1. Introduction
When you purchase a potentiostat from Pine Research (e.g., WaveDriver 200, WaveDriver 100, WaveNow Wireless series, WaveNow potentiostat series) and original installation media was included with the purchase. For years now, this installation media has been a flash drive, but previously, it was on CD-ROM. The installation media contains the following:
- Current Release of AfterMath.
- USB Driver (can always download for free if needed).
- License File, called a permissions file, used by AfterMath Blue to match the connected instrument with an appropriate list of techniques that the instrument is authorized to perform.
In general, if a user installs their potentiostat using the installation media provided, nothing additional must be obtained from Pine Research to run the instrument. There are cases when you may have to contact us to obtain a new license file, as follows:
- You have downloaded AfterMath from our website onto a computer that was not originally used to set up the instrument.
- You cannot locate the installation media (CD-ROM or USB flash drive).
- You have had to reinstall Windows on your computer.
In these, or any other, cases, it is very easy to obtain a new license file. This article describes how to find the instrument serial number and hardware code, both of which must be provided to Pine Research when requesting a replacement license file.
2. Device Tab
While there are stickers and barcodes on the potentiostat to indicate their serial number, the hardware code must be obtained from AfterMath.
Even if you cannot use the instrument to perform experiments (missing license file), you can still connect a potentiostat to the computer and through AfterMath, obtain system details such as hardware code.
2.1. [Step 1] - Connect Potentiostat to Computer
In general, Pine Research potentiostats are USB-interfaced to the computer. Connect the USB cable between the potentiostat and computer and turn the power on to the instrument.
2.2. [Step 2] - Select Instrument in AfterMath
In the lower left corner of the AfterMath window, click on the desired instrument for which you want to view system details. Each connected potentiostat will be listed separately beneath the “Instruments” node (see Label 1 in the figure below).
AfterMath Blue Device Tab
2.3. [Step 3] - View Device Details
With the instrument selected in the lower left, look to the right of the window. There, a series of tabs provide many details about the system. To find the hardware code, serial number, as well as other information about things like firmware version, select the Device tab (see label 2 in the figure above). The hardware code and serial number (among other items) will be shown in the list (see lables 3 and 4 in the figure above).