Loss of LNK light after 5 minutes using PXI8330 MXI-3 system with Windows 2000

[Parityman]

I have a computer running Win2000 SP4 with a NI PCI-8330/8335 card, connected to a rackunit with a NI PXI-8330 MXI-3 card. The rackunit has 8 2channel Gage A/D cards. The system has been working fine for the last 2 months. This week with the recent Sasser worm scare, I downloaded and installed 12 win2000 security updates, and installed sophos antivirus sw. Also I installed a PCIRWDT PCI watchdog timer card. The computer starts up correctly with no conflicts. However, now after collecting data on the Gage cards (www.gage-applied.com) for 5 to 10 minutes, I loose the LNK light on the PXI MXI-3 card. The only solution is to turn off everything, then power up the rackunit and computer. I have
removed the PCI watchdog card, but am still having the same problem, so believe it is to do with the win2000 updates. Has any one had a similar problem? I am using the current Version 1.15 MXI-3 software, and have the uptodate Gage drivers, etc. Thanks for any help on this.

[JamesC]

Hi Parityman,

I have not seen this problem before, and can not find anything similar on any documents. What I beleive the problem could be is that one of the win 2000 updates has caused either the MXI-3 driver to break or a problem on the PCI bus.

What I suggest to try as solutions is to first try the PCI MXI card in a different PCI slot in the host computer.

If this doesn't solve you problem, then I would suggest:
1) Removing the MXI-3 software.
2) Shut down PC and remove MXI-3 hardware.
3) Start up computer and install MXI-3 v1.15 software.
4) Shut down PC install the PCI MXI-3 hardware
5) Start up computer and setup software.
6) Try connecting to PXI chassis.
Remember to turn on the PXI chassis before turning on the computer.

I hope this solves y
our problem.

Regards
James
Applications Engineer
NI UK

[Parityman]

Hi James,

Thanks for your reply.

Yesterday, I formatted the harddrive and reinstalled Win2000 SP4, but did not do the o/s updates, i.e. bare bones system. I installed the MXI3 software, then card, then connected to the PXI chassi. This all worked fine, and after booting up, the PWR and LNK lights were happily on, on both the NI cards. The 8 Gage cards in the chassi, also appeared to install fine, with no conflicts.

However, when I run the Gage software, initially the TX and RX lights come on fine on the NI cards, but after seconds to minutes, the LNK light goes out, and the connection is lost. I am sure there is no problem with the Gage software.

This morning, I went through and did the step by step process you mention in your reply, i.e. rem
ove software, remove hardware, install software, install hardware in difference PCI slot, connect to PXI chassi, and start up. Frustratingly, still the same problem.

The whole system has been working in the past. Makes me wonder if a hardware problem has arisen somewhere. It has been transferred about by car (packaged up properly), the most that could have happened is some slight bumps. I have tried wriggling the blue NI connection cable, but it does not appear to be faulty or affect the connection. Possibly a static issue, but again unlikely.

Frustrating. Another option I have is to try reformatting, and installing WinXP. I have not done this yet, as the PCI Watchdog Timer card, I am interested in having working, is not compatible with WinXP.

Is the only solution for a lost LNK light, to shut down and reboot?

Thanks for any other comments you may have,
Regards,
Parityman (Dave)

[JamesC]

Hi Dave,

I understand from your first post, that you put on the new Gage software, is this correct?

If it is, can you install the old version of the drivers and see if the LNK light goes out with the older software.


Regards
James
Applications Engineer
NI UK

[Parityman]

Hi James,

I have two different programs that display the data from the Gage A/D cards. One is off the shelf Gage software called Gagescope. The other is software custom written in Visual C++. The same problem is happening with both software packages, therefore I do not think it is a software issue.

Today, I have formatted and reinstalled Win2K again, followed by the Intel Chipset drivers, monitor drivers, and the MXI3 V1.15 setup. I can turn on the Gage PCI chassi, then boot up the computer, and all is seen correctly, no conflicts. The MXI3 detection software sees the chassi correctly, with no errors. All 8 two channel Gage cards are seen in the Device Manager, along with the PCI to PCI bridge, etc.

