Maximum Unit error

[John Donovan]

If you see the following 1004 error in PFE from your 8230/8530 JEOL instrument:



you can simply ignore it.  The error is an internal communications error in the JEOL instrument firmware that JEOL already knows about and that they will fix in the future. In the meantime, the error will not halt the acquisition, and JEOL says the error does not cause any problems, so don't pay any attention to it.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Folks!
The machine is happily running away at the moment, but there is a non-fatal error that pops up to do with spectro 5. I am currently running a wavescan prior to calibrating and running unknowns. Error as follows:
Error in JEOLGetError : JEOLGetCounts [J8K_ReadCounter : Spectro 5, Count 0, itest 0] : JEOL device error returned, 1004, maximum unit number error

Now...to my eye this looks either like an error in the JEOL software or a communication issue between PfEPMA and the JEOL software? Basically, I would like to know what the error is, what causes this, who to talk to and potentially what to say! Would updating with the files you sent through yesterday be the answer?
As I mentioned, the good news is that it is not stopping me from working.
Cheers,
Malc.

[Probeman]

Hi Malcolm,
Yes, this "maximum unit number error" is a known bug in the JEOL internal communications and Japan knows about it but says it doesn't cause a problem.

I believe it can be fixed with an upgrade of the JEOL PC-SEM software, but as you say, it doesn't hurt anything.

[John Donovan]

Ken Severin reports that on his 8530 when he sees this maximum unit error, the instrument usually (but not always!) returns a zero count intensity. I have confirmed this from Ken's driver log capture.

Obviously this is not a benign situation (contrary to reports from other 8530 instrument operators), so I can only assume that there are different micro-code revisions out there that behave differently. Therefore I suggest that if this error occurs, you should contact JEOL and get your ROM micro-code in the instrument updated.

[John Donovan]

Here are instructions for capturing a driver log of this (or any other) communication issue:

1. Turn on detailed driver logging in the Probewin.ini file by setting DriverLoggingLevel from 0 to 2 (alternatively, one can change the driver logging level from the Probe for EPMA Help menu).
 
2. Start PFE, get ready for a short count cycle on one spectrometer and pause the software using the Pause button in the lower right.

3. Delete the probewin.log file in the PFE app folder.

4. Click the Continue button (was Pause), then immediately start a short count cycle.

5. When finished, click Pause again and rename the Probewin.log file to a name that describes the capture, e.g., Test_Maximum_Unit_Zero_Counts.log or Test_Maximum_Unit_NonZero_Counts.log or whatever...

john

[John Donovan]

This 1004 error (actually "same command executed") has been resolved in the latest JEOL driver described here:

http://probesoftware.com/smf/index.php?topic=221.0