FieldPoint - FP-100 Serial Module: enable watchdog programmatically

[lgk]

It appears to me that the enabling of the watchdog timer on the FP-100 must be done in MAX, rather than through the use of an IAK file, is this true? I have tried to setup an IAK file that includes the setting of both the Current and Power-up settings to Enable, but the use of the IAK with a new FP-100 module did not result in the watchdog being enabled. I would like to have either the IAK file force the watchdog on or to be able to do it from my LabVIEW application. That would eliminate the need for our shop technician to have to manually enable it on every unit we ship (it's also a problem if the FP module must be replaced in the field).

I've also found that my IAK file almost always is reported as not agreeing with the settings on the FP-100 module when first accessing the module after starting MAX. This is very frustrating; I set up the configuration, hit the Appy buttons, hit the Snapshot button (why did you ever misname it "Snapshot"? how about "write to non-volatile memory on FP device"?), exit MAX, saving the changes to the IAK file - but when I restart MAX (by double-clicking the IAK file) and access the FP device, I get a message telling me that the file doesn't match the device settings. My MAX version is 3.0.1.3005, is there a newer one with a fix?

[Otis]

The only way to configure an iak file is in MAX. And you must configure network watchdogs in MAX. You can configure module watchdogs in an RT FieldPoint controller; however, they are implemented differently and have more to do with making sure values are in their proper ranges.

You can try to get a newer version of MAX by downloading the latest version of NI-DAQ. I believe the version of MAX with this driver is 3.1.1.3004. However, this version of MAX has not renamed the button to the suggested "write to non-volatile memory on FP device".

[Aaron_G]

Snapshot is not misnamed, but it is being mis-used in your case. The problem that you are running into is that there are two ways to configure the power-up (and watchdog) settings on FieldPoint systems via MAX and you are doing both of them, which is resulting in different settings.

Method 1: Configuration, (preferred for your case):
1) Configure the watchdog (current & power-up) to enabled with your desired timeout settings.
2) Enable the watchdog on any IO modules desired.
3) Enable the watchdog on any channels desired.
4) Set the watchdog value for any channels desired.
5) Repeat steps 2-4 for all modules/channels desired.
6) Apply the settings.
7) To reproduce for other duplicate systems, hook the new system to the serial port in place of the old one, go into each module configuration and when given the dialog about use File or Module, choose File. Repeat for all modules. Note: Theoretically, in a newer version, there was going to be a better duplicating method. I believe but have not confirmed that this newer method may be in FieldPoint 4.1.

Method 2: Snapshot, (easy method but does not have desired effect for watchdog):
1) Set the current output values on any channels to the desired power-up value.
2) Click Snapshot. This takes a "snapshot" of the current value of all channels and saves it as the power-up value for each channel.

Method 3, Programmatic (ignores FieldPoint MAX interface): You can alternately create a program that sets all the watchdog and power-up settings programmatically using the Optomux protocol. To do this, refer to the FP-1000/1001 Programmers Reference Manual. The Optomux Commands are encapsulated as LabVIEW VIs and are in the NI Measurements>>FieldPoint>>Advanced>>Serial Configuration>>FieldPoint Extended Optomux palette.
Commands that you will want are, !f, !g, !h, !i, !j, !k, !l, !Q, !R, !S, !T, !V. Again, refer back to the FP-1000/1001 Programmers Reference Manual for more information on these commands.

Regards,
Aaron

Edit for spell check

Message Edited by Aaron G on 05-31-2005 09:16 PM

[lgk]

I believe that I have found the source of the confusion regarding the WatchDog Timer (WDT) on the FP-1000.

I setup the WDT in MAX using Aaron's Method 1. The Bank Configuration was [Current - Enabled, 5000 ms / Power-up - Disabled, 0 ms]. I applied the settings (did not touch Snapshot!), exited MAX, and then ran my LabVIEW v6.1 application. I created the WDT situation (stopped the application with the machine running) and the WDT shut down the machine after 5 seconds. I then did a power reset on the FP-1000 and recreated the WDT situtation, but there was no shut down after 5 seconds.

Upon re-entering MAX, I was warned that the file and device settings didn' t match.

File settings: Bank Configuration was [Current - Enabled, 5000 ms / Power-up - Disabled, 0 ms]

Device settings: Bank Configuration was [Current - Disabled, 0 ms / Power-up - Disabled, 0 ms]

Just for fun, I set the Bank Configuration to [Current - Enabled, 3000 ms  / Power-up - Enabled, 5000 ms ], applied the settings, exited MAX, ran my application, and created the WDT situation. The WDT stopped the machine after 3 seconds. I then reset the power on the FP-1000 and recreated the WDT situation. The WDT stopped the machine after 5 seconds. I cycled the power again and got the same result, the WDT stopped the machine after 5 seconds.

Upon re-entering MAX, I was warned that the file and device settings again didn' t match.

File settings: Bank Configuration was [Current - Enabled, 3000 ms / Power-up - Enabled, 5000 ms ]

Device settings: Bank Configuration was [Current - Enabled, 5000 ms  / Power-up - Disabled, 0 ms]

So, the FP-1000 runs with the applied settings until a power reset, then it operates with the Power-up values shifted to the Current fields and the Power-up fields zeroed. I found the same behavior with both FieldPoint v4.0.1 and v4.1 drivers. However, I wasn't able to run my application with the v4.1 drivers. I observed the shifting of the Power-up values to Current, etc. via MAX. My application failed with v4.1 because it couldn't find a FieldPoint Server .dll (no name - just ".dll") and so the FP.Open.vi failed to run. Not sure what's going on there, I told FieldPoint on installation to skip the LabVIEW v7.x support but to install the v6.1 support - it acts like it ignored my command, installed v7.x and skipped v6.1 (or perhaps installed neither one?).