Academic Company Events NI Developer Zone Support Solutions Products & Services Contact NI MyNI
1 ratings:
 3 out of 5     Rate this Document

How Can I Self-Test My PCI-485i-2 to Check That All Ports Work?

Primary Software: Driver Software>>NI-Serial
Primary Software Version: 1.7
Primary Software Fixed Version: N/A
Secondary Software: N/A
Hardware: Serial>>RS-485

Problem:
I have a PCI-485i-2 and I would like to self-test it to make sure that all ports are working correctly. Can I perform a loopback test on this board. How can I go about testing this board?

Solution:
To self test the board, there are several things you can do:

Option A: Testing each port individually using a RS-485 4 wire mode cable.
  1. Connect the cable to the port and wire pins 4 to 8 and 5 to 9.
  2. Go to the Device Manager in Windows and right click on the port you are about to test.
  3. Go to Properties.
  4. Select the Port Settings Tab and click on Advanced.
  5. Make sure that the Transceiver Mode is set to 4 Wire.
  6. Open MAX.
  7. Go to My System»Devices and Interfaces»Ports.
  8. Right click on the port you want to test and select Open VISA Session.
  9. Select the Basic I/O tab.
  10. Now you can Write to and Read from the port.

Option B: Testing the two ports at the same time using two RS-485 4 wire mode cables.
  1. Connect one cable to each port and wire pins 4 to 8 and 5 to 9 in each cable.
  2. Wire pin 1 of cable one to pin 1 of cable two.
  3. Wire pin 8 of cable one to pin 8 of cable two.
  4. Wire pin 9 of cable one to pin 9 of cable two.
  5. Repeat the steps above in the Device Manager of Windows to make sure that the Transceiver Mode is set to 4 Wire.
  6. Open MAX and repeat the steps above to Open a VISA Session for each port.
  7. This time you will be writing to one port and reading from the other.

Option C: Testing the two ports at the same time using two RS-485 2 wire mode cables.
  1. Connect one cable to each port.
  2. Wire pins 1, 8 and 9 of cable one to pins 1, 8 and 9 of cable 2, respectively.
  3. Repeat the steps above in the Device Manager of Windows to make sure that the Transceiver Mode is set to 2 Wire DTR Controlled with Echo.
  4. Open MAX and repeat the steps above to Open a VISA Session for each port.
  5. You will be writing to one port and reading from the other.

Option D: Testing each port individually using a RS-485 2 wire mode cable.
  1. Connect the cable to the port.
  2. Repeat the steps above in the Device Manager of Windows to make sure that the Transceiver Mode is set to 4 Wire.
  3. Open MAX and repeat the steps above to Open a VISA Session on the port you are testing.
  4. Now you can Write to and Read from the port.



Related Links:
KnowledgeBase 17M6L0TI: What Are the Different Transceiver Modes on the NI RS-485 Serial Cards?
KnowledgeBase 32NG6BFQ: Visa Cannot Read the Wire Mode Property as Set in Device Manager.


Attachments:





Report Date: 12/16/2003
Last Updated: 11/11/2005
Document ID: 34FFR7NB

Your Feedback! poor Poor  |  Excellent excellent   Yes No
 Document Quality? 
 Answered Your Question? 
  1 2 3 4 5
Please Contact NI for all product and support inquiries.submit