firefly software is open license so you can install it on any Windows 10 or 11 device, including Macs running Parallels Desktop. This enables you to author protocols off-line and use cloud storage or your network to make them available to the firefly instrument.
Protocol design is much easier on a laptop or desktop PC than on the firefly tablet, so SPT Labtech recommends this approach.
2.3.1 System requirements
The minimum hardware/software requirements are:
- 8GB RAM (16GB recommended).
- At least 10 GB of free disk space. Storage of databases, protocols and log files will
use up free disk space, so it is recommended that a much greater amount of free disk
space is available. - Windows 10 (22H2 or later) / Windows 11 (22H2 or later).
- Screen resolution of at least 1920x1080.
2.3.2 Installation
To install firefly, download the latest installer from SPT Labtech’s downloads area (you may be sent a link to this from your installation service engineer) and double-click the firefly.exe file.
The firefly application installer will initially extract all files to a temporary location on the target
machine:
The firefly installer will also install prerequisites it has discovered that are not currently
installed on the target machine. The prerequisites are:
- The appropriate version of the .NET desktop runtime (e.g., v9.0.0 64-bit)
- The appropriate version of the .NET hosting bundle (e.g., v9.0.0 64-bit)
- The appropriate version of the .NET runtime (e.g., v9.0.0 64-bit)
If the installer detects it needs to install any of the prerequisites above, it will do so before installing the firefly software.
Installation will then continue to the main firefly software:
SPT Labtech recommends you leave the default settings for the installation folder and for
the target users on the machine:
Click Next > twice to start the installation, which may take a couple of minutes.
A black command prompt window (or ‘DOS’ screen) will appear during installation. This is normal and is due to the installation procedure configuring the firefly software for first use.
Once the software has been installed, you should see the following dialog:
Once installed, the firefly software will be accessible from the Start menu or from a desktop shortcut.
Please contact reliance (see section 13) if you have any problems with installing the firefly app.
2.3.3 Connecting to cloud storage
The first time you run firefly, you will be asked whether you wish to set up cloud storage. If you wish to do so, click Next.
You will then be asked to provide details of the remote “Sync” server from where data from firefly will be synchronized or shared with others connected to the same server.
- Sync Server: the host name of the server from which you wish to synchronize your firefly data.
- Customer Sync Username: the username/email address with which you are registered with firefly.
- Sync Server Password: the password for your firefly registration.
You should ask your firefly system administrator for this information as reliance will have organized cloud storage access when setting up your firefly instrument.
Once you have provided the correct credentials, the firefly software will perform an initial synchronization with the server which may take a few minutes.
Once the sync is complete, you will be notified with the following screen:
You can then log in (see section 4) to firefly software as you would on the instrument’s tablet.
2.3.4 Connecting standalone
If you don’t want to set up cloud storage, you can select the second option “No thanks, I’ll set this up later”. Selecting this option will take you straight to the log-in screen. Any data you create using firefly will be saved locally to your machine and you’ll need to use a USB stick or local network drives to transfer your protocols to your firefly instrument.
2.3.5 Installing INHECO 'Script Editor 3' software for the firefly+ thermal cycler
The Inheco On Deck Thermal Cycler (ODTC) uses Inheco software to design incubation protocols. If your instrument includes firefly+ with a thermal cycler, your reliance service engineer will install Inheco's 'Script Editor 3' software on the computer you're going to use to design protocols. The ODTC control software will be installed on firefly's tablet.