PXIe-8360 regognized but PXIe-1078 not recognized

[rekn]

Hi,

We have two used PXIe-1078 chassis as spare parts for our testsystem. One is regognized in NI MAX the other is not.  What could be the reason why one is regognized? Same PC, same controller card (PXIe-8360). The PXIe-8360 is shown in NI MAX if it plugged in in the not recognized chassis.
Is it a firmware incompatibility? Does the PXIe-1078 has firmware? And if so can it be updated if not regognized by the system?

Thank for your help.

Regards remo

[ZYOng]

Enumerating the devices is not guaranteed when using an MXI system (including 8360) because a third-party BIOS is involved.

You mentioned that you are using the same PC and 8360. What about the host PC's BIOS version, the chassis model, and other peripheral modules? Are they the same as well?

You might want to have a look at MXI-Express Compatibility and Connectivity Troubleshooting Guide

[rekn]

It's litterally the same PC and 8360. I only change the chassis. Both chassis indicate Rev 1.1 on the label on the back. I know it's quit old but one of them workes without a problem.

Therefore the question if a firmware update of the chassis itself is possible so that the chassis are now different from each other. Or does the revision number guarantee the chassis are identical.

[Robert__R]

Hi rekn,

Chassis ID has 2 parts to it (that I know of). The first is reading a backplane EEPROM, which has a bunch of info like vendor, model name, link connections, trigger configuration, etc. If that can't be read then it obviously won't be identified. The second part is looking at the PCIe links and backplane/chassis and matching them up to the EEPROM descriptions. 

If either of these breaks then it doesn't work. I'd start by looking closely at the backplane pins to see if any are bent and shorted to another pin. Then I'd look at each chassis in device manager to see if there are differences (select the PXIe-8360 MXI device, then go to file -> view by connection and expand everything below the root port of that branch. Do this for both chassis and look for differences. Neither of these is likely to help you fix the problem but you might get a better idea of what's wrong.

A chassis firmware version issue is unlikely to be the problem, though your PXIe-8360 firmware could cause problems if it's really old. What version is it (found in MAX)?

- Robert

[rekn]

The pins are looking good.

In NI MAX only the NI SMBus Controller mounted in the PC is shown.

In the device manager I can see some more pci to pci bridges if i connect the working chassis. With the not working chassis these are not shown (only these from the PC itself).

Furthermore, on the PXIe-8360 and the chassis there are a bunch of LEDs switched on after I switch on the PC. In the not working chassis only the Link LED will be switched on. See pictures.

The PXIe-8360 firmware was 08.08.20f12. I've updated it now to 2012.07.10.10. I just found out that to do this I need to start NI MAX as an administrator.

Luckily, the one that worked still works, but unfortunately the other one still doesn't.

[Robert__R · Accepted solution]

Hi rekn,

It looks like the PCIe switch on your backplane isn't working (which could be caused by any number of hardware issues). Devices in slots 2-4 may still work but you won't see anything in the rest of the slots. And they won't show up right in MAX because they won't have a chassis associated with them.

- Robert

[rekn]

Thank you for your analysis.

So I guess I'll have to try to get a replacement for the chassis.

Regards,

Remo