RE: Do your have any DIVA problems?

Hi -

As a DiVa software user since V1.0 I would like to say that BD has 
improved the product tremendously. Any serious user of the first 
version would probably end up with carpel tunnel syndrome if they did 
not first succumb to stress and frustration. The current version has 
moved beyond that to software that is basically functional as long as 
one does things the "DiVa" way, but still has recurring bugs.

The count bug (below) is one. We also experience two "loss of 
context" bugs. The most frustrating one is that, for no apparent 
reason, the global acquisition sheet will disappear, along with the 
switch on the toolbar that allows one to choose it or an analysis 
worksheet. This happens to us both in the middle of an experiment, 
and when we duplicate an old experiment. The only solution we've 
found is to create a new experiment. This is especially 
time-consuming on the sorter if we have to re-create a complex gating 
tree.

The second bug occurs when creating a new experiment. Sometimes it 
just won't see a data stream. Acquisition turns on, but no events 
come through. We have to delete that experiment and start over.

Lastly, to keep us honest, the program crashes about once per month, 
for no apparent reason. Almost all of these crashes are a freezing up 
of the program - it is probably lost in thought or communicating with 
some higher being. We have to bring things back by using the task 
manager to kill the program, and start over.

Fortunately none of these problems have caused us to lose data, but 
they have resulted in significant time losses, which, on a busy day, 
causes a lot of operator anxiety, as well a lowering of opinion of 
the Core's technical reliability in the eyes of our users.

Marty

Marty Bigos
Director, Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory
Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology

Mail:
Box 419100
San Francisco, CA 94141

Packages:
365 Vermont Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Direct Delivery (FedEX, UPS):
Gladstone Institute
San Francisco General Hospital
Building 3 Rm 509
1001 Potrero Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94110

(tel) 415-695-3832
(fax) 415-695-1364

mbigos@gladstone.ucsf.edu
http://www.gladstone.ucsf.edu



>Hi Akos:
>
>Yes...we have DIVA problems as well.  The worst "Bug" is the 
>overflow issue.  If we go above 2.5 million events per experiment, 
>DIVA crashes and we lose data.
>That is a real problem for a CORE facility.  So far, BD has not 
>addressed it.	As well, DIVA 4.0 was supposed to have bi-exponential 
>compensation.	Not there.
>
>I usually don't complain on the Cytometry Mailing List, but I hope 
>BD will take notice and become a little more proactive with their 
>software before they release it.
>
>Akos - good point about upgrades.  Word to the wise; buy a "fully 
>loaded" instrument if you can.  Upgrades are REALLY expensive!
>
>Best regards to all,
>
>-Rich
>
>
>Richard F. Konz, Jr.
>Research Assistant Professor
>Department of Medicine
>Graduate Faculty, Immunology and Virology Department
>Director, Flow Cytometry Core Facility
>UMass Medical School
>55 Lake Avenue North
>Room: S5-322
>Worcester, MA 01655
>Office:  508-856-1598
>Lab:	  508-856-3276
>Fax:	  508-856-5004
>Email:  Richard.Konz@umassmed.edu
>Web:	 <http://www.umassmed.edu/facslab>http://www.umassmed.edu/facslab
>
>
>
>
>From: Akos Szilvasi [mailto:Akos.Szilvasi@biogenidec.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 10:51 AM
>To: Cytometry Mailing List
>Subject: Do your have any DIVA problems?
>
>
>We are experiencing serious  - and so far not fixable - problems 
>with DIVA 4. Most of the issues are Java related. In addition error 
>and overflow messages combined with couple of other issues. We are 
>planning to buy a second LSR II and an ARIA but this Java based 
>software is rather scary.
>
>I would like to see how many of you are experiencing some sort of 
>difficulties with Diva. We especially want to know about the Java 
>errors and stability issues.
>
>Thanks, Akos
>
>[An other note: before you buy a new cytometer consider future 
>upgrades and ask how much they cost. You may be surprised.]
>
>...........................................
>Akos Szilvasi
>Biogen Idec Flow Cytometry
>12 Cambridge Center,
>Cambridge, MA 02142
>tel  617 679 2160
>fax 617 679 2304
>akos.szilvasi@biogenidec.com


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