FactoryOS Installation Manual

Hello! So you want to construct a factory?! Well read on friend, cause we're going on a ride!

A factory in this document refers to any structure that uses this system! It can be a mine, or a steel mill, or a furniture store!

The first thing you'll need is a supply box! It should contain everything you need to set up the guts of a factory!

Do not copy anything placed on the ground or inside something else to avoid address duplication!

Step 1: Hardware

Each factory consists of up to 4 distinct modules:

The main server - This is what runs the factory (named "FactoryServer" in the box)
The Relay - The relay contains a linked card that connects the factory to the master server.
Inputs - Inputs handle accepting items into the factory. There can be between 0 and 15 inputs in a factory.
Outputs - Outputs handle the factory's output products if any. There can be any number of outputs in a factory including zero.

1:1 The main server

The main server consists of a rack which contains the FactoryServer, Disk Drive, and Terminal Server.

Opening the rack GUI (activate the sides or top of the rack) you will see the following interface:

Here you need to connect each rack component to one side of the rack. Whichever side you pick is the side you need to connect the external components to later.

Note: Left and right are from the point of view of the rack. If it is facing towards you (you can see the front of it) then left and right will be the reverse of yours.

You will also need to place the Factory Disk in the disk drive for later.

1:2 The Output Controller

The factory needs one output for each different output product it should produce.

An output consists of the following components:

A rack with an IO Controller server blade in it.
A cable connecting this module to the factory server.
A transposer, connected to the cable.
The source inventory. In this case a Storage Drawer with a creative vending upgrade. This should contain the output item.
A screen, colored red to indicate an output.
The output buffer. This is there items are put for players.

The only configuration that needs to be made for an output is ensuring that the server has a component connection (thick line) to whichever side the screen is on, and a network connection (thin line) down into the transposer.

Note: Make sure no inventories are adjacent to one of the transposer sides except the output inventory.

Once it is set up you can turn on the IO Controller. The screen should turn on and display OK and a tick.

1:2:E Extra Details

The server and screen are not required for an output to operate. Only the transposer and input/output inventories are required.

The source and output inventories can be anything, but the source inventory should be able to produce infinite items, and the output inventory should have enough capacity.

1:3 The Input Controller

The factory can have between 0 and 15 inputs. Each factory that accepts input goods should have at least two inputs, but can have more than that depending on the facility's size and level.

Each input can only be claimed by one player and any goods delivered to it are credited to that player.

A screen, colored blue to indicate an input.
The input inventory, where players insert delivered goods.
A Railcraft Void Chest to destroy input goods after its been counted.
A rack with an IO Controller server blade in it and
a Switch Board (This is what tells it it's an input)
A cable connecting this module to the factory server.
A transposer, connected to the cable.

Setting up an input is similar to an output, but it requires a unique address (unique within this factory) provided by the Switch Board.

Note: Make sure no inventories are adjacent to one of the transposer sides except the input inventory.

The address is specified using binary notation using the four switches on the Switch Board. A value greater than 0 tells the IO Controller that it's an input rather than an output.

First connect the IO Controller with a component connection to the side the screen is on. The Switch Board should be connected to this side as well. And create a network connection to the transposer on the bottom.

Once connected to the server the Switch Board will be powered and you can toggle the four switches by clicking on the front of the block (on the Switch Board).

The Switch Board provides a 4-bit binary input which can be used to specify an address for the IO Controller.

Note: The address cannot be zero as zero is not a valid port.

Warning: The address of an input cannot be changed after the server has been configured without updating the address in the settings file or re-running the setup!

Once the address has been specified you can turn on the IO Controller. The screen should turn on and display a box and UNCLAIMED.

1:4 The Relay

The Relay is a Microcontroller with custom firmware to, like the relay block, allow relaying broadcasts over a linked card. But unlike the relay block this custom firmware allows making the connection only go in one direction, and you can specify which ports it listens to.

The Relay comes pre-configured and only needs to be placed so that it is connected to the main server. (See Putting it all together)

The Relay needs to be turned on. This can be done at any time, but if it is not turned on the factory will be unable to report any activity to the master server. The Relay should beep once when starting.

Make sure you do not create loops with the cables. This can cause network messages to echo around the network and cause issues.

1:5 Putting it all together

Now that you know about the pieces, lets put them together!

Keep in mind that these pieces can mostly be arranged any which way in relation to each other! All that matters is that they are connected properly!

There are two important things that need to be noted:

You must not link the the IO Controller's components with the main factory network by connecting a cable between the screen and the transposer.
The Relay microcontroller will block component connections. You cannot put it in the middle of a cable separating two parts of the factory network.

Step 2: Software

2:1 Setup

Once all the hardware is in place and connected you can take a Remote Terminal and right-click on the Terminal Server on the front of the rack to connect it.

If you haven't already, start the main server and use the Remote Terminal to interface with it.

You should see a standard OpenOS shell.

Type install and confirm you wish to install FactoryOS by typing Y and pressing enter.

The installer will first copy the files onto the hard drive. Then the factory configuration will begin.

All you have to do from this point is follow the instructions on the screen. Certain settings have default values. If you do not know what to set there just leave them as the default.

The installer may skip certain steps that are not relevant to the current factory, so don't worry if the step numbers don't make sense!

Once the installation is complete (before or after the restart) you can remove the disk from the disk drive.

Finally run start to start the factory program.

If the server restarts it should run start automatically on startup.

2:1:1 Extra: Output Inventories & Slots

In step 2:2 and 2:3 of the factory setup the installer asks about min and max inventory slots. This is because certain inventories have slots that the transposer can see, but can't place items into.

This causes issues with detecting whether there is enough space to output or not.

As an example, this IC2 Compact Item Buffer has 13 slots, but the last four are upgrade slots and are not usable to put goods into.

So if we are using this as the output inventories we need to tell it that the min slot is 1, and the max slot is 9.

This applies to all outputs, so you must use the same block as the output inventory for all of them or you might run into issues.

2:2 Updating

If at some point a factory needs to be updated due to software changes follow the following procedure:

Power off the main factory server.
Remove the hard drive from the main factory server.
Insert the Factory Disk into the Disk Drive and start the server back up.
Put the hard drive back in the server
Run the installer again.
The installer will detect the existing settings file and ask if you just want to reboot to complete the update, or re-configure the factory.
Re-configuring the factory will start the factory setup from scratch.
After the update is complete you can remove the Factory Disk from the Disk Drive after the reboot.