Installing Software
Several software packages must be downloaded and installed on your host PC for communicating with and capturing data from the Axsun Integrated Engine. Current versions of the Axsun software and links to third-party dependencies are available for download at www.axsun.com/downloads.
NOTE: Axsun Integrated Engine software is compatible with a Windows 7 or Windows 10 host PC, 64-bit versions only.
NOTE: Windows OS administrator privileges are required to install the software.
NOTE: Your screen may not match exactly with the screen representations shown in this guide, depending on your system configuration and installed firmware/software versions.
NOTE: Software installers should be run with default options selected unless otherwise noted.
NOTE: A Windows OS restart is recommended following the software installation.
OCTHost.exe and its underlying library AxsunOCTControl.dll are installed by extracting the downloaded archive, double-clicking the setup.exe file, selecting defaults when presented with any installation options, and waiting for all dialogs to complete. The Axsun USB device driver will also be installed by this utility. Additional installation information is available in the OCT Host software manual.
AxsunOCTCapture.dll software relies on some external third-party dependencies which must be installed for full functionality: pcap (for network packet capture), TurboJPEG (a JPEG decompression codec), and the Microsoft Visual C++ Run-Time.
Axsun also provides a basic Image Capture Tool (AxsunImageCaptureTool.exe) that calls functions in the AxsunOCTCapture library in the same fashion as a custom-designed parent application based on the AxsunOCTCapture API. The Image Capture Tool relies on one additional dependency: the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine.
The AxsunOCTCapture library requires a dependency called “pcap”, an industry-standard API for capturing network traffic. In the Unix environment, the standard library is named “libpcap”. In the Windows environment, a ported library named “WinPcap” is used [1]. Additional forks of WinPCap (e.g. “Npcap”, “Win10Pcap”) have been designed to take advantage of more efficient kernel hooks in Windows OS versions later than Windows 7.
AxsunOCTCapture.dll works with either WinPcap or its binary-compatible variants. Npcap is preferred, especially for OS versions later than Windows 7. Download Npcap from https://nmap.org/npcap/.
WARNING: Npcap version 0.9990 has been validated to work with the Image Capture Tool and AxsunOCTCapture. Newer versions may be incompatible at this time.
Run the downloaded installer and confirm any Windows Security Warning requests. At the Ncpap Installation Options screen, make sure to select the option “Install Npcap in WinPcap API-compatible Mode” as shown:
[1] WinPcap can be downloaded and installed from http://www.winpcap.org but is also included when installing Wireshark, a handy packet capture GUI based on the pcap library. Wireshark can be downloaded and installed from https://www.wireshark.org/#download if required for system debugging.
The AxsunOCTCapture.dll library requires a dependency called TurboJPEG, a highly-optimized JPEG decompression utility based on the industry-standard libjpeg API.
Make sure to download and install the 64-bit version of the installer: libjpeg-turbo-2.0.4-vc64.exe
Run the downloaded installer, confirm any Windows Security Warning requests, and select a location for installation (the default location is acceptable or you can choose a different preferred location). A library file named turbojpeg.dll will be installed in your C:\Windows\System32\ directory.
The Microsoft Visual C++ Run-Time Library must be installed in either your C:\Windows\System32\ directory or in the same directory as the application which is calling AxsunOCTCapture.dll. The vcruntime___.dll is a common run-time library which likely already exists on your system from installation of an unrelated program or from your original Windows OS installation (depending on the OS version).
If it is not already present on your system, you can download it directly from Microsoft at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads (or if that link becomes broken, then at a microsoft.com link easily identified by searching online for “microsoft visual c++ redistributable”).
Make sure to download and install the 64-bit version of the installer: vc_redist.x64.exe
Axsun GUI Tools which provide image capture and display functionality require installation of the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine (2018, 64-bit) which is available for download at http://www.ni.com/en-us/support/downloads/software-products/download.labview.html#309628 (or if that link becomes broken, then at a www.ni.com link easily identified by searching online for “labview 2018 runtime engine 64-bit windows”).
Download and then run the installer executable with default options selected. Note that AxsunOCTCapture.dll library and API do not require the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine, only the Axsun-supplied GUI Tools require it (i.e. Image Capture Tool and Hardware Control Tool).
After the external dependencies have been installed, perform a system restart.
Download the Axsun Image Capture Tool and extract the .zip contents to your preferred location (there is no installer but you must keep the files in the extracted folder together). Launch the Image Capture Tool GUI application (AxsunImageCaptureTool.exe). If all dependencies were installed correctly, the AxsunOCTCapture.dll library will be loaded by this application and its main window will launch without any pop-up warnings to indicate missing dependencies. If missing dependencies are reported, review and repeat the installation instructions above or refer to the Troubleshooting page in the EDAQ Reference Manual.
The Hardware Control Tool relies on AxsunOCTControl.dll (or AxsunOCTControl_LW.dll) and the same LabVIEW Run-Time Engine which was previously installed in the steps above; no additional external installers are required for this tool.
Download the Axsun Hardware Control Tool and extract the .zip contents to your preferred location (there is no installer but you must keep the files in the extracted folder together). Launch the Hardware Control Tool GUI application (AxsunHardwareControlTool.exe). If all dependencies were installed correctly, the AxsunOCTControl.dll library will be loaded by this application and its main window will launch without any pop-up warnings to indicate missing dependencies. If missing dependencies are reported, review and repeat the installation instructions above or refer to the Troubleshooting page in the EDAQ Reference Manual.
WARNING: Do not open OCT Host and the Hardware Control Tool concurrently. DAQ hardware will accept only one Ethernet connection from a AxsunOCTControl.dll library instance at a time.
Congratulations! You've installed the required software for the Axsun Integrated Engine. Additional background information on the Axsun GUI Tools can be found here or in the respective software manuals.
The next page in this guide describes Making Connections to your Axsun Integrated Engine.