When I run the Gagescope s
oftware, it does initially work. I can see the output from the Gage cards on the screen. However, after about 10-20 seconds, I am losing the LNK light, everything pauses for 1-2 seconds, then the computer goes blank, and starts to reboot. During the computer reboot, there is no LNK light on the PCI chassi. Therefore I have to turn off the computer, then turn the chassi off and on, then reboot the computer, to get the LNK light to return.

I am fairly certain now, it must be a hardware problem (not to do with software or updates I performed in earlier trials). I am wondering if there is a way to get another NI card and connection cable to test? Maybe through the warranty? I am based in England, but the NI kit was bought in Canada by the Gage company...

Does this sound logical?

Thanks for any other ideas you may have,
Regards,
Dave

[JamesC]

Hi Dave,

Well you have tried just about everything possible, the only suggestions I have left, are to try a different computer that has a different motherboard, chipsets and BIOS and try a different operating system.

If none of this works, or you can get your hands on the neccassary parts, then you could call the UK office and talk to sales, they should be able to arrange a loan of a PCI/PXI MXI card and cables.

You can find the number for the UK office from ni.com/uk and click on the How to find us link on the left hand bar.

Regards
James
Applications Engineer
NI UK

[Parityman]

Hi James,

I tried installing WinXP on the computer on Friday, but no change, same problem.

Today I have tried a different computer. Unfortunately exactly the same issue with the loss of the lnk light, and rebooting problem.

Good news is that narrows it down to be a problem with either the NI interface or the Gage cards/chassi.

Thanks for the contact details of the NI UK office. It would be great to have a loan of a PCI/PXI MXI card and cable. When talking to the UK Office, will they have our communication on record, to speed things up? Can I mention your name?

Regards,
Dave

[JamesC]

Hi Dave,

They won't have this communication on record, but you can get them to call me to speed thing up.

Regards
James
Applications Engineer
NI UK

[Parityman]

Hi James,

Thanks for your help in organizing the loaner NI cards and cable. These arrived promptly from L. Fowler.

I installed the PCI and PXI cards and cable. The system worked fine, no problems or loss of lnk light. Good news!! I tried the old cable with the new cards, no problem, therefore our cable is fine. I tried our old PXI card. Straight away I had the lnk light going out problem, same as before. I put the new PXI card back in, and everything was fine. I tried the old PCI card in the computer, no problem, therefore this card is fine. I put the old PXI card back in, lnk light problem. I put the new PXI card back in the chassi, no lnk light problem.

Very conclusive, that our PXI 8330/8335 card has a problem!

I tried a number of things yesterday, collected some data using the Gage cards, etc. The system (new NI PXI card, our old PCI card and cable) was very stable, like before. The only question in the back of my mind was why had the PXI card become faulty a few weeks ago.

Today I installed the Watchdog Timer PCI card. The computer booted up fine. However as soon as I started the Gage software, the loss of lnk light error occurred, same as before. I shut down, removed the Watchdog Timer card, and started windows. Within 20 seconds of starting the Gage software, the lnk light went out, same as before.

Installation of the watchdog timer card was one of the things I did last time, when I started to have problems. I can not think how or why this timer PCI card can be physically affecting the NI PXI card, though I am not an electronics engineer. Tests of the timer card using the supplied software shows it to be working correctly. It is a card that fits into a PCI slot in the computer and has a jumper wire which controls the reset switch on the motherboard. Other than the supplied software I ran to briefly test the timer card, the card is not currently being used, because the custom software to communicate with the card has not been written yet.

I am again at a bit of a loss. What is the problem with the two PXI cards I now have? Is it physical? Has something on the cards been reset/reprogrammed?

I need to return the loaner cards to NI, and can also include our problem PXI card, and the watchdog timer PCI card (plus manual, software driver etc). Are there some tests that can be done by NI to the PXI cards to try to determine what is going wrong with them?

I look forward to talking to you soon about this.

Best regards,
Dave

[CSWCGXL]

HI!

I have a PCI-8330/8335 card,but I have no software driver,can you gave me a hand? My E-mail:cswcgxl@163.com