Spectrum Mill Tips and Tricks

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• To Configure Client PCs
• To Stop a Process
• To Use Multiple Browser Windows with the Spectrum Mill Workbench
• To Create a Shortcut to the Spectrum Mill Workbench on Your Desktop
• Tips
• Cautions
• Software Status Bulletin and Software Patches
• Troubleshooting - Software Updates
• If the software does not appear to update properly
• If the updated software gives errors
• Troubleshooting- Spectrum Viewer
• If the Spectrum Viewer shows no content, or does not display properly
• If I get an "add-on failed to run" message in Spectrum Viewer (or MS Isotope)
• Troubleshooting - Selecting Data Files
• If you cannot select a data directory
• If you select a data directory, but you see "(none selected)"
• If a one or more data directories are missing from the Select Data Directory dialog box
• Troubleshooting - Protein/Peptide Summary, Spectrum Summary
  • If the Summarize button is disabled or grayed out on the Protein/Peptide Summary or Spectrum Summary forms
  • If you sort by accession number, but the sort is alphabetical rather than numerical
  • If you see an error "proteins not same length"
  • If peptides appear twice in the summary report
  • If no results are listed in Protein/Peptide Summary, even though there were hits
  • If clicking %SPI and other links shows an “about:blank” window
• Troubleshooting - Workflows
• If requests do not process or refresh (the workflow is stuck)
• Troubleshooting - Other
• If you see unusual or blank selection values
• If you get a warning about need for additional license
• If your list of protein database names does not update
• If you get different results between the Spectrum Mill versions
• If you get an error that says "page not found"
• If some programs work, but others do not (permission denied)
• If Peptide Selector seems to ignore settings
• If Spectrum Mill performance becomes slow

Introduction

This collection of tips and troubleshooting information will help your Spectrum Mill workbench run smoothly.

To Configure Client PCs

Operating system

Client PCs can run on any version of Windows that supports Internet Explorer 11.

To view your operating system:

1. Select Start > Run.
2. In the Open box, type winver.

While the Spectrum Mill workbench requires Internet Explorer 11, you may choose another browser as your default browser. However, you must access Spectrum Mill from Internet Explorer. A desktop icon to start Spectrum Mill in Internet Explorer is created on the Spectrum Mill server. See To Create a Shortcut to the Spectrum Mill Workbench on Your Desktop.

Browser

Spectrum Mill requires Internet Explorer 11. To check your browser version:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Select Help > About Internet Explorer.

If you do not see the Internet Explorer menu, press the Alt key, or right-click in the title bar and select the Menu bar option.

To avoid potential issues, it is best to add your Spectrum Mill server as a Trusted Site.

Notes about Compatibility View

In prior versions of Spectrum Mill, it was necessary to configure the browser to use Compatibility View. Now, the opposite is true. You must not enable Compatibility View for the Spectrum Mill server.

If you get a warning to disable Compatibility View when you access the Spectrum Mill server, do the following:

1. In Internet Explorer, click Tools > Compatibility View Settings. If the Spectrum Mill server is listed in the Compatible Sites, remove it.
2. Clear the check box for Display intranet sites in Compatibility View.

Java

Check that Internet Explorer on the client is configured for Oracle^TM JRE.

JRE 1.8 must be installed. Install the 32-bit version first, then the 64-bit version.
A compatible version of Java is provided on the Spectrum Mill disk.
It is best to uninstall any prior versions before you install an updated version.

If the Spectrum Mill Java controls do not display:

1. Open the Configure Java program to display the Java Control Panel.
2. In the Security tab, add your Spectrum Mill server to the Exception Site List.

If step 2 does not work. then add the Spectrum Mill server to Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites list: :

1. Select Tools > Internet Options... .
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Under Select a zone to view or change security setting, click Trusted sites.
4. Click the Sites button.
5. For Add this website to the zone, type or copy in the address of the Spectrum Mill home page.
6. Clear the check box for Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this one.
7. Click Add.

Screen resolution

Spectrum Mill works best with the highest screen resolution your monitor supports.

Stored pages

If you do not see the most recent content or results from your Spectrum Mill server, you may need to enable the browser to check for newer versions. Note that the following steps were required in versions of the Spectrum Mill workbench prior to B.05.00, but should not be necessary now. However, if you do not see the most recent content:

1. Select Tools > Internet Options... .
2. Click the General tab.
3. Under Browsing history, click Settings....
4. Click Every time I visit the webpage.

