9561 SOM Status LED flashing...no communication

[Call.Me.Wilbur]

Hi Jaume,

I just sent you a private message with instructions for downloading the recovery file. Feel free to reach out if this doesn't resolve the issue for you.

Will

National Instruments

[Active_Vibration_Control]

Hi there,

I am using sbRIO-9637 OEM RT controller and have the same problem...

Could you show me some advice?

Yours,

Max

[NickelsAndDimes]

Hi Max,

Generally, it's good practice to start a new thread rather than comment on one that's been dormant for a long time.

If your 9637 has a constantly-slashing status light (equal time on/off, no long pause between blinks) then it probably has a corrupted drive. NI has recovery files that can be loaded onto a USB drive, allowing the sbRIO to boot from the USB rather than its own disk. This way, the disk can be repaired and regular installation can be performed through NI MAX.

I'll send you a DM with information on how to get this file, but in general this is something best addressed through a Service Request with our Technical Support Engineers. They have the tools to generate this recovery file, and it helps NI (and our customers) to have issues tracked through our support system, so we can address the issues that affect the most customers.

[MrJackHamilton]

Nick,

Will he need a 32 meg USB to boot the cRIO from? or has this limitation been removed. I recall having problems finding a megabyte sized USB as the bootloader cannot handle gig drives.

Jack 

[NickelsAndDimes]

Hi Jack,

There's no hard limit on USB size, though anecdotally we've observed greater success chances with smaller drives. Personally, I've had success using 8 and 16GB drives. I've had customers successfully use 64GB drives, but many of the customers who report this process failing were using 64GB, so it's very device-specific.

There's a race condition that causes this: The USB drive takes some time to "boot*" and report itself to the host PC/sbRIO. If this time is longer than the time it takes the sbRIO itself to start up its BIOS, it might not see the USB drive as an available boot device. Generally, smaller-capacity drives can ready themselves faster than larger drives. But it's not a hard rule: a low-capacity USB 1.0 drive might be more sluggish than a higher-capacity USB 3.0 drive, for example.

*The more accurate terminology would be "It takes time for the BIOS to enumerate the drive, and the technology inside the USB drive can extend this time long enough to prevent its use as a boot device"