Re : Xantrex XTR and 850W IVI Driver issues

[elahetal]

Richard,

I solved the problem, finally my device worked, at least now I can communicate with the device, I back to you if I had more problems, Thanksssssssssss alot 

[elahetal]

Hi Richard,

I have a problem regarding the current limit, the maximum rated current/voltage for my device is 100A/8V  . But I am wondering why I can not increase the current limit more than 8. If I change it to higher I have Error -1074135024 occurred at XanXTR Configure Current Limit.vi

Possible reason(s):

Driver Status:  (Hex 0xBFFA0010) Invalid value for parameter or property.

Primary Error:(Hex 0xBFFC0011) Identification query failed.

The ID query is abled and I do not know what can be the problem.

Any help or hint would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ela 

[Riau]

Hi Ela,

quick like this I don't really know. It tell's me something... I believe the problem was related to the order I was putting the settings, my working method to configure my voltage (or current) in teststand is basically:

disable power >> set voltage >> set current limit >> set current limit behavior (0 for CC mode, 1 for voltage current trip)>> enable power (true or false parameter)

Check for OVP, not sure it would have any influence on the current limit (in the driver) but if the power is not set hi enough it might not cover your voltage*current settings.

another thing you might check to know if your blocked in the driver or by the psu. Put a sniffer on you're communication, on serial I use AccessPort and I can see everything that is sent to the psu.

typically a simple run will give me this:
49      [00000000]  IRP_MJ_CREATE                   Port Opened - SeqEdit.exe
50      [00000000]  IOCTL_SERIAL_SET_BAUD_RATE      Baud Rate: 9600
51      [00000000]  IOCTL_SERIAL_SET_LINE_CONTROL   StopBits: 1, Parity: No, DataBits: 8
52      [00000000]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0009, Data: STAT1:CLE
53      [00000000]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

54      [00000003]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0009, Data: SYST1:RES
55      [00000003]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

56      [00000187]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0018, Data: SOUR1:VOLT 24.0000
57      [00000187]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

58      [00000489]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0017, Data: SOUR1:CURR 1.0000
59      [00000489]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

60      [00000661]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0013, Data: OUTP1:STAT ON
61      [00000661]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

62      [00000768]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0011, Data: MEAS1:VOLT?
63      [00000768]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

64      [00000770]  IRP_MJ_READ                     Length: 0001, Data: 2
65      [00000770]  IRP_MJ_READ                     Length: 0008, Data: 3.99945

66      [00000936]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0014, Data: OUTP1:STAT OFF
67      [00000936]  IRP_MJ_WRITE                    Length: 0001, Data:

68      [00001294]  IRP_MJ_CLOSE                    Port Closed

if the SOUR1:CURR is not outputed before the error is given then it would mean there's some limits not well set inside the driver... it happens.

I will have a look later to see in the code for XTR100-8 is well set. Maybe the code was only made to cover lower current psu

regards,

Richard

[NathanT]

Hello Ela,

       I recommend that you stop using the XanXTR instrument driver and download the most up-to-date driver for your instrument from here.  After you have started using the new driver, please let us know if you run into any problems with ranges.

Cheers,

NathanT

[elahetal]

Hello NathanT,

Thanks for your output but if you have a look at my previous posts, you'll notice that I started to work with that drivers(DC850W) but using that even I couldn't enable the output!!! it doesn't worked for me and I couldn't find the problem until I found the driver Richard suggested and with taht at least my device works just I have problem with current limit.

if You have any suggestion please give me a thread.

Thanks

Ela 

[elahetal]

Dear NathanT,

I do not have drivers session under IVI category in MAX after installing the driver, you mentioned, and I couldn't find what is the problem, I followed your recommendation in  http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=140&message.id=37138&query.id=2186250#M37138  but it doesn't work for me, and I guess due to this problem I have the problems that I mentioned in previous posts, because of that I moved to the older version of the driver.

I have another problem with the older driver as well that I wrote previously, but the point is that when I acquire the "max current" and "max voltage " of the device with corresponding palette the limits are wrong, I mean for my device the current max is 100 and the voltage max is 8 but the result from acquiring is voltage 105 and current is 9!!!

I need your help please. 

[elahetal]

another point that may help:I made some changes and now

when I run each palette individually ,one after another i.e. initialize,  disable output, configure output voltage, configure output current, configure voltage level, enable output, measure,...  they act. but if I put them next to each other and run them I have the error that I mentioned before about timeout. I have no idea what to do next, please give me a hand, by the way session close doesn't work and have the same error 

[NathanT]

Hello Ela,

      The XTR driver has some problems with how it checks the current limits.  This should have been fixed in the 850W driver.  I recommend that you contact the vendor of the 850W for support.

      The driver session and software module in MAX are really only important if you are going to be using the IviDCPower class driver.  If this is the case, please create them manually.

       If you notice a difference in behavior when running each function individually and all in a row, I recommend adding some delays between the function calls when you run them in a row.  The instrument's slower response time might be causing the problem (especially if it is over serial).

       Please let us know what the vendor of the 850W has to say about this issue.

Cheers,

NathanT

[Riau]

Hi Ela,

might be a good idea to use latest driver like Nathan says.

But because I'm stubborn and am myself to use the xanxtr driver I looked into the source code.

I think you're problem is with the default settings of the drivers.

From what i've seen the driver doesn't detect the instrument model from the ID query. I've not seen the problem because the default settings fits well my use, by default settings are for a XTR 100-8.5 (100V,8.5A)

hopefully there is a note inside the driver about setting the model in InitWithOptions. To put the right model you'd add "&Model:XTR 8-100" to the line "DriverSetup=MCHADDR:1" so it would give you: "DriverSetup=MCHADDR:1&Model:XTR 8-100"

I've not tried it but I think its worth a try. The note says it for simulation but following the code I didn't see any else that set the model type.

Other than that the next solution would be to go back with the newer driver... but we've gone so far already!

Regards,

[elahetal]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for input,

I tried your suggestion but  I have error: Elaboration: Bad value for Model option in DriverSetup: XTR8_100,  even I tried the XTR100_8_5 which is the default set up according to the C source but again I have the same error, I tried different combination of writing the option string using the model but no result. As u said we've gone so far already with your driver so I prefer to find the solution for that, unfortunately the vendor costumer service is awful so I 'm looking for a way to solve this issue by myself asap. it is just a power supply that should provide a dc voltage part of my set up but has wasted my time much more than what I expected.

 Anyway, Thanks for helpful recommendation. It seems I should call them again.