Trouble communicating w/ PXI cards using MAX 4.2 VISA 4.1

[RKT_Scientist]

All,

I seem to be having some problems accessing my PXI hardware using MAX and VISA.

My system is as follows:

PXI-1045

PXI-8196 RT

PXI-4220 (slot 2)

(2) PXI-6259 (slot 3 and 4)

PXI-5152 (slot 5)

PXI-2585 (slot 6)

PXI-5404 (slot 7)

All the drivers are NI's latest, LV 8.2.1, VISA 4.1, etc. All hardware shows up correctly under MAX>>Remote System and each card has green "access" lights. The PXI-4220 also has green "active" light.

1) Under Remote System >> Devices & Interfaces >> NI-DAQmx Devices

I get a grayed out "Properties" tab for the following cards: PXI-4220, PXI-5152, and PXI-5404. The remaining cards allow me access to the "Properties" tab.

Also, I get a grayed out "Test Panels" tab for the PXI-5404. " Test Panels" operates successfully for the remaining cards. All cards had successful "Self Tests".

2) Under Remote System >> PXI System >> Chassis

I get the following error after clicking on the "Open VISA Test Panel " tab for ALL devices

"Unable to open session to visa://192... Return status code: 0xBFFF00A7......"

3) When trying to run the NI-FGEN and NI-SCOPE Soft Panels I get the following message:

" The FGEN/Scope SFP did not detect an NI signal sources module.....Simulate/Rescan/Exit?"

I am connected directly to the PXI with my company PC (XP) disconnected from the company intranet. Our machines have Local Administrator privileges. I have allowed Windows Firewall exceptions for ALL NI programs including the default VISA Server PORT. I have allowed VISA security permissions under the Remote System (192.168.1.3) and Host "My System" (192.168.1.3), where I am only allowed to select the "Access Only"  radio button. I have manually selected "Start Server" for the Host VISA Server.

So, with that I could use any help that's out there, taking into account I try to exhaust all of NI's KBs/Tutorials/etc before posting to the boards.

Thank you for your time.

JD

[RKT_Scientist]

Well this is getting fun. I am having an educational interaction with myself. I know it's Friday and everyone is ready for the weekend but I see other posts getting feedback. Must be nice.

Anywho, I solved 1 of my problems. How?, I don't know. Because apparently NI troubleshooting basically involves randomly removing and reinstalling drivers/software. I did change the VISA privilege security to " * " for both the Remote and Host though, instead of using the IP address.

I can now access my devices using the " Open VISA Test Panel " in MAX 4.2.

However,  the " Property " tab is still grayed out under Remote System >> Devices & Interfaces >> NI-DAQmx Devices for the PXI-4220, PXI-5152, and PXI-5404.

And I still get the same errors when trying to run NI-FGEN and NI-Scope Soft Panels, " The FGEN/Scope SFP did not detect an NI signal sources module.....Simulate/Rescan/Exit?"

I appreciate all the views and would really appreciate some help. Thank you.

JD

[TheWoost]

Hi JD,

The PXI-4220, PXI-5152, and PXI-5404 do not have any configurable properties within MAX, and as a result the "Properties" tab should be grayed out.  In addition, the NI-SCOPE and NI-FGEN Soft Front Panels are not supported on RT systems.  However, you should be able to right click on the device on your remote system and run a test panel.

Regards,
Andrew W
National Instruments

[RKT_Scientist]

Andrew,

Thank goodness you are here. I was starting to worry that the lack of response to my problem was due to it being either to juvenile for this crowd or worst, that I had stepped into something no one could fix.

Anyway, I really appreciate the feedback. One question I have then is, the " NI Signal Generators, Getting Started Guide " Feb06, page 12, section 5.a says I should be able to " right click the NI signal generator in the list, and select Properties". Is this statement just meant for signal generators other than the PXI-5404? Now, when I went through the " High Speed Digitizers Getting Started Guide " Aug06 in more detail earlier I was not able to find that same statement, so I can rest assure in your confirmation on that one. 

Also, I can accept your assessment that the FGEN and SCOPE soft panels don't support RT, unfortunate as that is. When I work with new things I usually like to run the vendors packaged tools first to make sure the hardware is working/communicating before jumping into a project on my own. My goal here was to generate a signal out of the PXI-5404 and verify it on the PXI-5152. I did have success with the Test Panels under NI-DAQmx for all the devices listed except for the Signal Generator, it too was grayed out. 

So, if all this sounds like nominal conditions, my next move was to try out the examples in the " Getting Started with Real-Time Module " book. Let me know what you think?

Thanks again.

JD

[TheWoost]

Hi JD,

Regarding what you found in the NI Signal Generators Getting Started Guide, it looks like this is an error in the documentation and I will be addressing this.  None of the signal generators that I have available allow for the "Properties" tab to be selected, so I'm glad you pointed this out!  I was able to get a PXI-5404 to install in my system, and verified that this device does not have a test panel available in MAX.  I'm assuming that it is because of the architecture of this device (this is our only "Frequency Generator" vs. Function or Arbitrary Waveform Generator), but this may turn out to be a good product suggestion for customers like yourself who like to do preliminary tests of devices in MAX.

From this point, I would definitely recommend taking a look at some of the examples that are included with the software of your devices.  The example niFgen_5404_Clock_Generation_Example.vi is one in particular that would be good for testing out the 5404 on your RT controller.  You can find this example in the NI Example Finder (in LabVIEW, go to Help>>Find Examples) browsing within Hardware Input and Output>>Modular Instruments>>NI-FGEN>>Standard Function Generation.  I hope this helps - let us know if you have any other questions!

Regards,
Andrew W

[RKT_Scientist]

Very good Andrew. I will now move forward with the examples given in the documentation along with the one you have listed here.

Thank you again for your support.

JD