Acquisition with PXIe-6349, 6366, 6368, and 6369 via NI-MAX always fails

[frankjc]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to all of these products, so I'm hoping somebody can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I'm using NI-MAX along with NI-DAQmx (and companion software) all of the latest release with updates through yesterday afternoon on Windows 10 (also latest updates).

I have a PXIe-1084 chassis, connected to the Windows host using PCI/PXIe-8381 bus extenders.

In the 1084 chassis I have these NI cards:

• PXIe-6349
• PXIe-6366
• PXIe-6368
• PXIe-6396
• PXIe-6509
• PXIe-4305

I am setting up voltage acquisition tasks using NI-MAX with an arbitrary collection of a0-a(n) analog input channels.   Apart from the channels, I have left everything else as defaults in the tasks.   When I run the tasks with the 4305 it works fine -- nothing is connected but I get a nice graph of noise.   

However, when I try to do the same thing with any of the 63xx cards, it always results in a "DAQ Assistant Error" that says (details):

Error -50152 occurred at DAQ Assistant

Possible Reason(s):

A hardware failure has occurred.  The operation could not be completed as specified.

Now, if I change the "Acquisition Mode" from the default of "N Samples" to "1 Sample (On Demand)" it does not get any error and runs forever.

Questions:

1. Do the PXIe-63xx support "N Samples" acquisition mode?
2. If so, is there some other configuration item(s) that I need to configure (e.g., triggering, advanced timing) for that mode to work?
3. If it's just a configuration problem, is there a quick & dirty example configuration that I could try to see it work?
4. What is the difference that allows the 4305 to work in the "N Samples" mode with defaults versus the 63xx cards?

Thanks,

Frank

[ZYOng]

Your scenario is pretty complicated due to the fact that you are using MXI remote controller. Please note that using a third-party host does not guarantee the system to work properly because NI does not have control over the BIOS of a third-party system.

My recommended next steps:

Use the Test Panel to see if you can use the N Sample mode. Using Test Panels in Measurement & Automation Explorer for Devices Supported by NI-DAQmx

If the above works, test with the shipping examples. Forget about the DAQ Assistant.

Learn 10 Functions in NI-DAQmx and Handle 80 Percent of Your Data Acquisition Applications

NI-DAQmx Example Locations for LabVIEW and Text-Based in Windows

If the above does not work, I am afraid that you need to troubleshoot your MXI system. I guess your host PC does not handle the DMA transfer properly hence a error when using N samples only. I will start with removing all modules and try using only one device at a time. You might want to go thru all the steps in MXI-Express Compatibility and Connectivity Troubleshooting Guide as well.

[frankjc]

Thanks for the information.  That's not what I was hoping for -- I was hoping that I was just doing something wrong!  

Now, I did the test panels for all of the PXIe-63xx and the PXIe-4305.   The PXIe-4305 worked in all acquisition modes.

All of the PXIe-63xx cards only worked in "On Demand" acquisition mode and failed in "Finite" or "Continuous" with the same error that I received previously.   However, I did encounter another issue.   The self test for my PXIe-6366 fails with that specific error (-50152).

So I think that I need to do some troubleshooting and potentially might have to engage NI support.   This equipment is all brand new.   I literally unboxed it a couple weeks ago and just got around to playing with it this week.

Now, for your recommendation of "Forget about the DAQ Assistant", I'm actually happy to do that!   However, I don't have a LabView license.  I have LabWindows/CVI and I'm tasked with writing acquisition code for all of these boards.   During the past week, I've gotten pretty familiar with the API but I'm still just playing around with it.   In fact, just yesterday, I used the DAQmx API to execute the PXIe-4305 task that I created in NI-MAX and output to a TDMS spreadsheet.

I'm just learning all of this stuff, starting about 3 weeks ago!   So I was hoping to be able to go back and forth between the NI-MAX and DAQmx API with tasks and global channels.

In any case, I am going to start troubleshooting that PXIe-6366 at minimum.   BTW, the host computer is a Dell 3930 which is also brand new and fairly high-end but I'm not sure about compatibility TBF.

So thanks again for your help and I will post updates if/when I have new results, etc.

[ZYOng · Accepted solution]

Some additional links for you to get started with DAQmx in CVI

Using NI-DAQmx in LabWindows/CVI

Can't Find NI-DAQmx Examples for LabWindows/CVI

Unfortunately, most likely you are stuck with the MXI compatibility issue. Whether the host PC is new or high-end does not have a significant impact but the design of the BIOS plays an important role. What you can try as a next step is to install the MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility. See the readme for the instruction. It does not guarantee a fix but might mitigate your issue. Good luck.

[frankjc]

So you were right!  I have installed the MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility software, set the PCIe-8381 to Mode 1 (via dip switch), and retried all of the test panel tests on the PXIe-63xx cards that I have.

I do have a remaining issue.   First, I neglected to mention that prior to installing the compatibility software, all attempts to execute self-calibrate for the PXIe-63xx devices failed as well.   Now, after installing the compatibility software, I am able to successfully self-calibrate all of the cards.

And, interestingly enough, even the PXIe-6366 that still fails the self-test! If I execute self-test from NI-MAX it fails with that same error code as before.   Also, if I open the test panel for the 6366, it tells me that it fails the self-test and asks if I want to continue.   If I tell it to continue, the device is able to successfully perform acquisitions in any of the modes (include "finite" and "continuous" which previously failed).

Are there additional troubleshooting steps that I should do for the PXIe-6366 or should just engage NI support?

[ZYOng]

Again, using a third-party host PC with an MXI controller is not guaranteed. It does not mean that it will not work. It might work partially and NI does not have control on that. You can try reaching out to NI technical support for further advice but IMHO, I think that there is nothing much they can do.

It is up to you to decide if you want to stick with this "strange" behavior. At least the functionality of sample clocked acquisition is still working.

[frankjc]

BTW, just as a follow-up on this thread.   I went through troubleshooting with NI support.   The PXIe-6366 is indeed bad.   After I removed the NVidia graphics card, moved the PCIe-8381 to another slot, I was able to remove the MXI BIOS Compatibility software.   I was sent another PXIe-6366 (from another branch office where I work) and it works fine with or without the MXI BIOS Compatibility software.