unfortunately corrupt. A new version of the image has been uploaded. The filename is slightly different to be able to distinguish the image from older downloads you may have.
February 1st: Various bugs and workarounds
A couple of annoyances have been reported, here they are plus relevant workarounds:
- 1.12c version of SNS_source.comp crashes on Windows systems. A functional version has been uploaded to the share. Thanks to Ruep Lechner for reporting the bug and to Garrett Granroth for providing a fixed component.
- The previously released updated dmg image for Mac OS X should really only be used on Lion, not Snow Leopard, that is use this image on Lion and this image on older releases.
- On (at least some) Mac systems, it seems Virtual_output.comp should not be used with type="double" or "float". The workaround for the time being is to use the default "text" format instead. The issue seems to become more severe if large ncounts are used.
January 6th: New affiliation for Erik Knudsen and Peter Willendrup
A reorganisation at DTU and RISØ DTU has resulted in a new home for the DTU effort on McStas, namely DTU Physics.
Hence, Erik Knudsen and Peter Willendrup have a new affiliation, see the Contact page.
At our new home we will be part of a dedicated neutron- and X-ray scattering group, which we think will become a very good home!
Previous news items: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003,2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998.