Installation and updates

Brainstorm is available in two forms: an open-source Matlab application (Matlab license required) and a stand-alone Java executable (free). Both are available for download in the same package.

Requirements

With Matlab

• No specific operating system requirements

• Matlab version >= R2006b (7.3)

• Optional: Signal Processing Toolbox (for frequency filtering and resampling)

Without Matlab

• Operating system:

  • Windows: Any version (details)

  • Linux: Ubuntu 14.04+, RedHat 6.x+, Debian 7.x, SUSE 11.3+ (details)

  • MacOS: 10.9.5 (Mavericks), 10.10 (Yosemite) (details)

  • If your OS is not listed here, try with another version: 2012b, 2013b, 2014b

• Matlab Compiler Runtime:

  • MCR version: R2015b (9.0)

  • Download for free from the Mathworks website

Hardware recommendations

• Screen: Working with MEG/EEG recordings involves a lot of computational resources and large display windows. Therefore we recommend that you use a computer with a decent processing capacity and a screen larger than 13".

• Mouse: You would also add to your comfort by using an external mouse instead of your laptop pad. Most of the manipulations are done with the mouse, and some involve an intensive use of the scrolling operation. A mouse wheel or the "two-finger move" on MacBooks are perfect for this, but this operation is not always easy to perform on some laptops.

• Memory: Brainstorm can work with a limited amount of memory, it will only restrict the loading of larger files. However, your are strongly advised to work with a 64bit operating system. Computers running a Windows 32bit system may run into a lot of "Out of memory" errors.

Installation

1. Go to the Download page, complete the quick and free registration process.

2. Download the latest brainstorm_....zip archive

3. Unzip it somewhere on your computer, for example:
   

   • Windows: My documents\brainstorm3

   • Linux: /usr/local/brainstorm3 (or ~/brainstorm3 if you are not admin)

   • MacOS: Applications/brainstorm3

4. Create a new folder "brainstorm_db" for the Brainstorm database, for example:

   • Windows: My documents\brainstorm_db

   • Linux: /home/username/brainstorm_db

   • MacOS: Documents/brainstorm_db

Start Brainstorm

With Matlab

1. Start Matlab

2. Do NOT add brainstorm3 folder to your Matlab path: this will be automatically done

3. Go to the brainstorm3 folder
4. Type "brainstorm" in the command window
5. When asked for the Brainstorm database folder, pick the "brainstorm_db" you have just created

6. Follow all the introduction tutorials in the section "Get started": Tutorials

Without Matlab

1. Download the MCR R2015b (9.0) for your operating system: Mathworks website

2. Install the MCR:

   • Windows: Double-click on the .exe and follow the instructions

   • MacOS: Click on the zip file to unzip it, then click on "InstallForMacOSX"

   • Linux: From a terminal, unzip .zip, then run ./install

3. Run the program in brainstorm3/bin/R2015b/

   • Windows: Double-click on brainstorm3.bat

   • MacOS: Double-click on brainstorm3.command and wait for instructions

   • Linux: From a terminal, run:
     cd brainstorm3/bin/R2015b/
     ./brainstorm3.command

4. Troubleshooting for MacOS or Linux:

   • On recent versions of MacOS, you may get an error message "Application can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer". This message would appear for all the programs that were not downloaded from the Apple app-store. To go around this verification: right-click on the application > Open, then click on the Open button.

   • From a terminal, make sure that the file "brainstorm3.command" is executable:
     chmod a+x brainstorm3.command

   • If nothing happens, run:
     ./brainstorm3.command MCR_DIR
     MCR_DIR is the MCR 9.0 folder (ex: /Applications/MATLAB/MCR/v90)

   • Try with another binary release: 2012b, 2013b, 2014b

5. Troubleshooting for Windows:

   • Your current user may not have the necessary privileges. If are an administrator for your computer, you can do the following: right-click on brainstorm3.bat > Run as administrator.

   • If you are not the administrator of your computer and Matlab or the MCR are not installed in the standard paths, Brainstorm may have trouble finding them. To specify manually the path of the MCR or Matlab folder, right-click on brainstorm3.bat > Edit. Fill the second line of the script (Example: @SET MATLABROOT="C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2015b"), save the file, and try to execute it again.

6. On Linux or MacOS, you may be asked to select the folder where you installed the MCR.
7. When asked for the Brainstorm database folder, pick the "brainstorm_db" you have just created.

8. Follow all the introduction tutorials in the section "Get started": Tutorials

Updates

Brainstorm is quickly improving and evolving. We have chosen not to go through a stable-release policy but rather, we established a quick and easy way to update the software seamlessly for you. Although this approach has its shares of risks of possibly seeing new bugs emerging from the most recent update, it has the great advantage of being dynamic and of rapidly disseminating new, important features. We encourage our users to report bugs through our forum, and our experience shows fixes are completed quickly enough to avoid disruptive downtime to our users.

For these reasons, we recommend that you update Brainstorm regularly using the following options:

• Automatic updates (Matlab version only):
  • When Brainstorm starts, it checks online if a version newer than a month-old is available.

  • To disable the automatic updates, edit the software preferences (File > Edit preferences)

  • Restart Matlab after updating the software.
• Manual updates (Matlab version only):

  • Menu Help > Update Brainstorm, in the main application window.

  • If it doesn't work: check that you have the rights to write in the brainstorm3 folder.
  • Restart Matlab after updating the software.
• Stand-alone version (or in case the above methods do not work for you)
  • Delete the brainstorm3 folder (it will not delete your database, which is in your user folder)
  • Download the latest release of the Brainstorm version
  • Follow the installation instructions (see above)