Resolving Solis Error Message - Error Communicating with Grating Device 1

The error message, ‘Error communicating with grating device 1’ usually means that the wavelength drive cannot locate to the grating position requested due to large wavelength offsets that have been applied by the user. Larger offset correction might be applied following a system crash or power loss to the spectrograph. When the system is powered back on, the wavelength drive may ‘lose’ its current location meaning that an offset is incorrectly applied to correct the inaccuracy, usually 1000’s of wavelength steps. As the spectrograph cannot handle the large offset numbers, this error message appears.

To overcome the issue, the grating and detector offsets will need to be set to zero. In Solis, open the EEPROM Editor from Hardware >> Setup Spectrograph >> EEPROM Editor.

For SR-303i

Select each grating tab and set the Offset to zero.

NOTE: Do NOT change the Grating Start value – these are factory set and should not be adjusted.

Select Done and Save to EEPROM from the EEPROM Editor. When the EEPROM has updated, close the Setup Spectrograph menu.

For SR-500i and SR-750

NOTE: Do NOT change the Grating Start value – these are factory set and should not be adjusted.

 Select Save to File. When the EEPROM has updated, close the Setup Spectrograph menu.

Perform a Reset Wavelength operation to reset the wavelength drive to the start point of grating 1.

Refer to article Manual X-Calibration of a Spectrograph to recalibrate the centre wavelength. In the general case of system crash or power loss, a Reset Wavelength operation should also be performed. If you require further assistance, please contact your local Andor Support