DAQmx devices not recognized after reboot

[Bob_Albern]

I have a PXI-1042 box communicating with a desktop computer over a MXI-3 bridge.  This system has been up and running for several years through four or five revs of code. I am currently running MAX 4.6.0f1, DAQmx 8.9.5, LV 2009 and TS 4.2.

Lately when an engineer logs on, although all six  cards are recognized in the NI-DAQmx Devices configuration section, only three are listed as installed. All six cards are listed in the Chassis section. See attached screen shot. If the engineer logs out and reboots enough times, eventually all six cards are available. Any ideas on what may be corrupting  the configuration?

The PC is a Dell Precision WorkStation 380 (Pentium 4) running XP SP3 with 4 GB of memory. The installed PXI cards are:

Slot        Card

1            8330 MXI-3

2            2567 Relay Control

3            6551 DIO

4            6551 DIO

5            2503 Mux

6            6220 M series DAQ

7            2591 Coax Mux

Thanks, Bob

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Bob,

In your attached screen shot, it appears that the three missing modules are always switch modules. 

Can you verify that the missing switch modules are always only the switch modules, or are other modules sometimes missing, too? 

Is the MXI Bridge always connected to the host controller?

Is the chassis always powered up before the host? 

When the engineer repeatedly logs out and in, do the cards appear only one at a time, or do multiple formerly missing cards appear at once?

Once all cards appear in MAX, do they remain until the machine reboots (even if you log out or in)?

When cards are missing, does the device manager list the cards under the NI Devices section, or are there any bangs?

[Bob_Albern]

John,

Here are answers to most of your questions:

Can you verify that the missing switch modules are always only the switch modules, or are other modules sometimes missing, too? 

           >> It is always the switch modules that are missing.

Is the MXI Bridge always connected to the host controller?

Is the chassis always powered up before the host? 

           >> Yes and yes.

When the engineer repeatedly logs out and in, do the cards appear only one at a time, or do multiple formerly missing cards appear at once?

           >> They always come and go together.

Once all cards appear in MAX, do they remain until the machine reboots (even if you log out or in)?

           >> Not positive on this one. I'm 90% sure they come and go, even with just logging in and out.

When cards are missing, does the device manager list the cards under the NI Devices section, or are there any bangs?

           >> Not sure what you are asking here. Is this the "NI-DAQmx Devices" section that is highlighted in the screen shot? The center panel is what is listed when this section header is selected (as shown). What are "bangs"?

Thanks for your help

Bob

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Bob,

Thanks for the troubleshooting information.

For the question you were unsure about, I was referencing the Windows device manager, which you can open by pressing windows+pause/break.  This will open the system panel, which will contain a link to the Windows device manager.  Once you're in device manager, a 'bang' is any device which has an exclamation point by it, which indicates the device's driver is not loaded.  Depending on how far the switch devices are enumerating, they will either appear under the NI Device section with an exclamation point, or they will appear as generic, uninitialized PCI devices.  You can right click on banged devices and attempt to reinstall the driver.  Next time your switch modules fail to appear in MAX, try doing this to see if they'll enumerate.

[Bob_Albern]

John,

It appears the devices only come and go at reboot. Another engineer and I were switching back and forth between our accounts last week without an issue. I had to reboot today and the switch modules disappeared. I checked the device manager and the missing cards are not bang'ed, see attached.

Thanks for your help,

Bob

[TimmTheEnchanter]

Hi Bob,

Just a quick thought--there's a KnowledgeBase article here that talks about troubleshooting using MXI-3 on a PXI chassis for detecting slots.  I didn't notice anywhere in your post where you mentioned the version of NI-Switch you have (which is troubleshooting tip #2).

Hope this helps,