Do I have faulty hardware?

[chrisaj]

I'm trying to use a PXI-4462 with a PXI-8310 StarFabric interface in a PXI-1036 chassis. The PCMCIA card is an 8310 in a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop. I've followed the procecures exactly and the LEDs on the PXI-8310 do not light up. There was *one* exception to this. It booted, I saw the LEDs, and the PXI-4462 card was recognized by the system and started to install the drivers.... then the LEDs went black (during installation) and have not been seen again. When should I see the LEDs which indicate connectivity? The one time it worked,  I believe that I saw them while the system was still booting. I've also tried a Dell Inspiron 8200 and a fresh XP install with no success.

Thanks for any advice,

Chris

[Justin_E]

Hey Chris,

The LEDs indicate when the differential transmitter and receiver are synchronized and can send data across their lines. These will normally light up whenever communication is first established, which in this case will be during the laptop's bootup as the laptop's BIOS is enumerating the PCI devices in your PXI chassis. When the LEDs do not light up, this indicates that the differential transmitter and receiver are not synchronized, and thus data cannot be passed between devices. The first thing I would suggest to try and fix this issue is to try a different RJ45 cable to connect between the 8310 cards, and ensure that the cable is connected between the TX on the CardBus card and the RX on the PXI card

[chrisaj]

Thanks for the help, Justin.

I have already tried changing cables and ensured that the TX/RX connections are correct. So my best guess is that it's a faulty PCMCIA card or PXI-8310 (I have tried re-seating it with no success). Is there any sort of diagnostic available to tell which?

Chris

[Justin_E]

Chris,

Can you see the PCMCIA card in Device Manager? It should show up as a StarGen PCI to PCI Bridge (reference pages 10-11 of the installation guide for more info : http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/371625a.pdf), and if it's showing up properly then the issue is likely with the PXI card. From here I would verify that you went through the installation procedure correctly, and if so then the card is probably faulty. To process an RMA for this card, you will need to call us and create a service request. Go to http://www.ni.com/ask and we'll help you through the process.

[Jdawson]

Chris,

Please give me a call and hopefully we can sort this out over the phone. I spoke to your Canadian colleague (Peter @ NRC). Peter forwarded me this link to the discussion and wanted to me to touch base with you. It sounds like we need to RMA the board (fix it) and/or purchase a new PCMCIA card.

Cheers,

Jason Dawson

NI - Canada Sales

1-800-433-3488 ex-30089

[chrisaj]

Hi Justin and Jason,

Yes, the PCMCIA card does show up in Device Manager. I'll call tomorrow and see what we can do. Thanks for your help!

Chris

[pbyrnes]

The system which was on loan, has been returned to me. I have installed s/w and h/w in accordance with directions. In Device Manager, PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge, and StarGen Other Bridge are seen. In NI-Max PXI System (unidentified) is seen. The LEDs on the -8310 do not glow.

 PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge "properties" are as follows:

 Device status "This device is working properly"

Resource settings "This device isn't using any resources because it has a problem."

 StarGen Other Bridge "properties" are as follows:

Device status "No drivers are installed for this device"

Driver File Details:  C:\\WINDOWS....\mobridg.sys

Resource settings "This device isn't using any resources because it has a problem."

[pbyrnes]

Screen shots 3/4

[pbyrnes]

Screen shot 4/4

[pbyrnes]

Stargen Properties 3/4