Test and Measurement Forum

I am unable to get an ADC-12 to run under winXP Home, using PICOSCOPE.
I am using the latest program versions from your WEB site.
The ADC - 12 works fine on the same computers using the DOS version and running under command prompt.

When run under WinXP the trace is stuck permanently at 5Volts.
This situation is exactly the same on my Desktop PC AMD 1500XP or my Laptop - AMD 1800XP+.

I have tried all LPT modes in BIOS e.g. Normal, ECP, EPP etc.

I have also tried running the programs in compatability modes for oother operating systems e.g. W95,98,Me, NT etc.

I also have an ADC - 10 and this works OK on both PC's.

Hello Laurie,

First of all, you've done exactly the right thing by first checking that your hardware works in DOS mode .

Your parallel port mode should be on SPP or Normal, so check that you have left the BIOS on either of these. There are two other BIOS settings you will need to check:

• The Input/Output (I/O) Range: 378
• The Interrupt Request (IRQ): 7

Restart your computer and check that there are no parallel port confilicts in the windows device manager. Then try using PicoScope with LPT1, LPT2 and LPT3 (restart PicoScope everytime you change).

Let me know if you still have any problems,

Kind Regards,

Hi Matthew,

I have tried everything you stated in your reply.
LPT is set to Normal in BIOS and Addr 378H & IRQ 7.
I have tried all printer ports in PicoScope program(LPT's 1,2 & 3).
There are no conflicts with IRQ 7 or Addr 378.
Rechecked same PicoScope program using ADC10 with prog set to ADC10 & LPT1 - This works fine.
Tried running DOS PicoScope set to ADC12 in Command prompt Window under Win XP - ADC12 works fine.

The Trace still saturates and sites at the top of the scale, irrespective of what scale is used in PicoScope under XP, again if I swop the ADC for the ADC 10 and change convertor in program to ADC 10 and LPT1 this works OK.

Both the ADC10 & the ADC12 are quite old( 8 to 10 years approx), but if it works ok under DOS window then I have to assume that there is no problem with the ADC IC(LTC1292) or any of the other components on the PCB. All connections & joints are good.

As I stated in previous post this is the same on both Laptop AMD XP1800+ and Desktop AMD XP1500, so I don't think that there is any problem with the ports.

Any other suggestions would be welcome :

Hello Laurie,

I didn't realise your unit was so old, this explains the problem. The version 1 ADC-12 only works with the DOS application (this was all we supported at the time).

Unfortunately you will have to continue using the unit with DOS as this product can't be used under windows. Alternatively you could consider upgrading your unit. The price list and specs for the current ADC-12 are available here.

Kind Regards,

Hi,
Is there any particular technical reason why this product is not supported under the windows software?
I also have the same issue with an ADC12 where it functions under the DOS software but not the windows software. Surely it would be a very simple matter to include support for the older device into your windows software?
It is disappointing that you don't seem to keep up support on your older devices - I hope this does not set a precedent for ongoing support of your newer hardware.
Jon.

Hi,

It is only the ADC-12 version 1 that does not work under windows, all later versions of the ADC-12 should be fine.

The older products which run only under DOS were not designed for windows environment and therefore there is no benefit to the user trying to make them work with windows.

Best regards,

"It is only the ADC-12 version 1 that does not work under windows, all later versions of the ADC-12 should be fine."

"The older products which run only under DOS were not designed for windows environment and therefore there is no benefit to the user trying to make them work with windows."

Really? Apart from not having to buy a new product. I was contemplating buying a better Picoscope myself - to get over the fact that my existing one doesn't run under XP, like so many other users are finding. But with that attitude in Pico I think it will be cheaper in the long run to buy a better supported product.

Your answer makes me sick.

Hi,

We appreciate your sentiments and whilst we would love to support our back catalogue of products for ever, there comes a time when unfortuantely, it is just not commercially feasiable to do so.

But I would ask you please remember that ...

when the product was initially purchased (over seven years ago) the specifications would have stated that it was supported under DOS only. In this case we did not exceed the specification. However, the vast majority of our products since then are still supported in Windows XP. We fully intend to continue this trend into the future where it is technically feasible to do so.



Best regards,

I am having a similar problem.
How do I know if I have V1 of the ADC-12?