MAX 4.2: Problem connecting to the database

[Vladimir_Drzik]

Hello guys

I recently upgraded to Vision Acquisition Software 8.2.2, together with MAX 4.2. My previous VAQ version was 8.2.1 with MAX 4.1, which worked fine. After the upgrade, I started to experience a lot of problems caused by the fact that the MAX is not able to connect to its database. MAX takes quite a long time to start and after that, when clicking on "Devices and Interfaces", it pops up the error message "There was a problem connecting to the database. Please restart your computer and contact National Instruments if the problem persists". After a lot of struggle, I uninstalled all the NI hardware and software from my machine and installed just a clean installation of VAQ 8.2.2, but the error persists. I have also tried the suggestions in the KnowledgeBase article http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/B9107A7F281F9B408625720B0078E5A8, but it does not help.

The strange thing is that my colleague Martin Balog experiences the same symptoms, as descibed in his posts http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=200&message.id=13146 and http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=200&message.id=13148, though we have completely different hardware and software configuration. We are both running Win XP Professional SP2.

One more thing I've noticed is that the service "NI Configuration Manager" nimxs.exe is not willing to stop. It is so when trying to stop it from Windows, as well as when the NI installer tries to stop it when repairing MAX installation.

Do you have any idea why this problem happens?

Vladimir

[Vladimir_Drzik]

Hi guys

I'm sorry to report this, but my MAX problem has become even worse. I decided to uninstall VAQ 8.2.2 and MAX 4.2 and go back to MAX 4.1. So I did a clean installation of LabVIEW 8.2 with MAX 4.1. However, even the old MAX cannot find its database now. The problem is in the nimxs.exe service. It is not able to start either automatically at startup or manually. "Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly" is what is says. Can anyone provide me any help on this?

Vladimir

[Vladimir_Drzik]

OK I've solved my problem with MAX 4.1. I've had to manually remove some NI libraries from Windows\System32 folder (which should have been uninstalled!). These libraries were probably remnants of MAX 4.2 and made the problem. However, I still wonder why MAX 4.2 is not working.

Vladimir

[DJ_L.]

Hey Vladimir,

First, concerning the NI libraries in the System32 folder, those should actually stay there no matter which version gets installed, and will not get uninstalled with an uninstall, as this is expected behavior. Now as far as MAX 4.2 not working for you, I am guessing that your MAX probably had a MAX database corruption. One thing that I would recommend is that you try installing the Vision Acquisition Software version 8.2.2 on a separate machine and see if you get the same errors. If you do, you might have a bad installer. Therefore, I would recommend that you try downloading the software from the website again. If you are able to successfully install VAS 8.2.2 with MAX 4.2 on the other machine, then it is probably not the installer, but just something on your original machine that could be causing the MAX Database Corruption. I would recommend trying to upgrad to 8.2.2 again, and if you get the error again, follow these instructions closely below.

This error can also be seen due to a MAX database corruption. Database corruptions are rare, but may be caused when a system reboots without being properly shut down due to a power loss or a system crash. One sign that your database may be corrupt is if you click on the plus sign for a folder in MAX and if instead of expanding the plus sign disappears. If this error occurs after installing a newer version of MAX, verify that you have already performed a reboot of your PC before proceeding.
MAX maintains a backup copy of the database file, which can be used to recover from a database corruption. To revert to the uncorrupted backup, please log in as an Administrator or another user with Administrator privileges in order to complete the following steps (If you have a firewall such as F-Secure installed, make sure it's disabled during this procedure!):

