Troubleshooting: 
     Installing a PC4 in a "New" Computer

A Gamry PC4 Potentiostat can often outlive the computer into which it was first installed.  Here are some common problems that customers have seen when trying to move a PC4 from a "dead" computer into an unused computer that has the required ISA slots.

The Framework cannot find the Potentiostat.

You get the Error message:

During the Setup program you were asked to identify the type of the Potentiostat.  You may have mis-identified your ISA Potentiostat as a PCI4.  Run the Setup Wizard to correct this problem and identify it correctly as a PC4 Potentiostat.

You get the Error message:

During the Setup program you were also asked for the Board Number and Base Address of the of the Potentiostat.  The values you select during setup must agree with the switch settings on the PC4.  Setup will show a  cartoon of the switches.  Make sure your Potentiostat's switches agree with it! 

The switches may be set correctly, but there may be an address conflict with another ISA card in the new computer! Try changing the "Board Number" to 2, 3, or 4.  You must (a) change the switches on the board and (b) re-run the Setup Wizard so that the software and hardware agree.

The experiment starts, but hangs up with "Running..." or "Autoranging..." in the status bar, and NO data.

An interrupt is a signal generated by a hardware device such as a Gamry Potentiostat which tells the computer that the device requires attention. Gamry Potentiostats generate interrupts whenever a data point has been acquired. The software will wait patiently until that interrupt occurs. While it waits, the "Running..." or "Autoranging..." message is displayed.

If another device in the computer is also trying to use the same interrupt line (or IRQ) confusion can follow.  You can manually change the IRQ setting in the Gamry IRQ Manager entry under the Windows Device manager. Fortunately, no switches are involved!

On motherboards with both ISA and PCI slots there can also be confusion if an ISA board (your Gamry Potentiostat) and a PCI board try to use the same IRQ. The IRQ needed by the Potentiostat can be be reserved for ISA-use- only through the BIOS settings of the computer. These may be accessed by the "F2" function key or the "Delete" key (check your computer manual) when you computer first boots. Look for a page that allows you to specify the interrupt used by the Potentiostat (IRQ 5, 10, or 11) as "Legacy ISA." 

Some "mass market" computer manufacturers (Dell, Gateway, and others) tried to save some money by eliminating a seldom used -5V power supply that is required by the ATX specification.  Unfortunately, the Gamry PC4 Potentiostat requires it, and will not operate without it.

You can tell if your computer has this power supply by looking at the 20 pin ATX power supply connector on the mother board.  If the connector is missing a wire at position 18 (see above) then the -5V supply is missing.  You can also tell by measuring the voltage on pin 5 of the ISA slot.

You may be able to find another computer, or another power supply that has the required supply.  If not, contact Gamry about returning your boards to the factory to have the boards modified to provide this voltage "on-board."

The experiment starts, but hangs up in the middle of my experiment.

This is probably an "interrupt overrun."  This page has detailed instructions, but you might try this first:

From the Control Panel select 
Windows 98: Display -> Settings -> Advanced Properties -> Performance. 
Windows 2000: Display -> Settings -> Advanced -> Troubleshooting
Windows XP: Display -> Settings -> Advanced -> Troubleshoot

Set the Hardware Acceleration slider to "None".  

You can also get to the "Display Properties" by right-clicking on a blank area of you desktop and selecting "Properties."

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Last revised on Monday, September 18, 2006