cRIO intermittent connection (with MAX, etc)

[AndyClegg]

Our cRIO connects to our PC fine when it is first booted - and you can view it fine in MAX, in Distributed System Manager, and its web-interface. But after about 3-5mins it consistently looses connection. It remains disconnected, and only rebooting the cRIO restores the connection but only for another 3-5mins. Restarting MAX alone does not help. We can ping the cRIO ok when it is "disconnected" - which to me implies that it is a higher level software problem.

We have had this particular cRIO running fine previously.

Thanks for any suggestions ... whilst not in a rush for this, I really want to understand why the connection is so intermittent

Here are some specifics:

• MAX version 5.0.0f1
• LV2011 DS2
• cRIO is a 9022 (no VIs running on it at start-up,CPU load minimal - idle = 97%)
• development computer is a Vista Home Premium 32bit
• connected together using brand new Cat5E cross-over cable
• TCP/IP settings on laptop - Static IP, IP address 192.168.2.4, Mask 255.255.255.0
• TCP/IP settings on cRIO - Static IP, IP address 192.168.2.1, Mask 255.255.255.0 (gateway and DNS are empty or 0.0.0.0)
• cRIO set to use Autonegotiate for link speed (no option to change this), and packet detection = "interrupt"
• PC set to autonegotiate link speed, but has no effect on problem if it is set to a fixed, low speed e.g.. 10Mbps Half Duplex
• PC Firewall is set to allow port 3580, and in fact turning off firewall altogether does change the problem

[taper]

I had something like this once, I erased everything and reloaded the cRIO base software and it went away.  If that doesn't work, can you watch CPU and memory usage at the time of disconnection?  Or are they minimal the entire time?

[AndyClegg]

Taper - thanks. CPU usage very low even just before disconnect. One of my colleagues had this problem with same cRIO, and ended up doing what you suggested to get the cRIO working reliably with his PC. Now it is back with me, and it's connection seems to have become unreliable for my PC.

I'm going to try connecting via ethernet switch (which is how I had it connected before) instead of crossover cable to see if that makes a difference.

There must be a simpler way than a complete reinstall to fix this.

Andy

[Pete.Dunc]

Hi Andy,

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There must be a simpler way than a complete reinstall to fix this.

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I think Taper's suggestion would be to format the cRIO itself.  This actually only takes a few minutes and can be done through the Measurement & Automation Explorer - rather than removing LabVIEW, RIO, etc. from your host machine.

Let me know how you get on

[AndyClegg · Accepted solution]

Had a chance to try again with my intermittent connection to cRIO, and here's what I found:

• Connecting via a switch, rather than directly with crossover cable - made no difference, still kept disconnecting after 3-4 mins
• With no other networking on my development laptop other than LAN - no difference
• cRIO with NO APP dip switch set ON - no difference
• cRIO with SAFE MODE dip switch set ON - this time it did stay connected, but that mode isn't much use as a fix

I then did the reinstall of the cRIO software as suggested - it failed to complete the first time, but second attempt was fine and connection is now very stable (and hasn't dropped out in last 30mins).

Here's instructions to do reinstall (just in case useful for others):

1. In Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX), navigate to Remote Systems | cRIO | Software
2. Click on the "Add/Remove Software", and an install wizard will appear
3. With currently installed version of software selected - "Click Next to reinstall the currently installed software"
4. Follow the remainder of on-screen instructions, and it should take about 4-5mins

Thanks for your help

Andy

[AndyClegg]

Still connected .... looks like it is well and truly sorted. Thanks