Can I hot swap a PXIExpressCard?

[Adam W]

Hi Ralph,

No, you should not hot swap PXIe or PXI modules.  This could cause damage to your module and others in your chassis.  This KB describes this issue, and while it mentions PXI and Compact PCI specifically, the same goes for PXIe.  Always make sure your chassis is powered down before removing any hardware.

Regards,

Adam W
Applications Engineering
National Instruments

[ralph spoilsport]

Can I hot swap the express card in my laptop?

[ericg]

Ralph,

If you are referring to the ExpressCard slot (i.e., the slot characterized by the interface described at www.expresscard.org), then yes, in general you can hot-swap modules in this slot.  However, there must be enough free resources available to configure a newly-added device, and sometimes this is not the case.  For non PCI Express aware operating systems like Windows XP, the BIOS must explicitly allocate resources ahead of time for devices that may be inserted into an ExpressCard slot while the system is running.  If a BIOS does not do this allocation, then many modules won't function without an additional reboot because the OS can't find system resources to configure them.

Hope this helps,

Eric G.