11-07-2012 09:14 PM
When GX7310 PXI chassis(third party) is connected to the PC via MXI cable & bridge cards (NI PXI-8331 & PCI-8331) the PC reboots constantly.
I turn PXI on and then turn on PC. PC comes up and I login. Desk top is coming up and BAM! The PC reboots. PC comes back up and reboots! PC comes back up and reboots!...never stops until I turn off PC. Then I turn off the PXI chassis and turn on the PC, then it will boot up just fine and work as a PC without the PXI turned on. I can then turn of the PXI chassis and everything PC wise is fine but of course the PXI cards do not show up in MAX so I have to reboot the PC and then I'm right back into the constant rebooting. Does anyone have any ideas what is happening???
PS...Service call originally was a "bad" NI PCI-6031E "MIO" A new card was installed and PC booted up and i found this problem.
BTW...I did reinstall the "bad" MIO card back in to see if the problem was still there and it was. So it's not the PCI cards swapping that is causing the root of the problem.
PSS...All new MXI (copper) cable, PXI and PCI cards were installed and still no success. (NI PXI-8331 & PCI-8331)
Any ideas on how to correct the problem would be appreciated...Thank you ahead of time!
11-08-2012 06:31 AM
What else do you have in your PXI chassis? It could be a PXI card (other than the controller) or the chassis itself.
11-08-2012 10:59 AM
All Cards in PXI are as follows:
Slot 1 = NI PXI 8331 Bridge
Slot 3 = NI PXI 5421 16 Bit 100Ms/s AWG
Slot 5 = NI PXI 5122 14 Bit 100 Ms/s Digitizer
Slot 7 = NI PXI 4461 24 Bit 204.8 kS/s
Slot 9 = Pickering 40-726A-751
Slot 10 = Pickering 40-726A-751
Hope this helps! Thanks!
11-08-2012 11:03 AM
The first thing I would try is removing all of your PXI cards from the chassis. If everything works, add 1 card at a time and test until your problem returns. The problem is likely the last card you put in. If it fails with all of the cards out, I'd say your chassis is bad. Try another chassis to make sure. Obviously, you have to use the MXI card for all of these tests.
11-12-2012 04:55 PM
FYI…I have 2ea PXI chassis’, I will use the “good” chassis # 2 to trouble shoot with so I can swap cards back and forth to confirm my findings.
Problem: NI PXI 5122 card #1 is making chassis #1 cause the PC to reboot over and over. Unplug card and PC works fine.
So this is where I am with this wonderful problem…I think it is the chassis.
1. So is there any default or reset button on a GEOTEST GX7310 chassis??
2. If and when I send in the chassis to GEOTEST should I send in the PXI-5122 card with it so the technician can see what I'm finding?
Any suggestions would help!
Thanks for all the help!!!
11-13-2012 07:01 AM
I am not familiar with GEOTEST chassis (I've only used NI). But I am willing to bet they would want one of your 5122 to troubleshoot with.
11-13-2012 10:35 AM
"Hold the presses!" I replaced the PC with another PC and I'm NOT getting the reboot over and over. I think it's the mother board in the PC! I will run another series of tests and confirm this. Will note findings later today. Thanks
11-13-2012 11:59 PM - edited 11-13-2012 11:59 PM
Hi PREDB,
I have often seen certain PC motherboard BIOSes have issues with enumerating PCI-PCI bridge bus resources at boot, which can cause all sorts of strange problems (blue screen, no power-on at all, hang at POST, etc.), including the perpetual reboot. It is possible that simply having too many cards in your chassis causes your BIOS to bug out when enumerating all resources. Is your setup in the "good" chassis the same as the "bad" chassis (same cards in slots)? I am wondering if you have more cards in the trouble chassis, which would isolate the BIOS incompatibility problem to one chassis. If you put ONLY the 5122 in your chassis, does the reboot still happen?
In either case, NI offers a work-around for computers with a BIOS that cannot enumerate resources on a PCI-PCI bridge properly:
MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software 1.4.1 - http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3119/lang/en
Be sure to follow the steps in the Readme very closely as they explain how to set your MXI card to BIOS Compatibility mode (also check that your MXI card supports this mode). This essentially hides your PCI MXI card from your BIOS at boot as if the PXI system were not connected. Then when Windows loads, the MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software bootstraps the MXI cards into Windows through our own software.
Please note: This software is intended for use with NI products only and is not tested with third-party hardware. This is an "AT YOUR OWN RISK" suggestion, and NI claims no liability for anything that may result in the use of this software.
Sorry for the disclaimer, but I've got to cover myself... hope this helps!
Regards,
11-19-2012 09:30 AM
Chris
All our PXI chassis' have the same amount of cards and they are all the same set of cards. We 13 systems set up this way and have never had this problem. Thanks for you input on the MXI card software...I didnt know that was available! I will keep that software in mind for future builds or issuses with to many cards.
Thanks for all the help! I just needed a little push in the right direction...THX
11-19-2012 09:34 AM
Replacing the PC was the "FIX". New pc installed into test station and everything is running correctly now! THX for all the help!