How do I programmatically read the serial number of PXI controller or MXI board in LabVIEW?

[wireman]

I would like to programmatically read the serial numbef of any PXI controller or MXI board (either end) using LabVIEW. Anyone know how to do that? I found that there is an nismbus.dll, which I'm guessing is a system bus for the PXI controller or MXI controller, but I have only been able to read the bus slot or resource name with it. There is a DAQmx attribute that yields a serial number, but only for data acquisition boards- it doesn't know about the PXI controller or MXI boards.

[Wayne.C]

Try using RT Get Target Information.vi .  If memory serves correctly, use localhost instead of IP address when getting information about the target that this vi is running on.

[wireman]

Wayne,

Thanks, but I should have mentioned that our PXI controllers are not real time. Any other ideas?

[ZachAttack]

I'm getting a system set up so I can test if this is possible.  I'll keep you posted on my results.

Regards,

Zach C.

[Wayne.C]

wireman,

There should be a .ini file on computer that contains info about the chassis.  Might be called pxisys.ini or something similar.  Probably in the Windows directory.  If that's the case, you could write a vi to read the .ini and extract the information.

[ZachAttack]

wireman,

Unfortunately, I have been able to confirm that the serial number is not located in the pxisys.ini file.  I have also seen that the serial number of the controller cannot be extracted using the System Configuration Tools.  Are you able to check the serial number inside MAX when you highlight the controller in Devices and Interfaces?

[wireman]

Zach,

I noticed that the PXIe chassis serial number can be found in the pxiident.ini file (although this does not seem to be the case for PXI chassis) and this is of limited usefulness, but I was mostly looking for the PXI controller and MXI board serial numbers.

Neither the PXI controller nor the MXI cards appear in MAX, so I can not check for those serial numbers there.

Can you tell us if the any of the ni dlls (maybe nipxism.dll, or nipxisvc.dll) return the serial numbers for:

A) PXI controller (both PXI and PXIe)

B) MXI boards

C) PXI chassis (both PXI and PXIe)

-wireman

[wireman]

Let me modify my last statement. The PXI controller and Chassis show up in MAX, but there is no apparent way to view the serial numbers of either of them. The MXI board does not show up in MAX that I can see. Any other ideas?

[ZachAttack]

I was not able to see the serial number of a PXIe chassis in the pxiident.ini file.  This had the chassis serial number, but not the controller.  I have checked with the guys upstairs and there is no way to programmatically access the serial number of an embedded controller, MXI card, PXI, or PXIe chassis.  We're interested in knowing your end goal for needing to access the serial number programmatically.  This may turn into a suggestion that we implement.

Depending on what you're trying to accomplish, you could programmatically find the MAC address of these devices.  This could help if you're interested in this for inventory purposes.

I hope this information helps.

[Robert__R]

Regarding MXI boards:

The serial numbers for MXI boards aren't currently exported.  Some older designs don't even have the SN stored on the device.  PXIe boards do, and all the boards designed in the last few years.  Some (all PXIe boards and most PCIe) are accessible through extended config space (in a PCIe-defined register), but that's not directly accessible to you.

I've asked for it to be added, but I don't have a commitment for it yet.

- Robert