Agilent MSD-Chemstation

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I am having some trouble connecting my 5890 (series I A)/5971 GC-MSD combo to MSD Chemstation G1701AA. I am reaching out the community in the hopes that someone has gone through a similar issue and can help me figure out what I am missing.

Recently, my windows 98 SE computer died, which I used to control this instrument. I was able to build a new computer running windows 98 SE with Chemstation G1701AA A.03.01 with D.02.00 NIST Libraries (yes this the correct one for windows 95/98); however, chemstation is unable to recognize the GC.

I have a new 82350b PCI GPIB card on the new windows 98 SE computer that is successfully installed using Agilent IO Libraries. I configured the card as the following:

SICL: hp82341
VISA: GPIB0
Logical Unit: 7
Bus: 30

All versions of IO Libraries I have tried installing (L.02.00 and M.01.01) recognize the GPIB address of the GC and MSD as 15 and 20, respectively. The control panel hardware shows that the card is successfully installed as well. I know it isn't an IO Libraries issue or communication issue with the GC/MSD.

I have properly assigned both instruments in the Chemstation configuration panel for the 5890 GC and 5971 MSD with GPIB addresses of 15 and 20, respectively. The GPIB addresses were verified on the cards and through the IO Libraries connection software.

When I startup chemstation, it tells me that both the GC and MSD cannot be detected.

I have restarted windows multiple times. I have tried using different GPIB boards in computer, GC, and MSD (all are working fine), and I cannot get it to work.

The kicker is that I borrowed a computer that successfully runs a 5890/5971 combo in an adjacent lab from mine, plugged it into my system, and found that it works just fine. The borrowed computer also runs windows 98 SE with IO Libraries L.02.00 and Chemstation A.03.01.

I am completely at a loss. I have no idea if I am missing sometime simple, or if something more complicated is needed. I am hoping the community can help me.

Thank you.
Okay, so assuming that it's a SmartCard II in my experience with Windows 98SE sometimes you can end up with a 'bad' install if steps are done somewhat out-of-order. Several times I've had to reformat and re-start from the very beginning because I'd forgotten a step and doubling back didn't fix the problem. So I'd try a reformat and fresh install.

I'd also think about trying to make a clone of the computer that you were able to get to work with your system. For some of our legacy systems I have spare (old) computers that are the exact type that is in use so if the system computer conks out I can swap a cloned hard drive into the spare and have the system running with minimal downtime.
Thanks for the help Carl.

I did try a fresh install a couple days ago, and it didn't help. With that said, I think I found the issue.

In the new computer I used a 82350b card which uses a PCI slot instead of the 82341 card (ISA) that I had installed previously. One of my colleagues mentioned that A.03.00 / A.02.00 is not compatible with the 82350 GPIB card and all of the chemstation compatibility matrices I studied mentioned I need a 82341 card in an ISA slot.

I ordered a computer with an ISA slot with windows 98 SE installed. It comes in tomorrow, so I'm hoping that this will resolve the issue.

I'll keep you updated.

Aaron
Aaron - if you need it, I've got a used 82341 HPIB board that I could send you to try, and if it works, then arrange for a modest payment.
Thanks KM.

I tried using a new computer with an 82341 GPIB card with a fresh install of windows 98, all drivers, chemstation A.03.00, and NIST libraries, and I still cannot connect to the GC.

My parameters for the 82341 card are:

SICL: hp82341
VISA: GPIB0
IRQ Line: 10
Logical Unit: 7
Bus: 30

The card recognizes the GC in autoconfig because I am able to bring up my GC-FID with autosampler (HPIB 15, HPIB 1, respectively) and the standalone GC with MS (HPIB 15 / 20). I should mention that my GC-FID runs perfectly well on another system with Chemstation A.10.02, and I was able to control my GC-MS using another computer running A.03.00. I did notice on the computer I borrowed that they do not have IO libraries but some other method to control the HPIB interface. Could this be the issue?

For whatever reason, chemstation is not allowing me to communicate with either instrument.

I'm not sure what the issue is, and neither does Agilent. I saw one case similar on this forum that was unresolved. I'll continue to figure out a solution. Any ideas or hints would be greatly appreciated.
I'm retired, and too far removed from HPIB/GPIB interface to remember everything. Yes, for 82341 or 82350 cards one sets up as "hp82341" and the bus address is 30, important.

