top of page

14-3 Troubleshooting

Step-by-step solutions to solving common beamline problems.

  1. There is no beam

  2. I cannot see my sample in microscan/microscan video feed frozen

  3. Microscan is unresponsive/stage will not move

  4. My maps look streaky/no map data is showing

  5. The optic is frozen – I cannot move between M5, M1 and through

  6. I cannot see my XAS or the XAS do not look good

  7. The ion chambers show no reading (i.e. 0) or the numbers are not updating

  8. I have clicked ‘start queue’ or ‘start scan’ and nothing happens. OR the beamline has stopped collecting data mid-scan.

  9. I restarted microscan, but it will not open

10. The mono is not moving as it should, or I see #ERROR# in microscan/microXAS/master data queue

11. I do not see any counts in XmapGUI.

12. I cannot see my data in the T drive.

13. ALERTS format

1. There’s no beam

1. Is the shutter open?​

  • If no, then open the shutter.

  • If yes then move to #2.​​

 

2. Is the Hex GUI on ‘through’ beam?

  • If no, see steps below.

  • If yes, the through beam is often very faint in the Microscan video feed.

    • Check the webcam feed, can you see a wide beam on the phosphor? If so, change Hex GUI to the M5 or M1 optic and check for beam.

    • If you intend to use the through beam, it will be faint on the phosphor.

    • Use the ‘live’ feed monitor on the upper left to look for the beam. Change the monitor contrast etc., using the buttons on the lower right of the screen. You should be able to change it enough to see the faint beam.

    • Use small pieces of tape to mark the edges of the through beam. You can now use this feed to make sure the through beam is directly on the sample as you build your queue.

 

3. Has there been a beam dump?​

  • If yes, then wait until beam comes back.

  • If no, is there signal in I0?

    • If no then:​ is the energy in microscan correct? A change in mono energy map have resulted in a misalignment. Contact BL staff on slack.

    • If yes:​ the optic has gotten misaligned somehow. Contact the beam line scientists on Slack.​

2. I cannot see my sample in Microscan/Microscan video feed frozen

Try closing and restarting Microscan. Close Microscan via the command prompt window. If there is more than one Microscan command prompt, close them all. Multiple command prompts can confuse Microscan.

  • If the video feed is still frozen or black, you will need to restart the camera server. This will not interrupt data collection.

    • Close Microscan

    • Locate the remote desktop window (the same window as the laser read out values). Try closing the window ‘camera server’ by the red X. If it closes, reopen camera server from the desktop. Jump to last step.

    • If the camera server window does not close by the red X, power cycle the camera on the PDU (GUI with outlets) by checking ‘off’. You should see the camera server window in the remote desktop close when you turn it off in the PDU.

    • Turn the camera back on in the PDU. You should notice the camera cycle through zooming on the ‘live’ video feed on the monitor to your upper left.

    • Open the camera server from the desktop of the remote desktop.

    • Open microscan, click F1 and camera will refocus.

3. Microscan is unresponsive/Sample stage will not move

  • Try closing and restarting Microscan. Close Microscan via the command prompt window. If there is more than one Microscan command prompt, close them all. Multiple command prompts can confuse Microscan.

  • ​If Microscan opens and is still not responsive or doesn't open, this could be due to a few things including:

  1. The system still thinks there is an active scan still running and won't let you move the stages. This is by design.

  2. One or more of the sample stage axes have disabled. Did you drive out of range? (past 12 or −12)

  3. The XPS (stage controller) needs a reboot. A way to double check this is that you close and try to restart Data Collect (Master Data queue) and that doesn't start either. Or the Newport webpage will not load.

​​

Solution to 1:
Check the Master Data Queue window. What is the data collection status light showing? If the color is green or orange it means Master Data Queue is still doing something and hasn't released control back to Microscan. Also check the bottom left of the window to see if there is a message like "Data queue active". If this is the case, try the following:

  • Try hitting the "Abort Scan" button.

  • You can also clear errors and reset the queue under queue controls. Try doing both.

  • If the above two options to do change the light status to gray, try closing Master Data Queue program. Use the command prompt window called "DataCollect" to ensure the program fully closes. To reopen, use the desktop icon called "Data Queue". If Master Data Queue does not reopen, go to solution 3.

