We recently added two additional channels to our STARlet system and the previous methods we developed no longer work due to the method expecting being developed for 6 channels and the system now has 8. Looking for some guidance on how to update the method to be compatible with 8 channels.
I updated the number of channels to 8 in the system configuration editor hoping that was the issue but still receive the following message when I run my method developed for 6 channels. How do I update the expected number of channels for the method?
I’m also receiving this error when I update the number of channels in the system configuration editor, but the new value seems to be saved. Any idea what could be causing this as well?
You’ll need to go through the method(s) and for any instrument step - tip pickup, aspirate, dispense, tip eject, open the command and select Ok to close it. It would then update the number of channels to what you set in the system configuration editor.
In the method view, you’ll see the command change from Channel (1…6): 111111 to the following:
The above fix worked for me but I have an additional follow up question. My method was written to use 6 channels specifically and when I go into the system configuration settings and adjusts the channels from 8 to 6, I save the settings. It appears to still be set to 6 if I open the settings again to check, but when I run the method, it appears to change the channels back to 8 and then gives me the above error again.
I’m assuming that run method does a check and updates the number of channels back to 8 since I can see 8 firmware total during the initialization. I’m seeing that this is just the number of channels for the simulator. Is it possible to disable the 2 addtional channels or will I have change all the channel patterns for all my pipet steps?
The method won’t update from 8 channels to 6 until you double click on the command to open up the settings and then press OK to save the settings. This will reset the function to match the system configuration editor.
As long as the listed channels (1…N) is greater than the number of channels being requested it should be fine. This being said, you are likely requesting 8 channels in a 6-channel environment. Using a variable to set the channel pattern would get around this.
