Computer and MAX cannot detect my PXI devices

[SooHyun]

Hi,

I'm trying to use PXI 1033 chassis with integrated MXI-express and PXI 4130 module, however I cannot get my desktop & MAX to detect these devices. I'm using Lenovo IBM 3000 J200 (model 9690) with 32bit Windows XP.

What I've done/checked so far:

• Install latest PXI platform and driver sets that came with these products, and these are the softwares shown in MAX
•    
• The LEDs on the chassis are both green
• Chassis is turned on before the computer boots up
• Turning on the chassis turns on the computer automatically
• Sometimes this pops up in MAX for about 2 seconds
• 
• Pins and cables are in good condition
• Tried changing slots
• Tried shutting off both computer and the hardware, unplug the cable, replug, and reboot both
• Update BIOS package for this computer from http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-68247
• Check device manager, and this is what it lists:
• 

I tried installing them on another computer with windows 7, but it kept getting "alert! error initializing PCI express slot x NTC failure", and had a rather difficult time installing drivers without getting "system cannot read from specified device" errors. So I gave up installing them on this one.

I've communicated with other NI engineers and they gave me some troubleshooting guides, however either the available solutions are not applicable to me or have not made any changes to the current problem.

I'm not sure what the exact problem is and why the computer cannot properly communicate with the PXI device. I tried to provide as much information as I can. Any suggestions?

Many thanks,

Soo

[Sarah_Y]

Hi Soo,

Have you tried upgrading your NI-VISA driver to the most recent version (version 5.0.3, available here: http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2251/lang/en)?  Do you have a CardBus driver installed?  This driver can cause errors with MXI express.  If these steps still do not resolve the issue, you can try downloading our MXI-Express BIOS compatibility software here: http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/1422/lang/en.  Hope this helps.

[SooHyun]

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for the reply. As you can see from the list of softwares on MAX, I already have VISA 5.0.3. I did however, tried to see if that installer would update anything more. It indicated that it will add/change "run time support", but the installer finished instantly and I never got prompted to reboot as indicated. I manually rebooted, and when I ran the installer again, it did the same thing as if nothing changed (and still don't prompt reboot).

I have also used the MXI-express BIOS compatibility software before, however I ran into a big problem! I'm using PCIe 8361, and the instructions for this card was to find "bank of DIP switches", however I don't find anything remotely close to a switch on my pcie card. I tried using instructions for 8360, but that made absolutely no difference.

Can you also clarify on this Cardbus driver? I'm not sure if it's installed or where I would find one.

Many thanks,

SooHyun

[Robert__R]

Soo,

It looks like you have a hardware problem of some sort.  It could be many things: the card or cable is physically damaged (components broken off), the connector pins aren't soldered to the board, a broken wire in the cable, electrical damage to the card, connector pins bent, chassis damaged, etc.

Whatever the cause, it appears the PCIe card isn't linking correctly to the chassis.  I say that because your device manager screen shot doesn't show any standard PCI-PCI bridges under system devices, which is how this will show up.  Also, the error you get on a second computer is consistent with plugging that PCIe card in without connecting the chassis.  In this case you're connecting the chassis but it's not linking, which gives you that error.

- Robert

[MaxXx]

Hello, I have bought the same PXI-1033 connected to the computer using MXI with 1 DMM PXI-4065, 2 multiplexers 2527, and 2 relays 2567 modules. I'm trying to get MAX to detect the chassis but it doesnt work. I can see all the modules but I dont see the chassis in MAX. I have installed PXI platform service 3.0.4 with latest DCD 08/12 and all the necessary software. I'm pretty sure none of the hardware are broken because all the LEDs are green (Linking) plus I can acquire voltage data with the DMM in LabVIEW and manually switching the relays and multiplexers individually. Any idea why it's not detecting the chassis? Thanks

[JoshY]

Hi MaxXx,

Have you tried the steps above? Downloading the newest version of NI VISA or the MXI Express Bios Compatibility Software?

On top of this, another thing you can try is to rename the pxisys.ini file (found in C -> Windows) and reboot your machine. This will cause your machine to create a new pxisys.ini file which will configure your chassis in MAX.

A last option is to do a reset configuration in MAX. Instructions on how do to this can be found here. Hope this helps!

[MaxXx]

Thanks JoshY. I installed everything you suggested including the BIOS fix and did a reset in MAX but still couldnt get it to recognize the chassis. I think my motherboard is just too old, it uses a 5 yr old nforce 790i chip. I plugged the chassis into another computer and MAX was able to recognize the chassis and all the modules correctly.

Just another quick question though. I also bought the TB2627 to use with the 2527 MUX and the 4065 DMM. I would like to use all 64 channels on the MUX to record 64 different voltages. I looked at the wiring manual and if I understand it correctly, whereeach of the + and - are a single individual channel. My question is should I connect all the COM0 +/- and COM1 +/- together? (ie do they all share a common ground?) Do I need to connect the1WREF0/1 together with COM0/1 +/- also?

Thank you for your help

[BenRobinson]

Hi MaxXx,

Pertaining to your question about the switch/DMM setup you are implementing: your understanding about the setup of the switch and terminal block for 1-wire measurements is correct. You will want to connect the 1WREF0 to your ground reference. The 1WREF0 is always connected to COM0–. You would not wire the COM0+ or COM0- to each other or directly to the 1WREF0. The hardware configurations and proper wiring for the 1 x 64 multiplexer setup of this switch is contained in the NI-Switch driver help files under the device tab.