Cookies

Enable cookies so you can save form settings.

1. Select Tools > Internet Options... .
2. Click the Privacy tab and set to Low, or click the Advanced button and enable cookies.
3. For more detailed  instructions to enable cookies, search Internet Explorer help for cookies.
4. If the drop-down menus in the Spectrum Mill workbench appear empty, you may need to add the Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site. For instructions, search Internet Explorer help for trusted site.

Active scripting

Enable JavaScript (Active Scripting).

1. Select Tools > Internet Options....
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Click Local Intranet.
4. Click the Custom Level... button.
5. In the Security Settings dialog, scroll down until you see the Scripting section.
6. Under Active Scripting, click the Enable option.

Note: Some sites use a Global Security Policy that is enforced by the network domain, and some computers may come with a Local Security Policy that is very restrictive. In these cases, Internet Explorer may not allow JavaScript or cookies from a web server unless the web server is added as a trusted site. (The symptom in the Spectrum Mill workbench is that the drop-down menus appear empty.) To add your Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site, search Internet Explorer help for trusted site.

To Stop a Process

Processes (such as Data Extractor, Search, and Sherenga de novo Sequencing) that take longer than a few seconds have a red Stop button that is displayed in the Results window. This Stop button terminates the main computation process, but not related processes. If you click the Stop button, but your server still runs slowly, you need to terminate related processes.

To Use Multiple Browser Windows with the Spectrum Mill Workbench

If you want to work with separate data sets, start the browser from the desktop or other shortcut, then go to the Spectrum Mill home page URL for your server.  In this way, each browser window has its own default session parameters. Note that when you first open the browser and you go to subsequent Spectrum Mill pages, you will see the parameters that were stored the last time you clicked Save Settings and the data directory settings that were stored  the last you clicked Make Default in the Select Data Directory -- Web Page Dialog.

To Create a Shortcut to the Spectrum Mill Workbench on Your Desktop

When Spectrum Mill is installed on the server, a desktop icon is created to launch Internet Explorer and direct it to the Spectrum Mill home page. Since Spectrum Mill is not installed on client PCs, you will need to create the shortcut yourself. Having a shortcut makes it easier to launch multiple Spectrum Mill browsers.

Hint: If you make the Spectrum Mill home page your Internet Explorer default home page, then you do not need a shortcut.

To create a new shortcut, start at step 1 below. To modify the existing Internet Explorer shortcut, start at step 4.

1. Open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer.
2. Right-click iexplore.exe and select Create Shortcut.
3. Drag the newly created Shortcut to iexplore.exe and drop it onto your desktop.
4. Right-click the shortcut icon on your desktop and select Properties.
5. In the Shortcut tab, append the name of your Spectrum Mill server to the Target field:
   
   Target: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" MySMServer
   
   
6. Click OK.
7. Right-click the shortcut icon and rename the shortcut to say Spectrum Mill - MySMServer.
8. To add the icon to your Windows quick start task bar, simply drag and drop the shortcut icon onto the task bar.

Tips

File naming, directory structure

• Do not use spaces, the plus sign, spaces, or parentheses in file names. The following characters are not permitted: | , ; % < > + ( ) ?  !. Also, a dot or period (.) is allowed only for file suffixes (e.g., myfile.d).
• For best performance, organize your data into a folder hierarchy.
• Note that you may have up to ten directory levels (folders) between msdataSM and your sample directory, but we recommend shorter path lengths to reduce memory usage, especially for large data sets.
• Do not place data files directly into the msdataSM folder. Always create a subfolder to contain the data files.
• Spectrum Mill does not recognize data directories unless they contain at least one data file.  If you set up a directory for spectral collections, be sure to include a data file so the File Collector on the Tool Belt page can recognize the folder.

