National Instruments MXI, Getting Started

Page 1: ...MXI Getting Started with Your PCI Based MXI 2 Interface for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 PCI Based MXI 2 Interfaces for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 September 2001 Edition Part Number 323193A 01...

Page 2: ...26 00 Finland 09 725 725 11 France 01 48 14 24 24 Germany 089 741 31 30 Greece 30 1 42 96 427 Hong Kong 2645 3186 India 91805275406 Israel 03 6120092 Italy 02 413091 Japan 03 5472 2970 Korea 02 596 7...

Page 3: ...service failures caused by owner s failure to follow the National Instruments installation operation or maintenance instructions owner s modification of the product owner s abuse misuse or negligent...

Page 4: ...ents could void the user s authority to operate the equipment under the FCC Rules Class A Federal Communications Commission This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Cla...

Page 5: ...ought for OEMs if also available from an original manufacturer that also markets in the EU or where compliance is not required as for electrically benign apparatus or cables To obtain the DoC for this...

Page 6: ...Instruments Application Software 1 5 Chapter 2 Setup Configuring the Hardware 2 1 Installing the Hardware 2 1 Installing Your PCI Based MXI 2 Interface 2 1 Installing Your Mainframe Extender 2 2 Conne...

Page 7: ...for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 viii ni com NI VXI API Notes 3 8 Compiler Symbols 3 8 Compatibility Layer Options 3 9 Debugging 3 10 Appendix A Default Settings Appendix B Common Questions Appendix C Techni...

Page 8: ...contains either a VXI MXI 2 or VME MXI 2 which plugs into your VXI or VME mainframe and links your computer to the VXIbus or VMEbus respectively The kit also contains either a PCI MXI 2 or a PXI 8320...

Page 9: ...fault settings and to find the answers for commonly asked questions The MXI 2 Configuration Reference Manual contains information on configuring installing and cabling your MXI 2 hardware You need to...

Page 10: ...tes items that you must select or click on in the software such as menu items and dialog box options Bold text also denotes parameter names italic Italic text denotes variables emphasis a cross refere...

Page 11: ...strumentation VXIbus ANSI VITA 1 1994 VME64 CompactPCI Specification Revision 2 0 PCI Industrial Computers Manufacturers Group Multisystem Extension Interface Bus Specification Version 2 0 National In...

Page 12: ...ollowing flowchart shows where to turn for more details on configuring and using the hardware and software How to Use This Manual Notice that for hardware configuration you should refer to the MXI 2 C...

Page 13: ...lude the NI VXI software for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 are as follows VXI PCI8000 containing a PCI MXI 2 and a C size or B size VXI MXI 2 VXI PXI8000 containing a PXI 8320 and a C size or B size VXI MXI 2...

Page 14: ...which can reside in any B size VXIbus slot Note D size VXI mainframes have connections for a P3 connector The VXI MXI 2 however does not have this connector and if configured as a Slot 0 controller ca...

Page 15: ...you must create a separate pseudo device entry with a logical address between 256 and 511 For example a VME device with memory in both A24 and A32 spaces would require two entries You can also specify...

Page 16: ...utility not only takes the place of the NI VXI T M Explorer utility but it also adopts the functionality of the NI DAQ Configuration utility so you can configure National Instruments DAQ products You...

Page 17: ...C programming environment designed for building virtual instrument applications LabWindows CVI delivers a drag and drop editor for building user interfaces a complete ANSI C environment for building...

Page 18: ...oard discussed in this getting started manual Refer to the MXI 2 Configuration Reference Manual if you want to try a different hardware configuration or would like more information on a particular set...

Page 19: ...the VXI VMEbus system controller The VXI VMEbus system controllers operate certain VXI VMEbus lines as required for VXI VME systems Verify that any other VXI VME devices with system controller capabil...

Page 20: ...y for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 Some of the utilities rely on the LabWindows CVI Run Time Engine This software is installed if necessary during the NI VXI installation Depending on the type of installatio...

Page 21: ...m setup gives you complete control over which files and utilities you want installed on your system This option is recommended for advanced users 6 The Typical setup completes without further question...

Page 22: ...re Resman to run automatically at every computer startup 5 After you run Resman you are ready to use MAX to interactively configure the National Instruments hardware in your system Use the right click...

