NI 4350 "device configured" LED light shuts off mid-run/stops data acquisition

[ChelseaRT]

I have an NI 4350 USB High Precision Temp and Voltage Meter hooked up to a GC and running with a LabVIEW program. The box will randomly "deconfigure" itself, sometimes between runs, sometimes mid-run and stop communicating with either the GC or the computer. By "deconfigure" I specifically mean that the LED light on the box turns off and data acquisition ceases. Unplugging the box from the USB port and plugging it back in makes it function again, however, I have to keep unplugging and replugging numerous times a day. I had first thought that the USB port on the old computer it was hooked up to was going bad, however, the problem is still persisting on a brand new computer.

[Jason_D]

Hi ChelseaRT,

How often does this happen?  Is it a constant amount of time?  Do you have standby or hibernate enabled on your PC?  Has the device recently started doing this, or is this just the first time you have tried getting this device setup?

[ChelseaRT]

The computer does not hibernate when this occurs. There is a screen saver, but it is set to 100 minutes, and standby is set to 2 hours. There is also no constant time frame when the device shuts off...it's always random and unexpected. Sometimes it will do it between runs, sometimes a ~30 seconds after I press run on the program, sometimes it will go a whole day without having a problem.

I have been using this box since February, so it's not a first set up, and it was in use before I got here. When I inherited it I was just told to "make sure the light is on, because it likes to shut off on you" or to try rebooting the computer if it's being finicky.

[Jason_D]

Hi ChelseaRT,

Does this problem only occur with your program or is it on all operation of the device?  For example if you start a text panel and leave it running does the device still fail?  What about if it does nothing and is simply plugged in?

If it errors on both of these it is probably defective.  If not then your program is probably doing somthing irregular to cause the issue.  Which I can help you investigate.

[ChelseaRT]

It will do this sometimes when the program is running, sometimes when it is just sitting idle. For example, and this is really annoying, sometimes I will check to see that the light is on, open the program, load my sample (which takes about 1 minute), and  then when I go back to press the RUN button, the light has already shut off and my GC run is ruined.

[Jason_D]

ChelseaRT,

The only other thing I have left to check before suggesting that you RMA the device is to try swapping out the cable used to connect it to the computer.  I hope this helps otherwise the device is probably at fault.