Standard PCI-to-PCI bridge cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)?

[l1k]

I've recently made the mistake of physically moving my computer from one shelf, to another.  After re-connecting everything, my computer no longer recognizes the PXI-1033 chassis.  I've triple checked that everything is connected correctly, and I've opened up the computer to make sure I didn't knock any cards or wires loose.  On the device manager, I've noticed an error for the 'PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge':

"This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)

If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system.

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device."

I even clicked the troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter, but that didn't solve any problems.  Any insight to help me figure out how to get my computer to see my chassis would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[Matt_E.]

Hello,

Usually it is the responsibility of the computer's BIOS to allocate resources for a PCI device.  In this case it sounds like it is having trouble finding resources for your MXI adapter.  I'm not sure why moving the computer would have caused a problem like this but there are a few things you can try to fix the problem.  First I would try moving your MXI card to a different PCI slot if you have one available.  If this doesn't fix your problem you could try putting the MXI card into a different PC just to see if you get the same problem.  This should help you rule out if the problem is with your BIOS or operating system or if the board itself has a problem.  If the board doesn't work in the second PC then there is likely something wrong with your MXI card and it will need to be repaired.  If the board works correctly in the second PC then there are some more things that we can try but I will need a little more information about your operating system.

I suspect that there is no problem with anything in your PXI chassis because even if something were wrong on that end the PCI Bridge should still be recognized properly in device manager.

Hope this helps!

-Matt

[l1k]

With some help from a support engineer, I was able to get rid of the above error.  However, now MAX does not acknowledge the PXI-1033 chassis at all.  I'm kind of stuck here.  I do not have another MXI slot on my computer, and I haven't been able to find anyone with a free slot to let me test the MXI card (I'll keep looking).  Any other advice?

Here is what I did to resolve my initial error:
In order to resolve the issue, MAX and the pxisys.ini file should be reset. Please follow these instructions:

1. For MAX 4.1 or earlier, navigate to the folder found at: C:\Program Files\National Instruments\MAX
For MAX 4.2 in Windows XP and 2000, navigate to the folder found at:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\MAX\Data

2. Rename the Data folder to Data1. If you cannot rename the folder, go to the Windows Task
Manager and end the process called nimxs.exe and then go back and rename the folder.

3. Now navigate to the directory \Windows.

4. Delete the pxisys.ini and the pxiesys.ini if using MXI express.

5. Restart the PC and launch MAX. This will cause MAX to find the installed devices again and also recreate
the pxisys.ini and pxiesys.ini, if MXI express used. Now you should be able to identify your chassis without error in MAX.

Thanks again for the help!

[Matt_E.]

I guess I am a little surprised that the method you described fixed the problem you were having in the first post because it dounded like windows was having an error initializing the PCI MXI card and MAX doesn't really have anything to do with that part of the process.  Sometimes you can have problems where devices are properly recognized by windows device manager but don't show up in MAX and that is they type of situation where clearing the MAX data directory sometimes helps.

Just so I can better understand the situation you have now is your MXI card being correctly recognized in device manager now?  The easiest way to check this is to go to device manager and look for a MXI interface device and a PCI Bridge device like the ones I marked below (note that your names may be different if you have a different version of MXI):

Your computer may have more than one PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge so you can go to the properties page of the device an verify that the bus location is the same as the MXI connection monitor device.

If both these devices are present in device manager and not showing any errors check the link lights on your MXI cards.  The link lights should be on solid all the time confirming that the link between the PCI MXI card and the chassis MXI card is ok.

Let me know if all these things look good. 

Thanks

-Matt

[l1k]

The MXI card is not (as far as I can tell) being recognized in the Device Manager.

I was able to find another computer with a free MXI slot.  I transfered the card to the new computer.  Unfortunately, that computer also did not recognize the chassis (or the cards in the chassis).  The green light on the chassis is always on, looks good, but the computer does not see anything.  I'm not sure what the ' link lights on your MXI cards' are.  I don't see any lights on the card anywhere.

Upon close inspection of the card, it appears like one of the gold connectors (from the card to the computer) looks scratched.  I'm assuming all of the connectors should be identical?  If so, then I think that's my problem. 

I assume the next step is to get my hands on another MXI card, or do you have any other suggestions first?


Thanks!

[Matt_E.]

Sorry, I forgot you were using the PXI-1033 chassis which has the MXI card integrated into the chassis.  The LED I was talking about should be on the front of the chassis near the bottom just to the left of slot 2.  It should be labeled "Link"  and it should be solid green if the link is working correctly.

It sounds like the PCIe MXI card is not being detected correctly by your PC though so I doubt that the link is the issue.  The scratched contact may not be a problem if it is just a cosmetic scratch.  If you could post a picture I could probably be able to tell you if it is serious or not.  Also could you post a screenshot of your device manager list?

Thanks!

-Matt

[l1k]

The link light is not on! I've been looking at the solid green power light, and assuming things were OK. 

Here are my pictures.  Sorry for the quality, but I think in the Connector.jpg you can still make out that one of the connectors (second from the bottom) is messed up.

[Matt_E.]

The picture of the connector you sent looks ok to me.  I see the pin you are referring to but it is normal for this contact to be shorter than the rest.  This is part of the PCI express spec because it helps ensure that the rest of the pins on the connector (particularity the ground pins) contact before the shorter power pins.

The link LED not lighting up is usefull information.  The windows OS has nothing to do with this LED so this tells us that either there is a problem with the MXI hardware in the chassis, your PCI card or a problem with the MXI cable itself.  One thing I forgot to mention is that the MXI-4 connection monitor I had you look for earlier will not be present in your system because you are using MXI express.  Your MXI card will only show up as a PCI bridge which can make it difficult to figure out if  it is present or not because typically computers will have multiple PCI-to-PCI bridges.

From your device manager screenshot it looks like you currently have 2 bridges being detected.  What I would like you to do is remove your PCIe MXI card and check again how many bridges are detected.  If you still have 2 bridges even without the MXI card then it seems like there is a hardware problem with the PCIe MXI card and it will probably need to be sent in for repair.  If some of the bridges disappear when your remove the card then the problem could still be with the MXI cable or the MXI hardware inside the chassis.

-Matt

[l1k]

Oh jeez, hopefully my boss doesn't lurk on these threads because I'm an idiot - the MXI cable was plugged in backwards on the chassis.  I don't ever remember taking it off from that side, but obviously I must have at some point.  Oh well.  Everything works now.  Thanks for all your help.  Maybe I can come up with a better story for my nonproductivness involving saving small children, flux capacitors, and pirates...or something.

[Matt_E.]

Sometimes these things happen, glad to hear you are up and running again.

Best of luck to you!

-Matt