[CRIO] Powering CRIO for the first time

[ecw]

Hello,

I am trying to power cRIO-9074 out of its box, however, the status light continues blinking.
There is nothing else connected to the integrated chassis--there is no module, no ethernet
cable, no serial connection. All of the switches are at the OFF position. V is connected to 24V.
C is connected to 0V. The power light is on, but the status light is blinking.

What should I do next to test the controller?

- Thank you.

[JMota]

Hi,

The status light may blink for several reasons that are documented in the controller's manual, such as unconfigured (no ip address), safe mode or no software installed.

I suggest you go through the Getting Results with CompactRIO tutorial to get you started with the platform (steps 6 and 7 of the Configuring the Hardware section should help you setup your controller to communicate with a host computer - you just need to make sure you have already installed NI-RIO on your host computer).

http://digital.ni.com/manuals.nsf/websearch/55ECA798EC7EDA3F8625717F00610168

Hope this helps.

JMota

[ecw]

The status light flashes continuously indicating that the chassis has "detected an unrecoverable error," and I should contact National Instruments.

I followed the Configuring the Hardware upto step 7. In step 7, I set the chassie to Safe Mode, powered it on, and launched MAX. In step 7c, the manual asks me to select Remote Systems>>0.0.0.0 in the Configuration Plane. But there is nothing under Remote Systems (see screenshot)

Screenshot

The chassis is connected directly to a computer using a crossover cable. Here are some more questions that I can't tell whether they are relevant:

o When the chassis is powered on the first time, does it require an ethernet connection to power on properly? Should I expect that it is required the first time, but after it is configured, the ethernet connection is optional?

o Can LabVIEW 8.2.1 (not Real-Time) communicate with the chassis? For configuring the hardware, is MAX the only software needed?

o Are modules required to test a proper power on?

- Thank you


Message Edited by ecw on 08-06-2008 11:45 AM

Message Edited by ecw on 08-06-2008 11:49 AM

[JMota]

That's no good that you have the status light blinking continuously. That seems to indicate there is something really wrong with the system.  Do you get the same continuous blinking after booting the system in safe mode? If not, then make sure you don't have any firewalls on your host computer that might prevent the communication to the controller. The crossover cable should work, but you can also try to connect it to a hub or switch in your local subnetwork.

In any case, the next troubleshooting I would suggest you do try before calling National Instruments is to see the output console of the controller. You do this by following these steps (as described in the 9074 Operating Instructions manual, I think):

+ Attach a null modem cable to the chassis and connect the other end to your host computer
+ Push the console out switch to the ON position
+ Open a serial-port terminal (such as hyperterminal) on the host and configure it for (usually these are the default settings for serial-port terminals):  9,600 baud rate, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control.
+ Reboot the controller

At this point you should see some information showing up in the console of what's going on. Please post that information so we can provide more help.

If you don't have access to a null modem cable and the status led flashes continuously even when in safe mode, then I would call NI to report the problem, as the 9074 you have might be non-functional.


>o When the chassis is powered on the first time, does it require an ethernet connection to power on properly? Should I expect that it is required the first time, but after it is configured, the ethernet connection is optional?

The ethernet connection is optional if you have configured the chassis to use a static IP. If configured to use DHCP, the controller will keep trying to obtain an IP from the DHCP server and will eventually fail.


>o Can LabVIEW 8.2.1 (not Real-Time) communicate with the chassis? For configuring the hardware, is MAX the only software needed?

Depends on the type of configuration. For network configuration, software installation and being able to set a few settings of the chassis, you only need to install MAX and NI-RIO


>o Are modules required to test a proper power on?

They are not.

[ecw]

After disabling the firewall, I can see the device. I am using a crossover cable. At the moment the Status light is constantly on. The chassis is in Safe Mode.

[ Device 0.0.0.0 appears but with a cross | VISA error ]

I tried to use the serial cable to get see the Console Out. But I couldn't tell whether the device was not outputing anything or that my connection was wrong. At the moment I don't recognize any method to verify that my serial connection is working to tell whether the chassis is outputing anything. Is there a simple way to test whether a serial connection is properly set?