We only ran A.03 GC and MS Chemstation C1034 using pentium I computers with 82335 HPIB cards and Windows 3.x.
I tried reinstalling the chemstation and IO libraries in the same exact order that Carl mentioned several times with no luck.

It's very strange. IO libraries connects to the instrument just fine. Something in chemstation just prevents it from connecting to the GC. Keep getting "GC not Found" error. Is it a possible firmware issue? The MSD has a smartcard II, and Chemstation a.10.02 is able to control the GC using the same communication interface on a separate computer. A.03.00 doesn't pick up the GC at all on two separate computers (both fresh install of windows 98SE). This instrument was working fine beforehand on the exact same OS configuration. It's very strange and I'm out of ideas.

Does this have something to do with the configuration panel? When I go into chemstation configuration, I simply select the 5971 MSD (set address to 20), select the 5890 GC (set address to 15), click okay. Then I went into the HPIB card configuration in chemstation (under file) set it as 82341, hit okay, and then I saved the configuration (punched in standard config and - for RF polarity).
It has been a long time since I configured HPIB, but I don't seem to remember even using the HPIO libraries when using W95 with MSDChemstation. Not sure how it works with regular Chemstation A series. I just remember having to manually input the address of all three cards into the config or four cards if using the ALS.
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
Yeah, I configured a lot of SmartCard I 82335 GC/MS's but this kind of falls into one of my (many) knowledge gaps. I found a .pdf I made from 10 years ago that explains how to install Chemstation G1034C for a 5971 with SmartCard I but that's not terribly helpful here.

This may be helpful: https://www.scribd.com/document/73679515/Install-82341
Thank you James and Carl for the help.

I'm starting to think it's possible that the IO Libraries isn't necessary and is conflicting with the GC-MS chemstation. I am currently out of town until Friday, but I'm very eager to get back and retry this.

I am also thinking about just purchasing an 82335 card off of ebay and trying that, but I don't think it will solve my issue here.

I am very appreciative of the help, Carl, James, and Keith. I'll keep you updated.
I put in an 82335 HPIB card, changed the Chemstation configuration settings, and Chemstation instantly recognized the GC.

I discovered why for those who are interested. If you are running an 5890 Series I A GC, you are most likely running the older firmware which is only compatible with the 82335 HPIB card (for GC-MS applications only. GC - Detector applications are completely different and will run on an 82350 HPIB card). If you are running a 5890 Series II GC with the 'newer' firmware, an 82341C card or 82335 card will work.

Thank you for all who have helped.
alopes wrote:
I am also thinking about just purchasing an 82335 card off of ebay and trying that, but I don't think it will solve my issue here.


alopes wrote:
I put in an 82335 HPIB card, changed the Chemstation configuration settings, and Chemstation instantly recognized the GC.

I discovered why for those who are interested. If you are running an 5890 Series I A GC, you are most likely running the older firmware which is only compatible with the 82335 HPIB card (for GC-MS applications only. GC - Detector applications are completely different and will run on an 82350 HPIB card). If you are running a 5890 Series II GC with the 'newer' firmware, an 82341C card or 82335 card will work.


When I read your first response above, I was going to offer to send you a used 82335 or 82341 card to try. Then I looked up "82335" on Ebay and saw that you could get one for a very reasonable price that way - and likely sooner than I could fight post office to send to you. But I didn't know that only an 82335 card would work, either, or I would've sent that along with the Chemstation.

Anyway, glad that you got it going, and solved a minor mystery with the software/firmware, and that even Agilent help didn't know this, you likely spoke with someone "younger" who had no hands-on with this. I know an Agilent guy in Colorado nearing retirement age who was always very good and very helpful on the vintage stuff, a real asset to Agilent from the HP days.

Anyway - you taught a bunch of us here a lot.
So, I gather from this thread that I can run Chemstation G1701AA ver A.03.00 in Win98. Is there any chance I could run it in Win2000 Pro? I happen to have an old dual P-III/700/256/100 SuperMicro P6DGE server with a couple of ISA slots.
LALman wrote:
So, I gather from this thread that I can run Chemstation G1701AA ver A.03.00 in Win98. Is there any chance I could run it in Win2000 Pro? I happen to have an old dual P-III/700/256/100 SuperMicro P6DGE server with a couple of ISA slots.


I think I ran it that way on my laptop once for diagnostics and when doing the install from the CD it installed everything but the desktop shortcuts. I had to copy the old version shortcuts and put in a new link in the Properties line to the .exe files but it ran just fine.
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
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