Technical Support Bulletin 2

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Technical Support Bulletin 2 June 6, 2006 SUBJECT: Submitting and Receiving Data to and from Applied Biosystems Genetic Analysis Technical Support Scope: Submitting and Receiving Data to and from Applied Biosystems Genetic Analysis Technical Support Overview During the course of troubleshooting, you may be asked to submit data to Technical Support. For your convenience, we offer the options of emailing the files, uploading them via the Applied Biosystems web site, or using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Problem Data can become corrupt when transferring files between computers or during the transmission process, so it is recommended that prior to transferring or sending the data that you compress the files. When downloading files or receiving files from Applied Biosystems, you will often receive them in a compressed format and will need to decompress them in order to access the data or files. Solution Compressing Data – Macintosh® Platform Decompressing Data – Macintosh® Platform Compressing Data – PC Platform Decompressing Data – PC Platform How to Email Data How to upload data via the Applied Biosystems Web Site How to upload data via the Applied Biosystems FTP Site Page 1

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Transcript of Technical Support Bulletin 2

Page 1: Technical Support Bulletin 2

Technical Support Bulletin 2 June 6, 2006

SUBJECT: Submitting and Receiving Data to and from Applied Biosystems Genetic Analysis Technical Support Scope: Submitting and Receiving Data to and from Applied Biosystems Genetic Analysis Technical Support Overview During the course of troubleshooting, you may be asked to submit data to Technical Support. For your convenience, we offer the options of emailing the files, uploading them via the Applied Biosystems web site, or using File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Problem Data can become corrupt when transferring files between computers or during the transmission process, so it is recommended that prior to transferring or sending the data that you compress the files. When downloading files or receiving files from Applied Biosystems, you will often receive them in a compressed format and will need to decompress them in order to access the data or files. Solution Compressing Data – Macintosh® PlatformDecompressing Data – Macintosh® PlatformCompressing Data – PC PlatformDecompressing Data – PC PlatformHow to Email DataHow to upload data via the Applied Biosystems Web SiteHow to upload data via the Applied Biosystems FTP Site

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Compressing Data – Macintosh® Platform Note: Apple included the installers for DropStuff and Stuffit Expander on many of their later systems. Doing a find on the system may show that the programs are there. If the you do not have the program on your computer, you can download it by going to http://www.appliedbiosystems.com, click Support Software Downloads and click on Stuffit Expander). Before compressing the data, place all of the files you wish to send into 1 folder.

1) Take the Run Folder/Folder containing the data and drag it to the DropStuff icon on the desktop.

2) After the conversion, a new file will appear called “<folder name>.sit”. Transfer this folder to your PC for emailing or email it directly from your Macintosh® computer.

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Decompressing Data – Macintosh® Platform Note: Apple included the installers for DropStuff and Stuffit Expander on many of their later systems. Doing a find on the system may show that the programs are there. If the you do not have the program on your computer, you can download it at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com, click Support Software Downloads and click on Stuffit Expander). If you are receiving data from Technical Support for your Macintosh® based system, do not attempt to open or decompress the data until you have transferred it to your Macintosh® computer.

1) Take the .sit file and drag it to the Stuffit Expander icon on the desktop.

2) The file will “Unstuff” (decompress) and the files/folder will appear containing the data. You can then move the files/folder to a location on the Macintosh® computer of your choosing.

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Compressing Data – PC Platform Note: Many PC manufacturers include WinZip on many of their later systems. Doing a find on the system may show that the program is there. If you do not have the program on your computer, you can download it at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com, click Support Software Downloads and click on WinZip). Before compressing the data, place all of the files you wish to send into 1 folder.

1) Right-click on the folder and select “Add to <folder name>.zip. Or

2) Open the WinZip application, select “New”, go to the folder containing the files and add them all. When you’re done adding files, close the window.

3) Unless indicated otherwise, the .zip file will appear in the same location as the folder containing the data.

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Decompressing Data – PC Platform Note: Many PC manufacturers include WinZip on many of their later systems. Doing a find on the system may show that the program is there. If the you do not have the program on your computer, you can download it at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com, click Support Software Downloads and click on WinZip).

1) Double click on the Zip file or open WinZip and direct it to the zip file that you want to open.

2) Click the Extract Button and browse to the location you’d like the samples extracted to. Click on Extract.

The zipped data should now be extracted to the location selected.

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How to Email Data A quick and easy method to send data to Technical Support is through the use of email. When emailing data, compressing the data prior to sending is a good way to make sure that the files don’t get corrupted when going between computers or during transmission. For more information on this, see the section on compressing data files for your platform.

The Technical Support Email Address is: [email protected]. To ensure rapid delivery of the email to the specialist assisting you, please put the specialist’s name in the subject line (i.e. Attn: Bob), and a brief summary of the problem you spoke about and details about the data you are sending (i.e. which sample file is a control, which one is showing the problem you called in about).

How to upload data via the Applied Biosystems Web Site Another quick way to send data to Technical Support is to upload the data through the Applied Biosystems Web Site. When uploading data, compressing the data prior to sending is a good way to make sure that the files don’t get corrupted when going between computers or during transmission. For more information on this, see the section on compressing data files for your platform.

To upload data:

1) Go to the Applied Biosystems Web Site at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com and click on Support Frequently Asked Questions.

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2) You will be asked to Login when you click on the link. If this is your first time visiting, click on the Create New

Account Button.

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3) Once you have logged in, click on the Ask a Question tab.

