Installation¶

This page covers the complete installation of mesoSPIM-control, including device drivers for cameras, stages, and data acquisition hardware.

For a simpler “first-run” guide without hardware see Getting Started.

System requirements¶

Requirement	Details
Operating system	Windows 7 or later, 64-bit (Windows 10/11 recommended)
Python	3.12 (via Miniforge)
RAM	≥64 GB recommended
Storage	Fast NVMe SSD strongly recommended for acquisition write speed

Device drivers¶

Install the required drivers before connecting hardware and before running the software.

Data acquisition (NI DAQ)¶

Download and install the latest NI DAQmx drivers with default parameters. Both PCI and cDAQ (USB/Ethernet) devices are supported.

Cameras¶

Camera	Driver / SDK
Hamamatsu Orca Flash 4.0 V2/V3	Hamamatsu DCAM API. Use HCImage to test camera connectivity.
Photometrics (PVCAM)	PVCAM and PVCAM-SDK plus the PyVCAM Python package (requires MS Visual C++ 14.0+).
PCO cameras	`pip install pco` (version ≥ 0.1.3 recommended).

Stages¶

Stage controller	Driver
Physik Instrumente (PI)	PI software suite. Test with PI MicroMove.
Steinmeyer / Feinmess (Galil)	Galil API. Test with GalilTools.
ASI Tiger / MS2000	ASI Tiger drivers. For USB: follow ASI USB support instructions.

Software installation¶

Clone the repository

Using GitHub Desktop (recommended) or download the ZIP archive:
```
# Example target path
C:/Users/Public/mesoSPIM-control
```

Create a Conda/Mamba environment

Open a Miniforge prompt:

mamba create -p C:/Users/Public/mamba/envs/mesoSPIM-py312 python=3.12
mamba activate C:/Users/Public/mamba/envs/mesoSPIM-py312

Install Python dependencies

cd C:/Users/Public/mesoSPIM-control
pip install -r requirements-conda-mamba.txt

Verify the installation

Run in demo mode to check that all Python packages load correctly:
```
cd mesoSPIM
python mesoSPIM_Control.py -D
```
The GUI should open with all devices shown as Demo simulators.

Launching¶

Miniforge prompt¶

cd C:/Users/Public/mesoSPIM-control/mesoSPIM
python mesoSPIM_Control.py          # normal mode (requires config + hardware)
python mesoSPIM_Control.py -D       # demo mode (no hardware required)

Desktop shortcut (recommended for daily use)¶

From the Miniforge prompt, run where mamba and note the path, e.g. C:\Users\Nikita\miniforge3\Scripts\activate.bat.

Open mesoSPIM/mesoSPIM.bat in a text editor and paste that path into line 10, for example:

"%windir%\System32\cmd.exe" /k ""C:\Users\Nikita\miniforge3\Scripts\activate.bat" "C:\Users\Public\conda\envs\mesoSPIM-py312" && python "mesoSPIM_Control.py""

Save the file, double-click it to verify the GUI opens, then create a desktop shortcut for quick access.

Updating¶

We recommend installing each new version into a fresh folder (e.g. mesoSPIM-control-Jan2025) using the steps above.

After updating, review the Changelog and compare your existing config file against the latest demo_config.py to add any new required sections.

Troubleshooting¶

Error messages at startup — check the Miniforge/conda terminal window.
Detailed logs — every session writes a timestamped log file in mesoSPIM/log/, e.g. 20241210-154845.log.
Forum — post questions at the image.sc forum.