VISA Error: (Hex 0xBFFF0011​) during access to MEMACC resource

[toshas]

Hi!

VISA_open returns strange error "insufficient location information or the device...".
But I try to open PXI0::MEMACC resource.
In my opinion memory resource should exist in system.

Why this error does appear ?

Thanks!

[esoDerek]

Hey toshas! 

First, I'd like to ask if you can find your device in NI MAX, and/or Windows Explorer.

That error is generally an indication that you might be passing an incorrect reference. The easiest way to check this is to find your device in NI MAX, try changing the name of your PXI card (to, say, DEVICE), saving that name, and then checking the dropdown menu for the resource name DEVICE in LabVIEW. This will help us narrow down the troubleshooting.

Let me know how it goes! Thank you,

[toshas]

Hi!

I have no devices in MAX (besides "default" COM port).
But I just want to allocate some amount of memory.
So device not needed at all.
On several PC it works ok. But at one of them I get error listed above.
Maybe RAM memory is not enough ?
How to check it ?

Thanks!

[esoDerek]

Hi toshas,

VISA commands are used to communicate with a given device - without a device to connect to, they will always return an error. I'm afraid I don't understand why you're trying to allocate memory - could you provide more details about your application? Why would you need to allocate memory for a device that does not exist? The more information you can provide the better.

Please refer to this document for the basics of using VISA calls in LabVIEW:

http://www.ni.com/tutorial/2897/en/

Have a great weekend!

[toshas]

Hi!

Thanks a lot!

Of course we have real devices. But PC with them is busy almost all time. So I need to develop application on another PC without of them.
Application should work with DMA engine. And direct connection to device in VISA is not needed. I just want to allocate some amount of memory and after that I will inspect status and data placed on different offset addresses.

Could you run code listed above ? You will see that device not needed for that.

Thanks!

[esoDerek]

Hey Toshas, 

You mentioned that the code worked on some computers, but not all? Were there any differences between those computers, ie different LabVIEW versions or different hardware setups? You're right, you should be able to use the PXI0::MEMACC resource without causing any errors (but the default value of PXI0 is the only one that works with no device). Could it be that on the computer in question, the PXI0 resource is already reserved? 

I'll continue digging into this on my end, and should hopefully have a better answer for you in the next couple days!

Have a great afternoon!

[toshas]

Hi esoDerek!

PCs have similar configuration: intel i5/win7sp1(64bit)/LV2014f1(32bit)/VISA14.
I've tried to reinstall Labview. But error still exist (MEMACC_error.png).

Interesting thing. I am able to open MEMACC resource via VISA Interactive Control (MEMACC_interactive_ctrl.png).

In this case memory allocation and in/out function returns no error (MEMACC_interactive_allocate.png).

So it seems to be problem is in block diagram.

Thanks!

[esoDerek · Accepted solution]

Hi toshas!

Thanks for those screenshots! I have good news for you - I managed to reproduce your error, and now think I might know how to fix it. Essentially, I believe your VISA PXI Passport may currently be disabled, which may be causing the problem you've been seeing. 

Could you open MAX, and navigate to Tools >> NI-VISA >> VISA Options? Once there, under General Settings, please check your passports for NI-VISA. It should look like this:

I was able to reproduce the error by unchecking NiViPxi.dll (NI-VISA Passport for PXI), and then attempting to open the PXI0::MEMACC resource, which returned the same error you've been seeing. If you see that your PXI passport is unchecked, please check that box, save the configuration, and then retry your LabVIEW code!

If that does not work (or if that passport DLL is already included), we may want to upgrade your NI-VISA version to the latest edition (VISA 15). You can find the latest version of NI-VISA at the link below!

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-visa-15.0.1/5693/en/

Let me know how this goes! 

Thank you,

[toshas]

Hi!

I have checked  passports for NI-VISA. All available passports are included.

Then I checked aliases for VISA and added "PXI" alias for "PXI0:MEMACC" resource (passports_aliases.png).

Now "PXI" (not "PXI0:MEMACC") is accesible from block diagram (PXI.PNG MEMACC.PNG).

esoDerek, thanks a lot!

P.S. I will try install VISA 15 later.

[esoDerek]

Hey toshas,

I'm glad to hear it!! That is an excellent workaround and I'm glad it worked for you.

Good luck with the rest of your application!!