MXI connected pxi remote connection only shows backplane

[henryk]

I am trying to set up two PC's both running windows XP pro

One PC will be used as a development system and the other as a test system

The development system has Labview 8.6 Professional and Teststand Development installed

We just purchased a new PXI system that is connected to the test system via a MXI connection.

I am able to verify all of the cards in the PXI system from the test PC

When I use MAX from the development PC I can create a remote connection to the test PC.

I am able to see all of the test PC resources {serial ports parralel ports GPIB connections} but for the PXI system all I see is the backplane

When I try to install drivers using the cds that came with the PXI system I hang the installer on the development system when the system prompts for the insertion of disk 2.

This has been attempted with the NI switch diskset and the NI function generator disk set I suspect the installer is trying you communicaye with the target device and crashes

The cards in the PXI system include a Flex 7.5 digit Dmm, a scope card , a function generator and two mux cards (left my notes at work)

It seems like I have missed something but I'm out of ideas.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Henry

[Corby_B]

Hello Henryk!

Thanks for your post!

I see that you are setting up a remote connection to your test machine. Are you not able to install the drivers directly, for instance using a CD/DVD drive? I would recommend installing directly instead of over a network. You can also move the contents of the driver CD directly to the hard drive of the test machine and then install them from the hard drive. Typically a remote connection is established from MAX when you are installing drivers to a Real Time Target. I believe you have Windows XP pro on both systems so installing the drivers directly is the best route. If you are having issues with your Disks you can always download the drivers from the NI website here. Let us know if this helps!

Cheers!

Corby_B

http://www.ni.com/support

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Henry,

It's possible that the problem you're having is related to a past issue.  Can you please clarify how you're trying to connect to the test system/PXI chassis with the development machine?

I'm not sure from your post whether you're connecting directly to your PXI chassis or through the test machine, so for your reference, here's a devzone on how to use remote desktop to control a PXI system, and here's a devzone on networking two PCs for Remote Data Acquisition.  Hopefully this gets you up and running.

[henryk]

Thanks for the replies!

Perhaps I need to explain my objective a bit more clearly.

I intend to depoly a test system to the test pc. The development machine will likely continue to be used to enhance the Test pc application. To do this I would like to use switch executive to develop and manage the switch tables for the two muxes in the system.

I suppose my first question should have been is this a reasonable approach?

I am new to switch executive , but it is my understanding that it needs to be "connected" to the switch hardware.

Since I am easily able to "connect"  to the test PCs other resources like GPIB, serial ports etc using the remote computer connection in MAX (not windows) I assumed I should also be able to do so with  the PXI hardware.

What I think I need is the  information on how to configure the IVI drivers for the NI hardware in the MXI connected windows XP powered Test PC but from my Remote computer connetion in MAX on my development PC. Where do I find these drivers? Are they on the distribution CDs that came with the PXI system? (I installed these sucessfully on the test PC but crashed them twice when I attempted to install them on the development PC) or are the IVI driver located somewhere else?

I supose as a last resort I could change my approach and move my development to the test PC . I was hoping to avoid that as maintenace and ongoing enhancements would be best developed and tested offline

thanks again for your replies . I'm new to the PXI scene and very keen to get started.

henry

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Henry,

 The Remote Systems interface in Measurement and Automation is designed to be used with targets that do not have a GUI, such as FieldPoint, cRIO, and PXI systems with a real time operating system.  Since your test machine is running Windows XP, we cannot connect to it using the Remote Systems interface to control your cards.  Since the developer and test machines are both independent systems, there is no MXI intercompatibility.  This means that 'deploying' simply means you need to copy the project from one machine to the other and run.  You are right that switch executive needs to be running on the machine the switch hardware is connected to.  The reason you are able to connect to the other PC's GPIB, Serial, etc. is that you are seeing the other machine's VISA resources, which are accessible over the network.  Devices that use Switch, DAQmx, Scope, etc do not show up using the remote systems interface, which is why your cards aren't showing up.

I would recommend simulating the hardware on your development machine and then copying new project builds over to your test machine.

[Corby_B]

Hello Henry!

Thanks for your post back Henry. I just want to reiterate what John was saying. The remote systems in MAX are typically used to control "Real Time" (RT) Operating systems platforms. This is a realtime Operating system that National Instruments makes because Windows XP is not a deterministic environment. For instance if you turn on an Anti Virus client that will take up CPU time. The other end of the RT is it does not have a GUI so another PC is needed to manage it. I believe in your first post you mentioned that both systems have Windows XP on them. So in your situation each PC has to be controlled independently or through a Windows Remote Desktop connection so your drivers need to installed directly to the system. We want to make sure you have full use of your system so let us know if this clears things up a bit for you Henry and Good Luck!

PXI

Cheers!

Corby_B

http://www.ni.com/support

Message Edited by Corby_B on 10-28-2008 07:37 PM

[henryk]

Thanks for the links. I had spent some time searching for related material before posting but I missed some of the links posted.

I did not realize I could simulate my exact hardware and the transfer it to the "deployed platform" . This resolves my biggest need to have access to the hardware from the development PC and has permitted me to start my development.

I am still  a bit confused over this driver issue with Visa. If I have visa drivers on one machine that are visible in a remote system list, why not these? I understand the development goals for the remote connection were driven by the need to provide a GUI for RT systems, but am curious.

I did a bit more "wiggling" and have succeeded in bringing up the visa address to the remote devices in the remote systems section in MAX. This has been taunting me into thinking this might actually work if I set it up right.

You guys are the experts. I will accept your advice and proceed as you have suggested...But I would like to know more exactly how this mechanism works.

Henry

[Now_With_Underscores]

Hey Henry,

The issue is that the PXI cards you are using do not communicate over VISA, but rather they use their own driver (DAQmx, NI-SCOPE and NI-DMM).  Trying to pass data through these drivers over two nondeterministic systems is a nightmare logistically, especially if you want the resulting data to be meaningful.  With VISA, we send and receive commands easily, but when we start sending massive amounts of time sensitive data through two nondeterministic devices, you can probably guess that this poses an issue. 

 To lead you on your path, one way to control VISA remotely is to go to tools>VISA>interactive control and then enter the remote host's name or IP.