Best performance

• When you run longer processes such as Data Extractor, MS/MS Search or Sherenga de novo Sequencing, you can use your client PC for other tasks while the processes run.
• Unless your data is on an SSD, to  maintain top system performance, defragment your database drive each time you download a database.  For the data drive, archive and remove data that is no longer needed; then (if your drive is not an SSD) defragment the data drive.
• In general, enable Maximize CPUs to improve performance for extractions and searches. However, if you select more directories than the number of CPUs that are configured on the server, it is best to not enable Maximize CPUs. For Data Extractor, enable Maximize CPUs only if folders contain multiple data files.
• If you process large data files, make sure you have sufficient memory (RAM) installed on the server. A reasonable estimate is 2 Gb per CPU for larger data files. If you do not have sufficient memory, you can restrict the number of CPU cores that Spectrum Mill uses. See the instructions to limit the number of parallel processes.
• If Hyper-Threading is not enabled, enable it by rebooting and accessing the system BIOS configuration. With Spectrum Mill B.06.00, enabling Hyper-Threading is now recommended, and can improve search performance from 20-30%, provided there is sufficient memory installed. If you enable Hyper-Threading after installing Spectrum Mill, you will need to reconfigure the Spectrum Mill Request Manager Service to take advantage of the extra CPUs. Set the "maxConcurrentTasks" value to 1 less than the total number of (logical) processors, or lower if there is not sufficient RAM to handle the additional parallel tasks. See the instructions to limit the number of parallel processes.

Protein/Peptide Summary

• If you want a link to appear in a separate window, SHIFT-click the link. For example, in Protein/Peptide Summary, it is sometimes easier to view the detailed hit results in a separate window. To do so, SHIFT-click the Filename link for that hit. SHIFT-click does not work for links to the Spectrum Viewer, so click the %SPI link to view the annotated spectrum in a separate window.
• In Spectrum Viewer, it is much easier to see how candidate peptide sequences align with your spectrum if you select an ion type to highlight. Look for the Highlight drop-down menu at the bottom of the Spectrum Viewer. Choose an ion type (for example, b or y) and note the correspondence indicated by the gray lines.
• If you want to compare results of individual sample analyses from separate directories, see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Cautions

• The Spectrum Mill workbench will only work properly if you access it through its http address, and not as a shared drive.
• If you accidentally run MS/MS Search with incorrect settings, when you perform the next search, mark the check box on the MS/MS Search form to Remove all prior MS/MS Search results.  This removes the invalid results for the dataset, so that they are not included in results summaries.
• There are a number of files in the Spectrum Mill workbench that you can customize.  Before you modify any files, be sure to make copies so you can restore the originals if necessary.
• If you uninstall the software, first make backup copies of any Spectrum Mill workbench files that you have customized for your lab.

Software Status Bulletin and Software Patches

A list of known problems or issues for the Spectrum Mill workbench, along with possible solutions, is found in the Agilent Software Status Bulletin. To view this bulletin, click here.

Troubleshooting - Software Updates

If the software does not appear to update properly

Problem:

Notes:

Some possible causes are:

1. When updating, you did not uninstall the previous version of the Spectrum Mill workbench via Add/Remove Programs.
2. You have not refreshed the Spectrum Mill pages in your browser window.

Resolution:

To ensure that the server was properly updated:

1. Be sure to follow the instructions in the Installation Guide to upgrade your Spectrum Mill MS Proteomics Workbench. It is particularly important to uninstall the previous Spectrum Mill version using Add/Remove Programs, rather than just deleting the old software files.
2. If you just deleted the old version, re-run setup.exe from the old version and choose Repair…. Then uninstall the Spectrum Mill workbench using Add/Remove Programs.
3. (This step is usually not necessary.) On the Spectrum Mill server, restart Internet Information Services (IIS) to make sure that IIS cache is flushed. To do this, go to IIS administration and stop, then restart the Spectrum Mill Web site (Default Web Site). Consult your IIS help for details. Alternatively, simply reboot the Spectrum Mill server.

To ensure that all files are refreshed by Internet Explorer, do the following on each client PC:

1. Check that pages are refreshed upon each visit. See the section on "stored pages" under To Configure Client PCs.
2. Delete all temporary internet files. (In Internet Explorer, select Tools > Internet Options... and delete the temporary internet files. Or see the steps below.)
   
3. Close and reopen any browser windows to the Spectrum Mill Web site.

If you would prefer to remove only the temporary internet files that are associated with the Spectrum Mill server, do the following on each client PC:

1. In Internet Explorer, press F12 to access the Developer Tools.
2. Click the Network tab.
3. Rest your mouse cursor over the toolbar icons and select the one that indicates Clear browser cache... or press Ctrl-R.
4. Close the Developer Tools and refresh the Spectrum Mill page.

If the updated software displays errors

Problem:

The older version of the Spectrum Mill workbench worked fine, but the updated software gives errors.

Notes:

This problem can occur when the software update requires a new version of either Perl or Java, and the new version was not installed.

