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Known Issues

ACEZIP File Installation Unsuccessful Due to Security Block

In some cases downloading an ACEZIP file from an e-mail or from a remote/networked location has caused the file to become blocked by a security feature in Windows. This is not made clear during the download process but when the user attempts to install the ACE plug-in it will not work correctly.

If this happens, follow these steps to verify the ACEZIP has not been blocked and resolve the issue if it has:

  1. Right click the file.
  2. Select properties in the context menu.
  3. Under the General tab, if a file has been blocked a new Security tag and Unblock button will have appeared.
  4. Click Unblock.
  5. Retry the plug-in installation by double clicking the ACEZIP.

ACE Does Not Discover High-Speed DAC Eval Boards

The High-Speed DAC boards have a second on-board USB controller, make sure this is connected as well as the main FPGA controller board. To avoid potential confusion, ACE only reports boards on the second controller (where it is required).


There is also a known driver conflict issue between the NI VISA driver and Keysight's VISA driver (used for automation of equipment). To work around this, try setting the Keysight VISA driver as the secondary VISA driver. This can be done with the Keysight installer. If this doesn't work, you may need to uninstall the Keysight Driver.

The same workaround may be necessary for Rhode-Schwarz VISA.


If you need to automate equipment and use ACE at the same time you might have to use two separate PCs. The ACE remote control/scripting interface can be used by networking the PCs and setting Firewall rules appropriately.


Another possible issue causing ACE to not detect Hsdac boards is an outdated version of the “Evaluation Board Service” library. This library is installed as part of DPGDownloader. The “BitFlipper” application installer overwrites the currently installed version of the library with an incompatible one. Reinstalling the latest version of High-Speed DAC Software Suite will restore the correct version of the library.

This is the ACE log entry indicating an incompatible version of the “Evaluation Board Service”

Could not initialise DPG Client System.Exception: Could not query DPG3 for connected evaluation boards --->
System.Exception: DeviceNotResponding at AnalogDevices.DPG.USB.CSA_USB.ControlIn(Int16 requestType, Int16 request, UInt16 wValue, UInt16 wIndex, Int16 length) at
AnalogDevices.DPG.EvaluationBoards.Communication.DPG3_CSA.Finder.AttachedBoards(String[] DevicePaths)

Register Debugger Does Not Update Software Values

While not a bug, the behavior of the register debugger can be confusing and lead users to think that ACE is not successful communicating to the hardware. The register debugger writes directly to the hardware, and it does not update register values stored in the software. This will cause the register map to be out of sync between the hardware and the software. The registers that are out of sync will be indicated by bold lettering in the register map, as seen in the figure below. If the user clicks the “Apply Changes” or if the Apply Changes transaction is executed by any other sequence in the plug-in, then ACE will update the hardware to match the UI, overriding changes made in the register debugger.



To preserve the changes made in the register debugger, click the “Read All” toolbar button after completing register debugger writes and before performing any additional operations in ACE.

Board & Chip Diagrams Distorted (Regional Formatting Bug)

This issue is addressed in ACE versions 1.7+

There is a known issue with some regional formats that causes bad loading and rendering of board and chip views. When the problem occurs, you may see some shapes appear with missing content and exaggerated size. The problem is particular to formats that use a comma (',') or any character besides '.' as the decimal separator.

To use the workaround, you need to temporarily change the format settings in Windows to a format that uses '.' as the decimal separator such as English (United States). For example, in Windows 7, you can access the setting through Control Panel → Change display language, click the Formats tab, and select “English (United States)” in the “Format” drop-down.

 Region and Language : Formats

ACE or SDP Driver Install Fails or Warns me the driver/exe is unsigned

Warnings may be safely ignored and dismissed, but they do highlight likely issues with your PC. The SDPDrivers and ACE package uses the latest signing technology and your PC may be out of date and unable to recognise the signing key.

  1. Make sure the PC is connected to the Internet and can get root certificate updates, normally this happens automatically.
  2. Check group policies to automatically update these run gpedit.msc
    1. Make sure the setting below is either Not Configured or Disabled
    2. UpdateRoot.png
  3. Check for and install all the latest Windows updates
  4. Check your group policy settings, these may be controlled by IT or a System Administrator
  5. Ideally select Warn as the safer option in case you later encounter malicious software
  6. Run gpedit.msc and navigate to the setting below
    1. CodeSigning.png
resources/tools-software/ace/knownissues.1532645195.txt.gz · Last modified: 27 Jul 2018 00:46 by Michael Fowler