PCI 6229 and USB-6212 suddenly not working: Device could not be calibrated. Status code: -201295

[JuanUML]

Hi,

We have a PCI 6229 connected to a BNC and another USB-6212 in the same PC. Both worked ok during the last years. The PCI was sent back to NI to recalibrate last year and the PCI was working fine for the last 5 months.

Recently both started misbehaving (there are offsets in all the output channels and signals are wrong). When trying to see if they are connected with the DAQmax, they show up ok. When trying self-calibration BOTH of them result in the error: Device could not be calibrated. Status code: -201295

-see attached pictures-

This happened after a series of windows updates on the institutional PCs.

We have tried reinstalling all drivers from the CD, downloading from the internet, and now we are trying in another PC with PCI slots.

Could somebody clarify what is that error? Could that be a hardware failure due to power outages? How comes it affects BOTH PCI and USB? If it's a software error, how can it be solved?

It is a bit outrageous that this PCI was calibrated by NI less than one year ago, we paid $400 to get it shipped back... are we supposed to do this every year? even more expensive than the calibration itself is the month that it will take to get the system back during which we have to stop experiments. Please, advise about this issue , thanks in advance

[santo_13]

It looks like something is messed up at the hardware level, typically one or more of the voltage references or voltage regulators on the board are damaged. 

You can double-check the functionality of the board by installing in another computer.

[JuanUML]

Thanks for the prompt reply. We are setting another computer with LabView and Drivers to check both the PCI and the USB there again. I will update here with the result of that test.

[JuanUML]

WE just finished testing in another PC with a fresh Labview and drivers installation and the error keeps being the same one. Could something have "burned" both a PCI and a USB??? It is really weird that all the hardware stopped working properly now. Any idea how to solve this without having to send the cards back for calibration? Thanks!

[santo_13]

Question, is the new PC has the same set of updates as the old one? just trying to isolate any issues related to windows updates or IT security enforcements.

It is weird that both PCI and USB cards failed at the same time, unless something is blocking the driver from reaching out to the hardware.

[JuanUML]

hi, thanks! That is a good point, yes, the updates were the same on both computers (they are deployed automatically by our university with no way of escaping this, other than having this system not connected to the network). I just asked our institutional IT to get the computer back to a previous version to try a fresh installation again to see how the cards behave in that case. I will update if we can check this soon!

I know! it is weird that both cards failed at the same time! A power outage could also explain this, but this is unlikely because the laptop is plugged into a surge protector which should minimize this risk. If a power outage "burned" both NI cards, I will be out of options here