Chassis incorrectly identified, can't change it

[dave_burbridge]

I've got a PXI-1042Q chassis, containing a PXI-8105 controller, and a PXI-6608 card in Slot 2. I'm running LabView 8.2 with MAX 4.2.1.

This has been running fine for months, and no NI/LabView hardware or software changes have been made to it to my knowledge.

I now find that somehow the chassis has been reidentified, and that incorrectly! It's now showing in MAX as:

My System

- Devices and Interfaces

-- PXI System (NI PXI-8105)

--- Chassis (1031DC)

Clearly, that should show 1042Q.

However, it seems to be impossible to change it. If I rightclick "Identify as..." and select 1042Q, nothing changes. Neither if I select Identify as... Unidentified. Nor can I rightclick & Remove chassis. I;ve tried all these with the 6608 card both in and out.

I also notice that whatever cards I put in the slots show up correctly identified, but without a slot number (whatever slot I put them in).

How do I force the system to recognise it's actually in a 1042Q chassis, or how do I force it to reidentify the chassis for itself?

[Liam_A]

Hi there Dave,

I have a few questions that may help us to "zero in" on the problem, if you wouldn't mind answering them.

Have you tried to "Delete All Indetifications" and re-identifying the system?

It may be a case that the PXI Platform Services may have updated in the background, causing a problem when identifying the PXI chassis. Is the controller connected to the internet at all?

Does MAX exhibit any other strange behaviour such as hanging when trying to expand list or searching for new devices etc?

It may also be a case that the drivers such as DAQmx need updating, but we can look at this in time with more information.

Look forward to hearing from you,

[dave_burbridge]

Thanks Liam.

I tried "Delete All Identifications" and got the error message "An unknown error occurred while deleting the controller and chassis identifications from this system."

The controller was connected to the internet at one point, but with a software firewall activated, so there should have been no updates. Is there any way of checking/deleting what, if any, updates may have taken place?

MAX doesn't seem to have any other unusual behaviour.

DAQmx version (from MAX | My System | Software | NI-DAQmx) is 8.5.0f3.

Dave

[Liam_A]

Thanks for you reply Dave,

From your answers, I don't think it may have been an update issue, it sounds more like some sort of data corruption, but to answer your question, the software versions should be available in the left hand side of MAX. Otherwsie, you can create a MAX Tech Support Report and view the software versions in that. This can be done through File>> Create Report.

Another option I can suggest is a MAX database corruption removal.

Full instructions for this can be found at:

http://ae.natinst.com/public.nsf/web/searchinternal/2c7480e856987fff862573ae005ab0d9

What other National Instruments software and hardware are installed on your system please?

Many thanks and let me know how you get on.

[dave_burbridge]

Thanks again Liam.

I followed the instructions at:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/2C7480E856987FFF862573AE005AB0D9?OpenDocument

by deleting the Data folder.

On restarting, MAX shows the controller as "Unidentified". I tell it to Identify As an 8105 controller, and select 1042Q as the chassis. I then get the error message "MAX could not change the information for this chassis."

There is no other hardware physically installed at the moment (though I have had 6281 & 4472B cards installed in the chassis). I have LabView 8.2.1.

[Liam_A]

Thanks for trying that Dave and for the further information,

Would it please be possible for you to attach the file named pxisys.ini to your next reply? (can find this by searching from the start bar) If you could also attach the file called chassis.ini, if it exists, then that would be great!

Many thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.

[dave_burbridge]

I can only find one copy of pxisys.ini - it's in c:\Program Files\National Instruments\RT Images\NI-DAQ\7.4.4.3.4 and dated 02/02/2007. No chassis.ini file.

Hmm. Wonder if that's a symptom of the problem, or its cause?

File attached anyway.

Thanks for your continued help!

[Liam_A]

Hi Dave,

Apologies for my late reply. The .ini file you sent in is for a 1010 chassis, which makes me think that this issue could be a little deeper. To answer your question, this could be more a symptom than a cause.

This problem has been solved in the past by a complete re-install of all NI products on the machine, however I do understand that this may be unfeasible.

If you would like to attach a MAX Tech Support Report as described in previous posts to a reply than I can take a look at that for you.

Many thanks,

[dave_burbridge]

Hi Liam,

I've fixed it!

I'd installed ZoneAlarm and AVG on that PXI, after I'd last used it as a PXI development platform, so that I could use it temporarily as a basic internet PC.

(This is no longer necessary - the PXI is once again to be used for development, not internet access.)

On a hunch, I uninstalled ZoneAlarm & AVG, and immediately on restarting MAX identified the chassis correctly with no prompting. I'm also able to find and use the cards in the chassis.

Interestingly, when I uninstalled ZoneAlarm, it (or Windows) automatically turned on Windows' own firewall - which didn't seem to interfere with MAX. (Of course, that may say more about how safe or otherwise the Windows firewall is!)

Thanks for your help Liam - if I do have any further problems I will post them here.

Dave

[Liam_A]

That is great news Dave!

Thank you very much indeed for posting this for all the other users of LabVIEW to see.

Many thanks and a pleasure working with you,

Liam