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McIDAS-X for XP Fastrack Version 2010.2
Software and Instructions

This page contains the software and instructions for installing McIDAS-X for XP version 2010.2, a fully supported Fastrack release. Significant modifications made since the previous release (version 2010.1) are listed in the bullets below. The instructions for obtaining and installing McIDAS-X 2010.2 appear after the bullet list.

  • Updated support of McIDAS-X on Apple, Red Hat and SGI systems as follows:
    • On Mac OS X 10.5.8 Intel systems, changed supported version of gfortran from 4.3 to 4.4.1 and changed supported version of XQuartz from 2.5.0 to 2.5.3.
      Note: The original plan for McIDAS-X 2010.2 on Apple systems was to move support from OS X 10.5 to 10.6. This change was postponed because HDF was failing on 10.6 and thus causing the MODIS servers to fail as well. The problems are a high-priority item that we hope to resolve soon (and thus allow the planned switch to 10.6). In the meantime, sites can install and run McIDAS-X 2010.2 on OS X 10.6, though it is not officially supported and at least two known problems exist (the MODIS servers will not work and the McIDAS-X GUI will not work [or even be built]).
    • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, changed support from 4.0 Intel, 5.3 Intel and 5.2 PPC to 4.0 Intel, 5.5 Intel and 5.2 PPC.
    • No longer support McIDAS-X on SGI IRIX; this platform was sunset in fall 2010, as originally announced in the 2010 Operating System Support Plans page.
  • Updated the station database (file STNDB.CORE) to include 20 new Metar stations; 18 are located on oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico; the other two are KPSO (Pagosa Springs, CO) and KC29 (Middleton, WI).
  • Updated the IMGPROBE command's STAT option to include the locations of the minimum and maximum values in its output. Also added new keyword FORM=ALL to include a listing in the text window of the data values and counts when specifying the HIST or PLOT option.
  • Added approximate scan time to the D and IMGPROBE LIST POINT MODE=N command output when using Meteosat or MTSAT data.
  • Updated the McIDAS-XRD package (which is included in the McIDAS-X installation files) to include two new commands (CANRAD and COMP_ALLBAND).
  • Added support for new WSR-88D and TDWR radar products available on NOAAPORT. Please see the McIDAS-X User Information About New NWS Radar Products page for more information.

Before installing Fastrack version 2010.2, make sure you view the complete list of Fastrack 2010.2 Software Changes, and, if you do any programming or local code development/modification also view and complete the appropriate actions described in the Fastrack 2010.2 Programmer Notes (pdf). You might want to print or download these two documents for future reference.

McIDAS-X 2010.2 is a fully supported Fastrack release. This means that the software is fully supported by SSEC, and that each change to the software has been tested on all of the supported workstation configurations. Full system testing will occur at least once on each platform during each calendar year. If you elect to install 2010.2, we ask that you notify the McIDAS Help Desk if you encounter any bugs. Please be sure to mention that you are running version 2010.2.

Also note that if you plan to upgrade to 2010.2 from a version earlier than 2010.1, you must first read and perform any required actions in the release documents for each of the versions you skipped so you know about their major changes and any required actions in the interim. For example, if you are upgrading from version 2007 to 2010.2, you must first read and perform any required actions in the release documents for versions 2008, 2009.1, 2009.2 and 2010.1. See the past versions page for links to those and other materials from past versions.

 

To obtain and install McIDAS-X and/or McIDAS-XRD 2010.2, complete the following steps.

  1. Download the following files to the ~mcidas directory on your McIDAS-X for XP workstation.
    Note: The installation will fail if the names of the downloaded files do not exactly match those listed below. If your web browser changes the names of the files during download (e.g., mcidas2010.2.tar.gz becomes mcidas2010.2_tar.gz), you must rename the files to those below before installing.
    File name Size Description
    mcidas2010.2.sh 20 KB install/uninstall script
    (right click to download)
    mcidas2010.2.tar.gz 138 MB compressed tar file containing binaries, source and data files
    (compiled version of -X & -XRD is about 600 MB)
    mcidas.mcenv 8 KB environment variables used by McIDAS-X
    (right click to download)
    mcidas.profile 4 KB template for creating a .profile file in user accounts that don't have a pre-existing .profile
    (right click to download)
  2. To install McIDAS-X and/or -XRD 2010.2 on your workstation, complete the instructions in the section titled "Installing and Configuring McIDAS-X" in Chapter 1 of the McIDAS User's Guide.
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