Page 23: ...ces NI VISA is the National Instruments implementation of the VISA I O standard which is a common interface to many types of instruments such as VXI GPIB PXI Serial TCP IP etc NI VXI is optimized for...

Page 24: ...sman does not require you to specify any settings it automatically performs the VXI resource management whenever you run it Note Power cycling resets all devices so you must run Resman to reconfigure...

Page 25: ...an found while configuring the system Figure 3 1 Right Click on a VXI System in MAX to Run Resman on that System After Resman detects and configures all your VXI VME devices you can use MAX to view sp...

Page 26: ...also use VXI Interactive Control Program VIC to control your VXI VME devices and develop and debug VXI application programs VIC is not included in the default NI VXI installation to install it select...

Page 27: ...rn Value field shows the function status such as 0 for VI_SUCCESS see Figure 3 3 Figure 3 3 Successful viIn Access in the VISAIC Register I O Tab This Dialog Box May Look Slightly Different for LabVIE...

Page 28: ...older NI VXI API run the NI VXI installer and select the appropriate option in the custom installation screen Be sure to review the NI VXI API Notes section later in this chapter NI VISA is the Natio...

Page 29: ...pings and other attributes of your VXI system Refer to the MAX online help for information regarding these options Optimizing Large VXIbus Transfers For best performance keep the following in mind whe...

Page 30: ...c in VISA or VXImemAlloc in the NI VXI API Note that the viMemAlloc function allocates RAM from the workstation s system RAM not from the onboard RAM on the controller To access onboard RAM on the con...

Page 31: ...nt from the default routing in previous versions of NI VXI Therefore the compatibility layer may behave differently than the original NI VXI API with regard to these settings In particular if you are...

Page 32: ...VISA NI VXI and NI 488 NI Spy highlights functions that return errors so during development you can quickly spot which functions failed during a program s execution NI Spy can log the calls your progr...

Page 33: ...Corporation 3 11 PCI Based MXI 2 Interfaces for Windows 2000 NT Me 98 VISAIC discussed above in the Device Interaction section of this chapter is an excellent platform for quickly testing instruments...

Page 34: ...he MXI 2 Configuration Reference Manual for your hardware reference and the MAX online help for your software reference PCI MXI 2 PXI 8320 This section summarizes the hardware and software default set...

Page 35: ...f the user configured half of the EEPROM U6 Switch 2 TST OFF Factory configuration of the EEPROM is protected U6 Switch 3 POS OFF Do not alter this setting U6 Switch 4 CT ON Do not alter this setting...

Page 36: ...window byte swapping Disabled Lower half window memory selection System memory Upper half window byte swapping Disabled Upper half window memory selection System memory Map upper and lower halves at s...

Page 37: ...er window size 64 KB Expansion ROM Enabled Table A 7 VXI MXI 2 Hardware Default Settings Hardware Component Default Setting Logical address U43 1 VXIbus Slot 0 Non Slot 0 W2 Automatic detection VXIbus...

Page 38: ...arger ON if smaller than 4 M 32 Table A 8 VXI MXI 2 B Hardware Default Settings Hardware Component Default Setting Logical address U20 1 VXIbus Slot 0 Non Slot 0 W3 Automatic detection VXIbus local bu...

Page 39: ...s Hardware Component Default Setting A16 base address U20 Hex C040 VME MXI 2 intermodule signaling W2 No user defined pin selected MXIbus termination U21 switches 3 and 4 Automatic MXIbus termination...

Page 40: ...ite posting Disabled Interlocked mode Disabled Assumes no DRAM is installed If DRAM is installed the Address space should be A32 and Requested memory should match the amount of DRAM If you install the...

Page 41: ...I 2 Bus Tab Default Settings Editor Field Default Setting System controller Auto detect Bus timeout value 1 ms MXI 2 auto retry Disabled MXI transfer limit Unlimited MXI fair requester Disabled Perfor...

Page 42: ...Instruments hardware VXItedit This is a console based version of VXIedit VIC Use this utility to interactively communicate with VXI devices over the VXIbus using the NI VXI API VICtext This is a cons...