I really appreciate your help. I would just like you to know that since I have never setup a connection like this, I am literally following only the instruction on the manual. I did not do anything that is not explicitly stated (such as disabling the firewall).

- Thank you

[JMota]

If you can see the device in MAX, then I think something is not quite right with your setup. Are you using a regular serial cable or a null modem serial cable? It needs to be a null modem cable for things to work.

In any case, since you are already seeing the controller in MAX, you should now be able to do the rest of the things mentioned in the manual (setup network settings, install software, ...).

Good luck.

[ecw]

I have just realized that the Status LED had been repeatedly blinking once, which is just telling me to configure the chassis.

Now I have configured the Network setting, but I couldn't install software.

[ Error 56: timeout ]

I found this page from NI, and made the Gateway IP and DNS Server IP to blank. But Error 56 remains when I try to Add/Remove Software.

The Chassis is not running in Safe Mode. The Status LED is off.

[JMota]

This is a tricky/tough one. Those timeout problems can be hard to troubleshoot. Here are a few things you can try:

+ Make sure the cRIO chassis and the network adapter it is connected to the PC are in the same subnetwork
+ Try connecting your controller using a hub or a switch to your computer
+ Try connecting your controller to the same subnetwork as your host computer and configure it to use DHCP
+ If you are using a host computer with multiple network adapters (e.g. wireless and ethernet), try turning off the one(s) that are not connecting to the cRIO
+ Reboot your host computer
+ Reboot the controller
+ Are you running VmWare on your PC? I believe there are some issues related to it
+ Add NIMax to the exceptions of your firewall
+ See if there are any extra firewall settings that may be interfering with the communication to the controller.

good luck!

[Sorooshster]

Hi ecw,

Without reading every detail of this post it sounds like you need to reformat the cRIO controller and then install the software.  First, disconnect the cRIO from your computer and then delete it from MAX by right clicking on it and selecting delete.  This will cause MAX to find it again when you reconnect.  Exit out of MAX so that it clears all of its reference memory.  Now connect to the cRIO with a cross-over cable to your computer, launch MAX and you should see it in MAX like you mentioned in a previous post.  MAX should automatically detect it.  Once you can see it in MAX, put the dip switch for SafeMode to ON and press the reset button to reboot the controller in SafeMode.  In MAX, right click on the cRIO and select "Format Disk".  This only take a minut or two.  Then, click on the button to add software to the controller and select one of the software options.  I recommend the full software set.  Once software is installed, switch it out of safe mode and reboot the controller.  It should then show-up in MAX.  If it does not auto-detect when you do this, try putting the reset IP dipswitch to ON and resetting the controller.  It should give you all zero's for your IP address and it should show up in MAX.  Put in a valid IP address (if your connected to your computer directly just put an IP address that is different from your computers address).  Then, turn the IP Reset dip switch back off and reset the controller.  When it reboots you should see it with the new IP in MAX and you can proceed to boot it in safe mode and format the disk and reload the software.  Sorry you've had so much trouble getting started, if this is not clear please reply back and we'll do our bet to keep helping you.  Also, if you have support service with NI you might want to just call in and talk with an Applications Engineer directly.  Thanks and have a great day.

[ecw]

After formatting the disk, there is no button to add software. The chassis is listed as unconfigured. What should I put to configure it?

[ the options after formatting ]

Before, I clicked on suggest values, then removed values for the Gateway and DNS Server.
When I click Apply, there is a pop-up message saying that the target and the Gateway are on different subnets.
So I set the Subnet Mask to 0.0.0.0 and click Apply. After a minute, an error message pops up saying that MAX
timed out.

[ MAX time out ]

I click OK and max would ask me to reboot. However, at this point the device would not finish rebooting.
The Software option appears but is not functional.

So it seems that the problem is setting the right values to configure after formatting.