The M300 Playback is a QNX software tool used to simulate the work environment of an M300 Data Acquisition System. It has been used to “playback” the data collected in an *.sea file, such as data collected in flight by a variety of instruments. It can also be useful to build, edit, and test M300 tables for a field project.

In order to use this software, the M300 Playback digital key is required, which can be plugged into any computer or laptop that has VMware Player software installed. The M300 Playback key connects through USB, using a USB-to-serial-port cable. This tutorial uses the IMPACTS Laptop as an example.

1. Ensure the M300 Playback key is physically connected via USB
2. Ensure all remaining USB ports are free of memory drives
3. Open VMware Player software icon located on the desktop
4. Double click on QNX, listed under Home on the left hand side
5. Allow a couple minutes for the QNX virtual machine to boot up… then click into the workstation and hit enter to receive a login prompt
6. Enter login: und

Now the QNX virtual machine will function just like the M300 Data Acquisition System. Right click on the virtual desktop, select “Shell” to open a terminal. Give the command: m300 to start the M300 Playback software.

The QNX virtual machine has to be shut down properly, just like the M300 Data Acquisition System. To properly shut down the machine, use the following steps.

1. Ensure the M300 Playback software has been exited out of, and close any open terminals
2. Right click on virtual desktop, select “Shutdown”
3. At the command prompt, give the command: halt
4. Wait a few seconds until it says “shutdown: System may now be powered down”…
5. On the keyboard, hit Ctrl+Alt to regain control of the mouse
6. On the top menu bar, click on “Virtual Machine”
7. Mouse over “Power”
8. Click on “Power Off”
9. Select “Yes”
10. Click on “Power Off”

1. Ensure the M300 Playback key is physically connected via USB
2. Open a terminal by right clicking on desktop and selecting “Open in Terminal”
3. At a command prompt, navigate to the vmware directory using command: cd /nas/vmware
4. Mount the M300 Playback Drive by running the script with command: ./mount_fat.bash
5. It will prompt for a sudo password. Enter the sudo password (refer to “Password” label on IMPACTS Laptop).
6. Next, give command: df to see what drives are mounted. You should see /Fat32_2GB listed at the bottom.
7. Navigate to /Fat32_2GB with command: cd /Fat32_2GB

Now you can access files stored on this drive, or add/remove files. Keep in mind, the maximum capacity is only 2 GB. Once finished accessing the drive, be sure to unmount the drive before disconnecting or before trying to run the M300 Playback software.

Note: the M300 Playback software (QNX) cannot run while the /Fat32_2GB drive is mounted.

1. To unmount the drive, navigate to the vmware directory using command: cd /nas/vmware
2. Unmount the M300 Playback Drive by running the script with command: ./umount_fat.bash
3. It will prompt for a sudo password. Enter the sudo password (refer to “Password” label on IMPACTS Laptop).
4. Next, give command: df to see what drives are mounted. You should no longer see /Fat32_2GB listed.

1. Right click on the VMware desktop and open a shell
2. Enter superuser with command: su
3. Mount the drive with command: ./mount_fat.bash
4. The stored memory on the playback key is now be mounted to /dos/c which you can check using the command: df
5. Move files to and from as needed. Keep in mind there is only a small disk space available (< 2GB total)
6. To unmount the stored memory, use command: umount /dos/c
7. Exit superuser with command: exit

Note: nothing needs to be physically unplugged from the computer

1. After unmounting the drive and exiting superuser, the M300 Playback software can be run as usual