DAQ 6036E not working in parallel - NI-MAX-Bug?

[Sheepyhollow]

Dear all,

I am stuck with a strange issue with two PCMCIA-6036E cards running on adapters on a W7 32-bit desktop machine.

The adapters are two Texas Instruments PCMCIA-adapters in PCI-slots (both show different IRQ in the windows device manager).

But NI MAX (5.6.0f0) only recognizes one card, no matter what I do.

Card 1 alone works in both adapter slots

Card 2 works alone in both adapter slots

But as soon as I place the second card in the other slot (no matter which combo thereof), it does not show up in the NI-MAX device manager (itshows up in windows' device manager, though). 

I noticed that the card's serial number displayed on the NI-MAX overview tab is not updated if I exchange cards - though I can see the valid serial number in the "attributes" tab, respectively.

Renaming (Dev1 --> Dev2) does not do the trick.

I suspect some sort of software issue; perhaps connected with the unchanged serial number. It appears as if NI-MAX is ignorant of the second card although they (and the adapters) appear to be clearly distinguished by windows. Perhaps an internal update issue?

Another symptom: I plug in card 1 and test it (works), I additionally plug card 2 (not recognized) then I remove card 1 and NI-MAX still tells me that a card is installed. But the serial number is not updated and testing/self-calibration fails.

I did not find any mention of such behaviour. I now have to work with two separate computers which is awfully annoying.

Any suggestions? Has this been filed as a bug or are there known compatibility issues with the PCMCIA-Adapters?

Thanks for reading!

[Dennis_Knutson]

NI does not support or test any pcmia adapters so you are pretty much on your own.

You have mentioned the version of MAX but what would be relevant is the version of DAQmx. The latest may or may not work any better but that is the best I can suggest.

[crossrulz]

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@Dennis_Knutson wrote:
You have mentioned the version of MAX but what would be relevant is the version of DAQmx. The latest may or may not work any better but that is the best I can suggest.

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The latest version of DAQmx to support the 6036E is 9.6.

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/6913/en/

[Sheepyhollow]

I feared as much. I read something alike a while ago.

But it does not look like a directly hardware related issue - if one of the adapters wouldn't work, I'd never complained. But since both do, this is a bit annoying.

Anyway I have 9.8 running, updated last week. I'm doomed, I guess...

Thank you for the hint.

[Sheepyhollow]

O....kay, my post came in between.

I fancy that 9.8 includes the latest respective state for 6036e - it makes no sense to downgrade to 9.6, does it? Just to clarify this.

[crossrulz]

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@Sheepyhollow wrote:

O....kay, my post came in between.

I fancy that 9.8 includes the latest respective state for 6036e - it makes no sense to downgrade to 9.6, does it? Just to clarify this.

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Ok, it looks like NI needs to update that KB.  According to the DAQmx 9.9 download page, it supports the 6036E.  So no reason to downgrade.  Not sure if it will actually have any fixes for it though.

[Sheepyhollow]

I shall try 9.9 and see if anything changes. And I shall try with a PCMCIA-Adapter from another manufacturer (other chipset) which I already ordered.

I'll comment on my findings and then declare the question for solved.

Thank you very much!

[JoshuaP]

Do both devices show up in the Windows device manager?  Also if you open up LabVIEW and drop a DAQmx device I/O control do both devices show up in it?

[Sheepyhollow]

They do - both adapters and DAQ-Cards. So they ARE there.

I can not check the I/O control at the moment because the computer is performing measurements and the second adapter is removed.

But I expect a new adapter tomorrow and shall try it again.

Thanks!

[Sheepyhollow · Accepted solution]

Okay, so I got me an alternative PCMCIA-adapter (different chipset), upgraded to the last DAQMX-version but no change - it's one or none.

I still believe it is rather an issue in the NI MAX Panel and not driver related - but since there is no real perspective for a solution I give up.

I shall mark this issue "solved" although it is not in a technical sense. It just does not work the way I want it.

Thanks for your suggestions!