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MAX does not see cRIO modules!

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Hello,

 

I have a cRIO-9073 and 3 C modules (9401, 9239, 9263) installed in slots 1 to 3 respectivly. I remember configuring the chassis correctly upon its arrival 2 months ago and I managed to acquire through a 9234 module. Now that the mentioned 3 C modules arrived I installed them and have a problem - nether MAX, nor the LabVIEW RT Scan Engine cannot see the modules. Attached are MAX.png and DiscoveryStatus.png to depict that. NI-RIO is version 4.00 and the corresponding set is completely downloaded to the cRIO. I do not comprehend the cRIO software concept yet but I am positive it is the same that used to work the first time I had tried it. The network is OK - host is 100.0.0.1, cRIO is 100.0.0.100 and they see each other.

 

I susspected that maybe specific drivers are required for these particular C moduels, but I cannot verify that from the software status.

 

Details fundamental to accepting and understanding the whole CompactRIO concept is scattered through lots of different documents and it is really hard for newbees to grasp it, thus debug/solve situations.

Does anyone have an idea what is causing my problem?

 

Thanks in advance,

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... and the FPGA project sees the C modules ?!? Anybody having a rational explanation?

 

thanks again,

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... and the FPGA project sees the C modules ?!? Anybody having a rational explanation?

 

thanks again,

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Message 3 of 17
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Currently, MAX does not display any cRIO modules connected to your controller

 

See this KB

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/69A8C4DD97BDED3B8625735D005BDF19

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Open up NI Distributed System Manager from the National Instruments fold and expand the ip address of your cRIO Do you see all 4 modules there?

 

Try removing the cRIO from the project then reading it as a target. LabVIEW should automatically add the new module to the Chassis. 

 

If it still doesn't show up you may need to reformat your cRIO and reinstall the software.

http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/7191

 

Kyle Hartley
Senior Embedded Software Engineer

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Kyle,

 

Thank you for helping me on this! Following is the actual HW configuration I am trying to go through the "Getting Started with CompactRIO and LabVIEW" document with:

 

chassis = cRIO-9073

slot 1    = NI-9401

slot 2    = NI-9239

slot 3    = NI-9263

 

As you may read in my initial posts I could not discover the C modules with the ScanEngine, but they showd up in the FPGA project. Today, after fixing the "chinese language issue" with the DistributedManager the situation is the following:

 

1. MAX.png

MAX says the chassis is present and equipped with latest software.

 

2. Distributed Manager.png

Distributed Manager sees the Slot2 module (NI-9239) as Mod1 (Slot1 where physically is NI-9401)!!!

 

3. C modules dIscovery...

Both PNGs show failure through both the RT and the FPGA projetcs' discovery processes.

 

I have even used 2 different cross-cables - no change. Do you have an idea on what to do? - I really have to get this working.

 

Thanks in advance,

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Kyle,

 

I have tried the sbRIO-9632 with the same ethernet cable and both the FPGA and the RT projects discover its built in C modules (9205 & 9263). Also, all 3 C modules (the precvious 2 along with the 9401) appear immediately within an USB cDAQ chassis.

 

I'd really like to avoid sending the cRIO-9073 back, can you please suggest a more precise diagnostics?

 

Thank you again,

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Kyle,

 

The complete reset (HW & SW) solved the issue. Now I ssupect it was a memory issue - is it possible? I have attached bot the sbRIO and the cRIO SW configurations with respective RAM and Disk status. It appears very low on the cRIO if I install the WEB Services and associated software modules.

 

What is the purpose of the RAM, and what of the Disk? - Where is my code stored, and where my data? Can I do anything useful with only those 7Mb free memory? I need references to understand what can I do with the cRIO-9073. If RAM is an issue,  how can I use that optional functionality yet having most of the RAM for my code?

 

I appologize for all those posts and again thank you in advance,

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Golubovski,

 

Glad to hear you got it working. Looking at you're first reply I noticed that the Memory and Disk space were at 0 MB. I noticed originally that there was a bunch of the optional software loaded onto the cRIO. If you do need all those features then you may want to look at a cRIO with more memory. Otherwise it should work fine. The root cause was probably just the lack of free ram space on the controller. So the controller probably swapped out a bunch of memory space and eventually because there was so much background software running that it locked up. Usually no one project requires all that software. If you are planning on using the web services do you need the remote panel server? Do you need a away for the user to interact with the cRIO device itself or can you use a program running on a PC to send values to the cRIO? These are just some ways you can conserve memory while still providing the functionality you want. 

