How to turn on thumbnails for troubleshooting on the NextSeq 500/550

Turning on thumbnail images on the NextSeq 500/550 can affect Real Time Analysis (RTA) speed.

On the NextSeq 500/550, thumbnail images are disabled by default to prevent Real Time Analysis (RTA) from running slowly and/or crashing (from which a sequencing run cannot be recovered).

Thumbnail images can be helpful in troubleshooting, and can be enabled with the following steps.

1. Close the NextSeq Control Software.

• sbsuser login works for this (unless local IT restricted access to update files and sbsadmin account login is necessary).

1. Open the NextSeqControlSoftware.Options.cfg file:

   1. Windows 7 file path:

   • C:\Illumina\NextSeq Control Software\InstrumentShell.NextSeqControlSoftware.Options.cfg  

   1. Windows 10 file path:

   • C:\ProgramData*\Illumina\NextSeq Control Software\InstrumentShell.NextSeqControlSoftware.Options.cfg  

2. Find the line:

• <RtaSaveThumbnails>false</RtaSaveThumbnails>  

1. Change it to true:

• <RtaSaveThumbnails>true</RtaSaveThumbnails>  

1. Save the file.

2. Power cycle the system.

\*Note: In order to access the ProgramData folder, Hidden Items must be enabled first. Open File Explorer, navigate to View, and then make sure Hidden Items is selected.

Once troubleshooting activities are complete the thumbnail images can be turned off by following the above directions and changing true to false in the config file and saving the file.

For further information, search for Knowledge Base article How to Perform a NextSeq 500/550 Power Cycle.

For any feedback or questions regarding this article (Illumina Knowledge Article #2085), contact Illumina Technical Support [email protected].