Suitable Laptop for NI ExpressCard 8360

[SVelama]

Hello,

I'm looking for an Industrial Laptop, which supports NI ExpressCard 8360 with NI PXI Chassis(8 & 18 slots). we have tried with couple of laptops(HP ProBook & Dell XPS), which has the follwing issues:

1. Booting (This could be fixed by changing the booting order)

2. Digitizer module freezes (when the number of samples are above 60000)

3. Unable to detect all the available PXI modules

Please suggest me a right model.

Thanks in advance...:)

[Lewis_G · Accepted solution]

Hi,

We don’t have a listed of supported laptops but we do have some resources that can help you.

Tips to Help You Successfully Use NI MXI-Express Controllers

MXI-Express Setup and Compatibility Guide

To address your issues:

1. Booting (This could be fixed by changing the booting order)

What is the problem you have with booting?  Will the laptop not boot when your NI ExpressCard 8360 is connected? There is some information regarding this on page 1-3 of the MXI-Express x1 Series User Manual.

“The BIOS of some host machines may not support the extension of the PCI-Express fabric or PCI bus. Since this is the primary function of MXI-Express x1 products, those systems may not boot or function correctly. To address this issue, certain MXI-Express x1 products have additional functionality intended to hide all PCI or PCI-Express resources that are connected to the host machine, and allow NI MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software to handle the enumeration process of these resources instead of the BIOS.

In the cases where this software is required, there may be a dip switch on the board that needs to be toggled as instructed by the documentation for the software. The functional block diagrams in this chapter illustrate the locations and availability of the dip switch package. Only the first dip switch in the package is used for this purpose. The other switches serve no function and should be left in their default position.” 

After knowing this, I would install NI MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software found here.

2. Digitizer module freezes (when the number of samples are above 60000)

Do you have any other systems to try the same card in?

3. Unable to detect all the available PXI modules. 

A low maximum limit on the bus number range set by the BIOS, which limits the amount of hardware that can be attached to the system could have something to do with this.  Try this: Determining the Number and Range of PCI/PCI Express Root Bus Devices

Hope this helps.

[SVelama]

Thanks a lot Lewis, that was really an useful information....

1. Booting : The system didn't boot up when it is connected with the ExpressCard 8360, we have also tried with the NI MXI-Express BIOS Compatibility Software , but no luck.

2. Digitizer Module Freezes : yes we have tried with couple of different modules & had a similar issue.

Luckily we were able to find the right model : Dell 6520 i7-2760QM & interestingly it fixed all the above mentioned issues.