Need Motherboard advice for setting desktop as RT target

[Samax70]

    Hello,

I am looking to turn a PC Desktop into a LabVIEW RT target and have run into a bit of a problem.
One of the requirements in NI Knowldage Base article sates the motherboard has to have the PCI BIO option or it will not work.
This feature is not something commonly listed in motherboard specs and I am having a devil of a time finding one with these features.
Has anyone setup a desktop as a Real Time target that can recommend what motherboard was used.

Thanks,

Andrew

[dan_u]

Hi Andrew

As the KB article states, it's not easy to find out whether a motherboard has that feature. What we did is just try. We used 4 different boards until now (LabVIEW 7.1) and they all worked without problems. One of them is the ASUS P4P800-SE.
The only thing is, the ethernet chipsets supported by LV RT are quite limited. So usually you'll need an "Intel Pro/100 S" PCI ethernet card.

Regards, Daniel
 

[NathanT]

Samax70,
        Here is another good Knowledge Base Article that has a real-time validation utility attached with instructions on how to use it.

Thanks,

Nathan

[Samax70]

Thank you so much guys, I really apprecite the help.
Would it me to much to ask what are some of the other motherboards that you were able to setup successfully?
Again thanks for all the help!!

-Andrew

[dan_u]

Other boards we used:
Intel D915GEVL
Intel D865GLC

The fourth I don't remember, but these are all quite old (in computer terms, i.e. 1-2 years) boards. The ASUS is the most recent one although I think it's also already replaced with a new series. What these boards have in common is they all have socket 775, although that is not a requirement.
Motherboards aren't that expensive, and you might even find a deal with your shop that you might replace the board if it doesn't work. So I would just give it a try...

Edit:
One more thing... buy one of these "old" IDE hard drives as SATA isn't supported. It might be possible to enable legacy IDE mode for SATA in BIOS, but to be on the safe side it's better to use IDE.

About the validation tool: the problem is you need the hardware to validate it. But if you already have the hardware you can as well try to set it up with the format disk.

Good luck
Daniel

Message Edited by dan_u on 09-14-2006 02:48 PM

[dan_u]

The last boards we used are ASUS P5P800-SE. Small problem there. It's recommended to switch off USB on RT systems as this can cause jitter. But disabling USB leads to an unbootable PC due to a BIOS error (when disabling USB, it detects USB overcurrent!). Once you have that error, the only way out is to reset the BIOS (see manual).
There's a BIOS update available which fixes this issue. With this BIOS update the board works fine.

[Samax70]

    Thanks so much for all the help, it has really made this process alot easier. I have had god luck with ASUS Mb's in the past so I think I am going to try that route first. Thanks for all the advice and the help!!.

Best Regards,

Andrew

[NelsonO]

 Hello,

I find myself in the shoes as Andrew.  I am looking to turn a PC Desktop into a LabVIEW RT target.  With 5 useable PCI slots since I will be adding 5 NI PCI IO cards.  If the ethernet chip on the motherboard is not usable then I would need 6 PCI slots to accomodate the need of the NI PCI-8232 card.  I am currently using LabVIEW 8.2.

I am looking at the ASUS P5 motherboard suggested.  One of the requirements in NI Knowldage Base article states that Intel P4 CPU is supported.  The Asus motherboard wil take a P5 CPU.  Will the P5 CPU work?

Also, was there any problems with using the LAN port or the NI PCI-8232 have to be used?

Thanks,

Andrew

[dan_u]

Hi Andrew
It's gonna be difficult to find a board with 5 PCI slots. The P5P800 SE has 4 of them.
The good thing is, this board has an Intel 82540 ethernet chipset which is supported by LabVIEW RT.
What you mean P5 CPU? I think there aren't any P5 CPUs. The board has socket 775. On this socket you can put Pentium 4 CPU as well as Pentium D or Core2Duo. For the RT system, don't use dual core CPUs, so go for a P4 3.2 GHz or something similar.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

[NelsonO]

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for getting back so quickly.  I meant to say the PD CPU (for the Pentium D) but typed P5 instead.  Sorry for the confusion.

Any suggestions on boards I may look at that would have 5 PCI slots available (assuming the correct ethernet chopset) or 6 slots (if i need to use the PCI-8232?

Thanks,

Nelson