Need help with a new PXIe-5442 that needs a repair

[blakney]

Hello All,

I have a new PXIe-5442 that was purchased as part of a larger system (with a PXIe-5122, PXIe-1092, and accessories) and all of the parts have arrived for testing. The initial test failed to work the same as our 4 other systems but there was a delay as my work had more pressing issues.We were able to verify that all cards passed basic test in NIMAX as well had basic functionality with stock InstrumentStudio panels. Clearly this needed further testing on our part to isolate the problem until yesterday.

Yesterday I isolated the problem to the 5442 by adding the 5442 and 5122 to a complete working chassis. With 2 of 5442 and 2 of 5122 in the system, it became apparent that the new 5442 was incapable of routing the trigger for either 5122 through the PXI backplane as required for our data station.

I called yesterday and was promised an email (and told there wasn't any warranty left haha - they recognized that was an error due to the recent shipping date). I didn't get an email but more importantly, I need to figure out how to get through the new iron wall between tech engineers and end users to make sure that this device is fully tested for this unique failure mode.

Off the top of my head (and recognizing that this more than likely a hardware or possibly a firmware issue), the following NI software features may come into play with this case. (See attached report for all software on the development computer in use).

Tclk (5122 and 5442)

Waveform staging

Event marker over PXI backplane for 5122 trigger

Waveform sequencing

I am happy to talk to someone from NI about how to test this hardware as well as how to send this hardware back to NI for said test and repair.

Phone number is on this account.

Greg B

[TobiasG]

Greg,

Did you ever receive a reply via email or otherwise? Perhaps they entered your email wrong? You can open a Service Request as well to get a response.

Our instruments are thoroughly tested (including PXI backplane triggering functionality, a key use case) during manufacturing. Although a hardware failure is possible, my initial thought would be misconfiguration. Backplane triggering has some "gotchas" that can trip up even experienced users.

The MAX report helped answer some questions I would want to ask, but there's a lot to your setup that is unclear. More information would be helpful here, and will be required to fully troubleshoot.

Some open questions and things to try:

1. Is this system identical (NI hardware, computer model, software setup, etc.) to your other systems? If not, how do they differ?
2. What is the hardware setup on the system? The MAX information you attached doesn't show these instruments.
   1. Have you checked the PXI routing configuration in MAX to ensure it's configured properly? If the instruments are in different chassis segments, you may need to modify some settings.
   2. Is all the triggering done via the backplane? If not, could a cable be loose?
3. Have you confirmed that all instruments are fully inserted into the backplane?
4. Have you tried the instruments in different slots?
5. Do you have a simple reproducing program you can share to show the incorrect behavior?
6. What is the failure mode? Do you get a timeout? Internal hardware error? Crash? Hang?

[blakney · Accepted solution]

Tobias, This ended up being solved offline but the end result was my misunderstanding the nature of the trigger bus(es) on the 1092 chassis. For the 1092, there are two trigger buses and they do not communicate (at least by default. )

I am a bit hesitant by nature to remove and insert PXI cards without good reason and that bit my in the rear here.

Greg