PXI-1010 not identified in MAX PCIe-8361

[Casey]

I have a PXI-1010 chassis that worked great on our old WinXP machine but I can not seem to bring up the chassis under a new Win7 x64 computer.

Here are some of the details of the new system:

Computer:  Win7, 64 bit

No errors in Device Manager

MAX:  latest drivers installed.  Max version 5.1.0f0

NI MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software 1.4.1 installed without errors

In PC:  PCIe-8361

PXI communication:  PXI-8360 in slot 1

DAQ:  PXI-6259 in slot 8

See attached for a screen shot of MAX.  Following the tutorial (http://www.ni.com/white-paper/12174/en), I identify the unidentfied PXI system as "External PC" but then no chassis appears below to identify as PXI-1010.  I can right click and select "show PXI buses" and identify one of those as PXI-1010, but that doesn't work because after creating the PXI-1010 from "Devices and Interfaces" the Chassis Communicator field is greyed out.  The Chassis Communicator should be the PXI-6259, which shows up in MAX (and passes self-tests) but there are no available choices.  I'm presuming this is because I was not able to identify the PXI-1010.

I've tried everything I can think of, including installing MXI-3 software (and then removing it), wiping the MAX configuration data, reinstallign some of the drivers and generally messing with the system to try to get a valid identification of the PXI-1010.

Any ideas or suggestions?  Thanks.

[Izzzzz]

Hello Casey,

Based on the screen shot you have shared I do see that you PXI 6259 card is showing up in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX). Have you tried to use a test panel in order to see if you can communicate with the device appropriately? What version of PXI Platform services do you have installed? You can check by dropping down the Software tab in MAX. I would recommend downloading PXI Platform Services 3.2 (http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3606/lang/en) which supports both your PXI-1010 chassis and MXI card.

Regards,

Izzy O.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[Casey]

Hi Izzy.  Thank you for the reply.

I have tried the test panels and the self test and the PXI 6259 seems to be working just fine.  I was running an older version of PXI Platform Services, so I upgraded.  Now the PXI chassis does not show up at all and if I create a new SCXI chassis (PXI-1010) I still get the communicator (which should be the 6259 which is in slot 😎 greyed out.

I've attached an updated screen shot of MAX, showing the devices and the installed software.  It turns out the version of DAQmx is a little older, so I'm going to update there and see if that helps.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks,

Casey

[Casey]

I just upgraded DAQmx and there are no changes.  The PXI chassis, which should show up in MAX but be unidentified, is not showing up.  Aside from that everything in MAX, including all of the non-SCXI cards in the chassis in question, seem to be working just fine.  I also checked Device Manager again and everything seems to be working just fine there also.

[Izzzzz]

Hello Casey,

Thanks for the extra troubleshooting steps. I have more suggestions for you and a question.

1. Please post a picture of your Device Manager (ensure to drop down the PCI-PCI bridges) so that I can make sure I am not missing anything as far as your chassis is concerned.
2. Clear the MAX database configuration (ensure that your don't have an MAX configuration files saved that you want to keep). This Knowledge Base Article discusses how to clear this database. Restart your computer and check if you chassis populates after you have done this.
3. Go into C drive( or whatever drive you installed your hardware on)>>Program Files>>National Instruments>>PXI>>Hardware Descriptions>Chassis
1. Check to make sure National Instruments PXI-1010.ini is showing up there
1. Let me know if it is not there
2. If it is there rename it to PXI-1010.ini.bak
3. Restart your system (both computer and chassis, remember to turn the chassis on before your computer and to turn your computer off before your chassis) and attempt to detect your chassis.
4. Where you able to add the SCXI portion of your chassis and communicate to the SCXI cards?

Regards,

Izzy O.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[Casey]

Izzy-

Thank you for the suggestions.  The struggle continues:

#2)  I cleared the MAX configuration and restarted the chassis and computer.  The chassis still did not show up in MAX.

#3)  I renamed the National Instruments PXI-1010.ini to a .bak file and restarted.  Still no changes.  The files were located in C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\PXI\Hardware Descriptions\Chassis because we're running in 32-bit mode on a 64-bit Win7 install.  Might this be a 64-bit vs. 32-bit issue?

After doing all of that I took the attached screen shots of the device manager (everything looks fine in there to me) and of MAX (everything looks good except the chassis is not showing up).

What next?  This is very perplexing.  Thanks,

Casey

[Casey]

I talked to Jonathan in engineering and it seems that there this problem has been seen in one other instance.  The issue is the computer and the PXI chassis.  The computer is a Dell Precision R5500 Rack Workstation.  I've verified the firmware is the latest version (A09), but other than that I'm still dead in the water.

[Izzzzz]

Hello Casey,

Applications Engineer Jonthan N. is now handling this issue formally, and we are in contact with R&D about this issue.  We will be posting the resolution of the issue on this forum post for anyone who comes across this problem.

Regards,

Izzy O.

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[Casey]

To anyone following this thread, we've been working with NI applications engineering and R&D for a while now and so far we still do not have a functioning system.  It appears that the Dell R5500 is incompatible with the SCXI portion of the PXI-1010 chassis.  I will post back if we get anything working.

[Maarc]

I'm wondering if you finally found a solution interfacing Dell Precision server with the PCI-PXI (in our case PXI-8360 instead of PXI-1010).

In your lab we have 2 of the Dell R5400 servers with NI PCIe-8361 cards (196077A-01 REV1) installed onto them. The PXI module should interface with a NI PXI-8360. There are also PCIe video cards installed in those servers.

Unfortunately, the servers won't boot if the PXI module is already running and connected (in the R5400 #2 and #4 static LEDs indicators will appear "Video subsystem configuration activity in progress or video subsystem failure.". NI documentation regarding PXI points "The BIOS or motherboard may not support the NI PCIe-8361/8362 in a slot intended for a graphics card."). We tried changing the PCIe cards across several slots and BIOS configurations, without luck.

Accessing the BIOS (when the PCIe-8361 cards are installed, but the PXI rack is not connected) does show a PCI Birdge.

Also, if powering on the servers before the PXI rack. Then the PXI-8360 card would show static green/OK LEDs for both power and link. But I'm not certain about that, as MAX doesn't detect any PXI interface.

Would you be able to provide guidance?

What are the jumpers on the PCIe-8361 intended for? (currently onto OFF position)

Is it worth to install the PCIe card onto a R5500 server () instead of the current R5400 used?

Thank you in advance!