Why can’t I start an experiment in the Pulsenics dashboard?

You may be unable to create an experiment, select hardware, or start a run in the Pulsenics dashboard. This is most commonly caused by a missing Facility or Test Station, a Probe that is already in use or offline, or a CMU that is not communicating with the dashboard.

Agent triage — ask these first

"At what step are you getting stuck — creating the experiment, selecting hardware, or clicking start?"
- If unsure: Ask — "Are you seeing an error message, a greyed-out button, or is hardware just not appearing in the dropdown?"
- If still unsure: Continue — work through the quick checklist below to identify the blocker.
"Is the Probe showing a green status indicator on the Probes page in the dashboard?"
- If unsure: Ask — "Can you go to dashboard.pulsenics.com, click on Probes in the left sidebar, find your Probe by serial number, and tell me what colour the status indicator is?"
- If not green: The Probe is offline — resolve the Probe offline issue first. See: Why is my Probe offline on the Dashboard or not coming back online?
"Are you using CMUs for this experiment?"
- If yes: Ask — "On the Probes page, select your Probe and check whether the CMU status indicator is green."
- If not green: See: Why is my CMU offline even though it is connected to the Probe?

Use the answers to route:

Situation	Route
No Facility appears when selecting hardware	→ Facility has not been created. See fix 1 below.
Facility exists but no Test Station appears	→ Test Station has not been created. See fix 2 below.
Probe cannot be selected / greyed out	→ Probe may be in use or offline. See fix 3 below.
Probe offline	→ Resolve Probe offline issue first. See: Why is my Probe offline on the Dashboard or not coming back online?
CMU cannot be selected	→ CMU may be offline or not communicating. See fix 4 below.

Quick checklist — fastest path to unblocking

Before going through individual fixes, check all of these:

[ ] A Facility exists in the dashboard
[ ] A Test Station exists under that Facility
[ ] The Probe is not already assigned to an active or not-yet-started experiment
[ ] The Probe status indicator is green
[ ] If using CMUs: the CMU status indicator is green and cabling is secure

If all of the above are true and the experiment still cannot start, collect the escalation checklist below and contact Pulsenics.

Fix 1 — No Facility appears when selecting hardware

What this means: A Facility has not been created yet.

Go to Facilities in the left sidebar
Click Add and create a new Facility
Return to Experiments and try hardware selection again

Confirm after: Your new Facility should appear in the Facility dropdown during hardware selection.

Fix 2 — Facility exists but no Test Station appears

What this means: The selected Facility does not have a Test Station created under it.

Go to Facilities
Select the Facility you chose in the experiment setup
Create a new Test Station under that Facility (name, location, optional notes)
Return to Experiments and select hardware again

Confirm after: The Test Station should appear after selecting the Facility.

Fix 3 — Probe cannot be selected or is greyed out

What this means: The Probe is not available to assign. Two common reasons:

A) The Probe is already assigned to an active experiment

End the active experiment to free the Probe, then assign it to the new experiment

B) The Probe is assigned to an experiment that has not started yet

Cancel the not-started experiment to free the Probe, then assign it to the new experiment

Confirm after: Once freed, the Probe should become selectable during hardware assignment.

C) The Probe is offline

The Probe must be online before it can be assigned. Resolve the offline issue first.
See: Why is my Probe offline on the Dashboard or not coming back online?

Fix 4 — CMU cannot be selected

What this means: The CMU is not online or not communicating with the dashboard.

How to confirm:

Go to Probes
Select the Probe being used for the experiment
Check whether the CMU status indicator is green

Common causes:

Faulty or unseated CMU cable
Connection issue preventing communication to the dashboard

⚠️ Do not connect or disconnect the CMU cable while the Probe is powered on. This can damage the CMU or the Probe's CMU port.

If the CMU is offline, see: Why is my CMU offline even though it is connected to the Probe?

Before escalating — collect this information

If the experiment still cannot start after working through all fixes above, gather the following before contacting Pulsenics:

At which step the experiment is blocked (creating / selecting hardware / clicking start)
Whether a Facility and Test Station exist
Probe status indicator colour (green / yellow / other)
Whether the Probe is assigned to another experiment
CMU status indicator colour if applicable
Any error messages shown in the dashboard
What has already been tried and what effect it had
Interface method (Cloud Dashboard / local / Modbus)

What recovery looks like

Facility and Test Station are visible in the hardware selection dropdown
Probe status indicator is green and the Probe is selectable
CMU status indicator is green if CMUs are required
Experiment can be created and started without errors
Data begins appearing in the dashboard after the experiment starts

Article status

This is a living troubleshooting note for the symptom unable to start an experiment in the Pulsenics dashboard. Additional causes and confirmed resolutions may be added as more cases are identified.

Tags: experiment, start experiment, hardware selection, Facility, Test Station, Probe unavailable, Probe offline, CMU offline, dashboard, experiment setup, greyed out, can't start