Installation and Recognition of PCIe-8361 in PXI-1033 System

[Fluffums]

Is this a problem for anyone else?  After going through some very confusing installation my hardware works so best leave it alone but it's always bothered me as to how my system became "operational."

My PCI interface is a PCIe-8361.  After going through installation I would expect to see that in MAX but I do not; when I rifle through the 12,000 disks lining my cubicle there are no drivers for the PCIe-8361.  Now, during the initial phases of installation Windows complains about this ("PCI Simple Communication Interface" device shown with a yellow question mark in the 'New Hardware Wizard' dealio).  I see this repeatedly after the several reboots my system requires after adding more NI software.  Finally, after installing IVI, VISA and Serial in that order Windows seems happy but beats me as to why.  When I open MAX I still don't see my 8361 in the system view but everything seems happy or at least "cooperative."

Anyone know why this is?  I found the documentation for installing my PXI system extremely difficult to follow and quite time-consuming to download (230 MB -> Serial Installer, 1 GB for DAQmx Installer).  I am not looking forward to another upgrade or re-install.  I've Labview 8.5, MAX 4.5, VISA 4.4, DAQmx 8.8, Serial 3.4 currently.  Perhaps from the screenshot below an expert might be able to tell if I've done something wrong installation-wise regarding not seeing my PCIe-8361.

[Eric_K]

Fluffums,

From your screenshot it looks like your system is installed properly and is being recognised correctly.   For future, we strongly recomend installing LabVIEW first, then all of your drivers, and then connecting your hardware.  When you install in this order, LabVIEW will get all of the extra VI's and examples that your drivers add, and windows will know what your hardware is when you plug it in.

Eric K

Applications Engineer

National Instruments

[Robert__R]

Another note:  the device type you were seeing ('PCI Simple Communication Interface') is a generic PCI class code ('Simple Communications Controller') that is usually applied to serial ports, parallel ports, GPIB controllers, etc.  I'm guessing that you didn't have the serial driver installed at that point.

The drivers for basic operation of the PXI-1033 + PCIe-8361 are built into Windows.  In XP, you'll see something like "PCI-PCI Bridge", which changes to "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge" when the driver loads.  It's a system device, so you won't be prompted to install the driver.

NI drivers add MAX integration and chassis identification for the 1033.  They're included when you install VISA, DAQmx, or any of several other driver packages. 

I hope that helps.

- Robert

Message Edited by Robert R on 01-14-2009 08:46 AM

[Fluffums]

As I recall, the first installation was a bit smoother although installing the hardware was a little bit unsmooth as I was unsure which driver to install first.  This time happened to be an upgrade of an existing installation and it had been about a year so I had forgotten my previous encounter.

You mentioned to install Labview first then the drivers -- thank you, that is helpful -- but from a system point of view what would the order be for MAX, DAQmx, IVI, Serial, etc?  Do I need to uninstall first or is the installer 'smart'?  The VISA readme indicated I needed to uninstall while none of the other packages did so when I did as instructed a lot of other important things went with it -- slightly disconcerting!  Additionally, the VISA installer seemed like it was 'smart' enough to perform an upgrade over a previous version but this was never clearly documented so I ended up doing the disc dance if you will.

Finally, after everything is installed and apparently working, what is the purpose of the "Identify As..." dialog shown in the screenshot?  I was expecting I could identify the PCIe-8361 or maybe my PXI-1033 chassis.  Since none of the numbers aligned to anything I had and since the disc I received with my PXI chassis had little else I do not know what this is for.

[Alias77]

hello,

i am also having troubles with this system.  i'm running Windows Vista 64-bit and i suspect it is related.  i've installed LabVIEW 8.6 ahead of any other drivers. when my OS loads after turning on the chassis, it notifies me of a PCI-PCI bridge driver that needs to be installed.  neither of the two discs that came with the system seemed to have the right file - a file i suspect to be named pxisys.ini.  i noticed a setup file on the NI PXI Controller disc, but it looks specific to Windows 32-bit.  

however.  when i open up MAX it recognizes my bus as well as the digitizer card that i have installed in the chassis.  i am also able to use the digitizer with the NI-SCOPE software.  alternatively, in LabVIEW, the DAQ assistant can not find the physical channels, and i suspect this issue is related to the former.  any advice would be appreciated.

[Eric_K]

Alias77,

Can you tell me what version of PXI platform services you have installed?  The version can be found by looking at the list on NI software in the Add and Remove Programs option in the control panel.  Also, just to confirm, you are always powering the chassis on before powering on the PC correct?

Eric K

Applications Engineering

National Instruments

[Eric_K]

Alias77,

While we're looking at software versions, can you also tell us what version of the NI-SCOPE driver you have installed.  Also, what digitizer card are you using?

Eric K

Applications Engineering

National Instruments

[Alias77]

hi, thanks for the response.  i'm using:

PXI platform services 2.4.2

NI-Scope 3.5

NI-5114 Digitizer

and yes, i have been powering the PXI on before the PC (does one have to shutdown the PC in order to switch the PXI to standby?)

[Eric_K]

Alias77,

For the PCI-PCI bridge, do you have a bridge in device manager that does not have a driver associated with it?  If so, can you right click on it and select update driver, then run through the windows wizard to let Vista search your hard drive for the driver.  Does this search not turn up any results?

For the PXI chassis, yes you do need to shutdown the PC completely before powering off the PXI chassis.

Eric K

Applications Engineering

National Instruments

[John_P1]

Hi Alias77,

The 5114 uses the NI-Scope driver, whereas the DAQ Assistant is built with the DAQmx driver (used with our Multifunction DAQ products).  You should not be able to use the DAQ Assistant with the 5114, since the Scope resource is a different type definition in LabVIEW from a DAQmx Resource.

To help you become familiar with the NI-SCOPE API, example programs can be found in the example finder under:

Hardware Input and Output >> Modular Instruments >> NI-SCOPE

These should help get you started programming your 5114 in LabVIEW.  There is also an NI-SCOPE Express VI that should be sufficient for basic tasks--it can be found in the NI-SCOPE pallette and is similar to the DAQ Assistant. 

As a third option, the NI-SCOPE Soft Front Panel is a good way to quickly get up and running, it can be found by navigating to Start >> All Programs >> National Instruments >> NI-SCOPE >> Scope Soft Front Panel

If you have additional questions specific to the 5114 (programming, configuration, etc.), I would suggest posting in the High-Speed Digitizers section of our forums.  Good luck with your application, and thanks for posting!

-John 

Message Edited by John P on 04-10-2009 01:09 PM