​

Solution to 2:
READ THIS PROCESS IN FULL BEFORE ATTEMPTING! There is an extreme likelihood of the wheel hitting either the optics or the detector. If you have the single (rock) sample holder on or thick samples you should remove them before completing this process.

First, check the status of the stage motors:

  • Locate the web browser (internet explorer) for the Newport stages, the IP address is: 192.168.1.254.

  • Login with:

Username: Administrator

Password: Administrator

If you get no response from this window then consult Solution 3 below.

  • On the command bar, click FRONT PANEL. Then click MOVE.

  • This should bring up the Newport status for each axis of motion for the stage. The functioning state of the buttons under the “Action” column should read “Disable” for Y and Z and “Disable slave” for the X axis, if the axes are working as they should be. If an axis has failed the button will read "Enable" or “Initialize”.

  • If a single axis reads as "Enable" click that button. Things should work again now. But, if one or more axes read "Initialize" then....

  • To make sure you do not hit the optic:

    • move the optic to the through hole using the Hex GUI (or remove the sample wheel).

    • If you leave the sample wheel on, move to S0 (the phosphor). But still move Hex to through.

  • Click each “Initialize” button in the Newport web browser front panel (including SX and SY). The buttons should change to “Home”.

  • Click the “Home” button on the X AXIS FIRST! If you do Y first the wheel will drive with force towards the optics. The axis should return to the zero home position and the status should now read “Disable”.

  • Click the “Home” button on the Y, Z and Phi axes, but do not home the SX and SY axes. The axes should return to the zero home position and the status should now read “Disable”. Note the sample wheel will return so S0.

  • Locate the command prompt window that has a last line ending "..../newportStages". Hit the up arrow on your keyboard and you should see a command appear "python initializeXPS_MA". Hit enter.

  • Go back to the Newport browser page and you should see that all motors should now show "Disable" and the X axis should now read “Disable slave”.

  • Close and reopen Microscan.

  • Remember this changes the focus point of the samples in the X-ray beam, so you will need to refocus on your sample using the red arrow buttons and the laser read out. Therefore, if you had already collected a map and were going to pick XAS spots on that map, the spots are likely no longer precise. You may consider collecting the map again.

​

Solution to 3:

Locate the web browser (internet explorer) for the Newport stages. If you cannot find the webpage or desktop shortcut, use a browser such as internet Edge and in the URL field enter this IP address: 192.168.1.254.

​

  • Try logging in with:

Username: Administrator

Password: Administrator

  • ​If the Newport browser page is not reachable then you will need to power cycle the XPS. This can be done on 14-3 in the PDU management GUI (looks like outlets)​.​ To power cycle:

  1. Locate the XPS-SAMPLE outlet on the GUI (be careful not to confuse XPS-SAMPLE and XPS-HEX).

  2. Turn off XPS-SAMPLE. Wait for a few seconds. Turn XPS-SAMPLE back on.

  3. Refer to the steps in "Solution II" above to continue.

4. My maps look streaky/no map data is showing

When Microscan moves to a new mapping region, or you start a new scan, Microscan does not reset the live mapping windows. The maps can look streaky or show no data at all.

 

Solution:

  • Close and reopen Microscan. Remember to close Microscan via the command prompt window.

  • Make sure you are on F1 so the video feed is in focus.

  • Click on the map that is currently collecting in Master Data Queue, it will highlight in blue.

  • Go back to Microscan and click ‘Get curr in queue’. This option imports the map information from Master Data Queue for the current mapping region. Check ‘show current region’ to see the red box on the microscan video feed.

  • Try opening map windows now to see your data collecting.

5. The optic is frozen – I cannot move between M5, M1 and through

The optic motion can freeze from time to time, there isn’t necessarily something you did to cause this. The solution to this is similar to fixing the stage with a frozen axis.

  • Locate the web browser for the XPS-Hex.

  • If not already logged in, login with:

    • Username: Administrator

    • Password: Administrator

  • Click Front Panel, then move.

