Error -50400 with PCI-6733 Analog Output boards in Tyan S8230 computer, Windows 7 64-bit

[ramirez]

I'm getting error -50400 with two PCI-6733 Analog Output boards in a Tyan S8230 computer running Windows 7, 64 bit.

This occurs while running the NI-MAX Test Panels and trying sine wave generation.  I've tried all AO channels, all transfer methods (DMA and Interrupts), smaller output voltage ranges -5 to 5 or -1 to 1, with or without RTSI cable, with no success.  I'm running NI-DAQ 9.4.0.f5.  Both Self-Test and Reset return success.  Also tests work ok for a single DC value output.  But I do need continuous wave output for my application.

The boards (2 of them) run ok on another computer running Windows 2000 Server. 

Another forum post on a very similar problem with a PXI-6733 mentioned the PCI-6733 needed both 3.5v and 5v out of the PCI bus. What's odd is that in the other Win2k Server computer (Intel SG7525GP2 MB) I have one board in a 5v 32-bit PCI slot, and another in a 3.3v-only PCI-X 66MHz slot and both worked fine.  The Tyan S8230 MB specs PCI v2.3, which I understand provides both 5v and 3.3v.

Another data point in trying to narrow down the problem is that an NI-USB-6255 DAQ device is working OK with the Tyan S8230 Win7 machine; the Test Panel's sine wave generation in any of the two AO channels works ok. However it's probably using a different path for the internal data transfers: "USB Bulk" vs "DMA or Interrupts" as displayed on the choices of the the test panels.

Any help or clue as to what may be happening will be greatly appreciated.

[mudson]

I'm sorry to see that you are encountering these difficulties!
I know it is a little laborious, but could you provide a detailed spec-out of the National Instruments software running on the Server2000 box vs the Windows7 box?  Of particular interest is the DAQmx version (you had mentioned that the machine with the Tyan board was running DAQmx 9.4).

Hardware specs would be helpful also.

Have the cards ever functioned as you expected while seated in the Windows 7 machine?

Could you verify that the cards are seated properly?  If the cards are properly seated, try placing them back in the Server2000 machine and verify that they still function appropriately on that machine.

Best regards.

[ramirez]

Matthew:

Thanks for your response.  Here is the info on both machines as NI-MAX software versions and Windows System Information report:

Windows 7 x64 machine (one with the problem):

    * NI-DAQmx Device Driver 9.4:  9.4.0.f5

    * NI-DAQmx MAX Configuration 9.4:  9.4.0

    * NI-DAQmx ADE Support:9.4:  9.4.0

    * NI System Configuration 5.0:  5.0.0f1

    * NI-MAX 5.0:  5.0.0f1

    * NI-PAL 2.7:  2.7.0

    * Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

    * Tyan S8230 Motherboard (model S8230GM4NR-LE)

    * Dual AMD Opteron Processors 6134, 2.3 GHz, 8-core.

    * BIOS version: AMI v2.04 11/20/2011.

    * HAL: 6.1.7601.17514

    * 32 GB RAM.

    * Add on board: Intel RS2BL080 SAS controller  PCI-X for a couple of RAID-1 arrays.

    * Machine has the latest Windows updates applied.

Windos 2000 Server (boards work fine here):

    * NI-DAQmx 8.8: 8.8.0f2

    * NI-PAL 2.3: 2.3.0

    * NI-MAX version: 4.5.0.49152

    * Windows 2000 Server SP4.  Version 5.0.2195  Service Pack 4, Build 2195.

    * Intel motherboard  SE7525GP2  0.86B.P.11.00.0043.032420060930  (last numbers may be BIOS version).

    * Dual Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz processors (HT only).

    * 2 GB RAM

The PCI-6733 boards have never worked on the Windows-7 (Tyan) PC when doing sine wave generation in NI-MAX Test Panels. They always come back with error -50400.   They work ok if doing just a single DC output.  They also return success on both the Self Test and Reset.

We use the two PCI-6733 AO boards with a RTSI cable to sync AO output of both boards, and I've just verified the boards work fine in the Windows 2000 PC, both with the NI-MAX Test Panels outputting sine waves and with our custom-written Ansi-C NI-DAQmx application.

If you'd like me to provide the NI-MAX tech-support report and Windows system info report I can email it to you rather than post on the public forum.

Thanks again for your help!

[mudson]

From a hardware perspective, I don't see any glaring causes for error.  64bit Win7 doesn't always get along well with our drivers, the emulation layer between the drivers and the OS may be causing a small amount of delay - which causes a wide range of errors.  This sometimes causes issues with our USB hardware, but I am not convinced that that is what is happening here.

The tech-support report isn't a bad idea, but before firing that off, try the steps in the following Knowledge Base article.  It wasn't written specifically for your card, but the error is the same.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/95328C2FAF9DA99A862576E200785C11?OpenDocument

I thought this was interesting (specs for your cards):

http://sine.ni.com/ds/app/doc/p/id/ds-158/lang/en

Let me know how this goes.  If the cards are still failing to generate sine waves, we'll coordinate getting those reports to me.

Best regards.