Computer locks up when I try to test my SCXI chassis

[Derek at Epicor]

SCXI 1127 with a SCXI 1331 inside a SCXI 1001 chassis, connected to a PXI 4060 via HV-8 and BN-4 plugs in a PXI 1045 chassis:

10 days ago I was able to run my SCXI chassis perfectly through MAX or LabView. Today I open it up and attempt to run my LabView program to initialize the SCXI switch, and the whir of switches connecting and releasing rapidly occurs for approx. 1-2 seconds and then stops and the computer freezes. I hard reboot and then try to test the SCXI chassis in MAX, and this also locks up my computer. I am able to access all of my other PXI cards. I have not been able to try a different SCXI chassis yet. Does anybody have any idea what could be causing my SCXI chassis to lock up my computer, especially since I ran the program recently? Could it be a memory issue? I'm running a PXI 8186 with 512 MB, but I haven't had any problems with these on my other systems.

Thanks,
Derek

[Erick]

Hi Derek,

This could be a hardware or a software problem, it's hard to determine at this point. Here are some troubleshooting steps to better narrow down the problem.

1) Try deleting and re-adding the chassis in MAX. Can you do a chassis self-test? Does it freeze the computer after re-adding the chassis?

2) Make sure all the connections are tight (I'm sure you've already checked). Do you have another SCXI chassis or another DMM? If you have one or both then swap them for the existing DMM and chassis, one at a time. Does the system work with a new DMM? How about with another SCXI chassis, but the current DMM?

3) If the system still doesn't work after swapping hardware then it must be a software problem. Uninstall and reinstall NI-DAQ and NI-DMM. You can find the current drivers from ni.com/downloads. After reinstalling, does the system work in MAX?

Hopefully this will narrow down the problem. To answer your question, this does not appear to be a memory issue. Especially with 512MB of RAM on an 8186.

Hope this helps! Let me know what you find out.

Thanks,

Erick D
NI Applications Engineer

[Derek at Epicor]

While attempting to figure out the problem, I realized that the issue is with the PXI 4060 DMM that controls the SCXI chassis. In MAX, when I try to run the test panels I get "The device is not responding to the first IRQ level. Would you like to continue anyway?". If YES is pressed, the computer locks up and needs to have a hard reboot. The IRQ (09) is shared with my USB controller, although I don't believe any new equipment was added recently. I cannot manually configure the IRQ values (shaded out) on either, and have not tried to change it in the BIOS. Is resource conflict definitely the problem? Windows doesn't register a resource conflict.
Derek

[Erick]

Hi Derek,

If it's an IRQ conflict then try putting the PXI 4060 in a different slot. If that doesn't fix the problem then I would try a different PC if possible. Before trying a different PC you will need to load NI-DAQ and NI-DMM on that computer. This will let us know if there is a hardware problem with the PXI 4060. If it doesn't work on another PC then we'll need to send it in to get it fixed.

Let me know what you find out.

Thanks!

Erick

[Derek at Epicor]

Erick-
I finished doing all of your suggestions. I deleted the 4060 from the system and put it in a different slot, the computer re-initialized the drivers and tried again - same result. I swapped the 4060 from a different chassis with this 4060. The new 4060 worked fine and is still working fine. The old 4060 caused the same problem on the new chassis. So I'm sending the 4060 into NI because I don't think it's a problem with the setup, system, or software.

Thank you for your help,
Derek