DELL 530MT fails to boot when MXI3 rack is used

[AcqirisUser]

We have a four-rack PXI data acquisition system from Acqiris (a total of 20 PXI cards with 60 AD channels) daisy-chained using NI MXI-3 card to a DELL Precision 530MT machine. The DELL will just refuse to boot with this msg "Plug & Play configuration error" on start-up. I don't know if W2K has anything to do with it since the machine has not passed thru the initial BIOS screen yet. I was able to get the PC to work at one time but that's all. The DELL's BIOS has very little options for me to change. This rack has worked before with other computers (AMD motherboard) so the rack shouldn't be the problem. Any ideas?

[Josh_KNH]

Hello AcqirisUser,

As this is a BIOS error, the first thing we should try and see is if the BIOS is imposing an upper limit on the number of PCI (which includes PXI) devices on the system.

If you could, please reduce the number of PXI cards in the system and try to determine if there is an upper limit on the number of cards that will allow a successful boot of the PC. I suggest powering off successive PXI chassis first to establish a crude limit, then you will only need to remove individual cards from one system. (e.g Determine if the PC will boot with the inner two chassis on, then start removing cards from the third chassis to see how many it supports in that system.

Also, if you have any other PXI cards around that are of a different type, it would be most u
seful to incorporate those into the test, as the troubleshooting you will perform should be explicitly non-card specific.

As this troubleshooting might involve a lot of back and forth, please direct your reply to support@ni.com, and once we determine a resolution, we'll come back and post it in the discussion area.

Best of luck, and let us know the results. Thank you!

Josh Hernstrom
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[AcqirisUser]

Hello JoshH,
Thanks for your reply. I've tried your suggestion before. Yes, the DELL will work with one crate ( 5 cards/20 channels ). But we need more channels for some tests.

I've reduced the rack count today by 2 and found out one rather interesting way for the DELL to recognize the remaining cards (10 cards/30 channels). The secret here is to first turn on the PXI rack, and WAIT at least 3-4 minutes before powering on the computer. I've tried this methods and it works everytime. It fails as expected if I turn the DELL on immediately. I didn't do anythin in the BIOS as there is nothing to change anyway in the DELL's own BIOS. At least now I can operate the system, albeit only half the capacity. I'll propably try to connect the rest of the s
ystem later. Thanks again for your response.

[Josh_KNH]

Hello again AcquirisUser,

That is some interesting behavior you describe, as MXI-3 really only needs a very short period of time (much less than 1 sec) to initialize before being ready to accept a connection from the next MXI-3 card. I would first doublecheck the boot order of the 4 crates and the PC and make sure that they are powered up in the proper order. It might be helpful to review our troubleshooting document on MXI-3 for other suggestions, linked below. Best of luck, and keep us updated!

MXI-3 Troubleshooting Guide

Regards,
Josh Hernstrom
Applications Engineer
National Instruments