NI-1429 installation problems

[PCIExp]

Hi all,

I'm using an NI-1429 PCIexpress frame grabber. I previously installed it on an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium motherboard running Windows XP SP2 and it worked fine. This motherboard uses nForce 4-SLI chipset.

I must now use the NI-1429 on an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard (this is because I need more than 20 PCIExpress lines). This motherboard uses nForce 4-SLI 16x chipset, and NI-1429 installation failed.

Following the procedure : installing NI-IMAQ (last revision too) without the board fitted, switch off, then installing the NI-1429, switch-on, Windows XP recognised the board and ask me to install the driver. As soon as I start loading the .inf file, Windows crashes and the computer reebot !

Any idea welcome.

[Harold Bien]

Do you have hardware data execution prevention (DEP) enabled? While I'm not sure about the compatibility of IMAQ with DEP on Athlon CPU's, I do know that IMAQ v3.5 (and earlier) are definitely not compatible with systems having more than 4GB of RAM and the "/3GB" bootswitch enabled (effectively permits access to memory above the 4GB barrier). DEP operates in a similar manner - it uses addresses above 4GB (at least software DEP on Intel machines, I think, therefore enabling DEP implies enabling /3GB). I would first try disabling DEP and removing the "/3GB" switch (if present) in your boot options and then try re-installing it. Maybe this will help, maybe not. Good luck.

[PCIExp]

Well, I do not have any DEP mode selection in my BIOS, nor I have anything concerning 4GB barrier. Anyway, my board is fitted with 2GB only. I downloaded all last drivers, bios...etc, but my problem is still not sorted out !

I bought an ASUS P5NE32-SLI motherboard which do has the same nForce4 SLI32 chipset but for Intel processor. I have had no NI-1429 installation problem on it this time. That's a good point. But I'm now facing another problem which I already encountered when using and A8N-SLI or P5NE-SLI motherboards (nforce4 SLI chipset) : when the NI-1429 is fitted into the PCIe 4x slot (where it has to be for my application), the alocated PCIe bandwidth is x1 instead of x4, leading to an unacceptable performance degradation. That was the reason why I wanted to switch to the SLI32 motherboard providing the total number of PCIe lane was 38/40 instead of 20.

Again, any idea ?

Thanks

[Harold Bien]

The DEP mode selection and /3GB switches are Windows boot options. You can access them via "Control Panel|System", "Advanced" tab, "Startup and Recovery" settings. There, if you hit "Edit" you will see the actual command line passed to windows. You should see something like "/DEP:" and "/3GB" if they were enabled. An easier access point to check for DEP mode is simply to go to "Performance" settings and select the "DEP" tab. I'm not familiar at all with AMD's implementation of DEP, but this might be giving you issues if it's loading the drivers into "high memory" (even if you do not have physical RAM above 4GB).

I seem to recall another post regarding issues with another Asus motherboard (might be the one you are using) - may want to perform a search for the motherboard in the text of the messages. The issue of only have "x1" PCI in a x4 slot might be issues related to "up-plugging". See the Readme instructions for the 1429 for more information, but in short, if you put a 1429e (or any x4 card) into an x8 or faster, it may drop down to x1 depending on the BIOS/motherboard setup.

Other than that, sorry, I'm out of ideas. Good luck.