  • If an axis is not working, it will read “Enable” or “Initialize”

  • Click the button(s) that real “Enable” or “Initialize” until they read disable.

  • Now move to the desired optic position in the Hex GUI. You may want to close and reopen Hex GUI too.

6. I cannot see my XAS or the XAS do not look good

This is usually due to having the wrong display parameters for the data you are collecting. In the microXAS Plot Utility, make sure you have checked the box ‘current’ under the files tab. Then, make sure you are plotting the correct parameters:

  • Most commonly, data are collected in fluorescence mode at 14-3 and should be plotting FF/I0 under the ‘std plots’ tab.

  • If you wish to see each channel of the detector, you can choose ‘all FFs’ which will display 7 spectra (representing each channel of the detector). You may wish to look at the data this way if you suspect you may have diffraction peaks in your spectra (these would only show up in one channel of the detector).

  • To look at an individual channel of the detector you need to check Custom in the Std Plots tab. Then in the Custom tab select Requested Energy as the numerator, and 1 as the denominator for the X-axis. Then you would select the appropriate SCA channel as the numerator (e.g. SCA2.1), and I0 as the denominator in the Y-axis group area.

  • If you are measuring the calibration standard that is in calvert; you need to check Custom in the Std Plots tab. Then in the Custom tab select Requested Energy as the numerator, and 1 as the denominator for the X-axis. Then you would I2/I0 as the denominator in the Y-axis group area. If the BL staff calibrated for you before your run, they may have left the plotter in this setting. Simply got to the std plot tab and uncheck custom, and select FF/I0.

  • for transmission data you should have the appropriate ion chambers selected, usually I1, either in Std Plots or in the Custom tabs.

 

If you see a flat line but you are plotting the correct parameters:

  • Abort the scan

  • Press start and then stop in XmapGUI. Make sure the MCA trace updates. If the MCA trace does not update, run the zebra batch file, then try pressing start and then stop in XmapGUI.

  • Restart XAS.

7. The ion chambers show no reading (i.e. 0) or the numbers are not updating

1. Is there beam?

  • If you can see beam on the phosphor, restart the ion chamber GUI (DVMs). The ion chamber readings should update.

  • If no, go to ‘There is no beam’ for solutions.

8. I have clicked ‘start queue’ or ‘start scan’ and nothing happens. OR the beamline has stopped collecting data mid-scan.

1. Is there beam?

  • If no, go to ‘There’s no beam’ and follow steps.

  • If yes, move to #2

 

2. Check the XSPRESS3 control window (usually in the upper right of the desktop,). Is the text on the GUI all green?

  • If yes, move to #3

  • If no, and the boxes are white:

    • An IOC restart is required. To restart IOC, look for the MobaXterm window.

    • There should be tab like windows above the black command prompt in moba. Scroll to the top of each tab to find the command ‘xspress3-ioc.sh’. Once you have found this tab, perform the restart.

    • To ensure the previous ioc process was terminated, press ctrl + c. This should pop up a $ on a new line. This signals the previous process was termination.

    • Hit the up arrow, you should see xspress3-ioc.sh’ and hit enter.

    • The XSPRESS3 control window should turn from white to green writing.

    • After this, you will want to run the zebra batch file to reset the inputs and outputs for timing, mapping and data collection. This is usually open in a command prompt, press the up arrow and enter to run. If you cannot locate the zebra batch command prompt, send a message on slack.

    • You will need to close and reopen XmapGUI. Once opened, click one of the detector channels and press start. If you get an error, try closing and reopening XmapGUI again. If you still do not see counts, try rerunning the zebra batch file (close and reopen XmapGUI).

    • If you see an MCA trace, make sure your elements are still selected and highlighted by the colored bars. You can double check by going to the periodic table interface and making sure the same elements are selected.

    • You may also need to close and reopen Master Data Queue, Microscan and microXAS (the data queue must be opened to open microscan or microXAS).  

 

3. Are you within the stage limits (absolute limits are +12 to -12 but we suggest going to a max of +10 to -10 due to the way in which the stage moves to start each line of a map).

  • If no, or you are unsure, check the co-ordinates in Microscan on the left hand side. And, check the Newport webpage to see is any stage axes have disabled. Then, see ‘Microscan is unresponsive/Sample stage will not move’ solution 2.

