Ridiculous number of errors with labview RT

[bob_mcbob]

I've been attempting to set up an RT system with two PCs as host/target.  I have had the labview RT system running smoothly in the past.  However, when I decided to change the systems it was running on, I was bombarded with constant errors.  Returning to the previous hardware configuration did not help.  I kept detailed logs of what I was doing as I tried to install labview on various systems.  They go along the lines of "formatted target, setup network configuration, installed labview real-time, kernel error, rebooted target, target would not connect, reset target, target connected then immediately disconnected, reset target, target would not connect."  I spent a LOT of time trying to get the RT system set up with various hosts and targets.  As you can see, I finally came to a solution, though I still have no idea what the problem was.  The issues are separated into setup problems and software problems.


labview rt format disk would not write to the MBR of any drive
This problem was common to many computers I tried.  After running the format floppy and rebooting, the system wouldn't boot from the drive.  I finally figured out what the problem was when I tried installing labview on a drive that previously contained a linux installation, when Grub loaded after I rebooted!  Zeroing the beginning of the drive solved this, but it's pretty ridiculous.  I had this issue with various systems I tried, including Dells and custom-built computers.

labview rt format disk would not format a drive connected to non-onboard pci controller
A fairly minor problem, but extremely annoying nonetheless.  No mention anywhere in documentation.  I am not concerned about this.

labview rt format disk would not format a partition over a certain capacity
I tried installing labview RT on a 40GB drive, but the formatter locked up every time I ran it.  Creating a small partition for it to use solved the problem, but I don't see any mention of a size limit in the documentation.  I assume the limit is 32GB, but this should not be a problem with FAT32.


kernel errors on target when expanding selections in MAX

Fatal error KERNEL.146640: Thread stack overflow. Thread ID=47
        Thread stack range=0xE50000-0xE6FFFF, size=131072
        current ESP=0xE4F240

constant lost connections
MAX often lost its connection to the target at completely random points.  Occasionally a simple reboot of the target allowed it to connect again, but it usually required manually resetting it with a PXI IP reset floppy.

• The operation could not be completed. Operation failed with error code: 56
• General failure communicating with remote device.
• The operation could not be completed. Operation failed with error code: 42

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Message Edited by bob_mcbob on 09-15-2005 01:51 AM

[bob_mcbob]

constant reboot problems
The target consistently failed to reboot upon prompting from MAX.  This was a huge issue with software installation.  Almost every time I attempted to install a new piece of software, at the point where the target should have rebooted to complete the installation, it simply froze, timed out, and disconnected from the host.  Manually rebooting the target during this time seemed to make MAX believe the software was installed correctly, but the target froze after network initialization.  Manually rebooting it again corrected the problem, but it always became extremely unstable after installing software this way.  Softare rebooting the target from MAX rarely worked.

the solution
After spending literally 20+ hours swapping hardware, trying various ways of installing software, etc., it occured to me that most of my attemps were made with a labview 7.1 format disk (I created it in MAX several times during the process).  I created a new labview 7.0 format disk, and installed it on the target.  I set up the network configuration and installed software.  This time I tried installing labview RT 7.0, then upgrading it to labview real-time 7.1 before installing ni-daqmx 7.4.0.  I had none of the reboot and disconnect issues that had constantly plagued my previous attempts, and after ni-daqmx installed, MAX was able to detect the DAQ cards installed in the target.

conclusion
The initial setup problems I had were common to all labview format disks.  The labview 7.1 format disk MAX creates did not work correctly for three separate target computers.  The only installation that worked was a specific order of labview 7.0 format disk-->labview RT 7.0-->labview real-time 7.1-->nidaq-mx 7.4.0.  All other installations resulted in extreme issues with software installation and target disconnects.  I spent several hours trying to find someone with similar issues on the NI support forums, to no avail.  I would very much like to know if anyone else has the same problem.

[bob_mcbob]

Update: after spending some time installing labview RT on the correct target, I've narrowed down the problem to the labview 7.1 format disks MAX creates - they simply do not work.  The only reason I was able to create a 7.0 format disk was because the particular computer I used to make it previously had a labview 7.0 installation on it, which was then upgraded to 7.1.  I'm not sure where I would be if I only had access to 7.1 format disks.  I tried them on four separate computers, and every one had the same issues.

[Prashanth]

Hi Bob,

I understand your frustration and see that you have been through quite some trouble trying to get your RT system up and running. However, this is not the usual experience that customers go through setting up their RT system. I have set-up LabVIEW 7.1 RT systems numerous times without any major hiccups and found it to be a simple procedure.

LV-RT format disk does not perform low level formatting. Despite the title of the disk, it only reconfigures the C drive. It will wipe all the data from the drive and make it boot into the RT Engine, but it does not actually format the MBR along with the hard drive. You must use a DOS or WIN95/98 boot disk with the format utility included with the OS to format the C drive to FAT32 before booting with the "Format Hard Drive Disk". Also make sure that LV-RT is always on the first partition.

RT format disk works only on the IDE drives connected to the controller and the implementation limit of the FAT32 system is 32GB in RT as well as in Windows.

The latest ‘Embedded Target CD’ that ships with RT controllers have an updated version of Ethernet drivers which should help with software reboot and connectivity problems. Please feel free to contact us via www.ni.com/ask/ to get access to this CD.

Hope this helps!

Prashanth