A system comprising: a flow cell to support analytes of interest or an interface to fluidically connect with a flow cell to support analytes of interest in an analysis system, the fluidic interface including a plurality of flow paths and a plurality of effluent lines , each flow path to fluidically connect with one or more channels of the flow cell when the flow cell is mounted in the analysis system and each effluent line to fluidically connect with one of the channels of the flow cell when the flow cell is mounted in the analysis system; a selector valve fluidically connected with the flow cell or the plurality of flow paths, the selector valve to controllably select one of the flow paths; one or more pumps , each pump fluidically connected with the flow cell or one or more of the effluent lines ; wherein the one or more pumps comprises at least one syringe pump and the fluid comprises air; a pressure sensor in fluidic communication with the selected flow path, the pressure sensor to detect pressure in the selected flow path and to generate pressure data based on the detected pressure; and control circuitry, the control circuitry having one or more processors and a memory to store computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors , control the one or more processors to: control the one or more pumps so as to pressurize the selected flow path according to a prescribed test protocol; cause, as part of the test protocol, the one or more pumps to pressurize the selected flow path in a stepwise manner, with each pressure step having a higher pressure than the previous pressure step; and access the pressure data and to determine whether the selected flow path maintains pressure in a desired manner. a flow cell to support analytes of interest or an interface to fluidically connect with a flow cell to support analytes of interest in an analysis system, the fluidic interface including a plurality of flow paths and a plurality of effluent lines , each flow path to fluidically connect with one or more channels of the flow cell when the flow cell is mounted in the analysis system and each effluent line to fluidically connect with one of the channels of the flow cell when the flow cell is mounted in the analysis system; a selector valve fluidically connected with the flow cell or the plurality of flow paths, the selector valve to controllably select one of the flow paths; one or more pumps , each pump fluidically connected with the flow cell or one or more of the effluent lines ; wherein the one or more pumps comprises at least one syringe pump and the fluid comprises air; a pressure sensor in fluidic communication with the selected flow path, the pressure sensor to detect pressure in the selected flow path and to generate pressure data based on the detected pressure; and control circuitry, the control circuitry having one or more processors and a memory to store computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors , control the one or more processors to: control the one or more pumps so as to pressurize the selected flow path according to a prescribed test protocol; cause, as part of the test protocol, the one or more pumps to pressurize the selected flow path in a stepwise manner, with each pressure step having a higher pressure than the previous pressure step; and access the pressure data and to determine whether the selected flow path maintains pressure in a desired manner. control the one or more pumps so as to pressurize the selected flow path according to a prescribed test protocol; cause, as part of the test protocol, the one or more pumps to pressurize the selected flow path in a stepwise manner, with each pressure step having a higher pressure than the previous pressure step; and access the pressure data and to determine whether the selected flow path maintains pressure in a desired manner. <EOS>