Settings and Preferences
Settings are spread across several tabs in the right-side panel. Some settings are stored in the .active capture file and travel with the capture; others are stored in application settings and persist between sessions regardless of what file is open.
Settings Tab
The Settings tab is the main configuration panel. It contains decoder configuration, PacketPresenter controls, capture file settings, and display preferences.
Decoder Mode Selectors
Each Active Debug Port device has a decoder mode selector drop-down:
Active Debugger: One selector — AMode
ACTIVE-PRO and ACTIVE-PRO Ultra: Four selectors — AMode, BMode, CMode, DMode
Select the appropriate decoder mode for the protocol running on each port. The waveform area updates immediately when you change a mode.
Decoder Settings Field
Some decoder modes have a configuration value. A text field appears next to the mode selector when one is needed:
| Protocol | Setting | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UART (all variants) | Baud rate in bps | Set to 0 for auto-detection |
For UART, the Auto-Detect button appears next to the baud rate field. Click it after capturing some data to measure the baud rate automatically from the signal.
PacketPresenter Controls
Each device port has:
- A PP enable checkbox: check this to activate PacketPresenter decoding for that port
- An Edit button (APPEdit / BPPEdit / CPPEdit / DPPEdit): opens the PacketPresenter Editor dialog for that port
Capture File Settings
These settings apply to all models and control how capture data is stored.
Working Directory: The folder where capture data is written during capture. Click the ... button to browse for a different folder. Choose a fast local drive for large captures.
Max Capture File Size: Maximum size of the capture file before it wraps as a ring buffer.
Options: 1 MB · 10 MB · 100 MB · 1 GB · 10 GB · 100 GB · 1 TB
Max Analog and Digital Sample Rate: Upper limit on the analog and digital sample rate.
Options: 20 · 50 · 100 · 200 · 500 · 1K · 2K · 5K · 10K · 20K · 50K · 100K · 200K · 500K · 1M samples/sec
Display Preferences
Zoom Speed slider: Controls how sensitive the mouse scroll wheel is for zooming. Drag toward the fast end if the default zoom steps feel too small.
Zoom Animation Speed slider: Controls how fast the zoom animation plays. Set it to maximum if the animation feels sluggish; set it lower if you prefer a more visual transition.
User Name: Your name, displayed in the application title bar and stored in application settings. This is purely informational.
Fast Checkbox: Enables faster rendering optimizations. Use this if the waveform display feels sluggish during live capture on slower systems.
Inputs Tab
The Inputs tab controls which input channels are enabled for capture.
Logic Channel Enable Buttons (ACTIVE-PRO and ACTIVE-PRO Ultra)
Available on: ACTIVE-PRO · ACTIVE-PRO Ultra
Eight buttons labeled D0 through D7 toggle each logic channel on and off. Disabled channels are not captured and do not appear in the waveform area. Disable channels you are not using to reduce capture file growth and maximize capture performance.
Analog Channel Controls (ACTIVE-PRO and ACTIVE-PRO Ultra)
Available on: ACTIVE-PRO · ACTIVE-PRO Ultra
Enabling analog channels (input range and sample rate) is done from the Inputs tab. Per-channel settings (offset, scale, units, input mode, current measurement) are configured directly in the Settings tab.
Logic Threshold (Active Debugger)
Active Debugger only
The Inputs tab on the Active Debugger shows a threshold level control for the single debug port input. Adjust this to match your target's logic voltage level.
Outputs Tab
Available on: ACTIVE-PRO · ACTIVE-PRO Ultra (not present on Active Debugger)
The Outputs tab controls the hardware output pins on the connected device. Changes take effect immediately — set a digital output to 3.3 V and the pin goes high right now.
Digital Outputs (D0 and D1)
Each digital output pin has four mode buttons:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Tristate | Pin is not driven — high impedance. Safe default. |
| 0V | Pin is driven to logic low (0 V) |
| 3.3V | Pin is driven to logic high (3.3 V) |
| PWM | Pin outputs a square wave at 250 kHz (ACTIVE-PRO) or 390 kHz (ACTIVE-PRO Ultra). A duty cycle control (slider or spin box) sets the on-time percentage from 0% to 100%. |
Output drive capability: 8 mA max per pin.
