Problem with Brand New cRIO (Can't reflash it)

[DesignFlaw06]

Well I'm at a loss.

Since we didn't get a cRIO this year in the KoP, our team was forced into a position of buying a new one so we didn't have to gut last year's robot. Unfortunately, it didn't show up in time and we had to gut it anyway.

But the new one arrived and we put it on the 2009 robot, but let it be since we were into competitions now. Now that Nationals are done, we went back this weekend to try and fix and repair damage to all of our old robots so we could use them as demonstration pieces.

But that new cRIO just will not cooperate. It started first by not communicating. So I attempted to re-download our code. No success. So after that, I went back to re-flash the v20 image. I followed the steps in the NI cRIO Imaging tool and the guide provided on FIRST's website. It recognizes the MAC address, but no name and has the IP address of 0.0.0.0, which is invalid.

I tried the crossover cable, the regular cable, a different PC, a different image, fresh battery, one foot up in the air, tin foil hat, etc. But I'm not sure what else to do. So if anyone can offer any help, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd hate to think we got a bad cRIO right out of the box, and if that is the case, I hope there is still something that can be done.

Thanks,

Tim

[SuperBK]

The straight cable should work. Plug the pc directly into PORT1 (I'm sure you know that, but sometimes its good to state the obvious). Don't try to image over wireless.

Turn off the wiressless on the pc or laptop, if there is one. If there is more than one network, it may not know which network to connect too. When this happened to us, the error message was "destination unreachable".

Does the Image updating programing detect and list the CRIO? If so, after that, what error messages do you get when it tries to image?

Do a full format. Then you can enter the name and ip.

Hope that helps,
Brian

[Mark McLeod]

From Getting started (http://usfirst.org/uploadedFiles/Community/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2010_Assets/2-2010FRCControl%20System-Getting%20Started-Rev-0.7.pdf)

"If the cRIO is corrupted or if the IP Address is set incorrectly, the device boots only in SAFE MODE. When this occurs, switch the device into SAFE MODE. The cRIO Imaging Tool offers to reformat the disk. After the disk has been reformatted, switch the cRIO out of SAFE MODE, reboot, and run the cRIO Imaging Tool normally"

SAFE MODE is one of the DIP switches on the cRIO near the power connection.

[DesignFlaw06]

Not trying to re-flash over the wireless. Wireless is disabled, and it just claims it can't establish an IP address if I boot into normal mode. And if I boot into safe mode, it provides the option to format the cRIO. Except that it won't format it. It claims it is, but sits there with a message saying its doing something. But that same message is there after 30 minutes, and continues to be there even if you disconnect the ethernet cable.

[Mark McLeod]

You can also try using NI's Measurement & Automation (MAX) tool to do the reformatting. MAX gets a shortcut on your desktop when you installed the FRC LabVIEW or you can find it under Start -> Programs -> National Instruments.

In MAX on the left it hopefully will list your cRIO and let you reformat or change the IP address.
Here are directions (http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/6D0F9F74FD2DAD0186256EE5007198D4) I just looked for and found on the ni.com/First KnowledgeBase forum.

I suppose you can also try the DIP switch for IP Reset.

If none of these work you might post your problem on the NI site forum for professional NI help.