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Hi Carol

We have had hardware-software communication problems on our 2 Nikon confocals and worked very closely with Nikon Europe who have now solved all issues. This involved updates for the Ti SDK as well as the scanner firmware. I would recommend that Nikon US contact Nikon Europe (Amsterdam) to ask for the update. 

Hope that helps

Sylvie

On 13 Apr 2012, at 17:40, "Carol Norris" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
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> 
> Hello All,
> 
> We are in the midst of a seemingly intractable problem with our Nikon A1R confocal.  It appears to be a communication issue between the image transfer boards in the computer and the confocal controller.  The initial symptom was an FIFO error message while attempting to scan. Upon shut down and restart of the hardware and software, the confocal grabber failed to load and Elements came up missing all the confocal controls.  We don't have a maintenance contract, so in conference with the Nikon repair guys and a lot of help from our imaging specialist, we have tried replacing the computer board and the cables, and then the controller board.  None of this really makes any difference. Periodically in the midst of plugging and unplugging cards and cables, the system will work briefly before the error messages start showing up.  We actually got it to work for 20 minutes with all the old parts back in, but we are now back to a steady diet of the "no communication" error message.  I am ready to set up a visit from a service engineer, but the Nikon repair dept has sent a request for help to the lead engineers in Japan, so we are waiting on that.  Has anyone out there ever experienced this kind of problem, and if so, what fixed it?
> 
> Thanks,
> Carol
> 
> 
> Carol E. Norris, Ph.D
> Facility Scientist
> Flow Cytometry/Confocal Microscopy Facility
> Biotechnology/Bioservices Center
> University of Connecticut Unit 3149
> 91 N. Eagleville Rd
> Storrs, CT 06269-3149
> 
> Phone (860) 486-3080
> Fax (860) 486-5005