Converting a desktop machine into RT - Problems

[STB]

If anybody can help me here it would be greatfully recieved.

We are trying to convert a Industrial PC into an RT target and we have one remaining problem - Installing the software. I thought I was out of the woods however something is still nibbling at me!

1) Purchased a Intel Pro 100/Desktop S network adapter of which when RTOS boots it finds (recommended chipset for 7.1) We have

two of these boards (one server and one desktop both giving the same results).

2) Using the format hard disk floppy the IDE drive has been initialised OK (Using purchased Desktop Disks from NI).

3) At the unconfigured stage (no software) I try to install the software through MAX and it attempts to do something but then fails and returns general communication failure.

4) If I ping the target I recieve Unreachable host. I can however still set the IP address in MAX etc so the UDP works!

5) I have also moved on and changed the direct network connection to a switch - still with no joy.

6) I have also tried this using another machine as the host - again with no joy.

For some reason I cannot talk to the target using TCP!

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[aasenjo]

Based on #4, above:

4) If I ping the target I receive Unreachable host. I can however still set the IP address in MAX etc so the UDP works!

The rule of thumb is that you should be able to ping your target. If this is not happening, then it is likely we are dealing with a network configuration issue. If you have two network cards on your host, make sure you have well-defined subnet masks and gateways, as it's possible that the OS might get confused and send ping requests out through the wrong card. If possible, temporarily disable one of the adapters to troubleshoot the issue.

If you are using static IPs, then make sure that the subnet mask configurations matches that of your host (if on the same subnet), or at least matches the configuration of the subnet it's physically plugged into.

Once you are able to ping your controller, you should be able to use TCP and therefore use MAX to configure the software on the target.

Let me know if the issue persists even after troubleshooting the network. If it does, please provide a brief description of the networking topology, host and target network adapters, host and target IPs and network masks.

I hope this helps,

Alejandro

[STB]

Hello Aasenjo,

Thanks for your mail. I have since solved the issue as follows:

You need to install the RT Embedded software V1.1 (Shipped with PXI) in order to ensure you have the correct network support for the PRO 100/S adapter. After installing this and then creating my own disks from within MAX was I able to then progress and ping the controller and hence download the software to the PC. The desktop disks provided by NI didn't do the trick - never mind.

Strangly enough I am still having difficulty configuring a 40GB drive. I have found a 10GB IDE drive that works fine so I have now got the PC running under RT7.1 but need to solve the 40GB drive issue as I cannot initialise it! I am sure its something I have done wrong regarding drive configuration.

Once again, thanks for your help.

[aasenjo]

Thanks, STB

I still don't understand why the RT Desktop floppies didn't work for you, especially if you are using the Intel 100/S adapter. In your original post you mentioned that the RT Desktop was able use (or acquire) an IP:

4) If I ping the target I receive Unreachable host. I can however still set the IP address in MAX etc so the UDP works!

Did the RT Desktop fail to boot past the "Initializing Network..." message? or did it seem like it was correctly initializing the network card but then became inaccessible to the rest of the network?

I just want to follow up to make sure we understand what made it work.

Regarding the hard drive, make sure you use a DOS or Win98 boot floppy to perform an FDISK on it, delete all existing partitions, create a single primary partition and activate it, then reboot and format the HDD with a FAT32 files system. At that point you should be able to use the RT-Desktop Format Floppy to make the HDD boot RT.

As a friendly reminder, make sure you own a LabVIEW RT Desktop Deployment License for each PC that you configure with LabVIEW RT

Let me know,

Alejandro

[STB]

Aasenjo,

Everytime the machine was booted it found the network card but would report status unconfigured as I have not downloaded any software from the host. At this point and previously I can configure the Target within MAX (Changing the IP, resetting etc as this I believe uses UDP broadcast and not TCP). I could not then PING the target and hence download the software from MAX to the target using the NI disks.

After installing the Embeeded Target Support V1.1 CD and creating the disks myself through MAX was I able to PING the controller and download the software to it. Strange.

Regarding the Licensing we have purchased a Desktop License for this machine. I will try the harddrive again however at this stage I have not managed to find time to do the work.

Kind Regards, STB