HP-5890 SII with MSD 5972, update software/computer?

[s_spiff]

Hey Guys,

We have a GCMS 5890 Series II that is connected to a HP Kayak. We want to upgrade the computer and the software. Right now I believe it is connected using a ISA connection and software Chemstation B.001 revision.

We also have a CPU (with windows XP) which has a GPIB card (PCI slot) with Chemstation B.003 installed on it. I was wondering if the 5890 with MSD can be connected to this CPU?

Else, what are my option when it comes to upgrading the computer/software?

[cleh]

You can look in the configuration section in Chemstation on your XP PC and see if it allows the 5890 and 5972 to be configured. If it does, you can do it but I don't believe Agilent ever had a version of Chemstation that runs on XP for those instruments. I have upgraded many of my customers' older instruments using software from CSS Analytical. They have a patch that allows the older instruments to be configured with versions of Chemstation running on XP. They can also supply any hardware that may need to be upgraded. Good luck.

[MSCHemist]

Chemstation B any revision can do the 5890 and 5972 so you should be good.

[npaz]

Hi, we had some of those issues a while back. We are using Agilent 10833B connector that connects to the GC board. Connected to the 10833B is a Agilent 82375B USB/GPIB converter. That way you can just plug your device into any USB port on a computer. Since the current software you are using is written for windows 2000, this is the best version of windows to use. However, I believe it is possible to run windows XP, but you have to go into your old Chemstation version that is currently running, C:\msdchem\drivers\language and copy these files and place them in the XP version. For some reason the ENU files don't install correctly on XP when you try using the standard CD software installation.

[s_spiff]

Thanks I'll see if I can get my hands on these. Any way to update the software though? This B.001 revision seems ancient.

[MSCHemist]

Thanks I'll see if I can get my hands on these. Any way to update the software though? This B.001 revision seems ancient.

I belive there have been many threads that indicate that chemstation MSD B and even A can run on XPSP2 though SP3 is hit and miss and can often break the software.

[James_Ball]

From the official Agilent compatibility matrix:

B.01 =NT4 Sl4
B.02=NT4 Sp6a
C.00=NT4 Sp6a
D.00= 2000 Sp2
D.01= 2000 Sp3, Sp4 XP Sp1a
D.02=2000 Sp3, Sp4 XP Sp1a XP Sp2
D.03-E.02= XP Sp2
E.02 sp1=XPSp2, XP Sp3
E.02 sp2= Vista, Vista Sp1
E.02.01 and above = Vista Sp2 through Windows 7

5972 is supported through C.00.01

5890 is supported through B.02

If using a 5972 with C.00 you must be using a 6890GC

I do know that any software that says up to XP Sp2 will refuse to install if you have Sp3, we tried it and the installer warns you have Sp3 and aborts.
I also once did an install of C.00 on Windows 2000 and it will run but the install program will not generate the icons on the desktop or in the start menu for you to start the program, I had to copy a shortcut from an install on an NT system to my W2K system and with all the paths being the same that worked.

Though Version B looks rather dated it is one of the best in my opinion. Version C was not really any different except for what it supported(adding support for the 5973). A quirky thing about versions C and earlier, even into the W3.11 versions is they will read data files from the LC Chemstation and you can use the RTE integrator and the QEdit functions on those files, but from Version D on they will not read the LC files. We keep an NT version running to quantitate and generate the built in QC forms on our LC data.

Version D originally dropped support for the HPIB interface but later added it back in for users who had older 5973 models, but it was gone again by version E I believe.

We also just completed upgrading all of our MSDs to the E.02.02 so that we have compatibility with W7, we had too many computers on their last legs to risk losing an instrument from the death of a computer. One warning when doing this, the newer computers can be too fast for the JetDirect interfaces on the instruments and you may have to upgrade those also if you have a 5973/6890 equipped with those.

I hope that helps, and if you search you can find the compatibility matrix in an Excel file on the Agilent website under the support section. It should still be posted there.

[MSCHemist]

From the official Agilent compatibility matrix:

B.01 =NT4 Sl4
B.02=NT4 Sp6a
C.00=NT4 Sp6a
D.00= 2000 Sp2
D.01= 2000 Sp3, Sp4 XP Sp1a
D.02=2000 Sp3, Sp4 XP Sp1a XP Sp2
D.03-E.02= XP Sp2
E.02 sp1=XPSp2, XP Sp3
E.02 sp2= Vista, Vista Sp1
E.02.01 and above = Vista Sp2 through Windows 7

5972 is supported through C.00.01

5890 is supported through B.02

If using a 5972 with C.00 you must be using a 6890GC

I do know that any software that says up to XP Sp2 will refuse to install if you have Sp3, we tried it and the installer warns you have Sp3 and aborts.

Those are the official ones from Agilent but there is some wiggle room judging from older posts. Several posts mentioned problem of XP SP3 rendering some versions of Chemstation nonfunctional.

[James_Ball]

Those are the official ones from Agilent but there is some wiggle room judging from older posts. Several posts mentioned problem of XP SP3 rendering some versions of Chemstation nonfunctional.

True there is a little wiggle room on those, but sometimes the wiggle you need to do can be very frustrating I just wish Agilent still had the original programmers working on Chemstation, I believe it would be a much better software now, and probably have better backward/forward compatibility. I am finding the E versions to be very frustrating in the integration settings. I can have it detect perfectly in the lower half of my calibrations and down into the grass below my lowest calibrator but in the upper half of the calibration totally miss a peak that looks perfect. If you adjust it to pick up the really clear large peak it will not see the small ones. Never had that problem with the older versions. The BootP as a service is also less rugged than the BootP as a program the older systems used, and can be very difficult to work with. I have one instrument on W7 that is older and will not pickup an IP address from the BootP service at all, plus the BootP program will not run on W7 even in XP mode. So I have setup that instrument on the BootP table on one of the XP systems and have to unplug the network cable and run it across the room to the XP computer for it to be assigned an IP address then back to the W7 box to run the instrument. Luckily it is a volatiles analysis instrument and only gets powered down about once a year for cleaning or when the power goes out