What Are Some Possible Causes of the Fieldbus Interface Driver (NIFB) Not Launching Properly?
Primary Software: Driver Software>>NI-FBUS
Primary Software Version: 2.3.5
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: N/A
Problem: When I try to launch NIFB I receive error messages.
Solution: There are three main causes for this behavior:
- The board’s Base Memory Address conflicts with another device or does not match the setting on the board’s DIP switches. Check that the DIP switches represent an address that matches the Windows settings for your board. If the addresses already match, try using a different Base Memory Address. Windows does not always detect all conflicts. If Windows reports no conflicts for the board's Base Memory Address, try to eliminate possible the IRQ or network address problems (described below). Then try a different Base Memeory Address. This will often resolve the problem. Note: You have to reboot the machine each time you change base address and/or IRQ.
- The board’s Interrupt Request (IRQ) conflicts with another device or does not match the jumper setting on the board. Check the jumper or try setting the board to polled mode.
- The Fieldbus Network Address is not unique. Remove the cable from the board. Restart nifb.exe. If it runs successfully, there is probably a Fieldbus network address conflict. If you have FP-3000s on the bank, turning their power off and then back on will cause them to look on the bus for available addresses and change addresses if necessary. If this does not solve the problem, another option is to change the board’s address. In the Interface Configuration Utility, choose Edit for each port. Make sure that the port does not have an address that conflicts with another device on the bus. You can also set the ports to a visitor address. In this case, the card will find and take an unused address.
For PCMCIA cards, if you have both Win 95 and Win NT on a laptop, boot into Win 95 and note the resources automatically assigned by Win 95. Often these resources will work well under Win NT.
More remote possibilities:
- Link masters don’t always get along together. Try setting the board to be a basic device in the Interface Configuration Utility (if you have another link master on the segment).
- For PCMCIA-FBUS cards, removing third party card manager software has also been known to correct such problems. See the Fieldbus specialist
information sheet detailed information.
- Check how many boards are showing up in the Interface Configuration Utility. Make sure that this matches the number of boards in the system. Also check that the number of ports match the physical hardware (one port versus two port boards). See below for information on how to correct this problem.
- Check for multiple copies of nifb.dll on the machine.
- There is a thermal issue seen with the PCMCIA card in some laptops with insufficient ventilation. Some laptops even place the PCMCIA slots over the hard disk or power supply! This is of course, bad. National Instruments cards are within the PCMCIA specification for current draw so in theory, this should never be a problem. But if the laptop builds up heat, it will become a problem. Engineering has provided a work-around by changing some of the timing parameters on the card. The ECO takes the card up to rev E to fix the problem.
- On some laptops running Win 95 version 4.00.950. using the PCMCIA-FBUS and getting Error: NIFB could not locate any usable Fieldbus boards. Stopping the card, removing, and reinserting seems to solve the problem in some cases.
Related Links: Product Support: FieldPoint SupportProduct Support: Industrial Networks Support
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Report Date: 04/18/2001
Last Updated: 01/11/2008
Document ID: 28HEJ56W