Resolution:

1. If required, update Java and Perl on the Spectrum Mill server. See the latest Installation Guide for details. You can get a compatible version of  Java and Perl  from your Spectrum Mill installation CD.
2. If required, update Java (JRE) on all client PCs. See the latest Installation Guide for details. You can get a compatible version of JRE from your Spectrum Mill installation CD.
    

Troubleshooting - Spectrum Viewer

If the Spectrum Viewer shows no content, or does not display properly

Problem:

The Spectrum Viewer (the bottom of the screen where the spectrum should be displayed) does not display properly, or does not display at all.

Notes:

The following may cause this problem:

1. You have the wrong Java version. You need JRE 1.8.x. A compatible version is provided on the Spectrum Mill disk.
2. Your security settings for Internet Explorer (IE) are incorrect. Add your server as a trusted site for IE.
3. You lack the necessary file permissions for the data folder in msdataSM.
4. A file that is referenced by the link no longer exists. (Some processed data was deleted.)

Resolution:

1. If you do not have the correct Java version on your PC, get a compatible version from your Spectrum Mill installation disk.
2. If you saw a warning about scripting being denied, make sure Java scripting is enabled.
   If the warning persists, add your Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site. For more information, search the Internet Explorer help for trusted site.
3. Make sure you have as a minimum read permission for the selected data folder. For example, if  IIS on the Spectrum Mill server is configured for Anonymous access, then the IUSR user must have permission to read the data files. If this is not the case, have your system administrator set the permissions manually, or run a script to set the permissions.
4. See also If you get an error that says "page not found".

If I get an "add-on failed to run" message in Spectrum Viewer (or MS Isotope)

Problem:

The Spectrum Viewer (the bottom of the screen where the spectrum should be displayed) gives an "add-on failed to run" message.

Notes:

This message occurs when the Spectrum Mill server is not listed as a trusted site in Internet Explorer.

Resolution:

Add your Spectrum Mill server URL as a trusted site in Internet Explorer. Do this for all client browsers as well.

Troubleshooting - Selecting Data Files

If you cannot select a data directory

See If some programs work, but others do not (permission denied).

If you select a data directory, but you see "(none selected)"

Problem:

You select a valid data directory and click OK, but the Data Directory still shows (none selected).

Notes:

This problem occurs when cookies are not enabled.

Resolution:

See the sections on cookies and stored pages under To Configure Client PCs.

If a one or more data directories are missing from the Select Data Directory dialog box

Problem:

One or more of my data directories fails to appear in the Select Data Directory dialog box, or I click the button to select a data directory, but no directories appear in the dialog box.

Notes:

This happens under a number of circumstances:

1. A user has copied a processed data folder into a higher level folder. The folder listing will stop if it detects any of the following, which it uses to recognize the current folder as a data folder:
• A data file
• One of the following folders: cpick_in, fit_batch_in, results_msfit, results_mstag, results_sherenga

(If one of these appears in the msdataSM directory, then no directories will appear in the dialog box.)

2. A data file exists in a higher level folder.  The Spectrum Mill workbench can only find the highest level of data files in a given subdirectory. For example, given these two data files,
   • E:\SpectrumMill\msdataSM\study1\mydir\datafile1.d
   • E:\SpectrumMill\msdataSM\study1\datafile2.d

   SM will recognize datafile2.d, but not datafile1.d.

3. File names use spaces or parentheses or another invalid character, such as a +.
4. There are no data files in the data directories.
5. IIS is configured to use Windows Authentication, and the user lacks permission to read the directories.
6. An IT security policy prevents display of the data directories. You may need to add the Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site.

Resolution:

After you have identified the numbered cause above, perform the action with the same number below:

1. Delete or move any *.pkl files or processed data folders (cpick_in, fit_batch_in, results_msfit, results_mstag, results_sherenga) that exist outside of a data folder.
2. Move all data files to folders that are at equivalent levels within a given subdirectory. 
3. Rename the data directory to remove the spaces and parentheses. 
4. Make sure there are data files in the data directories. 
5. If you have configured IIS to use Windows Authentication, make sure that the user has permission to read the directories.
6. Within Internet Explorer, add the Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site. For instructions, search Internet Explorer help for trusted site.

Troubleshooting - Protein/Peptide Summary, Spectrum Summary

See also:  Troubleshooting - Spectrum Viewer

If the Summarize button is disabled or grayed out on the Protein/Peptide Summary or Spectrum Summary forms

Problem:

The Summarize button is grayed out and/or does not do anything.

