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National Instruments Corporation
7
Set Up Your MXI-Express for PXI Express System
Powering On the MXI-Express x4 System
Complete the following steps to power on the system.
1.
Power on all of the expansion chassis in any order you choose.
2.
Power on the host.
Typical PCI-PCI bridges and switches are used to add PCI devices to a
PCI hierarchy in which all the bridges and devices are contained within a
single chassis. Because of this, BIOSes and operating systems make the
assumption that all PCI devices in the entire hierarchy will be available as
soon as code execution begins at power-up time. This assumption means
that all of the expansion chassis must be turned on before the host PC for
the BIOS and OS to correctly configure a MXI-Express system.
Note
There are no requirements on how MXI-Express expansion chassis are powered up
relative to each other, as long as they are all on before the computer is powered on.
3.
Observe the LED status on the NI PCIe-8371, NI PCIe-8372, and
NI PXIe-8370 where applicable. A properly connected and powered
up system should report a valid link and power status on all of these
boards once the host PC is powered on. Refer to the
LED Indicators
section in the
MXI-Express x4 for PXI Express Series User Manual
for
more information.
Powering Down the MXI-Express x4 System
Because operating systems and drivers commonly make the assumption
that PCI devices will be present in the system from power-up to
power-down, it is important to not power off the expansion chassis until
after the host PC is powered off. Powering off the expansion chassis while
the host is still on can cause crashes or hangs. The order in which expansion
chassis are powered off, relative to each other, is not important.
Note
To power down the chassis while the host computer is on, you may need to hold the
power button for at least four seconds. However, this behavior cannot be guaranteed.
Checking LEDs for Status
After powering on the system, you should check the LEDs for status to
ensure that all connected systems have linked. The following tables provide
the meaning of the LEDs.
