MAX cannot find cRIO ethernet card

[chembo]

I am trying the streamline the configuration process for a CompactRIO 9024 controller without any I/O modules. The PC used for configuration has Windows 7 Pro, Max 5.1, and 3 network cards: #1 connected to company’s network (IP via DHCP), #2 with static IP 192.168.192.226 and #3 with static IP 192.168.1.1

The goal is to set the primary cRIO network card to 192.168.192.227 and the secondary to 192.168.1.1, and upload a system image using the NI’s Replication and Deployment Tool.

First I was connecting the cRIO’s primary network card to PC’s card #2 which is used later for software deployment and functional test. MAX can see the cRIO controller, shows the IP 168.xxx.xxx.xxx and reports that it is connected in safe mode, which is true. Unfortunately the ‘Network Settings’ tab cannot find any Ethernet adapters, so I cannot change the IP address to static, etc… (I don’t have a screen shot, but I can take one when we configure one of the next systems).

Well, I found a workaround. When I connect the primary cRIO network card to company’s network, the controller gets the IP address from the DHCP sever (10.xxx.xxx.xxx) and I can change it to static 192.168.192.227. Then I can switch the cables, connect the cRIO to PC’s card #2 and complete the rest of the configuration (attached is MAX screen shot of a fully configured CompactRIO).

The problem is that the workaround adds steps in the configuration process and makes it more difficult, so I am trying to avoid this

Any ideas why MAX cannot see cRIO’s network cards when I use PC’s card #2 with static IP?

[Zach-H · Accepted solution]

Another option for you would be to reassign the PC #2 network card IP address to something in the range 169.254.X.X. (subnet 255.255.0.0) Since there is no DHCP network on the local subnet the cRIO-9024 is going to default to a link local address as described in its manual:   

"The controller automatically attempts to connect to the network using
DHCP. If DHCP is not available, the controller connects to the network
with a link-local IP address with the form 169.254.x.x."

Then assign it to the IP addresses you want, and change the PC #2 network card back to its original IP, after rebooting the controller.

[chembo]

Hi Zach, this will probably work. I just need to create a small script for selecting and changing the IP address with a mouse click. When we need to configure 10 or more systems in a row it is better to have some automation.

I still don't get why MAX connects and shows the controller when we use the second network card with IP 192.168.192.226. So the connection itself works, but the network settings (in MAX) don't work. I will post the exact MAX error message when we get the next system.

Thank you, Nick

[Zach-H]

For full functionality through MAX the cRIO needs to be on a valid subnet of the host machine's network. In this case your cRIO's are coming online at 169.254.X.X addresses with a subnet of 255.255.0.0, while your host is at a 192.168.192.226, with (I'm guessing) at least a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0 restricting it to IP's in the range 192.X.X.X (if its not more restricted). While the 169.254.X.X is a valid IP, its not on a valid subnet to communicate with your network card.  Similar to what you see in MAX, you'll notice you're able to ping the controller, but even windows will return "Destination host unreachable," although 0 packets were lost.