The FTIR has been a little hit-and-miss lately with operation, and the intermittent nature of the problem has prevented Thermo from offering any concrete solutions. Today we have a solid symptom: the interferometer is not moving under software control; thus, no data can be acquired, and the instrument cannot even align its own optics.
Consequently, the FTIR will be out of service until the fault is remedied. Seeing as how this is the most-used instrument in the lab, this will be a high priority.