Notes:

Once you click the Summarize button, the button is disabled until the results appear.  If there is an error (for example, you try to summarize data that has not yet been extracted), the Summarize button may be unavailable (grayed out), even after you select a new data directory.

Resolution:

To re-enable the button, click the Summary Settings button at the top of the page to reload the Protein/Peptide Summary or Spectrum Summary form.

If you sort by accession number, but the sort is alphabetical rather than numerical

Problem:

I tried to sort by accession number on the Protein/Peptide Summary form, but the results were sorted alphabetically instead.

Notes:

Some databases use alpha characters in accession numbers, so "sorting by accession number" is actually an alphabetical sort.  This accomplishes the objective to find hits that have the same accession number.

Resolution:

None.

If you see an error "proteins not same length"

Problem:

In one of the protein modes, I saw the following error:  "Error: Function: addAAcoverageArrays. Proteins not same length. Most likely cause is duplicate accession numbers (AR) in the protein database."

Notes:

This problem has two potential causes:

1. The database has the wrong name. Note that the prefix in the database name (NCBInr, NCBIgb, SwissProt, TrEMBL, IPI, Genpept, or dbEST ) must reflect the database format, which is usually dictated by the site from which the database was downloaded. For example, if you download a SwissProt database from the NCBI site, then the format is NCBI, not SwissProt.
2. A database contains duplicate accession numbers and you attempt a summary in one of the protein modes.

Resolution:

If the cause is number 1 above, then give the database the correct name and reprocess your data.

If the cause is number 2 above, then remove the duplicate accession numbers and rerun the search and summary.   To remove the duplicate accession numbers:

1. Note from the error message the duplicate accession number.
2. Open the database in a plain text editing program (e.g., Notepad or WordPad), remove the duplicate accession number, save the file, and remove any .txt extension that has been appended.
3. Go to Protein Databases and  recreate the indices.

If peptides appear twice in the summary report

Problem:

A significant number of peptides appear twice in the summary report.

Notes:

It is normal for peptides to appear twice if they have different charge states (for example, 0 and 2) or if they are labeled (for example, D₀ and D₈). If these are not the cause, then you may need to adjust the settings for Data Extractor. The most common cause is that the merge time is too short.

Resolution:

Try the following in order. Each time, reprocess your data, starting with data extraction, to see if the number of redundant peptides decreases. Stop when you achieve satisfactory results.

1. In Data Extractor, increase the merge time. (Set Merge scans with same precursor m/z to a larger number of sec.)
2. In Data Extractor, increase the m/z merge window. (Set Merge scans with same precursor m/z to a larger m/z window.) The default merge window of +/-1.4 m/z  is generally more than wide enough, so this usually isn’t a problem. However, if you previously narrowed the window, some scans may not be merged.
3. Ask your system administrator to lower the merge_SPI or merge_num_peaks settings for your instrument in msparams_mill\instrument.txt. All instruments that generate MS/MS data use the defaults of merge_SPI = 70 and merge_num_peaks = 25, but if you add an entry to instrument.txt, that overrides the defaults.
• The format is merge_SPI, followed by a tab, followed by the value.
• Try changing one variable at a time (either merge_SPI or merge_num_peaks) and decrement that variable in steps of 5.
• Note that when you lower merge_SPI and merge_num_peaks, more spectra are merged, but there is an increased risk of merging unrelated spectra.
• The defaults of 25 peaks and 70% SPI were chosen because they produced the most protein identifications, even though there may be a few redundant peptides.

If no results are listed in Protein/Peptide Summary, even though there were hits

Problem:

My database search produced hits, but I observe no results when I attempt a protein summary.

Notes:
 
This happens when:

1. The peptide hits pass the criteria for peptide filtering, but the resulting protein scores do not pass the criteria for protein filtering.
2. You improperly set Filter results by. For example, you set the filter to valid when no results have been validated, or to sequence-not-validated when all the results have  been validated (for the score filters).

1. For Filter by protein score, type a smaller number.
2. Set Filter results by to the appropriate validation state to show results.

If clicking %SPI and other links shows an “about:blank” window

Problem:

After installing Spectrum Mill on a new system (WS 2008 R2 or WS2012 R2), clicking on the %SPI  link and other links shows an “about:blank” window and the viewer is shown in a separate tab.

Notes:
 
This problem only happens when the user is logged in as administrator, and on fresh systems.

