two PXI chassis connection with Configuration problem

[Binar]

Hi,

I have two PXI chassis. One is PXI 1033, and works perfectly with NI PXI 5404, 5105, 6509, 1409, 8336 installed. The other one is PXI 1036 with NI PXI 5404, 8366 installed. When I was trying to daisy chained connect them together, 1033 as master, 1036 as slave, I found several problems.

1. In Measurement&Automation Explorer, my good guys in 1033 doesn't work. Instead, there's a red Cross sign at right bottom with 6509, 5105, 5404.

2. I can't find another 5404 from the 1036. Indeed, I can't find 1036 in MAX.

BIOS is updated. My PXI system is  already identified as "NI PXI-1033 Embedded MXI Express" and Chassis1 is identified as"NI PXI 1033".

So I made several tests as below:

1. Undo 5404 from the slave 1036. MAX could configure chassis 2 as 1036. That's good. But when I reconnect 5404 to 1036, same result happened as above.

2. Uninstall the driver of 5404, so the 5404 in 1033 doesn't work either now. And then restart again, same result happened again. Can't detect chassis 1033. The other good guys in 1036 don't work either.

Please, any suggestion is highly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Bin

[Binar]

Sorry, I made a wrong typing about the 2nd test result. It should be "And then restart again, same result happened again. Can't detect chassis 1036. The other good guys in 1033 don't work either."

I'm looking forward to hear from you. Thanks in advance.

[Binar]

I have more infomation. When I connect 1036, it gives me an infomation like this in the picture. This time, I'm trying to identify the PXI system as External PC. It works great with 1033 only. It seems that this system don't like the existence of 1036.  

[Binar]

Things get worse now. If I power on the two chassis and connect them together before power on the PC, the PC just won't start and gives me a black screen. The light indicator is like this:

1033: "LINK" is flashing with red.

8336 in 1033: "LINK" is green. RX is off, TX is orange.

8336 in 1036: "LINK" is green. RX is orange, and TX is orange.

But if I disconnect chassis 2 which is the slave 1036, PC will start and everything is fine. Any suggestion is GREATLY appreciated.

Sincerely,

Bin

[Michelle_N]

Take a look at this, I'm trying to see what else I can find...

Configuration Options when Using Multiple PXI Chassis and MXI-3 and MXI-4 Kits

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/90A0019CB94BD1BB86256B7D0056A615

[Robert__R]

Bin,

Can you test this for me:

Connect the system, turn on the 2 chassis, then the PC.  See that it's behaving as you described.  

Power everything down.  Then, without touching any of the cables, power up the 1033 and then the PC, but leave the 1036 off.  Does it boot now?

I ask this because the flashing LED can mean that you connected the MXI Express cable upside down, which was possible with early versions.

I think you swapped the LED descriptions for the 8336 in the 1033 and the 1036.  Is that true?

What is your host PC?

- Robert

[Binar]

Thanks, it looks really help. I'll make another test tomorrow. Then I'll update the most recent result.

Bin

[Binar]

Hi, Robert,

"Connect the system, turn on the 2 chassis, then the PC.  See that it's behaving as you described."

I did like this every time. I read the manual carefully and I know this is the right sequence.

"Power everything down.  Then, without touching any of the cables, power up the 1033 and then the PC, but leave the 1036 off.  Does it boot now?"

Yes, it boots now.

"I think you swapped the LED descriptions for the 8336 in the 1033 and the 1036.  Is that true?"

No, I didn't.

My host PC is a Dell one which is recommended by NI.

Thanks for your ideas. I'll make another test tomorrow to see if I could see 1036 in Device Manager and follow the instruction on this link.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/90A0019CB94BD1BB86256B7D0056A615

Let's see what happened.

Bin

[Binar]

There is a yellow exclamation mark on "PCI standard PCI to PCI bridge" under device manager view.And it says "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use[code 12]". Is that means I install too many PCI devices on my PC? (please have a look at the picture)That's quite possible.

I uninstall this device and reintall it again, the exclamation mark is still sitting there. What can I do with this? Do I need to download the most recent driver(if there is) and update the driver? Any advice is highly appreciated.

Bin

[Michelle_N · Accepted solution]

Hi Bin,

Sometimes this happens with MXI-Express:

Error Code 12 with MXI-Express

http://forums.ni.com/t5/PXI/two-PXI-chassis-connection-with-Configuration-problem/m-p/1475876#M9033

In general, you can read what error 12 means regarding device manager:

Explanation of error codes generated by Device Manager in Windows XP Professional

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123

If it were an bandwidth issue, on the PXI or PCI side, you could pull some cards to see if that alleviates the issue, or as the Microsoft link above states, you can disable the driver for other cards.