GPIB-VXI/C locks up

[JPLEng]

I have an GPIB-VXI that locks up when cards get bad commands.
The NI Measurement & Automation Explorer when scanned does not see it.
*IDN? does not work.

The controller shows a Green On-line light.
Only after doing a RESET does it come back.

The RS-232 Diag command gives various GPIB errors.

Any insight very helpful

Thanks

[craigherdman]

JPLEng,

Do you have one of the older GPIB-VXI cards or the more recent GPIB-VXI/C cards? I'm not sure if the older GPIB-VXI cards can be seen in MAX. The GPIB-VXI/C cards on the other hand can be seen in MAX as long as we have NI-VXI, NI-VISA, and NI-488.2 installed (I recommend the latest versions of these software). The best online resource for the GPIB-VXI/C is the following:

Troubleshooting the GPIB-VXI/C

Have you tried using HyperTerminal to configure your GPIB-VXI/C (see here).

Once we have established connection via the RS232 port Resman will run and configure the controller and the other boards in your chassis. We should then be able to go to MAX and open a VISA session (through VISAIC) to communicate with the boards (you can alternatively used IBIC as well). What sort of errors are you seeing? Has this board recently been failing?

Craig H.
NI Applications Engineering

[JPLEng]

Hi:

It is the GPIB-VXI/C. I'm talking to it both with MAX (via GPIB-Enet/100) and Labview Visas.
The symptom is that after sending multiple commands in series sometime a few sometimes
a couple, the board locks up and MAX give a "device did not respond error....). Only a RESET
clears it.
So how fast can i input a command and then send the next one. For example successive *IDN?. Every Second or
every 5 seconds, faster-slower?

I have attached the RS-232 to hyperterminal and then run DIAG.
it fails on Test Numbers 51-54, 56,58,61,62,75-79,81,85,95,137,141,142,143.
By the way is there more information then just the manual has on exactly what each test does and what
circuitry it effects? Could these test fails just by misconfiguring somehow?
Or do I have a bad board? Do you offer repair service if thats the case?

Thanks for all your help.

Alex

[craigherdman]

JPLEng,

Do you happen to know how old this GPIB-VXI/C is (I'd like to get my hands on the same one...there have been a few revisions...)? There shouldn't be a limit to how fast you can send commands since everything is regulated by the handshaking...I'm also not familiar with the DIAG command (I'll have to set one of these up and play with it) so I'm not sure which tests are performed etc. If we do determine that you have a bad board we can certainly send it back for repair.

One more thing...would it be possible to attach an NI-Spy capture of the failure? (http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/8D890EC09B15C05A86256E6F007E3E86?OpenDocument) If you haven't used NI-Spy it basically runs in the background and logs all NI driver-level calls...

Craig H.
NI Applications Engineering