National Instruments Network Card PXI 8170 Series User Manual

™

PXI

PXI-8170 Series

User Manual

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

February 2000 Edition

Part Number 322600A-01

Important Information

Warranty

The PXI-8170 Series of embedded PXI computers are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of

one year from the date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option,

repair or replace equipment that proves to be defective during the warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor.

The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions,

due to defects in materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other

documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming

instructions if National Instruments receives notice of such defects during the warranty period. National Instruments does not

warrant that the operation of the software shall be uninterrupted or error free.

A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and clearly marked on the outside of

the package before any equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs of

returning to the owner parts which are covered by warranty.

National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully reviewed

for technical accuracy. In the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves the right to

make changes to subsequent editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this edition. The reader should consult

National Instruments if errors are suspected. In no event shall National Instruments be liable for any damages arising out of

or related to this document or the information contained in it.

E^{XCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN}, N^ATIONALI^{NSTRUMENTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES}, ^{EXPRESS OR IMPLIED}, ^{AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY}

^{WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE}. C^USTOMER’^{S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAULT}

^{OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF}N^ATIONALI^{NSTRUMENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER}.

N^ATIONALI^{NSTRUMENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF DATA}, ^PROFITS, ^{USE OF PRODUCTS}, ^{OR INCIDENTAL}

^{OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES}, ^{EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF}. This limitation of the liability of National Instruments

will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including negligence. Any action against National

Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National Instruments shall not be liable for

any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover damages,

defects, malfunctions, or service failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the National Instruments installation, operation,

or maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure

or surges, fire, flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside reasonable control.

Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without

the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.

Trademarks

CVI^™, LabVIEW^™, National Instruments^™, ni.com^™, NI-488.2^™, NI-488.2M^™, NI-DAQ^™, NI-VISA^™, PXI^™, and

TNT4882C^™are trademarks of National Instruments Corporation.

Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS

(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING

FOR A LEVEL OF RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS

OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN

REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT INJURY TO A HUMAN.

(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE

PRODUCTS CAN BE IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS

IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY, COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING

SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP

AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS,

MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL DEVICES, TRANSIENT

FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR

MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH

AS THESE ARE HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A

SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD CREATE A RISK OF HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF

BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM

DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR

APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM

FAILURES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS. BECAUSE EACH

END-USER SYSTEM IS CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING PLATFORMS

AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN

COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR

VERIFYING AND VALIDATING THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING,

WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN, PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR

APPLICATION.

Compliance

FCC/Canada Radio Frequency Interference Compliance*

Determining FCC Class

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules to protect wireless communications from interference.

The FCC places digital electronics into two classes. These classes are known as Class A (for use in industrial-

commercial locations only) or Class B (for use in residential or commercial locations). Depending on where it is

operated, this product could be subject to restrictions in the FCC rules. (In Canada, the Department of

Communications (DOC), of Industry Canada, regulates wireless interference in much the same way.)

Digital electronics emit weak signals during normal operation that can affect radio, television, or other wireless

products. By examining the product you purchased, you can determine the FCC Class and therefore which of the two

FCC/DOC Warnings apply in the following sections. (Some products may not be labeled at all for FCC; if so, the

reader should then assume these are Class A devices.)

FCC Class A products only display a simple warning statement of one paragraph in length regarding interference and

undesired operation. Most of our products are FCC Class A. The FCC rules have restrictions regarding the locations

where FCC Class A products can be operated.

FCC Class B products display either a FCC ID code, starting with the letters EXN,

or the FCC Class B compliance mark that appears as shown here on the right.

Consult the FCC web site http://www.fcc.gov for more information.

FCC/DOC Warnings

This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in strict accordance with the

instructions in this manual and the CE Mark Declaration of Conformity**, may cause interference to radio and

television reception. Classification requirements are the same for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

and the Canadian Department of Communications (DOC).

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by National Instruments could void the user’s authority to operate

the equipment under the FCC Rules.

Class A

Federal Communications Commission

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15

of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the

equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency

energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to

radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in

which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.

Canadian Department of Communications

This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du

Canada.

Class B

Federal Communications Commission

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15

of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a

residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed

and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However,

there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful

interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user

is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

•

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Canadian Department of Communications

This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du

Canada.

European Union - Compliance to EEC Directives

Readers in the EU/EEC/EEA must refer to the Manufacturer's Declaration of Conformity (DoC) for information**

pertaining to the CE Mark compliance scheme. The Manufacturer includes a DoC for most every hardware product

except for those bought for OEMs, if also available from an original manufacturer that also markets in the EU, or

where compliance is not required as for electrically benign apparatus or cables.

Certain exemptions may apply in the USA, see FCC Rules §15.103 Exempted devices, and §15.105(c).

Also available in sections of CFR 47.

** The CE Mark Declaration of Conformity will contain important supplementary information and instructions

for the user or installer.

