[RASMB] computer and IF problems

[John Philo]

Christine,

I run my XL-I under Windows XP and do not have similar issues with
absorbance data collection shutting down, and certainly not a blue screen
condition. The blue screen suggests this might be an intermittent computer
hardware problem rather than a Beckman software issue. If this computer is
connected to a network I suggest double-checking that you don't have a
network back-up starting or some other scheduled activity that is
interfering.

I know it seems hard to believe but XL-A/I data collection is
extraordinarily sensitive to disk fragmentation for some reason. You must
defrag often, even though the defragger may report it is not needed. But
I've never seen defrag issues cause a blue screen.

With respect to the interference problem, I'm not sure whether what you are
describing is the same thing, but I do occasionally see the IP data shifted
and actually wrapped-around so the cell bottom is on the left and the
meniscus is in the middle or over on the right. (This is a static shift, it
doesn't change over time). I've found that simply exiting and re-starting
the GUI sometimes fixes this wrap-around phenomenon, but sometimes I have to
turn the instrument off and back on too.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: rasmb-bounces at rasmb.bbri.org [mailto:rasmb-bounces at rasmb.bbri.org] On
Behalf Of Schar, Christine
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 8:19 AM
To: rasmb at rasmb.bbri.org
Subject: [RASMB] computer and IF problems

Hi all
I started having trouble with my interference optics about a week ago. 
The meniscus in the fringe pattern moves across the screen from right to
left.  The absorbance optics show that the meniscus isn't changing.  Since I
needed to run the instrument and I could use the absorbance optics, I tried
doing a run with ABS only.  The computer lost the  connection to the AUC and
stopped collecting scans.  I've tested this several more times and the
computer will not run for longer than 6 hours before it just shuts off now
(welcome to the blue screen).  My connections to the AUC seem fine and I
haven't been able to get the computer to find any errors with the drive.
 I also tried to restore the computer to an earlier date before I started
having problems and that didn't help.  I was thinking about reinstalling the
software.  I have an XLI (2 years old) running on XP Pro.  Has anyone done
this before?  Or used the Beckman recovery CDs (3 of them?)

One more thing.  I was going through the software I got with the AUC and saw
the Ghost software.  I have to admit I didn't know what it was nor did I
ever really know it was on the computer so I do not have a ghost backup of
the computer in its nascent state.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and advice.
Christine Schar

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