NI Linux Real-Time Discussions

Changing Primary MAC Address

I am using a PXIe-8861 Linux-RT controller with the NI Linux-RT 2023 Q4. NI MAX did not allow me to configure the primary ethernet port as EtherCAT. So, I changed the PrimaryMAC section in the etc/natinst/share/ni-rt.ini file. Still, it did not allow me to configure port0 as EtherCAT, and then I tried to revert the system to its previous state.

That's where all the trouble began, and despite my efforts, I couldn't permanently revert the ethernet configuration to its default state. When I change the primary MAC address to 00:80:2F:37:46:3E in the ni-rt.ini file, but when I restart the system, it boots up like this. When I check the ni-rt.ini file, the primary MAC address changes to 00:80:2F:37:46:3F.

The strange thing here is that the port name is eno0 and the MAC address is 00:80:2F:37:46:3E. The MAC address ending with 3F belongs to the eno1 port. Below, you can see the information the ports.

After waiting for a while, the situation changes as follows:

When the system is running, if I make the primary MAC address in the ni-rt.ini file end with 3E, everything looks normal, but in this case, it does not allow me to log in or make any settings changes. You can see that the Set Permission and Login buttons above are missing.