MXI card and PXI chassis not recognized in either MAX or Windows Device Manager

[magnetsu]

System:

PXIe-1092 chassis, Slot 1 has a PXIe-8381 card.

PCIe-8381 card in PCI Slot 5 in a Dell 5860 Precision Tower, running on Windows 11.

1, The desktop cannot boot with the PCIe-8381 compatibility switch on default position. The LED indicator on PXIe-8381 is solid amber. This seems be Symptom 1 as described in the troubleshooting guide. 

2, We then flipped the switch on the PCIe-8381 card and installed the MXI compatibility software, now the desktop can boot. The LED indicator on PXIe-8381 is solid green. However, neither MAX or Windows Device Manager see the NI hardware. Please see the image below from the Windows Device Manager. 

I am wondering if this indicates any hardware issue on the PXI chassis or a damaged 8381 card and should ship the hardware to NI for inspection.

I appreciate any insight you may share. Thanks.  

[ZYOng]

 From MXI-Express Compatibility and Connectivity Troubleshooting Guide

5. Test in a different PCI(e) slot.
   1. Remove all other PCI(e) cards, including the graphics card if possible, from the computer and try to boot with only the PCI(e) MXI card installed.
   2. Move your PCI(e) MXI card to each PCI(e) slot in your computer and try to reboot.

[magnetsu]

Thanks ZYOng. 

We made some progress this morning following the detailed instructions from Jose, an NI support engineer. Thanks Jose!

Here are what we did and the observations. 

0, Turned off the PCIe Bifurcation in BIOS. Installed the PCIe-8381 in PCI Slot 4 in the PC and enabled the "Maximize 1 slot" option in BIOS. This option maximizes PCIe bus allocation in Slot 4 of the PC. Kernel DMA Protection also disabled in the BIOS. Active State Power Management (ASPM) disabled by editing Power Plan in Windows. 

1, Kept only the PXIe-8381 and removed all the other PXIe cards in the chassis.

2, The Windows Event Viewer logged several errors related to nipxi. One key error message is :  MXIe BIOS Compatibility Software has found a configuration that is currently not supported per our licensing terms and conditions. To use the default configuration set up by your BIOS, disable BIOS Compatibility Mode on your National Instruments MXI host interface(s). See the documentation for your MXI interface(s) for details. If you need more information or help on this error, contact National Instruments.  status = 0

3, Based on this error message,  and since the PC recognized the chassis the first time we put it together without flipping the compatibility switch on the PCIe-8381 card a few months ago, the NI support engineer suggested to put the compatibility switch back to the default position. It worked. Both the Windows Device Manager and NI MAX found the hardware. 

4, Turned off the PC and chassis. Added three cards. One PXIe-4492 in Slot 2 and another one in Slot 3. One PXIe-6345 in Slot 7. Now the PC cannot boot. 

5, Turned off the PC and chassis. Moved PXIe-6345 from Slot 7 to Slot 5. The PC booted and recognized the PXI hardware. 

So it seems that PCI bus resource allocation is the issue. I am using Dell 5860 Precision Tower with multiple root buses. We may run into the same compatibility issue again if we add more cards to the chassis in the future. Perhaps an embedded controller is a better choice? 

[ZYOng]

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@magnetsu wrote:

So it seems that PCI bus resource allocation is the issue. I am using Dell 5860 Precision Tower with multiple root buses. We may run into the same compatibility issue again if we add more cards to the chassis in the future. Perhaps an embedded controller is a better choice? 

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The PCIe enumeration is done by the BIOS. NI does not have control over the BIOS developed by the third-party PC vendor. The only guaranteed way is to use NI embedded controllers.

[magnetsu]

Thanks ZYOng. It turns out that if we let the PC turn on and off the chassis, it can recognize all the PXIe hardware without any issues. The NI support engineer also shared a KB article on this topic.