Difference between revisions of "Frequently Asked Questions General Software Questions"

Latest revision as of 17:00, 17 April 2023

You can download the latest eDAQ software from the software download page. Learn more about eDAQ software by looking at the videos, application notes and manuals.

What do you do if there is a software problem?

Software bugs and problems range from simple problems easily reproducible to difficult problems that cannot be reproduced.

The first thing to do is always to make sure you are using the latest version of the software. Visit the software download page and if there is a new version, download and install it. Your problem may have been solved in the new version.

You can then check the videos, application dates and manuals to see if your problem is explained in these.

Before we can react to a software problem we need a minimum amount of information:

• Software name and version used
• Hardware used and serial number
• Operating system version
• Description of problem

When a problem requires accurate capture of events leading up to the error condition we have the eRRS Software (eDAQ Remote Reporting Software). This is used to send software log files and system information to eDAQ support staff. Please get a customer to use this software only when requested by eDAQ Sydney, by downloading it and emailing the software to the customer.

Why can I see steps in my data instead of getting smooth curves?

It is likely that you have chosen a recording range which is too big and you are seeing digitization. If your peaks are only a few millivolts high, and you have left the default 10 volt range, you will see stepped peaks; the signal and areas will be inaccurate. You should select a recording range slightly higher than the largest signal you will record. Have a look at the Basics of Data Acquisition application note.

Why am I getting a noisy signal? / Why is there noise in my data?

There can be many reasons why you are getting noise. Have a look at this application note.

Treatment of "." and "," as Decimal Separators. Why are numbers copied from our serial devices into Excel not handled correctly in Europe?

This applies to all our serial devices, including the EPU35x isoPods, EPU452 MF isoPod, and the ER815/ER825 C4D detector.

Serial devices made at eDAQ use a dot "." as a decimal separator, however in European countries a comma "," is often used. This can cause problems when importing or copy and pasting data into programs like Excel. This is because Excel will use the computer's regional settings to see how to interpret numbers, which is different to how eDAQ devices are representing them.

We cannot change our software easily to accommodate this difference in decimal point usage within our firmware. Typically customer provided application software, such as LabVIEW, will be able to use the appropriate separators.

For Excel, the solution to this is when either importing a file, or using the "text to columns" feature, go to the third page of the import Wizard, click "Advanced", then specify a decimal separator of ".".

If you don't see this Wizard when loading a ".txt" file, then create a new workbook/sheet, then use the Data > From Text ribbon button to import the ".txt" file.

Other software packages may have similar options. Another workaround is to temporarily change your regional settings (in the Windows control panel), to set the decimal and thousands separators to "." and "," respectively, then put them back after importing. Your software may require a restart after changing the settings, to get it to notice they have changed.

Profiler and offset did not work on an ER125?

The problem was fixed due regional variations in using a "." or "," as a decimal separator, e.g. in numbers like "3.14159". We are guessing your computer was set to use Portuguese (Brazil) settings, which use a comma, but communications with the ER125 always uses a dot. The C4D App was using your OS's settings, which meant it couldn't understand the number. This new version forces the software to internally always use a "." in numbers when communicating with the hardware.

Where can I find a driver for my eDAQ hardware?

The drivers are on the installation software thumb drives and CDs that are sent from eDAQ. When you install the software, the driver will be copied onto the computer.

The drivers are also found here and on the installation file when you download the software from the software download page

Have a look at this troubleshooting application note.

How can I run eDAQ software on Mac hardware

MacOS software development was halted in July 2009. Mac OS Lion (Max OS10.7), released in 2011, no longer includes the 'Rosetta' function which enables old eDAQ Mac software to run. Latest Windows versions of the software can be run on Mac OSX computers based on Intel processors using Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 with a suitable virtual machine software such as VMware Fusion or Parallels.

Problem running C4D profiler (V2.5.2) after using PowerChrom

If you try and run the C4D Profiler after running PowerChrom it may fail to perform a complete Zero operation. PowerChrom may leave internal registers in a state that prevents the C4D application from performing a complete Zero operation. So before running C4D Profiler,after running PowerChrom, turn power ON and OFF.

Saving/recording files

QUESTION: I am writing you regarding saving/recording files in a nice way. We have a ET120 and ER225 C4D System. Since I measure the conductivity of different solutions to compare them, I would like to save this result. Now is my question, is there a nice way to save this graphs (or transfer the information of the graph) to produce graphs for a conference presentation. ?

ANSWER: For your ET120+ ER225 setup, I would assume you used eDAQ Chart software? If it is the case, you could save the graph as PDF (details refer to page 118 to 120 of the Chart Manual attached). It is under "File" -> "Print Chart View". Depending on the sampling time, you may need to set horizontal scaling to make the curve all show up on one page. You can also click "Print Preview" to see what the PDF will look like before exporting the PDF.