NI DAQ fails to recognise USB-6002 hardware

[ChrisIncotech]

Anyone seen anything like this before?

Transferring a very simple measurement application onto the target PC. Installed NIDAQ1711f0 which then made multiple duplicate copies of the hardware, each copy being unusable. This has happened twice now, on different PCs.

[Lassi.Uusitalo]

Hello Chris,

It seems to me that there are two issues at hand:

• NI MAX creates multiple/duplicate icons of the (same?) hardware
• USB-6002 hardware is not usable when connected to the target PC

To explore possible reasons for this behavior I would like to ask you the following questions. First, for general overview:

1. Are you in the process of moving hardware from one PC to another?
2. Where did this issue appear previously and how did you solve it?
3. Have you tried resetting the NI MAX database? https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z000000P8awSAC

Second, regarding the multiple icons of the same hardware in NI MAX and the hardware itself:

1. Is the target PC in runtime environment?
2. Could you try to delete the duplicate icons and plug the device again? What happens?
3. When you plug the device to target PC, do you get multiple duplicate icons in MAX at once or do you get one duplicate every time you plug the device to (a new) USB-port?
4. Does the duplication issue get replicated if you plug the USB-6002 hardware to a different PC with a similar software setup?
5. When you connect the USB-6002, does the blue LED indicator blink?

Any additional information would also be helpful.

Best regards,

Lassi

[ChrisIncotech]

Lassi

The application was developed on my laptop, which is where the Dev4 originates from.

On the laptop, all the daq test panels, tasks, and the top level application work fine.

The target PC is in runtime. The NImax config file was imported to the target PC and the duplication issue started when the USB was plugged in.

I deleted all the duplicates manually at first. Thanks for the link to resetting. I was not aware of this before.

NImax was deleted from target PC and reloaded, and the photo of 130 copies comes from the second installation.

We have some limited evidence that there might be a USB controller problem on the target PC. I shall be moving it to another machine this week. I'll keep you up to date.

Thanks

Chris

[ChrisIncotech]

Further update.

The NImax data file was reset as recommended and the USB plugged in. A series of copies of the hardware identifier USB6002 started to appear at a rate of about one per second. We stopped the process and after a few tries, managed to get the device recognised just once. The blue light stays on. Running the test panels, we discover that digital outputs work fine, but analogue inputs are not read at all. This exercise was repeated several times.

We transferred to a different PC, which briefly recognised the board as USB6002 with a serial number or other reference attached, but did not allocate a device name and then immediately deleted it again. This continued cyclically until we stopped it. The blue light did not come on.

Periodically, the connection was tested by running the hardware on my laptop, which worked fine every time, both under NImax and my LV application.

I have no idea of where to turn next. Could my installed NIdaq / NImax be corrupt on the target machines? It is one that I carry and have used many times before.

[Lassi.Uusitalo]

Hello,

Do I understand correctly that the USB-6002 appears just fine in NI MAX in your development PC / laptop but not on target PCs? If I were you I would:

- Generate a MAX System Information Report from a PC where the hardware works as it should

- Generate a MAX System Information Report from a PC where hardware does not work as it should

- Compare the two to see if there are differences for example in the versions of different softwares and if all necessary drivers are installed

You could be right that you have a corrupt installation in your target PC(s). You can test on one of the target PCs if uninstalling and reinstalling all NI software with appropriate drivers fixes the issue. If yes, great. If not, get in touch with your local NI technical support to see if the problem is in the hardware itself.

[DynoGuru]

Hey Chris,

I think we may be seeing a similar issue here, so I am wondering if you have any update?

The laptop running NIDAQ 17 with a USB 6002 went through a Windows 10 update and started having the connection cycling adding a few devices in NIMAX. I think we also reset the data file by deleting the device in NI MAX.

Then we updated to the most recent 18 and saw the 128 devices get added through the connection cycling.

[ChrisIncotech]

The symptoms sound very similar.

We never did get a definitive answer to our problem but it MAY be related to when the target PC (desktop, mains powered) imposed an earth reference through the USB screen which was not present on the laptop on which I was doing all the s/w development. The NIDAQ installations were identical on the two machines, from the same source. The problem never showed on my laptop.

[DynoGuru]

Thank you for your feedback. I am a little confused however when you say “The target PC (desktop, mains powered) imposed an earth reference through the USB screen”.

Are you saying their is an earth reference in the USB cable or the USB cables shielding? I haven't heard the term "USB screen" so I wanted to clarify so I can check for wiring issues.

[ChrisIncotech]

Take an ordinary multi-meter and measure continuity between the metal outer part of the USB plugs at either end of the lead. From the behaviour of the 6002 it is clear that some part of the acquisition board is connected to this earth, when we had expected it to be fully floating.

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

There are COTS USB isolators available that provide electrical isolation between the PC and the USB device.

-AK2DM