This problem is the result of a change introduced with installation of IE11 on a computer, affecting behavior of User Account Control: Use Admin Approval Mode for the built-in Administrator account setting within local security policy. This setting can be configured using the Local Security Policy snap-in, in Local Policies / Security Options branch, under Policy item called: "User Account Control: Use Admin Approval Mode for the built-in Administrator account".

1. From Start->Run (or WS2012 Search), run secpol.msc.
2. Under Local Policies, select Security.
3. Scroll down to find “User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode”  and then enable it.
4. Reboot.

Troubleshooting - Workflows

If requests do not process or refresh (the workflow is stuck)

Problem:

The workflow fails to progress. Requests are not processed, and the Request Queue does not refresh.

Notes:

A process may be waiting for a previous process, which has failed to execute.

Resolution:

1. Stop the Spectrum Mill Workflow Manager Service.
2. If the service does not stop, go to Windows Task Manager and stop the process SRMHostSvc.exe.
3. Restart the Spectrum Mill Workflow Manager Service.

Troubleshooting - Other

If you see unusual or blank selection values

Problem:

The drop-down menu items and other fields in forms do not have any content, or

I observe unusual or blank selection values with the Spectrum Mill workbench, and some fields are "undefined."

Notes:

The symptoms indicate a problem with cookies. Try the following in order.

Resolution:

1. If you updated from a previous version of the Spectrum Mill workbench, delete any cookies associated with the Spectrum Mill server.
2. Make sure cookies are enabled. For instructions to enable cookies, search Internet Explorer help for cookies.
3. If the problem persists, add the Spectrum Mill server as a trusted site. Search Internet Explorer help for trusted site.

If you get a warning about need for additional license

Problem:

My searches give a warning about four CPUs and the need for an additional license, yet I have only a two-CPU server.

Notes:
Spectrum Mill licensing is based on the number of physical CPUs. Hyper-Threading and multicore CPUs are considered to be one physical CPU. However, some older BIOS software may report the wrong value to Spectrum Mill if Hyper-Threading is enabled. If this is the case, you must disable Hyper-Threading in the BIOS. If you disable Hyper-Threading after installing Spectrum Mill, you will need to reconfigure the Spectrum Mill Request Manager Service to reduce the number of concurrent searches. Set the "maxConcurrentTasks" value to 1 less than the total number of processors. See the instructions to limit the number of parallel processes.

Resolution:

Disable Hyper-Threading.

If your list of protein database names does not update

Problem:

When I click Update Database List in the Protein Databases form, my database list does not update.

Notes:

For the list to be updated, the web users must have write permission for the file. 

Resolution:

Set the write permissions as described in the Installation Guide.

If you get different results between Spectrum Mill versions

Problem:

My results with the current Spectrum Mill version are different from those with a previous version.

Notes:

Improvements to the extraction, search, and protein grouping may result in differences from prior versions.

Resolution:

None.

If you get an error that says "page not found"

Problem:

Some Spectrum Mill functions return an error that says "Page not found." Examples might include (but are not limited to) getting a process list in Tool Belt or displaying a spectrum with the Spectrum Viewer.

Notes:

The server may not be running.

Resolution:

Verify the Spectrum Mill server is running and that Web site is not stopped.

If some programs work, but others do not (permission denied)

Problem:

Some Spectrum Mill programs work, but others do not. For example, you cannot index a database, nor select a data directory, but MS Comp works.

Notes:

This problem may be caused by a user who is logged onto the Spectrum Mill server and is a member of both the Users and Administrators groups.

Resolution:

Remove the user from the Users group and retain membership in the Administrators group.

If Peptide Selector seems to ignore settings

Problem:

Peptide Selector ignores some of my criteria to exclude peptides. For example, the form lists C and M as disallowed amino acids, but some peptides in the results still include those amino acids.

Notes:

When you mark the check box for Penalize rather than exclude on the Peptide Selector form, the program applies a penalty score to peptides rather than excluding them. The settings that use penalties change to green font.  Those settings no longer cause peptides to be excluded.

Resolution:

Clear the check box for Penalize rather than exclude.

If Spectrum Mill performance becomes slow

Problem:

The Spectrum Mill performance appears to be very slow recently.

Notes:

The slow performance may occur because one or more RAID disks have failed, and data is being recovered. Another possibility is that free memory is very low.

Resolution:

If the RAID drives are functioning properly, run Task Manager on the server to view memory and CPU usage. If free memory is very low (< 1Gb), consider increasing the amount of memory on your server, or configuring the Spectrum Mill workflow manager to use fewer CPU cores when running parallel tasks.

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