cFP LV RT 2009 (ETS) Bug - Crashing on bad INI file

[geirove]

Hello,

This problem was actually touched upon in this thread:

http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=170&message.id=466392&jump=true#M466392

I have found, that if the ni-rt.ini file contains any "unexpected"  or wrong parameters (like the thread above describes), my cFP 2210 with LV RT 2009 crashes. After the crash, the following is the situation:

- The ni-rt.ini file is garbled with strange charcters.

-  I have format the "disk"  and reinstall all software again to make it work correctly!

This is bad, since I have never encoutnered such a problem with LV 8.2 on a cFP 2120: 

We have two of these running in a Concrete Production Plant here in Norway.

They have been stable for 2 years.

I could send updates via email: Just the .rtexe and the .alias file.

The electrical engineer at the plant used FTP to replace the existing .rtxex and .alias file,

Then he edited the .ini file with the name of the new .rtexe.

If any errors where entered into the .ini file, the cFP simply would report the error to one of the logs, and NOT CRASH!

I recon this is a bug, and it may easily be reproduced by trying to enter the entries I have listed in the thread linked to above.

[muks]

Is a car generated?

[geirove]

Hello,

How do I generate a car: I must admit, I have never done so.

[muks]

---

geirove wrote:

Hello,

How do I generate a car: I must admit, I have never done so.

---

We cannot generate one. The ni rep will see the issue and will reproduce the behaviour actually the "un-expected" behaviuor and confirm and file the same. So I had asked whether they have done so.

[geirove]

Hello,

Can someone at NI please confirm that this Bug has been registered and that actions will be taken?

If there is any kind of error in the ni-rt.ini file on a cFP 2210 running LV 2009 RT, the 2210 will crash and software needs to be reinstalled!

[DiscoBall]

Hi Geir,

I will take a look into this. However, if you are needing more urgent assistance please do contact your local NI Office in Norway.

[geirove]

Hello,

I have updated information on this problem:

First a little background on "how it used to be"  when running LV 8.2 RT on a cFP 2120:

To update the cFP with a new program, I did the following over a wireless network while the cFP was running but the machine it controlled was sitting stationary:

1) On the cFP: renamed the .rtexe to .rt (to allow the file to be deleted)

2) Deleted booth the .alias and .rt file

3) downloaded new .rtexe and .alias files

4) uploaded to my PC the ni-rt.ini file. Edit the name of the startup program

5) downloaded the new ni-rt.ini file to the cFp

6) From my PC rebooted the cFP

THis may seem like a wild thing to do, but it works like a charm.

It turns out, it also works well on the cFP 2120  with LV RT 2009.

However, on the cFP 2210  the ni-rt.ini file becomes corrupted if the file is downloaded again to the cFP while it is running.

If, however, the cFP is rebooted into Safe Mode first, I can still do all the steps above to update the cFP.

WHy I do not use LV to do the update? Well,  in this manner the customer can do the update with no special tools or LV knowledge.

Also, it is valuable to be able to update the cFP without accessing it physically, because it is not easily accessible (A conveyor running under the roof of the factory !)

I do not understand why there should be a difference between the cFP 2120 and cFP 2210 in this respect !

But since it is, it should be documented. We use LV to save development time, but this has costed extra time in this project.

[geirove]

Hello again,

I have an additional question on the difference between the cFP 2120 and the cFP 2210:

I run virtually the same control system on a cFP 2120 and a cFP 2210:

I use the  "RT Get CPU Loads" Vi to send cPU load info over Shared Vars to the monitoring PC

On the 2120 I have 10% ISR load. I have enabled Time Stamps on some Shared Vars here

On the 2120 I have 0 ISR load. Time Stamps are not enabled om any Shared Vars.

Is the 10% ISR Load  I see on the cFP 2120 caused by the Time Stamps on the Shared Vars, or is the cFP 2210 handling ISRs in "hardware"and there fore I see no ISR load on it?

[DiscoBall]

Hi Geir,

Thank you for the update. I will be setting up a cFP system to the specifications that you had listed. More to come soon.