Analog Outputs (A0 and A1)
A0 can be set to:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Tristate | Not driven (high impedance) |
| 0 V | Fixed DC output at 0 V |
| 1 V | Fixed DC at 1 V |
| 2 V | Fixed DC at 2 V |
| 3 V | Fixed DC at 3 V |
| 3.3 V | Fixed DC at 3.3 V |
| DC | Custom DC voltage, set with the voltage spin box |
A1 supports all of the above A0 modes, plus four waveform output modes:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Ramp | Linear ramp waveform, sweeping from minimum to maximum voltage |
| Sine | Sinusoidal waveform |
| Square | Square wave (50% duty cycle) |
| Triangle | Triangular waveform |
For waveform modes, set the minimum and maximum output voltage with the spin boxes labeled A1 Min and A1 Max. The output range is 0 V to 3.3 V.
Waveform frequency range:
- ACTIVE-PRO: 62.5 Hz to 25 kHz
- ACTIVE-PRO Ultra: 62.5 Hz to 7.25 kHz
Frequency is adjusted via the Steps control (number of steps per waveform cycle). Each step is 4 µsec.
Tip for testing power supply response: Set A0 to a DC level matching your circuit's supply voltage, then switch it to 0 V and watch the analog input channels on the same timeline to measure your power supply's response time.
Tip for ADC testing: Drive A1 with a ramp waveform and connect it to your target's ADC input while monitoring the ADC readings via the Active Debug Port. This gives you a complete ADC transfer function with one capture.
All output settings can also be controlled via the Automation API
Notes Tab
The Notes tab contains two areas that serve different purposes.
Notes Editor
A full-featured rich text editor for freeform notes about the capture. Write anything here — your observations, hypotheses, findings, links to related tickets, steps to reproduce, screenshot descriptions.
Supported text formatting:
- Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough
- Heading styles (H1–H4) and monospace paragraph style
- Ordered (numbered) lists and unordered (bullet) lists
- Indentation (increase and decrease)
- Font size selector
- Text foreground color and background highlight color
- Insert image
- HTML source view — edit the underlying HTML directly
- Remove character formatting (Ctrl+M) — strips all formatting from selected text
- Remove all formatting — strips all formatting from the entire document
Keyboard shortcuts in the notes editor:
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+Z | Undo |
| Ctrl+Y | Redo |
| Ctrl+X | Cut |
| Ctrl+C | Copy |
| Ctrl+V | Paste |
| Ctrl+B | Bold |
| Ctrl+I | Italic |
| Ctrl+U | Underline |
| Ctrl+M | Remove character formatting from selection |
| Ctrl+- | Insert bullet list |
| Ctrl+= | Insert ordered (numbered) list |
| Ctrl+, | Decrease indentation |
| Ctrl+. | Increase indentation |
The notes are saved in the .active capture file as rich text HTML and restored when you open the file.
Tip: Document your analysis while you work. When you come back to this capture six months later — or hand it to a colleague — the notes tell the story. Include what you expected to see, what you actually saw, and what you concluded.
Analysis Context Field
Below the notes editor is a plain text field labeled ANALYSIS CONTEXT. Text entered here appears verbatim at the top of every AI Snapshot exported from this capture file, before any data rows.
Write a briefing here: what the firmware is doing, what problem you are investigating, what question you want the AI to answer. If left empty, the [ANALYSIS CONTEXT] section is omitted from AI Snapshot exports entirely.
Both the notes and the Analysis Context are saved in the .active file.
Application-Level Settings
These settings are stored in the application's persistent settings and apply globally, not per-capture file.
| Setting | How to Change |
|---|---|
| Dark / light theme | View > Dark Mode / View > Light Mode |
| Always on top | View > Always On Top / View > Not Always On Top |
| Working directory | ... button in Settings tab |
| User name | Text field in Settings tab |