PC Card (PCMCIA) Devices Can Exhibit Interrupt Failures on Windows 2000 and XP

Primary Software: Driver Software>>NI-DAQ
Primary Software Version: 7.0
Primary Software Fixed Version: 7.2
Secondary Software: N/A
Hardware: Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6062E, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6036E, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6023E, GPIB>>Plug-in Controllers>>PCMCIA-GPIB, GPIB>>Plug-in Controllers>>PCMCIA-GPIB+, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-AI-16E-4, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6034E, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6035E, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-6024E, Multifunction DAQ (MIO)>>E Series>>DAQCard-AI-16XE-50, GPIB>>Plug-in Controllers>>PCMCIA-488

Problem:
When using a PCMCIA card on my Windows machine, I've noticed that there is a performance decrease in a CardBus-enabled PCMCIA slot or I am getting error: DAQCard not responding to first IRQ level. What does this mean and can I fix it?

Solution:
This issue should be resolved by installing NI Driver Software released in April of 2004 or later.
Examples include NI-DAQ 7.2, NI-CAN 2.2, NI-488.2 2.2, and NI-VISA 3.2.

Why does this happen?
Some National Instruments PC Card (PCMCIA) devices may exhibit interrupt failures on systems that use the IO-APIC for interrupt handling. You can determine if your system is using an IO-APIC by looking in the Device Manager at View » Resources By Connection » Interrupt Request (IRQ). If you see any interrupt request value larger than 15, then your system is using the IO-APIC and may be impacted by this issue.

Multiprocessor-ready (including Hyperthreading capable) systems have an onboard IO-APIC. The IO-APIC must be enabled if multiple processors are in use or if hyperthreading is enabled. Also, many vendors are now following Microsoft's recommendation to include and enable the IO-APIC on single processor systems including laptops. Some vendors provide a BIOS setting to disable the IO-APIC when the system is used in uniprocessor mode, though this may require a BIOS update.

Some examples of how this issue may manifest itself:

DAQ Cards: MAX » Traditional NI-DAQ » Test Resources fails with error The device is not responding to the first IRQ Level
PCMCIA-GPIB(+) cards: NI-488.2 Troubleshooting Wizard fails "sequential verification" with an unknown hardware error or interrupt resource conflict
PCMCIA-CAN cards: fail "Self Test" in MAX with the error Interrupt Resource Conflict

Example Device Manager snapshot of system impacted by this issue (IO-APIC enabled):

Report Date: 03/04/2004
Last Updated: 03/17/2008
Document ID: 373FLOA6

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