pxi recognition problem winxp

[jack1]

Just transferred the MXI card from my development computer to the computer that will be operating a PXI-1000B rack fitted with DAQ cards 6289, 6236 and Serial 8420/0. Installed MXI-3 software before fitting the MXI card in the PC and also Max 4.

When the computer is booted the MXI-3 message comes up to say it has found the controller and is attached. Problem is when I open MAX there is nothing there and if I open the hardware menu in windows it shows three PCI devices as unrecognised with question marks.

Tried re-installing the MXI software and Max but no luck. If I put the MXI card back in the development computer it works fine and communicates with the 1000B rack and its cards can be seen in Max. Have installed Visa runrtime version 4.1 but has made no differance. What am I missing?

The development computer runs Windows 2000 and the new computer windows XP prof

Thanks

[Matt_E.]

Hello,

Just to make sure have you installed the drivers required for your DAQ and serial cards on the new computer?  If so did you install the same versions of NI-DAQ  and NI-Serial or do the versions between the two machines differ?  You can find the version numbers by going to Max -> My system -> software and selecting either NI-DAQ or NI-Serial.

Regards,

-Matt

[jack1]

Hello Matt

Thanks for reply and sorry for delay in response.

Both PC's are using DAQ version 8.6.of5 and serial version 3.3.0. The serial runtime is version 4.2. I have tried reinstalling the driver files but no joy. Also got a problem with the serial connection when the development PC build s the application into an executable but gguess that's a different problem,

Thanks Jack

[Matt_E.]

Here are a few things from the MXI-3 troubleshooting guide which I think would be useful to give a shot before going too much further.  The full list of suggestions can be found here but below are the ones I think sound most promising.  Let me know if this doesn't work for you and we will go from there.

1)  Make sure the ends of the cables are fully inserted into the connectors on the MXI-3 boards. The link light on the MXI-3 should stay on the continuously while the system is powered up. If the LED flashes at anytime the link has been lost, possibly due to a loose connection.

2)  Remove your boards from the PXI chassis and try booting with only one of the boards in the chassis at a time.  It is possible that one board is causing a resource conflict that is preventing other boards from being detected correctly.  There is a known issue with serial boards and windows 2000 where this happens but I have not found anything about XP.  Even so it is useful to know if the problem still exists when only one board is in the chassis.

3)  If the boards in the PXI chassis are still not showing up check the Device Manager. Delete any Unknown Devices with yellow question marks next to them, and "Scan for Hardware Changes" or "Refresh" the Windows Device Manager.

4)  Verify that the Plug and Play service is enabled in the computer's operating system. On Windows 2000 and XP machines, this option can be found in the "Services" application which is available under "Administrative Tools" in the Control Panel. Scroll down in the list of services until you find "Plug and Play" and make sure that it is "Started" with a Startup Type of "Automatic"

5)  If the MXI-3 is still not being detected it may be that the BIOS is causing the problem. Some BIOS have a selection as to whether on not the operating system is plug and play. In some cases this can cause a problem. If the BIOS of the computer has a selection for "Plug and Play OS, then set this option to "No" even if you are using a Plug and Play operating system. If this does not help, then set it back to "YES" when you are done trouble shooting the system. At that time, ensure that setting it back to "YES" does not affect the system.

Message Edited by Matt E. on 01-28-2008 04:53 PM

[jack1]

Hello Matt, thanks for pointers. I had checked the steps you mention apart from deleting the ? on PCI devices. The device manager had recognised the DAQ cards were there but not their number.

So deleted the ? and when windows asked for the drivers on re-boot let it search for them. This sorted things out and the 3 PXI cards were then found and installed.

Thanks for your help, sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees!

Jack

[Matt_E.]

Glad to hear it was helpful, best of luck to you!

-Matt