TCP/IP Connection Randomly Disappears During a Long Test.

[JC54]

I am testing an RF transmitter at different temperatures, over and over again for 48 hours. I have scripted the measurement sequence in LabVIEW 2016 (current with all the updates), and running off of a Windows 7 PC, and controlling a Signal Analyzer, NI DAQ 6233, Power Meter, Freq Counter, Power Supply, Thermal Plate and a Receiver/BERT. Some of the instruments communicate with GPIB, but most of them use TCP/IP for VISA reads and writes. 98% of the time, everything runs smoothly, but every once in a while, after 20 hours of run time, I get an error message that says 

−1073807343

Insufficient location information or the device or resource is not present in the system.

After further investigation, it is always the receiver/BERT that has lost it's address and needs to have the power cycled and reset the static ip address manually. The Port number is still present, as it is configured as a raw data socket. NiMax will recognize it again only after resetting the instrument and ip address. I have attached the .vi that seems to be the problem, but I don't see anything wrong with it, perhaps another set of eyes will spot something. Thanks.

[JKarma]

Hello JC54:

Have you already saw this knowledge base?

Intermittent Error -1073807343 When Reading/Writing VISA to Serial Port

I saw that you receive the same error that is related to the root cause described in the Online Resource. I worth the try, in case this did not work, we can continue with the more in a deep inspection of the code.

[JC54]

Hi JKarma,

Thanks for the worthy suggestion. I followed the instructions on how to check versions of NI VISA and verified that I only have one version (16.0) on my system. Was definitely worth a try though.

[A1Penguin]

Just wondering if you ever solved this issue.  I too am having the same issue with an ethernet connected device.  Is is more like 99.99%  of the time that it responds correctly, but every so often during a long test I get the insufficient location information error.  It has been driving us crazy for years now.  We talk to the instrument a lot during the test, so I don't believe it is windows shutting down the port to save power as some solutions suggest. In any case, we have unchecked the appropriate box in windows but still have the issue.  

[rolfk]

Have you ever checked if there is a firmware update for the device? The error may seem to indicate that NI VISA has a problem, but more likely the device simply has stopped responding to any requests from the computer. It's not unheard of (in fact quite common) that some devices have been only tested to run for some brief amount of time and then the developer declares victory, but can't actually do a long duration test without having to be power cycled every so often.

[A1Penguin]

Hi Rolf,

Thanks for your reply.  The instrument in question is a Keysight 6700 series power supply.  We have updated the firmware on it to no avail.  Also, after this error, the instrument is usually back for the next read or write operation.  

[JC54]

Hi A1Penguin,

That problem I had was several years ago and it seemed to be caused by the quirky receiver I was using at the time. A short time later, the receiver completely died and the problem went away with a new receiver. However you mentioned the Keysight 6700 power supply, which I am also using and have had the same problem you describe. I found that I had a copy of the instrument drivers in 2 different locations, so I deleted one of the copies and it seems to have fixed the problem so far. I also upgraded my ethernet switch which may or may not be related.

[A1Penguin]

Hi JC54,

Thanks for your reply.  I do not think I have a driver issue because we send SCPI commands directly to the VISA Write and parse the data directly from the VISA Read VIs.   I am interested in the ethernet switch suggestion though.  Can I enquire what model you previously had and which one you are using now?

[JC54]

I had a Netgear FS105 switch and replaced it with a Cisco 10 port switch SG-350.