Problema with North Atlantic 75SD1, NI PXI-4060 DMM and NI PXI-6031E with PXI Cardbus 8310 link

[mpasini]

Hello,
I have a problem with the cards in the subject (North Atlantic 75SD1, NI PXI-4060 DMM and NI PXI-6031E with PXI Cardbus 8310 link) on a system that we need to deliver to our main customer.

This is my HW configuration:
- Notebook PC  Panasonic CF-29
- 8 slot PXI rack (model: NI 8 slot 1000B) controlled by National Instruments PXI-CardBus8310 board
- National Instruments NI PXI-8421/8 8 channels multiserial board
- National Instruments NI PXI-4060 DMM 5-1/2 board
- National Instruments NI PXI-6031E multifunction board
- North Atlantic cPCI 75SD1 synchro to digital board
- Pickering  PXI 40-130-102 switch board
- Pickering 40-531-021  matrix board

This is my SW configuration:
- National Instruments Visa 3.4
- National Instruments NI-DMM 2.5
- National Instruments NI-DAQ 7.4.1
- National Instruments NI SERIAL 1.8
- National Instruments CARD BUS 8310 1.0
- North Atlantic cPCI 75SD1 Windows Software Support Kit (06/17/2005)
- Pickering PXI40 VISA Driver Version 2.1.2
 
The problem is the following:
When I enable the North Atlantic cPCI 75SD1 card and then, after this, I try to use  National Instruments NI PXI-4060 and/or NI PXI-6031E cards this ones (the NI ones) are disabled and I can’t use them.(If I disable the cPCI 75SD1 this problem does not exist)

Please note that:
1) In a similar system, with an identical HW/SW configuration, except the use of an MXI-4 link instead of the new PXI-CardBus8310, I don't have any problem.
2) In this configuration, previously, we had a problem with the Pickering 40-531-021  matrix board. This problem with the Pickering board was absent with the MXI-4 connection and it was present only with the
CardBus 8310 link. With Pickering help, we found that the cause of the problem was the communication speed difference between MXI-4(33MHz) and CardBus 8310(66MHz) link. The solution found, it was to force the M66EN line to ground into the board, to force the 33MHz speed.

Do you know if the North Atlantic cPCI 75SD1 board is tested with the PXI-CardBus8310?
Could my problem be similar to the previously one found with the Pickering board?

Thank you and best Regards
Massimiliano Pasini

[Filippo_Persia]

Hello Massimiliano,

I'm quite sure you already checked the documents I'm linking below but since the problem seems quite difficult at a first glance we need to check everything thoroughly.

Configuring the NI PXI-CardBus 8310 Interface For PXI

NI CardBus-8310-to-PXI Expansion User Manual and Specifications

What Laptops Have Been Tested with the NI PXI-CardBus 8310 PXI Controller?

Since you are experiencing a communication problem with NI boards over a PCMCIA<->PXI bridge maybe the problem is connected with VISA driver, please note this is only a guess.

Speaking about performance the user manual specifies an "up-to" speed rating of 50 MB/s to the laptop and 10MB/s from the Laptop.(Appendix B-1)
Can this performance meet North Atlantic 75SD1 requirements ?

Best Regards

[mpasini]

Unfortunately in the documentation I didn't find the solution to my problems, but in the 8310 cardbus manual I found an interesting reference about a program used to debub the PCI HW. Therefore I will try to understand more with this program 'PCIScope'.

[mpasini]

Hello,
I contacted North Atlantic and I found the solution with their support. North Atlantic gave to me a new driver that solves the problem. I'll attach this driver if anyone will have the same problem.

[mpasini]

This is the driver installation manual.... The administrator can close the thread.