Trouble Connecting to cRIO-9074

[Chnkv]

Hello

A bit of a newbie but I am having trouble connecting to my cRIO 9074.

So NI max does show that my cRIO is connected:

But when I got add/remove software I get this error. I also cannot connect to the target when I initiate a cRIO project. I think I have all the right softwares which are compatible with cRIO 9074. Does anyone have any suggestion as to what I should try next to be able to get this up and running?

[AustinManinTown]

How is the network setup between the host PC and cRIO? If something is changing/translating the IP address (e.g. NAT, proxy server), you may well have issues once you have initially connected.

As a starting point, connect the cRIO directly to the host PC. If that works and you can communicate with the cRIO-9074 correctly, it is probably a network configuration issue. That will probably require a conversation with the network admins. 

[Chnkv]

Thanks for the reply! I have a crossover cable that I am using right now..is there any other way of connecting 'directly'?

[AustinManinTown]

If you want to eliminate the crossover cable, use a network switch. Later cRIOs do not require a crossover cable. I don't recall if the 9074 supports this functionality.

[AndyClegg]

We've just been having trouble setting up a cRIO for network connectivity, and have this sort of limited functionality - i.e. being able to see in MAX, but other things not working. Ours is a connection over a VPN and we could connect locally, so what we did to fix probably doens't apply. But the following may help - as there are subtle places the networking can go wrong:

• The correct sw versions for LV and cRIO firmware is really important:
  • https://www.ni.com/en-gb/support/documentation/compatibility/09/software-support-for-compactrio--com... - for 9074 - shows up to LabVIEW 2019 and the cRIO firmware needs to be up to v19.6
  • Check what OS version you have Windows 10 - I thnk most of the stuff relates to 32 bit windows, and 64 bit windows may have some issues (not sure - worth you looking at more if that is the case)
• Have a look at the manual to figure out how you can disable apps on start up (a DIP switch - "NO APP") - just in case there is something running automatically on startup that isn't correct. Also, check CPU usage on DSM (Distributed System Manager) in case it is really high - indicating an application is running and hogging CPU.
• The manual should explain how to start up in DHCP (dynamic IPs, perhaps "IP RESET" DIP switch - this restores to factory default - so only use if that is what you want to do) which may help if you have inheritted a crio with IP settings already configured - and that also includes the gateway, dns, subnet. These older cRIOs don't have a USB connection which can be useful to reset network settings when they go wrong - there is a console through the RS232 but that is a bit old fashioned / awkward to use.
• I assume you have the IP settings so the two devices should be able to see each other, same IP range and correct/common subnet mask. Try setting the gateway and dns to blank if you are just running on a local network or directly connected.
• Make sure NI webservices is running on your PC (this maybe an old thing - I am referring to an old troubleshooting list we keep - but for similar vintage of cRIO as 9074)
• There is an alias file for IP settings on the cRIO that may have different values to what you are trying to use
• I presume you are using the correct ethernet socket (there are two on 9074) - they have different functionality (can't remember what) and it may be important to be using the correct one. I'm not 100% sure, but think to add to confusion the LAN port "1" on the cRIO is "eth0" in MAX - but I could be wrong.
• Turn off your firewall on your PC - just to check if that is giving problems and it if it you can then start working out how to have firewall on and allow connection. One of the things we had recently was an operating system pop up to enable comms through the firewall - but I think the default was to only allow it through Private networks but Public network access was disabled - or something like that. Worth a quick check.

[AndyClegg]

One final thing in our troubleshooting list is to do a reinstall of the LV RT firmware on cRIO - which is not as dramatic as it sounds. But it sounds like you cant do the Add/Remove Software in MAX that allows that to happen.

[Chnkv]

Hey thanks for the detailed reply! I finally got time to look into this. I will keep you updated!