pxiident.ini

[EEgwengineer]

I have inherited a system that has 2 PXI chassis. In fact I have 2 of these systems. They are supposed to be identical but they were built in 2 different facilities and several years apart. I'm having problems on one so I'm looking for differences between the 2. On one of the systems the pxiident.ini has Chassis1 first. On the other one Chassis2 comes first. Also the EntryBridgeSlotPath is different between the two. On the good one EntryBridgeSlotPath is set to "70,F0" and "78,F0". On the problematic one EntryBridgeSlotPath is set to "10,00,E1" and "18,00,E1".

Where does pxiident.ini come from?

What do I need to do to get Chassis1 to appear first on the problematic system?

What's up with the different EntryBridgeSlotPaths? (I mean I can understand differences - different PCs and all - but the different structure has me curious.)

Thanks in advance for any help/insight/assistance you can provide.

Gwen

[Wayne_T · Accepted solution]

EEgwengineer,

Those ini files get created upon startup.  If the file already exists, then one is not created.  If deleted, or maybe reset, or fresh clean install, then the ini files get created.  There isn't a concern in order of appearance in the list, just as long as there's an entry in the list for a chassis (or other information).  You could save the ini files as a backup to hide them which will force new ones to be created upon next boot process.

[EEgwengineer]

Wayne,

Thank you so much for your response.  Think you could handle another question along the same line?

In the pxiident.ini file each chassis has an EntryBridgeSlotPath. In one of my systems the bridge paths are "70,F0" for chassis 1 and "78,F0" for chassis 2. But for the other system they are "10,00,E1" and "18,00,E1".

Can you tell my why the difference in format?

Thanks again! Gwen

[Wayne_T]

Gwen,

Ultimately they're just hex addresses for the bridge segments in a PXI chassis.  Them being different between the two systems shouldn't be an issue.  The difference in format may be caused by different types of chassis.  What are the model numbers of all your chassis?

[EEgwengineer]

Wayne, It is so good to have someone to ask questions. I support equipment designed somewhere else by I don't know who and when I ask questions about PXI I don't get very good answers. I actually have 3 systems I'm supporting. Two of them are exhibiting a problem. After more investigation:

        * all 3 systems have 1045 model chassis

        * each system has 2 chassis loaded with the same cards in the same slots

        * the sysytem that doesn't appear to exhibit the problem has the 2 chassis plugged in to the PC in slots far to the right (when looking at the back of the PC)

        * the system that doesn't appear to exhibit the problem has chassis 1 plugged in farthest to the right (when looking at the back of the PC)

        * one of the problem systems has the 2 chasses plugged in to the PC in slots far to the right (wen looking at the back of the PC) but it has chassis 2 plugged in farthest to the right

        * the other problem system has the 2 chassis plugged in to the PC in slots roughly in the middle rather than all the way to the right and it has chassis 2 plugged in farthest to the right

How do you tell a chassis whether it is 1 or 2?

When I tried just swapping the slots that the 2 chassis were plugged in to (in one of the problem systems) it messed up the way that all of the PXI cards were "named" and there was so much confusion with the test s/w that I just switched them back and fixed all the "names". How do I overcome this? (Is that even possible to answer with this limited info?)

Thanks again! Gwen

[Wayne_T]

Gwen,

Are you needing support on getting some chassis operational?  If so, I recommend actually contacting National Instruments Application Engineering directly instead of going back and forth on forum threads to figure out what is going on.  You can call NI at 800-433-3488.

[EEgwengineer]

Wayne, Sorry to try your patience. The systems are operational we just have intermittent issues with the PXI-4461 on 2 of the 3. Would I use the same support number for 4461 issues? Thanks, Gwen

[Wayne_T]

Gwen,

You're not trying my patience.  I am interested in resolving any support issues you may have, and I feel that this could move along faster if you contact Application Engineering directly to troubleshoot further.  Yes, still call 800-433-3488.