  • If yes, move to #4

 

4. Do you see a "low limit" in the command prompt for the Master Data Queue (dataserver)?

  • If yes, does I0 read < 0.1 in the DVM?

    • I0 being < 0.1 is usually why you get this error. Optimization of beam and mirror pitch feedback are important here, you may wish to ask for help in slack unless you have gone over optimization parameters with BL staff.

    • If the beam is well optimized and MPFB is set (between 40-60%) then increase the gain on i0. The value for I0 should increase in the DVM.

    • Restart the queue

  • If no, or are unsure, check in with BL staff or move to #5.

5. Did you try to restart the queue in Master Data Queue, or restart Master Data Queue?

  • If no, abort the queue. Reset the queue and clear errors under ‘errors’ tab. Restart the queue. And/or restart the data queue and attempt to restart.

9. I restarted Microscan, but it will not open

This can happen if the stage has not properly been reset (i.e. a stage axis limit was hit). Go to ‘Microscan is unresponsive/Sample stage will not move’ and follow solution 3 and 2.

10. The mono is not moving as it should, or I see #ERROR# in microscan/microXAS/data server

Sometimes the server that interconnects (called ICS) all the beam line electronics disconnects. This presents itself as an error (#ERROR#) beside the mono position in the Master Data Queue and/or microXAS and/or Microscan. The solution is to restart ICS.

  • Locate the ics_cpc tab in Moba (you may need to look through a few tabs and scroll to the top). If there is no ICS tab, you can open it under session (left hand side) and click ‘checkout’.

  • You will know you are in the right place if you see a list of numbers and commands. As well as “ICS Command” on the bottom line.

  • Type “4” and hit enter.

  • Agree to “default” by pressing enter.

  • Type “Y” and hit enter to select yes you really want to restart.

  • You may wait up to a minute or so until ICS shuts down.

  • To restart ICS, type “3” and hit enter

  • Agree to “default” by pressing enter.

  • Wait for ICS to restart.

11. I do not see any counts in XmapGUI

1. Have you selected one of the circles on the left of the GUI that represent the channels of the detector?

  • If no, select any channel and count again

  • If yes;

    • Try running the zebra batch file. There is usually a command prompt open to run the zebra batch file, locate it and press the up arrow, hit enter.

    • If there is no command prompt, check file explorer to see if it is open in the correct location for the zebra batch file. If it is, double click on the zebra batch file. The command prompt will close when it if finished running.

    • Try counting in XmapGUI again. You may want to close and reopen XmapGUI.

 

2. Check the XSPRESS3 window in the top right of the desktop;

  • Are the words white? If so, this is an IOC restart. See ‘I have clicked ‘start queue’ or ‘start scan’ and nothing happens. OR the beamline has stopped collecting data mid-scan’ solution 2 and follow steps to fix.

  • If the words are green; do they indicate that the XSPRESS3 thinks that data is still collecting?

    • If yes; check that no data are collecting still. If you confirm that no data is collecting and the XSPRESS3 is wrong, press stop in the XSPRESS3 GUI on the left hand side. Try counting in XmapGUI.

    • If this does not fix the problem, you will likely need to follow the IOC restart as mentioned in The 'mono is not moving as it should, or I see #ERROR# in microscan/microXAS/data server'.

12. I cannot see my data in the T drive

Data are automatically backed up to two locations; our master data backup and to your groups T-drive. If you cannot see your data in the T-Drive:

1. Double check the spelling of the drive. We will sometimes designate the “T” drive as any other letter. Solution:

  • Look for the data backup GUIs. One GUI will be the back up to your “T” drive. You will see the drive location for data back up at the start of each line in the back up GUI. This could be almost any other letter (but not “Z”! the “Z” drive is almost always the master data backup).

  • If you still cannot locate your data:

    • Find the data backup GUIs. Press stop and start.

Look in your data folders for data

13. ALERTS format

To receive notifications from the beamline about errors, beam dumps or finished queues, add you email address or your phone number into the bottom right text box of the master data queue. For phone numbers, add as:

bottom of page