Troubleshooting

Installation and Configuration

Refer to the DAQ Getting Started Guide and the SCXI Quick Start Guide for general installation and configuration instructions.

Use the following resources if you have problems installing your DAQ hardware and/or software:

• For troubleshooting instructions, refer to the Hardware Installation/ Configuration Troubleshooter at ni.com/support/install.
• Refer to ni.com/kb for documents on troubleshooting common installation and programming problems and for answering frequently asked questions about NI products.
• If you think you have damaged your device and need to return your National Instruments hardware for repair or calibration, refer to ni.com/support and search on Sending a Board for Repair or Calibration to learn how to begin the Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) process.

For LabWindows/CVI users, if the Data Acquisition function panel is disabled, you may need to uninstall NI-DAQ and reinstall it, making sure that you add support for LabWindows/CVI. If you have installed LabWindows/CVI support and Data Acquisition is still dimmed, select Library»Customize. In the Customize Library Menu dialog box, check Data Acquisition, and restart LabWindows/CVI. You might also need to verify that the dataacq.lib is in the bin directory.

Programming

To help you get started programming, you can use the shipping examples for your ADE.

You can also visit NI's extensive library of technical support resources at ni.com/support.

You can interactively configure global virtual channels and tasks with the DAQ Assistant. For NI application software such as LabVIEW, you can use the DAQ Assistant to generate code.

Finally, the NI-DAQmx Help contains programming flowcharts for common applications such as measuring temperature, current, strain, position, and acceleration.

External Connections

In addition to the information on making signal connections in this help file, the Connection Diagram tab in the DAQ Assistant within MAX shows you how to connect signals.

Calibration

• For information on externally calibrating your device, including step-by-step calibration procedures, refer to ni.com/calibration.
• For an overview of calibration, including the difference between self-calibration and external calibration, refer to Calibration.
• For device-specific information required for calibration with NI-DAQmx, refer to Device-Specific Calibration.
• For information on channel calibration, refer to What Is Channel Calibration?

CPU Usage

NI-DAQmx tasks use 100% of the CPU if no other processes are running. However, as soon as another process requires the CPU, the NI-DAQmx task yields to that process.

Troubleshooting an SCXI System

The following are some tips to help you troubleshoot problems with an SCXI system:

• Can MAX establish communication with the chassis? If not, try one or all of the following: Connect the DAQ device to a different module in the chassis. Try a different cable assembly. Try a different chassis. Try a different DAQ device. If you have multiple chassis, disconnect them and reconnect them one at a time to isolate the problem.
• Make sure that each SCXI chassis connected to a single DAQ device has a unique address.
• If you have multiple SCXI modules, remove all the modules and test each module individually.
• If a particular chassis does not work, try another one.
• If you are getting erroneous readings from your signal source, disconnect the signal source and short the input channel to ground. You should get a 0 V reading.
• Alternately, connect a battery or other known signal source to the input channel.
• Run an example program to see if you still get erroneous results.