Contents

About This Manual

How to Use This Documentation Set ............................................................................xi

Acrobat (Online) Documentation....................................................................xi

Conventions ...................................................................................................................xii

Chapter 1

Introduction

Overview........................................................................................................................1-1

What You Need to Get Started ......................................................................................1-2

Hardware Descriptio n ....................................................................................................1-3

Benefits of PX I ................................................................................................1-3

PXI-8170 Series Design ..................................................................................1-3

PXI-8170 Series Models..................................................................................1-4

Memory ...........................................................................................................1-4

Hard Driv e .......................................................................................................1-4

System Slot Functionality................................................................................1-4

Front Panel Features........................................................................................1-4

Peripheral Expansion.......................................................................................1-5

PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 Chassis Support.......................................................1-6

PXI-1020 Chassis..............................................................................1-6

National Instruments Software ......................................................................................1-7

Files and Directories Installed on Your Hard Drive......................................................1-8

Chapter 2

Functional Overview

PXI-8170 Functional Descriptio n ..................................................................................2-1

Chapter 3

PXI-8170 Series Installation

Default Settings..............................................................................................................3-1

Installing the PXI-8170 Series.......................................................................................3-4

How to Remove the Unit from the PXI Mainframe........................................3-7

Setting up the PXI-8170 Series......................................................................................3-7

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Contents

Chapter 4

BIOS

Entering BIOS Setup ..................................................................................................... 4-1

Default BIOS Setup Settings......................................................................................... 4-1

BIOS Setup for LCD Support........................................................................................ 4-1

Updating the BIOS ........................................................................................................ 4-2

Appendix A

Configuring the PXI-8170 Series

Installed System RAM .................................................................................................. A-1

System CMOS............................................................................................................... A-1

LCD Resolution and Enable.......................................................................................... A-2

Keyboard and Mouse..................................................................................................... A-2

Serial IRQ, INTP, and INTS ......................................................................................... A-3

Onboard Video .............................................................................................................. A-4

Appendix B

Specifications

Appendix C

PXI-8170 Series System Resources

PCI Interrupts ................................................................................................................ C-1

Resource Tables............................................................................................................. C-1

Appendix D

LED Indicators

Interface Status and Access LEDs................................................................................. D-1

Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Front Panel..................................................................................................................... E-1

Keyboard and Mouse..................................................................................................... E-3

VGA .............................................................................................................................. E-4

COM1............................................................................................................................ E-5

Parallel Port ................................................................................................................... E-6

Universal Serial Bus ..................................................................................................... E-8

PXI Connectors ............................................................................................................. E-9

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Contents

Appendix F

Common Questions

Appendix G

Technical Support Resources

Glossary

Index

Figures

Figure 1-1.

PXI-8170 Embedded Computer ............................................................1-2

PXI-8170 Series Block Diagra m ...........................................................2-2

PXI-8170 Series I/O Board Parts Locator Diagra m ..............................3-3

PXI-8170 Series CPU Board Parts Locator Diagram ...........................3-4

PXI-8170 Installed in a PXI Mainframe ...............................................3-6

Figure A-1. System CMO S .......................................................................................A-2

Figure A-2. LCD Resolution Setting ........................................................................A-2

Figure A-3. Active Keyboard Por t ............................................................................A-3

Figure A-4. Active Mouse Port.................................................................................A-3

Figure A-5. INTP Configuration...............................................................................A-4

Figure A-6. INTS Configuration...............................................................................A-4

Figure A-7. Onboard Video ......................................................................................A-4

Figure E-1.

Figure E-2.

Figure E-3.

Figure E-4.

Figure E-5.

Figure E-6.

Figure E-7.

PXI-8170 Front Panel Layout and Dimensions ....................................E-2

Keyboard and Mouse Connectors Location and Pinout........................E-3

VGA Connector Location and Pinout ...................................................E-4

COM1 Connector Location and Pinout.................................................E-5

Parallel Port Connector Location and Pinout........................................E-6

USB Connector Location and Pinout ....................................................E-8

PXI Connectors Location and Pinout....................................................E-9

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Contents

Tables

Table 1-1.

PXI-8170 Series Peripherals Overview ................................................ 1-5

Table 3-1.

Table 3-2.

Table 3-3.

Jumpers on CPU Board......................................................................... 3-1

Switches on CPU Board........................................................................ 3-2

Jumpers on I/O Board ........................................................................... 3-3

Table C-1.

PXI-8170 Series ISA Interrupt Resource Allocations .......................... C-1

Table E-1.

Table E-2.

Table E-3.

Table E-4.

Table E-5.

Table E-6.

Table E-7.

Keyboard and Mouse Connector Signals.............................................. E-3

VGA Connector Signals ...................................................................... E-4

COM1 Connector Signals..................................................................... E-6

Parallel Port Connector Signals ............................................................ E-7

USB Connector Signals ........................................................................ E-8

P2 Connector Pinouts for the System Controller Slot .......................... E-10

P1 Connector Pinouts for the System Controller Slot .......................... E-11

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

www.ni.com

About This Manual

This manual contains detailed instructions for installing and configuring

your National Instruments PXI-8170 Series embedded computer kit.

