cRIO 9004 unable to "see" FPGA backplane in project explorer

[trouinky]

Greetings!

I have a rather frustrating situation where suddenly I am unable to access the FPGA on my 8-slot (3 M Gate) chassis.  I've started a new project and added the cRIO device and even written a simple program that runs fine on the RT host.  But when under the cRIO I go to add new device, the FPGA doesn't show up.

Has anyone seen this issue before?  Is my FPGA dead?  I'm going to pull the modules, separate the chassis from the host controller, then put everything back to see if it's just some physical glitch.  The only thing that has changed is that we added a new 4-channel AO module about a week ago, but it was working fine for several days.  We moved the system from one bench to another (needed more room) but didn't swap out modules or anything.

[Brinoceros]

Try looking for your device in the Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX).  You can find this, by default in Windows, in the Start Menu under Programs >> National Instruments >> Measurement & Automation.  Look for your cRIO under Remote Systems.  Here you should be able to better troubleshoot your issue (i.e. see if the FPGA shows up, reinstall/reformat the software on the controller, etc..). 

If this isn't enough to  get you moving in the right direction, post what you see in MAX under your cRIO, what hardware you are using, and what software versions you have installed (LabVIEW, NI-RIO driver).  Also, has anything else changed between when this was working and now?  Any software changes, was the cRIO used on another computer, etc?

Cheers, 

[trouinky]

The cRIO system was moved from one bench to another within the last week, but it's bascially secured to a large board with a bunch of other electronics and was powered off, etc. before moving.  Wasn't hooked up to another machine or anything like that.

Attached (fig 1) is a picture of what shows up in MAX (including the software installed on the cRIO).  I can create a RT project and run a VI on the RT host fine (fig 2), but when I try to add the FPGA (we have these modules installed - 1.     9203, 2 .    9481, 3.    9481, 4.    9263, 5.    9221, 6.    9263, 7.    Dummy, 8.    Dummy), it says not found.  We have another system that (when I explore in MAX) shows a RIO0 under the remote devices that shows up (indicated by red arrow - missing in this case), but that system is running 8.5 and I don't know if that is why the RIO0 doesn't show up.

I pulled the modules out and tried to get the project to recognize the FPGA and modules - same problem.  I stuck just one module in and tried again.  Still no luck.

The lights on the RT controller don't indicate that anything is wrong.  I can FTP to the RT controller and see everything there just fine. 

I'm reluctant to swap the chassis (this one is a 9104) into my other system to test, just in case the problem migrates to the other system which is working fine . . . 

I fear the FPGA is dead . . . . can these be repaired? Refurbished?  Argh!!!!

TR 

Message Edited by trouinky on 08-25-2008 03:36 PM

Message Edited by trouinky on 08-25-2008 03:38 PM

[captain_only]

Can you capture the console output from a reboot and post it? (Note: you can't use HyperTerm, it mangles the data. Use something like TeraTerm) We're looking for a table that looks something like this:

PCI Device Table.
Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class              Irq
 00  0B  00   104A   0201  Host Bridge
 00  0C  00   104A   0210  ISA Bridge
 00  0D  00   104A   0229  IDE Controller     11
 00  0E  00   104A   0230  Serial Bus         11
 00  0F  00   104A   0238  Ethernet           11
 00  18  00   1093   70F6  Unknown Device     11
 00  1F  00   104A   0981  Ethernet           10

Specifically, is there an "Unknown Device" and what is it's VendID/DevID?

[trouinky]

Here's the output with all the modules removed . . .

PCI Device Table.
Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class              Irq
00  0B  00   104A   0201  Host Bridge       
00  0C  00   104A   0210  ISA Bridge        
00  0D  00   104A   0229  IDE Controller     11
00  0E  00   104A   0230  Serial Bus         11
00  0F  00   104A   0238  Ethernet           11
00  1F  00   104A   0981  Ethernet           10

Thanks,

TR

[captain_only]

Well, that's unfortunate.  What we wanted to see was an "unknown device" with the NI vendor number (0x1093). Since it's not there, it means the cRIO-9004 can't "see" the backplane. There could be several reasons:

• The backplane connector is damaged (either at the backplane or the controller)
• The backplane died
• The controller died (just the part that drives the backplane connector)

If you're feeling brave, and you can verify that the backplane connector looks good (no bent pins or other physical damage), you can try swapping with that 9104 to see wether the problem follows the backplane or the controller. But I think you'll end up calling technical support either way, so you should probably just start there.

Good luck!