 

I set up a controller here (cRio 9075 with 124 MB Total Memory) with a similar configuration to your last screen shot and the software is indeed taking up that much memory space. Since I have an extra 64 MB, approximately, I have about 77 MB of free memory. The trade off being there is this cRIO only has 217 MB of Total Disk space.

 

Memory and Disk should be approached the same as with any computer. Memory is the workspace for your program while Disk space acts as the harddrive for storing information permanently (between reboots). You code is stored on the disk but when it's executing it is loaded into memory. There are ways around how much code is loaded into memory by using dynamic calls to subvi's. Even 1 MB Memory is quite a bit of code space. Of course data is usually what we care about which can easily fill up those 7 MB. You will need to balance how much code is running with how much data is loaded into ram. If you just want to log data for an extended period of time, you can write it out to the disk space so that you leave enough memory space for your program to run and collect new samples. One issue that can occur if to much memory is being used the network communications can drop because the priority for networking is very low compared to collecting a new sample of data.

 

You may want to try offloading a lot of your processing to another device such as your computer. Say if your project is performing a FFT on a signal that you are sampling, does it provide any feedback to the controller or are you just gathering the data on the signal? You could pass the data back with network shared variables and have a separate program running on your computer to process the data. 

 

We do offer other cRIO that have more memory space (up to 2 GB with a quick search) if you don't want to worry about memory space and need all those software modules installed, then maybe you do need a cRIO with more space but If all you need is gathering data constantly without worrying about the operating deciding it needs to reboot then you have chosen the correct device. 

 

No need to apologize. We are here to help and to ensure our customers are successful. If you have any questions feel free to post in the forums. There are a lot of application engineers who will gladly help in any way we can.

 

Have a great week.

 

Kyle Hartley
Senior Embedded Software Engineer

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Kyle,

 

Thank you so much! - You helped me clear up my "issues" on this topic. I'd (ab)use your attention once more if you allow...

 

1. Software set add-ons

The problem is that allthough I recognize most of these options I do not understand what each of them is intended for, or if I do for a group - I am not able to distinguish all of group's components. For example [LabVIEW RT Add-ons] - it has 8 options, some named self-explanatory yet some I can't recognize (like "SSL Support for LabVIEW RT 4.0.0" - isn't this within the networking field?). The [Network I/O] has 4 options:

 

Must I install "Network Streams 1.1" to be able to use the corresponding LV protocol?

Must I install the "Network Variable Engine 1.8.0" to be able to use Netowrk Shared Variables?

What is the "Variable Client Support for LabVIEW RT 1.8.0" intended for?

Can I use cRIO in RT mode without the [NI Scan Engine]->"NI-RIO IO Scan 2.0.1"

 

2. The COM port on cRIO-9073

Can I use the VISA or Serial VIs to control the COM port without the [Protocols and Buses]->"NI-Serial RT 3.8.0"? I ask this because I don't know whether cRIO looks at its COM port as a standard PC would, or is it in fact the NI Serial hawrdware embedded into this cRIO.

 

3. Web Features

I would like at some point to access the cRIO via its WEB interface (and you are right - not via the obsolete Remote Panels) - which of the 7 options would be a MUST for that?

 

4. VIs file size & RAM it takes

Understandable the data VIs expand/use/append/etc. cannot be forseen but there has to be a starting point in estimating the RAM the cRIO should have as minimum with regartds to the intended application. In other words, how to make a raugh preliminary estimation given the VIs, and all the non-mandatory options they require?

 

My typical application I would use with a cRIO!

I'd use it where no PC is required. If a already have a PC there to do the DAQ, logging, DSP and netowrking I cannot imageine "my" type of situation that would additionally require cRIO. So, I'd use cRIO to acquire and log, and to monitor for alarming conditions that need attention and dealing with. I'd use the COM port to send specific data/alarms via GPRS/EDGE and/or ethernet to stream data or publish via netowrk shared variables. BTW, how do I access the disk on cRIO-9073, is it the famous U: drive?

 

I am a complete begginer in cRIO so feel free to treat me as a "six year old".

 

Thanking you in advance, I look forward to hearing from you again,

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