1. Make sure you exit all NI applications, especially MAX.
2. In the command window, (select Start»Run... from your Toolbar and type cmd, and click OK) stop the MAX database service is by typing net stop mxssvr in the command window. If you are prompted to stop other services, stop them.
3. Go to the MAX directory, usually found at C:\Program Files\National Instruments\MAX
The location of the data folder for MAX 4.2 is changed, for Windows XP and Windows 2000 it is :
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Data\
The folder name 'Application Data' is a hidden folder, you can view this by selecting' View hidden files' in the 'Folder Option' tab from 'Tools' in the menu bar.
For Windows Vista:
C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\MAX\Data
4. Create a backup copy of the Data folder, and store it in another location.
5. Open the original Data folder and find the file named config3.mxs.bak. Check this file's creation/modification time by right-clicking on the file and choosing Properties. The General tab will list the time it was created and the time it was last modified. If that file is dated such that it would contain your recent changes, continue with the following steps. If the file is old and you are not sure of the status of MAX at the time of that file's creation, simply delete the entire Data folder and skip to step 8.
   Note: Deleting the Data folder in its entirety will remove all configuration settings. The next time MAX is launched, you will have to configure all of your hardware again.
6. Still in the MAX\Data folder, delete the file named config3.mxs or save it with a different name. Do the same for any of these files if they exist in the Data folder: config3.mxc, config3.mxd, and storage.mxc.
7. Rename config3.mxs.bak to config3.mxs
8. Reboot your computer.
9. Start MAX. MAX should launch with the configuration information that was stored as a backup if you did not completely delete the Data folder.
10. If reverting to the back-up version of your MAX database resolves this error for you, please send your original corrupt Data folder along with a MAX system report to NI Technical Support.

I hope this helps. Keep us updated on how things go, and let us know if you have any other questions or concerns in the meantime. Thanks, and have a great day.

Regards,
DJ L.

[Vladimir_Drzik]

Hi DJ

Thanks for your help. I don't think I have a corrupted installer, because my colleague Martin Balog experiences the same problems as me. He still has VAS 8.2.1, but installed MAX 4.2 with Vision Builder AI 3.0.1, which came from a completely different source. This is why I think the principal problem is in MAX 4.2 itself. And I've just downloaded VAS 8.2.2 installer one more time and did a binary file comparison. Nothing has changed.

I already tried all the stuff about database corruption, as I already wrote in my original post. Actually, I cleaned my whole machine from NI software. Deleted everything NI-related from Program Files, D&S\Application Data, My Documents, and the registry. Installed just VAS 8.2.2 and the problem persisted.

Well, do you have any other idea?

Vladimir

[DJ_L.]

Hey Vladimir,

Just to test this out, I downloaded and installed Vision Acquisition 8.2.2 on a clean machine and I was able to properly open MAX and did not get any Database errors like you are seeing, so I don't think it has to deal with the Vision Acquisition software. This is why I suggested that you try and install the Vision Acquisition 8.2.2 on a machine that has no NI software on it before, maybe even a home PC that you can uninstall after you install it. If this gives you the exact error, then there might be something else going on. If you don't get the error, then we know it has something to do with your machine. With all the uninstalling and deleting of files, and messing with the registry that you have done, there might have been something that you missed. I know that you might not be at this point yet, but I bet if you formatted your computer and then installed Vision Acquisition 8.2.2 that you would not get the error. This is why I think it really is a MAX Database issue, just like the Error says. So try it on a clean machine and let us know what you get. Thanks, and talk to you soon.

Regards,
DJ L.

[Shawn B.]

Hey vdrzik,

Unfortunately there are a lot of reasons why you could receive that error message.  This makes it difficult to say exactly what the problem might be without doing a little troubleshooting or debugging.  My first question is when did you last look at the MAX Database Connection Error KnowledgeBase? I ask this because in MAX 4.2 the database has moved to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Data\  If the database contains bad data or has some corruption you might see the problem you experienced.  Additionally the database remains after you uninstall everything simply because many customers do not want to loose all of their data in an upgrade.  Going back to MAX 4.1 I believe will put the database back to its old location which might be why it works.

Some other information that would be useful to know:

- What software/hardware is installed/attached?
- What software and their versions was there before?
- Did you encounter any problem/errors with the upgrade/installation?
- Did =you reboot after upgrade/installation?
- How big is the MAX database file (config3.mxs)?
- What is the state of the system (i.e. slow machine, heavily loaded, running out of disk space/memory, etc)?

