MAX Corruption or MXS Connection/Configuration Error Message at PXI(e) Real-Time Controller Boot

Updated Jan 3, 2024

Reported In

Hardware

  • PXI Controller

Software

  • LabVIEW Real-Time Module

Issue Details

My PXI or PXIe Real-Time Controller displays one of the following error message during the boot process on the console:
[nidevldp––205––tDeviceloader.cpp––––––––––––] NIDEVLD Fatal Error: Failed to connect to MXS
[nidevldp––206––tDeviceLaoder.cpp––––––––––––] MAX configuration files may be corrupt
or
NI Variable Engine: Error: Unable to load the MXS configuration plugIn: Failed to get MAX Configuration interface for Tagger: 0xXXXXXXXX
RT_Error - KCS Final.jpg
​How can I restore the real-time controller to a working state?

Solution

This error message indicates that the configuration database may have become corrupt. This typically occurs in one of two scenarios:
  1. The Real-Time Controller was working properly and suddenly gives this error. It is possible that the controller was powered off while the database was being written. In this case:
    1. Reboot the controller in Safe Mode. Consult the user manual for your real-time controller for instructions on how to reboot into Safe Mode.
    2. Open an FTP session to your real-time target.
    3. Open the folder /ni-rt/system and delete the following files:
      1. /ni-rt/system/config3.mxs
      2. /ni-rt/system/config3.mxd
      3. /ni-rt/system/max.ini
      4. /ni-rt/system/mxs.mxr
      5. /ni-rt/system/mxsjar.ini
      6. /ni-rt/system/*.mx5 (all files with the .mx5 extension in the directory)
      7. /ni-rt/system/Last/* (all files in the directory)​​
    4. Reboot your real-time target without Safe Mode enabled. Consult the user manual for your real-time controller for instructions on how to do this.
  2. The error message appears after installing new software on the controller. In this case two options are available:
  • Reformat the controller and reinstall all software , driver-by-driver to identify any problematic software (Recommended).
  • Uninstall all software on the target and reinstall it, one-by-one for each of the drivers. If uninstalling all software does not resolve the error, you'll likely need to reformat the controller.