cDAQ 9172 USB Device Not Recognised

[~Chris.>>]

Hi,

Problem: Cannot establish a reliable USB connection to a cDAQ 9172 device.  Receive error - "USB Device Not Recognised" or "Device drivers did not install successfully".

Symptoms:

- Connection will drop out at irregular intervals - but not while a DAQmx task is being run.

- Forming a connection requires unplugging and re-plugging the USB cable many, many times.

- May have a full day with no drop outs, depending on what mood the device is in.

- There does not appear to be any pattern to the drop-outs; no discernible cause.

- However, it seems that every time I try something new (explained below), the connection remains good all day (but becomes unreliable the next day after the system is turned on again).

Already Tried:

- Upgrading to the lastest NI DAQmx drivers (version 9.2.2f0) - contains fixes for some incompatible USB chipsets. 

  As far as I'm aware, the laptop I am connecting to does not have a chipset which is listed as being incompatible (although I'm starting to believe it should be added to the list!)

- Using a powered USB Hub.  Working on the asumption that the laptop's USB ports were underpowered, I tried a powered hub; However, they gave just as many dop-outs.

- Modified the Windows power management to deliver full power all the time.

- Tried a different USB cable - still having issues.

- When connecting the device to a different computer there is not a problem.

Once a successful connection is established and the device is idling (ie not running any DAQmx tasks), the 'Ready' light is amber and the 'Active' light is unlit.

System:

* Laptop: Acer Aspire 8943G

* Windows 7 64bit

* Labview 2009

* NI-DAQmx Driver version 9.2.2f0

* Modules in cDAQ 9172 chassis

  - NI 9263

  - NI 9403

  - NI 9234

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Chris.

[R Sandoval]

Hello Chris,

According to the cDAQ 9172 Guide and Specifications on page 17 (http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/371747f.pdf), the amber light means that power is applied, but the USB connection is not established.  Since the device seems to work with other computers, I believe the issue may derive from your USB cable, powered hub, USB network, and/or controller.

How long is the distance between the cDAQ 9172 to the computer?  If the cable length is significantly long, you may have issues regarding propogation delay.  My suggestion is to use a shorter cable if the length is or greater than 5 meters (http://forums.ni.com/t5/Multifunction-DAQ/What-is-the-max-recommended-USB-cable-length-for-cDAQ-chas...). If you already have not done so, inspect the USB cords and make sure that the cable is in good working condition.  Moreover, the USB hub will apply additional signal delay between both the cDAQ and computer.  Try directly connecting the cDAQ 9172 to the computer without the powered USB hub.  Regarding the USB hub and network, how many other USB devices are connected to the system?  Try to disconnect all of the other USB devices to provide the cDAQ 9172 with additional communication bandwidth.  Lastly, the issue can also derive from the USB controller of your computer.  Fixing this issue will most likely require you to contact the vendor or distributer.