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name: setup-and-operations description: "Guides SimpleDet's legacy MXNet environment setup, Cython extension builds, backend diagnostics, checkpoints, TensorBoard, and safe distributed-operation prerequisites." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: Apache 2.0

Setup and operations

Use this route for install/import errors, MXNet or mxnext compatibility, Cython/custom-operator builds, checkpoint/log layout, TensorBoard, or cluster prerequisites. Read installation.md before installing and troubleshooting.md after a failure.

Establish the runtime boundary

SimpleDet is a checkout-driven Python 3 project. Its documented baseline is Python 3.7, NumPy 1.x, OpenCV, pytz, patched pycocotools, mxnext, and a CUDA 10.1-compatible MXNet 1.6-era wheel or source build. The root diagnostic reports missing modules, nvcc, compiled artifacts, and MXNet GPU count without installing, downloading, or starting a workflow.

python <skill-root>/scripts/check_environment.py --repo-root /path/to/simpledet --json

A CPU import is only an inspection signal: train, bbox test, mask test, and speed workflows request mx.gpu contexts.

Install and extension sequence

Use a private environment, install the exact backend variant first, then compatible mxnext and patched COCO APIs, followed by OpenCV/pytz and optional TensorBoard. The repository's Makefile attempts CPU Cython modules and CUDA gpu_nms; make therefore needs nvcc. If nvcc is unavailable, do not call a CPU-only partial build a complete install.

Useful safe helper:

python <skill-root>/scripts/check_environment.py --repo-root /path/to/simpledet --strict

The source cluster/setup helpers are not bundled as executable runtime scripts: they contain network downloads, private paths, SSH, Singularity, or process termination side effects. Read operations.md for their safe prerequisites.

Route onward

• Dataset/cache/schema work: data-preparation.
• Train/test/config/checkpoint work: detection-workflows.
• New symbols/components: model-customization.