PCI-MIO-16E-4 doesn't work after moving computer

[nikola44]

We have a PCI MIO 16E-4 card on a Win2000 system. It worked perfectly until yesterday, when we simply moved the computer to another place, attached another screen - nothing else changed. Now we get wrong readings and no signals; it's always negative full scale, i.e. -5V at -5 to +5, -10V at -10 to +10...
Self-test in MAX passes without problems, the wrong readings occur in both MAX test panel and LabView, independent of /any/ settings we change and independent of the PCI slot or input channel we use. No hardware conflicts shown, outputs also work fine.
The only other unusual thing I found is that a NI GPIB card in this computer isn't recognized any more, although we worked with it earlier. But taking it out doesn't ch
ange anything about my DAQ card problem, so this might be another case. We finally took everything out and re-inserted the cards one by one, but it didn't help.
We'd be glad if anyone has a hint.
Thanks,
Nikola Heimpel

Technical University Munich

[Michael Philipp]

check your connections (cables), it sounds like you have open connections and the voltage drifted to the negative full scale.

[nikola44]

I checked the cables, didn't seem to be a problem there. I also did now the online E-Series Diagnostic tool, this gives me lots of errors for the analog inputs... like "internal ground reference: failed" and so on. The voltages there are also always the negative full scale, even when the test tool expects 0V or 5V or whatever.

Could this mean that the card is permanently damaged or is there anything I can do?

[Michael Philipp]

the card seems to be broken, contact ni.

[unagi]

nikola44,

we are having a very similar problem with our PCI-6040E card running on WinXP Pro. after moving the computer to another place, the AI channels all read about -7 V (NRSE) or -10 V (DIFF) regardless of the applied voltage. our instrument's output was measured manually using a DMM and it gives the correct voltage. we have an AO card used to apply setpoint voltages to our instrument, and we know that works fine. the 6040E also passes both the self-test in MAX and the online diagnostic utility, so it doesn't appear that the card is damaged as far as those tests are concerned. we have also realized that moving the shielded cables (a little will cause significant (tenths of a volt) voltage changes (presumably due to stray capacitance?). have you had any success in figuring out what the problem(s) was/were with your 6040E?

thanks,
unagi

[unagi]

p.s. - we have also found that swapping the cable for the AI with the cable that seems to work for the AO card (also installed in our PC) gives us voltages of around -2 V instead of -7 V. this is looking more and more like a connectivity issue.

[Sean_C.]

Hello nikolla44 and unagi,

Can both of you try the following test to verify the functionality of the ADC? In Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX), open a Traditional DAQ Test Panel and output a DC voltage on Analog Output (AO) channel 0. Now in the Analog Input (AI) Tab, type 21230 in the channel field. This internally routes AO channel 0 to the ADC. If you are able to see the voltage which you output from AO channel 0, then your ADC is functioning correctly. If not, you will need to call 800-433-3488 to arrange to send in your device for repairs.

Please let me know your results.

Sincerely,
Sean C.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[unagi]

nikolla44 and sean c.,

sorry for the trouble, but we just found out that our instrument was rewired for RSE rather than NRSE. it works fine now while running in RSE. thanks for the help though!

sincerely,
unagi