PXI not showing up properly in MAX

[joedowdle]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to setting up remote systems in MAX and I'm having some difficulty.  I'm using all LabVIEW 2011 versions of software with FPGA and RT modules.  I'll start by listing the hardware I am using:

PXI-1042 Chassis

PXI-8110 Embeeded Controller

PXI-8231 Ethernet

PXI-6704 Analog Output

PXI-6602 Timing I/O

PXI-7813R Reconfigurable I/O

Of this list I am using the 8231 to connect to the chassis and I am primarily interested in using and getting working the RIO more so than the other cards right now.  Here is what I have done so far and what has happened.

When I first plugged it in nothing showed up in MAX and so I did some searching and found that if I change the BIOS options and set them to LabVIEW RT and set the 'Reset IP Address' to 'Yes' that I could see the NI-PXI8110 in the remote systems directory.  Under this is says that it is connected but there is no software installed.  If you click on the software directory, a list of software appears so I'm not sure why it says nothing is installed but there is software listed.

Now even though there are all these cards in the PXI, nothing shows up under Devices and Interfaces.  I tried to 'Create New...' by right clicking on it and then clicking on PXI Chassis, but I get an error that the the host only supports PXI Platform Services 2.0.0 or greather and that the target has earlier version.  So I made sure that I had the latest PXI Platform Services (3.0.3) and I then I tried to follow the instructions by updating the VISA software it should update the PXI Platform Services on the target.  Now it won't let me do this without updating a bunch of other software on the target such as LabVIEW RT - current it has 10 and it needs 11.  This wouldn't be a big deal but then another error comes up where I need a newer version of Hypervisor (target currently has 1.1).  I downloaded Hypervior 2.0 and tried to install on my host and then subsequently add to target.  I am running Windows 7 64-bit and there seams to be a support issue because it doesn't show up and the installer says it can't install certain parts due to incompatibility issues.  Then I thought I'd try to install it directly to the embedded controller on the target by hooking up a monitor/keyboard/mouse.  Even though the keyboard works in the BIOS, when at the Windows login screen I have no USB keyboard or mouse support therefore, I cannot login.

So there are a bunch of problems it seems that are plaguing me getting this system set up and running.  I'm not sure where else to look and hopeully someone more knowledgable can give me some guidance.  Thanks in advance for the help.

[Texas_Diaz]

Hypervisor systems are tricky to upgrade, and require some specific knowledge to be able to upgrade/use them properly.  Please refer to your hypervisor documentation, or contact your NI sales rep that you purchased the hypervisor system from.  That's about all I can say to help...

-Danny

[joedowdle]

I'm not sure if Hypervisor is necessary or even what it is exacrtly.  I'll have to talk to some people and see if we even need it.  Running NI systems is a relatively new thing around here and I have some LabVIEW experience but not with RT or FPGA in particular.  So this is all a learning thing for me as well.

If you could enlighten me as to what I should know about Hypervisor or anything like that don't hesitate to let me know.  In the meantime I'll see what information I can find and gather on my own before I worry about upgrading it if it's that big of a hassel.

[Texas_Diaz]

Hypervisor systems are a relatively new thing for NI as well, it allows you to run Windows and RT on the same system concurrently (one core goes to Windows, other cores assigned to RT).  One interesting tidbit is that Windows and RT use different disk partitions, and the other tidbit is that when you're in "Hypervisor Mode" versus "RT Mode" you will have some collisions with software on the target.  

It's unclear as to what you're trying to do with the system, are you trying to run Windows on the PXI controller and program/use the FPGA from the Windows environment, or are you wanting to use the PXI controller as an RT system and use the FPGA on the RT system in a "headless system" environment?

If you're going to use the system in RT mode, by setting the BIOS option to "LabVIEW RT" in the boot options, you must install LabVIEW RT.  In the previous Hypervisor mode, Hypervisor RT + all the components were probably installed, but in this LabVIEW RT mode you need "Normal LabVIEW RT" + all the components.  The system telling you there's no software installed is because none of the drivers are being loaded because you elected to boot "Normal RT" and the "Hypervisor RT" OS is on the system (instead of the "Normal RT OS").  

There is an easy and safe thing to do here.  Instead of booting "LabVIEW RT", boot "LabVIEW RT Safe Mode" and then go to MAX and right-click the device in MAX and say "Format Disk".  This will safely format the RT partition, bringing it to a clean slate, and you can then install software and LabVIEW Real-Time to the controller.  Then you can put it back into "LabVIEW RT" mode and use the controller like a regular RT controller.  When your colleagues want to use it as hypervisor, they can put it back into "Windows/Other" mode and then reinstall Hypervisor onto the controller.  

-Danny

[joedowdle]

Thanks for the information; it was all really helpful.

Unfortunately though after talking with my colleagues it seems that the Hypervisor Mode is required and so I don't want to get rid of that.  As far as how the system is being used; I am still slightly in the dark.  The guy that set it up originally is unavailable right now so I won't be able to talk with him just yet.

At the moment I am just going to try to get access to the Windows "side" of the machine.  As of right now, it loads the Windows login screen but somewhere between the startup/BIOS screen and that it loses USB support and keyboard/mouse function disappears.  Then I get forced into doing a hard reset.  I'm not sure why that is happening.

Is there anyway I can remote into the Windows system from my host computer and have access to everything?

[Texas_Diaz]

All of the Windows networking works just fine - or at least should - so if you know the name of the system or the IP address you can remote desktop into the system.  The only way I know to tell what Windows systems are up on the network is to look at the DHCP tables in the routers, and they will tell you what IP addresses it assigns everyone.  Turn off the system, look, turn on the system, look to see what changed, and blammo!

-Danny

[joedowdle]

I know it's been a while, but...

I have been able to access the Windows side of the machine and I also have it connect successfully to the host... or at least mostly successfully.  It does not display any of the cards installed in MAX for some reason, but right now I'm not too concerned with that.

Oh yeah, and as a side note I am using a new host computer that is running XP 32-bit and all the LabVIEW 2011 FPGA/RT related software.

All of the software on the PXI is 2010 "era" versions and I have been informed that we need to upgrade it to 2011.  So I am in the process of trying to do that.  When I do try to add software to the PXI through the host it will not let me upgrade LabVIEW 2010 to 2011 without upgrading the Hypervisor part.  I don't have an upgrade for that at all and can't seem to find one.  Is there one hiding somewhere on the NI site that I have just overlooked?  Thanks.