Some of this information can be aquired by creating a MAX technical support report (File >> Create Report >> Technical Support), though it works best if you aren't receiving the "Cannot connect to database error".  Perhaps you could create a report now while your system is working, then install only Vision Acquisition 8.2.2.

Shawn Bohrer
National Instruments



[Vladimir_Drzik]

Hello Shawn

Thanks for your help. Here are my answers

• The KB article you are mentioning was one of the first things I looked at. I already wrote this in my original post.
• It is natural that the database stays on the machine after uninstallation. I wrote that the DLLs in windows\system32 folder stayed after uninstallation, which caused me a problem when I was trying to install MAX 4.1 again. Actually, I think it's one of these DLLs causing the trouble, because even MAX 4.1 did not work when the DLLs were left from MAX 4.2. After I've removed the DLLs, MAX 4.1 started to work normally (after reinstallation, of course).
• I am sending my technical report from MAX. Please note that I am now using the older VAS and MAX versions (8.2.1 and 4.1) and they are working fine. However, I'm attaching also a technical report from the computer of my colleague Martin Balog. He still has MAX 4.2 installed and it is still doing the trouble. However, he still has VAS 8.2.1, because he got MAX 4.2 from VBAI 3.0.1 installation.
• Regarding the software that was installed on my machine prior to VAS 8.2.2 installation, it was nearly the same as it is now, so you can see the details in my technical report. Basically, it was LV 8.2, LV 8.0, FPGA module 8.2, VDM 8.2, VAS 8.2.1, MAX 4.1, Vision Builder AI 3.0, and some toolkits for LabVIEW, namely the Database toolkit, SPC toolkit, Reporting toolkit, Signal processing toolkit, and maybe some more, I don't exactly remember. From the 3rd party software, it was the OpenG library and dqGOOP wizard.
• Regarding the hardware prior to VAS 8.2.2 installation, there were the NI PCI-8254R, a generic FireWire PCI adapter, and Advantech PCI-1750S installed. However, when I was trying to install VAS 8.2.2 for the second time with my machine cleaned up, I also removed all of the hardware.
• There were no problems during the installation, and I did the reboot afterwards
• My DB file is now 451 kB large, but I guess that's a normal situation. Martin Balog's DB file is 7,4 MB large.
• Both our machines are working with a good performance redundance. They are Pentium 4's over 2.8 GHz with over 1 GB RAM and plenty of free space on the HDDs. Must be sufficient for running MAX

Best regards,

Vladimir

[Vladimir_Drzik]

Hello guys

The latest news is that I've installed VAS 8.2.2 on another machine. The same problem pops up again. The machine had a very similar software configuration installed to what I described in my latest post, though no special hardware installed. Maybe it's the previously installed software which does the trouble. Maybe the FPGA module, this was common among the three problematic machines...

I'm also attaching the technical report from the latest machine. I'll be able to play a little bit more with the software configuration on this machine, so I'll let you know what I'll find out.

Vladimir

[Shawn B.]

Hey Vladimir,

I just want to double check a couple of things.  I realize that you had previously found the KB I linked, and followed the directions, but what I was really curious about was if you found the KB before it was updated for MAX 4.2.  In MAX 4.2 we changed the location of the MAX Data directory so I'm not sure if you successfully "reset" the database (renamed/deleted/restored).  It is possible that you followed the directions on the old Data directory.  Additionally you mentioned that you could not stop the service.  If this is true, then I'm not sure it would let you delete the database.

I would suggest the following actions:
a. Stop mxs service by doing "net stop mxssvr" from the command line or through Windows Service Manager. If that failed, go to Task manager and kill the "nimxs.exe" process.
b. Rename MAX Data folder located at c:\documents and settings\all users\application data\National Instruments\MAX\  for MAX 4.2 on XP to something else like "BadData". Also rename the MAX Data Dictionaries\Last folder to something like "BadLast".
c. Reboot the machine.

If that fixes the problem I would like to see the BadData and Bad Last folders.  They may be too large to put on the forums, but you can upload them to ftp://ftp.ni.com/support/incoming/

If that doesn't work... Do you happen to have Visual Studio?

Shawn Bohrer
National Instruments