National Instruments MXI-3 Software for Windows 2000/NT4/Me/9x Version 1.15 Copyright (c) 2001 National Instruments Corporation. All rights reserved. Attention PXI-1010 and PXI-1011 Chassis Users --------------------------------------------- Please see "Configuring MXI-3 For Use With Your PXI System" for important details concerning the configuration of these chassis with the MXI-3 interface. What Does The Software Do? -------------------------- The software included in the MXI-3 kit is provided so that the performance of National Instruments PXI modules (based on the MITE ASIC) is optimized across the MXI-3 interface. The software does not affect PXI or CompactPCI modules from other vendors. In addition, the software can generate a PXI System Initialization file (pxisys.ini) for use with a single-chassis MXI-3 configuration. See "Configuring MXI-3 For Use With Your PXI System" for more information. Compatibility Issues -------------------- Some older PCI chipsets are not fully compatible with older revisions of MXI-3. The MXI-3 Optimization Application will detect potential hardware incompatibilities. By default, the software is configured to run automatically when Windows starts. If an incompatibility is detected, please contact National Instruments (http://www.ni.com/support). Software Installation Instructions ---------------------------------- NOTE: The following instructions apply only to users of Microsoft Windows 2000/NT4/Me/9x. Users of other operating systems can ignore these instructions (there is no software for other operating systems). To install the MXI-3 Optimization software: 1) Run the setup program (setup.exe) found on the distribution media. 2) Follow the installation instructions as prompted by the setup application. The setup program will copy the necessary files to your hard drive, including the MXI-3 optimization application, this ReadMe file, and the MXI-3 User Manual (in .pdf format). Uninstalling The MXI-3 Software ------------------------------- To remove the MXI-3 optimization software, use the "Add/Remove Programs" applet in the Windows Control Panel. The MXI-3 software is listed as "NI MXI-3 Software" in the program listing. Configuring MXI-3 For Use With Your PXI System ---------------------------------------------- Before proceeding with the configuration steps described in this section, you should ensure that your MXI-3 hardware and software are properly installed. For information on installing the hardware, refer to the "Set Up Your MXI-3 System" printed manual. For software installation, see the "Software Installation Instructions" in this document. The MXI-3 interface provides a software-transparent link between a host computer and one or more PXI chassis. As a result, no special software is necessary for operating across the MXI-3 interface. In systems where the MXI-3 interface is connected between a host PC and a PXI chassis, the MXI-3 interface serves as the PXI controller for the system. When configured as a PXI controller, there are additional software responsibilities that the host computer (with MXI-3 interface) must be configured for. This section describes these additional configuration steps. The PXI Specification requires that a PXI controller include a PXI System Initialization file (pxisys.ini) for enabling features such as chassis and slot identification. For example, the pxisys.ini file can be used by driver software to identify that Slot 8 of a PXI-1010 chassis can be used to interface to an SCXI backplane. Additionally, the pxisys.ini files provides mappings from PCI logical addresses (PCI bus, device, and function numbers) to corresponding PXI slot numbers, allowing device driver software to identify the slot of a PXI module. When the MXI-3 interface is used as a PXI system controller, the pxisys.ini file must be present. The following instructions describe the steps for generating the pxisys.ini file in a MXI-3 system. Important note for PXI-1010 and PXI-1011 Users: For these chassis, the pxisys.ini file is required for SCXI functionality. Please carefully follow the instructions below for this important configuration step. To configure a MXI-3 system with a pxisys.ini file: 1) Ensure that the MXI-3 software is properly installed. See "Software Installation Instructions" for more information. 2) Run the MXI-3 Optimization Application (Start>>Programs>>National Instruments MXI-3>>MXI-3 Optimization). 3) Determine the model number of your PXI chassis (i.e. PXI-1000, PXI-1002, PXI-1006, PXI-1010, etc.). 4) Using the chassis model number, locate the corresponding pxisys.ini file. An .ini file for several PXI chassis can be found in the "\National Instruments\MXI3\pxisys" directory. The files are of the form pxisys_nnnn.ini, where nnnn is the PXI chassis model code. 5) Copy the pxisys_nnnn.ini file for your chassis to the directory (for example, c:\winnt or c:\windows). 6) Rename the copied file (in the directory) to "pxisys.ini". NOTE: Currently, the pxisys.ini file can describe only one PXI chassis in a system. For systems with more than one chassis, the MXI-3 Optimization application generates a pxisys.ini file for the first chassis that it finds. In a multi-chassis daisy chain configuration, this will usually correspond to the first chassis in the daisy chain. For star configurations, it is more difficult to determine the chassis described by the generated pxisys.ini file. For assistance with multi-chassis configuration issues related to the pxisys.ini file, please contact National Instruments at www.ni.com/support. Changes In This Version ----------------------- * Added the ability to generate pxisys.ini files for corresponding PXI chassis. This feature assists with the configuration of a PXI-1010 or PXI-1011 chassis in a MXI-3 environment (see "Configuring MXI-3 For Use With Your PXI System") and enables slot identification for a single PXI chassis. Changes In Previous Versions ---------------------------- 1.10 * The previous version of the optimization application would report an error if a MXI-3 interface was not detected in the system. Now, this error dialog box can be disabled. 1.05 * Added compatibility checking (see "Compatibility Issues") 1.0 * Initial release Questions? ---------- See the MXI-3 User Manual (included on the distribution floppy disk) for an in-depth discussion of installation and operation of the MXI-3 interface. Other questions? http://www.ni.com/support.