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How to connect my laptop to PXIe-8100?

I have a PXIe-8100 controller that is in a PXIe-1071 chassis. I would like to use my laptop to control it instead of another set of monitor/keyboard/mouse. My computer runs Windows 7 Home Premium.

 

What are the cables I need and how do I connect the two so that my laptop will recognize the controller?

 

Thanks.

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Good morning DPT, 

 

If you are running windows on your PXIe-8100, you can remote into the controller if you are connected over a network. Then, you could use your laptop screen, keyboard, and monitor to work with the controller. So, you will not need a specific cable, but both your laptop and controller need to be on the same network. You can find more information here

 

If your 8100 is running Real Time, why do you need to access the controller? User input of a real time controller is usually only necessary when configuring the BIOS. 

Maggie
National Instruments
Applications Engineer
ni.com/support
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Hi Maggie,

 

Thanks for your reply. I am completed new to NI, so I am still figuring out a way to turn PXIe-8100 on. Initially, I thought I need to access the controller by my laptop because I see it as a piece of hardware, and my laptop is the "brain". But upon further reading, I am guessing that PXIe-8100 has its own CPU and hard drive. It is bootable on its own. Am I right?

 

I connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse to PXIe-8100 today. I see the system trying to boot but stops after LabView was loaded successfully. It stays on the black screen with texts. Am I suppose to see windows environment or something where I can use the mouse and keyboard? I was following this link to make sure all hardwares appear in the tree. But I switched it off since it was not doing anything.

 

Please advice on how to boot and work with the system. Thanks.

 

DPT

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Hello DPT, 

 

The PXIe 8100 controller is simply a computer in a different formfactor. 

 

Are you seeing a screen like the image below? 

 

Figure 3.jpg

 

The PXIe 8100 is usually sold with the Real Time Operating System instead of Windows. The operating system allows you to program in a deterministic environment. You would develop code on another system and push it to your controller. The screen above is see with Real-Time controllers and is used only for accessing the BIOS, not developing code. 

 

If your controller does in fact have Real-Time installed, you will need to become familiar with the real time environment, use the LabVIEW Real-Time module to develop code, and then run the Real-Time code on the PXIe 8100 controller. 

 

If it is a Window's operating system, then it should start normally and you should be able to interact with it just like your laptop. 

Maggie
National Instruments
Applications Engineer
ni.com/support
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Hi Maggie,

 

Thanks for your reply. I will work my way through and let you know if I run into any more problems. Thanks.

 

D

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Sounds good. 

 

Good luck! 

Maggie
National Instruments
Applications Engineer
ni.com/support
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