Page 43: ...can communicate with your VXI system What happened to VXIinit You no longer need to run VXIinit to initialize settings on your hardware We now take care of loading hardware settings in the driver com...

Page 44: ...n to run when the computer first boots In this case you may never need to run Resman explicitly again This is common when you use an embedded VXI controller such as a VXIpc You can configure the compu...

Page 45: ...tion about the VISA driver through VISAIC by selecting About from the Help menu Under Windows 2000 NT Me 98 you can find version information by right clicking on any component and selecting the Proper...

Page 46: ...ng The fastest method for testing the system is to run Resman This program attempts to access memory in the upper A16 address space of each device in the system If Resman does not report any problems...

Page 47: ...at the MXI 2 cable is plugged in and that the end labeled Connect this end to the device closest to the MXIbus System Controller is connected to the MXIbus system controller by default the PCI MXI 2 o...

Page 48: ...0 two devices or one with respect to the VXIbus The PCI MXI 2 PXI 8320 and the VXI MXI 2 are unique VXIbus devices with their own logical addresses However the MXIbus allows the PCI or PXI CompactPCI...

Page 49: ...memory and dual ported memory These terms refer to a block of memory that is accessible to both a client and a server The memory block operates as a message buffer for communications Shared memory is...

Page 50: ...easily access the latest example programs system configurators tutorials technical news as well as a community of developers ready to share their own techniques Customer Education National Instrument...

Page 51: ...ch office Web sites from the Worldwide Offices section of ni com Branch office Web sites provide up to date contact information support phone numbers e mail addresses and current events If you have se...

Page 52: ...VXIbus address space equivalent to the VME 16 MB standard address space A32 space VXIbus address space equivalent to the VME 4 GB extended address space ACFAIL A VMEbus backplane signal that is assert...

Page 53: ...gnals B B bytes backplane An assembly typically a printed circuit board with 96 pin connectors and signal paths that bus the connector pins A C size VXIbus system will have two sets of bused connector...

Page 54: ...ts 1 through 12 on P2 It is distributed to each slot as a single source single destination signal with a matched delay of under 8 ns Commander A message based device that is also a bus master and can...

Page 55: ...s at Logical Address 255 during a priority select cycle The Resource Manager subsequently assigns it a new logical address which the device responds to until powered down E ECL Emitter Coupled Logic E...

Page 56: ...es designed to control a specific instrument or family of instruments and any necessary related files for LabWindows CVI or LabVIEW interrupt A means for a device to request service from another devic...

Page 57: ...ough communication registers MITE A National Instruments custom ASIC a sophisticated dual channel DMA controller that incorporates the Synchronous MXI and VME64 protocols to achieve high performance b...

Page 58: ...ines PXI PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation an open implementation of CompactPCI that adds electrical features that meet the high performance requirements of instrumentation applications by providing...

Page 59: ...figured for installation in Slot 0 of a VXIbus mainframe This device is unique in the VXIbus system in that it performs the VMEbus System Controller functions including clock sourcing and arbitration...

Page 60: ...VISA specification standardized by the VXIplug play Systems Alliance defines an interface independent I O API for VXI VME GPIB GPIB VXI Serial and TCP IP It is the standard on which modern instrument...

Page 61: ...devices in a VXIbus system It utilizes the A16 communication registers to transfer data using a simple polling handshake method write posting A mechanism that signifies that a device will immediately...

Page 62: ...our application 3 10 default settings PCI MXI 2 PXI 8320 hardware settings A 1 MAX settings A 2 VXI VME MXI 2 hardware settings A 4 MAX settings A 7 device interaction 3 4 documentation flowchart for...

Page 63: ...PXI 8320 MXIbus system controller 1 3 N National Instruments application software 1 5 National Instruments Web support C 1 NI Developer Zone C 1 NI Spy utility 1 5 NI VISA software example programs t...

Page 64: ...lation 2 4 procedure for installing software 2 3 startup Resource Manager operations B 5 SYSFAIL LED B 7 system controller configuring more than one device as system controller caution 2 2 optional MX...

Page 65: ...W Web support from National Instruments C 1 WIN95 GWIN95 framework 1 5 WINNT GWINNT framework 1 5 worldwide technical support C 2...