National Instruments E Series Operation, , Resources

Appendix C PC Card Questions and Answers

DAQCard E Series User Manual C-2



National Instruments Corporation

Operation

1. My PC Card works when inserted before power-on time, but it does not work

when hot inserted. What is wrong?

You may have an interrupt conflict. If you have a utility such as

MSD.EXE

, run it to determine the allocated interrupts, then refer to

question 5 in the

Resources

section.

MSD.EXE

is usually shipped with

Microsoft Windows.

2. My computer locks up when I use a PC Card. What should I do?

This usually happens because Card Services allocated an unusable

interrupt level to the PC Card. For example, on some computers,

interrupt level 11 is not routed to PC Cards. If Card Services is not

aware of this, it may assign interrupt 11 to a PC Card even though the

interrupt is not usable. When a call uses the interrupt, the interrupt

never occurs, and the computer locks up waiting for a response. For

information about how to locate an interrupt that is free to be used, refer

to question 4 in the

Resources

section.

3. Is there a way I can conserve power on my PC Card when it is not in use?

Yes. If you are using NI-DAQ for PC compatibles version 4.8.0 or later,

a utility called

DAQPOWER.EXE

will switch National Instruments PC

Cards between normal mode and power-down mode. Run

DAQPOWER

from the command line to view instructions on the proper usage. Refer

to Appendix E,

Power-Management Modes

, for more information on

these modes.

Resources

1. How do I determine if I have a memory conflict?

If no PC Cards are working at all, it is probably because a memory

window is not usable. Card Services uses a 4 kB memory window for

its own internal use. If the memory cannot be used, then Card Services

cannot read the Card Information Structure (CIS) from the DAQCard

EPROM, which means it cannot identify cards.

There are two different methods you can use when Card Services has a

problem reading the CIS. First, you can determine which memory

window Card Services is using, and then exclude that window from use

Contents

Main Page Important Information This document was created with FrameMaker 4.0.4 WARNING REGARDING MEDICAL AND CLINICAL USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS Trademarks Page Chapter 4 Signal Connections Page Page Figures Tables About This Manual Organization of This Manual Conventions Used in This Manual National Instruments Documentation Related Documentation Customer Communication Introduction About the DAQCard E Series What You Need to Get Started LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI Application Software Software Programming Choices NI-DAQ Driver Software Register-Level Programming Optional Equipment Custom Cabling Unpacking Installation and Configuration Installation Configuration Page National Instruments Corporation 3-1 DAQCard E Series User Manual Hardware Overview DAQ - STC This document was created with FrameMaker 4.0.4 I/O Connector Analog Input Input Mode Input Polarity and Input Range Page Page Considerations for Selecting Input Ranges Dither Chapter 3 Hardware Overview National Instruments Corporation 3-7 DAQCard E Series User Manual d. Dither enabled; average of 50 acquisitions c. Dither enabled; no averaging Dither Figure 3-3. Page Analog Trigger Page Page Digital I/O Timing Signal Routing Programmable Function Inputs DAQCard Clocks Many functions performed by the DAQCard E Series cards require a Signal Connections I/O Connector DAQCard E Series User Manual 4-2 Figure 4-1. I/O Connector Pin Assignment for the DAQCard-AI-16E-4 and DAQCard-AI-16XE-50 National Instruments Corporation 4-3 DAQCard E Series User Manual Table 4-1. I/O Connector Signal Descriptions DAQCard E Series User Manual 4-4 Table 4-1. I/O Connector Signal Descriptions (Continued) National Instruments Corporation 4-5 DAQCard E Series User Manual Table 4-2 shows the I/O signal summary for the DAQCard-AI-16E-4. I/O Signal Summary, DAQCard-AI-16E-4 Table 4-2. I/O Signal Summary, DAQCard-AI-16E-4 (Continued) Table 4-2. National Instruments Corporation 4-7 DAQCard E Series User Manual Table 4-2. I/O Signal Summary, DAQCard-AI-16E-4 (Continued) DAQCard E Series User Manual 4-8 Table 4-3 shows the I/O signal summary for the DAQCard-AI-16XE-50. I/O Signal Summary, DAQCard-AI-16XE-50 Table 4-3. Table 4-3. I/O Signal Summary, DAQCard-AI-16XE-50 (Continued) Analog Input Signal Connections Page Types of Signal Sources Input Configurations Ground-Referenced Signal Sources Floating Signal Sources Figure 4-3 summarizes the recommended input configuration for both types of signal sources. Summary of Analog Input Connections Figure 4-3. Differential Connection Considerations (DIFF Input Configuration) National Instruments Corporation 4-15 DAQCard E Series User Manual Differential Connections for Ground-Referenced Signal Sources Differential Input Connections for Ground-Referenced Signals Figure 4-4. in Figure 4-4. Differential Connections for Nonreferenced or Floating Signal Sources Page Single-Ended Connection Considerations Single-Ended Connections for Floating Signal Sources (RSE Configuration) Single-Ended Connections for Grounded Signal Sources (NRSE Configuration) Common-Mode Signal Rejection Considerations Digital I/O Signal Connections Power Connections Timing Connections Page Programmable Function Input Connections Data Acquisition Timing Connections SCANCLK Signal EXTSTROBE* Signal TRIG1 Signal Page TRIG2 Signal STARTSCAN Signal Page Page CONVERT* Signal AIGATE Signal SISOURCE Signal UISOURCE Signal General-Purpose Timing Signal Connections GPCTR0_SOURCE Signal GPCTR0_GATE Signal GPCTR0_OUT Signal GPCTR0_UP_DOWN Signal GPCTR1_SOURCE Signal GPCTR1_GATE Signal GPCTR1_OUT Signal GPCTR1_UP_DOWN Signal FREQ_OUT Signal Field Wiring Considerations Calibration Loading Calibration Constants Self-Calibration External Calibration Other Considerations Specifications A DAQCard-AI-16E-4 Analog Input Input Characteristics Page Transfer Characteristics Dynamic Characteristics Amplifier Characteristics Stability Digital I/O Timing I/O Triggers Analog Trigger Power Requirement (from PCMCIA I/O channel) Digital Trigger Physical Environment DAQCard-AI-16XE-50 Analog Input Input Characteristics Transfer Characteristics Amplifier Characteristics Dynamic Characteristics Stability Digital I/O Timing I/O Page B Appendix B Optional Cable Connector Descriptions DAQCard E Series User Manual B-2 Figure B-1. 68-Pin AI Connector Pin Assignments Appendix B Optional Cable Connector Descriptions 50-Pin AI Connector Pin Assignments Figure B-2. PC Card Questions and Answers C Configuration Operation Resources Page Resource Conflicts Common Questions D General Information Installation and Configuration Analog Input and Output Timing and Digital I/O Page Page Power-Management Modes E Page Customer Communication FTP Support Electronic Services F Bulletin Board Support Fax and Telephone Support Telephone Fax FaxBack Support E-Mail Support (currently U.S. only) Technical Support Form DAQCard E Series Hardware and Software Configuration Form Other Products National Instruments Products Documentation Comment Form Glossary Symbols A C B D E F H G Page P S R T V U W B A Numbers C D E F G I H L P O N Page Q S R Page T