4) Select your Product from the Product & Services pull down menu and fill in the information. Subject line should be to the attention of the specialist assisting you (i.e. Attn: Matt). You can type your message in the box below the Subject line and attach the data via Attach Documents to Question section. Once you have filled out all of the information, click on the Submit Question button. It is recommended that you include a brief description of the problem, details as to what data you are sending (i.e. which sample file is the control, which is the one showing the problem) and make sure that your contact information is up to date should we need to contact you live.

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5) You can check the status of a question or look up past questions by clicking on the My File tab and selecting Questions. You can then do a search. In the example below, a general search was performed by selecting “Any” for the status. This brought up the entire history of questions submitted to Technical Support via the web site by the person logged in, what the status is, and a link so you can read the response. Responses are also sent to you via email when they are updated.

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How to upload data via the Applied Biosystems FTP Site One of the most reliable ways to send data to Applied Biosystems Technical Support is through our FTP site. This site may be accessed by using Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher). To access the ftp site, do the following: 1. Open Internet Explorer 5.0

2. In the URL Address box, type in ftp://galab:[email protected] and press enter.

Note: If you are on a PC computer and you do not see the folder view above, you may need to change your preferences for Internet Explorer in order to upload data. To do so, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options. Go to the Advanced tab and make sure that “Select Folder view for FTP sites” is selected. Click on OK, close the window and log back into the FTP site. 3. There are other more versatile FTP applications available to purchase. If you are using a different application to login

to our ftp site then enter the host name as “ftp.appliedbiosystems.com” the username “galab” with a password of “21dayss”. If you are on a Macintosh® computer, you might be given a choice of formats to upload in. Please select MacBinary II or MacBinary III options.

4. From the Favorites menu, select Add Favorite. This allows you to directly go to the site by selecting it from the

Favorites menu (you will not need to type in the address again).

5. If you have multiple files that you wish to send to Applied Biosystems, place all of the files you wish to upload into a folder, compress the folder using a file compression program, such as DropStuff® (Macintosh® Computers) or WinZip® (PC Computers). Due to permission controls on the FTP site, customers cannot upload uncompressed folders to the site. Attempts to do so will yield the following error message:

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6. Drag and drop the file(s) of interest into the folder of the specialist you are working with.

NOTE: the files must be alphanumeric and cannot contain any spaces to copy into the ftp site folders.

7. If you are retrieving data open the “out” folder and right click on the file of interest. Select Copy to Folder. A Browse For Folder window (see figure below) will appear. You may now choose the location where you want to copy the file. Alternatively, you may double click on the file to display it in the browser (depending on the type of file).

Note: You will not be able to download files except from the “out” folder. If you are having trouble or need more information, contact your Technical Support Representative. Please notify the Technical Support specialist you are working with when your data has been uploaded to insure a timely response. You can contact us by phone at 800-831-6844 or by email at [email protected]

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FTP Troubleshooting Tips:

Cannot log in to the site Verify that the version of Internet Explorer you are using is v.5.5 or higher on the PC or v.5.0 or higher on the Macintosh® computer. If the browser version is correct, try typing in ftp.appliedbiosystems.com. The following screen should come up. User Name: galab Password: 21dayss

If you still cannot login to the site, contact your network administrator to find out if your institution has any access restrictions for FTP sites. When logging in to the site, you do not see a folder view. When you log in, if the preferences are not set to see folders on FTP sites, you may see the following view when you go to log in:

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If you see this view, you will need to change your preferences or you may encounter problems with uploading files (files may open instead of upload). To do so, go to the Tools menu and select Internet Options. Go to the Advanced tab and make sure that “Select Folder view for FTP sites” is selected. Click on OK, close the window and log back into the FTP site. When trying to upload files, my computer opens them instead of uploading them. This has been known to happen if the ftp site is being displayed as text instead of as a folder view. See previous question on how to adjust the preferences to change the view. Cannot upload files to the FTP folder: Error occurred copying a file to the FTP Server. When trying to upload a file, you may see the following message:

Uploading files with illegal characters (spaces, periods, slashes, etc.) in the name can cause this error message. Re-name the file and try again. If you get the error message again, close the window and try to log back into the site again. If the problem persists, contact your network administrator to find out if your institution has any access restrictions for FTP sites. Cannot upload files to the FTP folder: Error occurred creating a folder on the FTP Server.

Customers do not have permission to create folders or upload uncompressed folders on the Applied Biosystems’ FTP site. In order to upload the data within a folder to the FTP site, compress the folder using a file compression program, such as DropStuff® (Macintosh® Computers) or WinZip® (PC Computers), or upload the sample data individually.

Cannot download files from the FTP Site Specialists’ folders have permissions set for uploading data only.

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Troubleshooting Checklist Prior to contacting Technical Support, you may wish to verify that the following items have been checked:

Are the LED lights on in front of the instrument?

Has the system been restarted (instrument and computer)?

Have there been any changes to the system?

Were the controls run since the problem was noticed?

Are there sample files that can be sent to the Support Representative showing an example of the problem?

Is the system being run using Applied Biosystems Reagents?

Has the system been cleaned in the past week?

If the answer was Yes to all of the above, then please have the following information available when contacting Technical Support. All of this information will help the Support Representative quickly and accurately assess the problem and provide you with recommendations for resolution.

Instrument Model and Serial Number

What version of the software are you using?

Number of runs on the Capillary or Array

Polymer Type and Lot Number

Buffer Lot Number

HiDi Formamide Lot Number

Sample data that can be sent to the Support Person. Details on

Reaction set up (i.e. how much DNA was used, primer, etc.). How the reactions were cleaned up (Alcohol precipitation, columns, etc). What template DNA was used (i.e. Plasmid, PCR product). Template DNA preparation.

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6/2006 P/N 4375431 Rev. A Stock No. 106TB02-01