ICF 3.0 upgrade

Arunkumar

Hi all, 

Currently, we are using ICF 2.1 driver. We have received a new Agilent instrument which requires ICF 3.0 to communicate. So, we are planning to install ICF 3.0 on citrix server and one particular LAC/E. Is there any impact to existing lace which are running on ICF 2.1 like system configuration, firmware, system connectivity and etc? 

Thanks

shaunwat

All of this becomes a consideration. You are going to need to make sure your current version of Empower will even support ICF 3.0 (need to have all SR, FR, and hot fixes installed). 

The second piece of the puzzle is that you will need to make sure your instruments meet the minimum firmware requirements of ICF 3.0. 

JCarter280

How old is your Citrix server Empower? I think it is very likely that the other Empower Lace will also need to be updated with ICF. It can also be different if you have GC and LC instruments.
If you have not done this before you can choose your adventure; Download ALL the release notes and familiarize all the slight version differences for 3.0 vs 3.x.x.x or consider setting up another testing environment and test the installs if they work correctly. Waters will want you to be at the latest versions and support with Agilent is the same. The interoperability is much improving the last few releases. (v2.1 not so much) That is why I think all nodes will need your attention.  
The release notes are crazy confusing and there are known issues if you don't remove/uninstall older versions. You can start with this link for the 'latest' Agilent driver for Empower link Then read first the overview Agilent Instrument Control Framework (ICF) Release Information link

Arunkumar

ICF 3.0 release notes stating that "GC instrument must connect through LAN and RS-232 is not supported". How can we use Agilent  6890, 7890 GC in ICF 3.0? Is there any alternative ways to connect?  

shaunwat

An Agilent 7890 should have a lan port. 

If you do not have an Agilent 6890N, then this instrument likely will not have a lan port. I believe Waters formally supports an Edgeport USB to serial adapter for the 6890 GCs.