hardware not initializing

[bjstaff]

I have just been turned onto helping maintain some PXI instrument testers.  One has been working fine until last week.  It doesn't seem to be initializing the hardware anymore.  NI-MAX doesn't show anything in the software or device and interfaces, and the soft panels won't work.  I have reinstalled the drivers.  It is on a XP PXI, and the device manager says that the cards are all there and working fine.  Would this be a hardware problem?  Or is it software?  I am not sure else to try, so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

[O_Proulx]

Hello Brian,

At first glance, this sounds more like a software issue, since your cards are being detected in device manager.  If you want to be really sure, the best thing would be to put the cards in another chassis and verify that they are detected in MAX. 

As for fixing the software issue, I think the first step is to follow the steps from this document.  The MAX database may have been corrupted during a power loss, a imporper shut down or a system crash.   This should ensure that the database is properly configured.

If the problem still persists after that, you may have to uninstall MAX.  You can follow this document on how to uninstall NI software.   You will have to uninstall other NI drivers and software when you uninstall MAX.  Please make sure you have the available CDs/serial numbers/downloads to be able to restore the system.

Please let me know if this helps.  Have a great day.