6682 looses GPS

[faustina]

I have a NI PXI-6682 card in a PXI-1042 chassis with a PXI-8186 embedded controller.  I have a startup.rtexe that runs on the controller.  Recently I have been loosing my GPS time and possition.  Although in MAX, the card passes the self-test, when I bring up the test panels it cannot get any GPS information.  It does say that the antenna is connected, but it has no time reference.  I don't seem to be generating any errors in MAX.  Sometimes, if I have 3-4 satellites, I can get time, but it is incorrect.  Is this a hardware problem?  This PXI System was purchased maybe 5 years ago and has performed perfectly until a couple of weeks ago.

[faustina]

The card passes self-test and can be reset without problem.

[JamesB.]

Hi Faustina:

Sorry you're having trouble. Since it sounds like this used to work and only stopped working "a couple of weeks ago," do you have any idea what changed with the system? Has it been relocated? Connected to a different GPS antenna? Connected with a different cable? Has new construction around the system blocked its view of the sky? Was the GPS antenna damaged during a storm? Four satellites is the minimum required to obtain a position fix and get useful time data. Has this system always had such a limited view of satellites? From our corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, USA, we regularly see nine satellites.

[faustina]

This morning we are getting good GPS information with 5-8 satellites.

The GPS antenna has not changed location and the original installation cable is still in use.   However, we did have some good thunderstorms earlier on this month.  We're looking into replacing the antenna and testing the cable during our next down time.  Hopefully tommorrow.

[faustina]

this morning the 6682 does not pass self-test iwth error -88302.  I think this would indicate my card is bad.

[JamesB.]

I just looked up -88302 in our error database. It can indicate a couple of different things, but during a self-test, I think the most likely explanation is software-related, not hardware. It could indicate a broken software installation, or maybe a corrupt MAX database. Can you please generate a MAX technical report and post it here?

[faustina]

I get this error when I ask for Self-Test, Reset Device, or Test Panels... in MAX

[JamesB.]

Thanks for sending that along. I see that you have DAQmx 9.6.2 and Sync 3.3.5 installed. I wasn't able to find anything else in the logs that looked incorrect.

The behavior you are describing is usually caused by a corruption in the DAQmx or the Sync driver software; repairing or re-installing those packages is the recommended resolution. For other examples where this step successfully resolved the problem, see this thread and this one. (You can search for others, too.) When is your next opportunity to upgrade or repair the software on the system?

I recommend starting with a repair of Sync. Sync actually depends on DAQmx, so repairing Sync alone may fix the corruption and resolve the problem. If it does not, please also repair DAQmx. If you need to re-download the installers, I've provided links below.

DAQmx 9.6.2

Sync 3.3.5

If upgrading is an option, you could use the latest and greatest versions instead.

DAQmx 14.5.1

Sync 14.5

Sorry again for the trouble you're having.

[faustina]

We're currently in the middle of a test series.  When that is over, I'll begin upgrading to LabVIEW 2014.  That should also include upgrading DAQmx and NI Sync.