The PXI-8170 Series includes all models of the PXI-8170 embedded PXI

computer.

How to Use This Documentation Set

Begin by reading Set Up Your PXI-8170 Series Controller, a brief

quick-start guide that describes how to install and get started with your

controller.

This manual, the PXI-8170 Series User Manual, contains more details

about changing the installation or configuration from the defaults, and

about using the hardware.

If you ordered either LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI, you received

full documentation along with a configuration disk to unlock and access

these application programming environments, which are already installed

on your hard drive.

Acrobat (Online) Documentation

To learn more about using NI-VISA, your kit includes online manuals in

the form of Adobe Acrobat version 3.0 portable document format (PDF)

files. The Acrobat manuals and their installed locations are as follows:

•

The NI-VISA User Manual describes how to program using

NI-VISA: Start»Programs»VXIpnp»NI-VISA User Manual

•

The NI-VISA Programmer Reference Manual describes in detail the

attributes, events, and operations you use in NI-VISA: Start»

Programs»VXIpnp»NI-VISA Programmer Reference Manual

If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0, you can download a copy

from the Adobe Web site at http://www.adobe.com/

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

About This Manual

Conventions

The following conventions appear in this manual:

This icon denotes a note, which alerts you to important information.

This icon denotes a caution, which advises you of precautions to take to

avoid injury, data loss, or a system crash.

This icon denotes a warning, which advises you of precautions to take to

avoid being electrically shocked.

bold

Bold text denotes items that you must select or click on in the software,

such as menu items and dialog box options. Bold text also denotes

parameter names.

italic

Italic text denotes variables, emphasis, a cross reference, or an introduction

to a key concept. This font also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word

or value that you must supply.

monospace

Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the

keyboard, sections of code, programming examples, and syntax examples.

This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives, paths, directories,

programs, subprograms, subroutines, device names, functions, operations,

variables, filenames and extensions, and code excerpts.

monospace bold

Bold text in this font denotes the messages and responses that the computer

automatically prints to the screen. This font also emphasizes lines of code

that are different from the other examples.

PXI-8170 Series

The terms PXI-8170 Series and PXI-8170 refer to a series of 3U PXI

controllers. Currently, this series consists of the PXI-8170, with various

processors and in different speeds.

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

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About This Manual

Related Documentation

The following documents contain information you may find helpful as you

read this manual:

•

PICMG 2.0 R2.1 CompactPCI Specification, PCI Industrial

Computers Manufacturers Group

•

IEEE Standard P1284.1-1997 (C/MM) Standard for Information

Technology for Transport Independent Printer/System Interface

•

PCI Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.1, PCI Special Interest Group

PXI Specification, Revision 1.0, National Instruments Corporation

Serialized IRQ Support for PCI Systems Specification, Revision 6.0,

Compaq Computer et al.

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Introduction

This chapter describes the PXI-8170 Series of embedded PXI computers,

what you need to get started, optional equipment and software, and gives

an overview of the directory structure on your hard drive.

Overview

The PXI-8170 Series controller is a 3U PXI/CompactPCI embedded

computer based on the Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) bus

and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA). The computer is a

high-performance, easy-to-use platform for controlling PCI systems,

featuring complete PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) functionality

through interactive utilities and C function calls

Figure 1-1 shows a PXI-8170 module. Refer to Appendix E, Front Panel

and Connectors, to determine the purpose for each connector on the

module.

The PXI-8170 is a custom computer that you install directly in the system

controller slot of your PXI mainframe. An embedded computer can take

full advantage of the PXI high-performance backplane capabilities.

The PXI-8170 is compatible with PC-compatible software tools, the

National Instruments LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI application

software, and the NI-VISA, NI-488.2M, and NI-DAQ software.

1-1

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Chapter 1

Introduction

Figure 1-1. PXI-8170 Embedded Computer

What You Need to Get Started

❑ PXI-8170 Series embedded controller

❑ PXI bus mainframe

❑ PS/2 keyboard or USB (Windows 98 only) keyboard

❑ Serial, PS/2, or USB (Windows 98 only) mouse

❑ Monitor with VGA or better resolution

Note For PXI-8170 installation instructions, refer to the Installing the PXI-8170 Series

section in Chapter 3, PXI-8170 Series Installation.

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Hardware Description

Benefits of PXI

The PXI-8170 Series PXI/CompactPCI embedded computer is a

high-performance CompactPCI-compatible system controller that is

compatible with the PXI bus specification. PXI defines a compact modular

PC platform for industrial instrumentation. PXI leverages the PCI bus,

which is the de facto standard for today’s desktop computer software and

hardware designs. As a result, PXI users receive all the benefits of PCI

within an architecture that supports mechanical, electrical, and software

features tailored to industrial instrumentation, data acquisition, and

automation applications.

Well-suited for industrial applications, PXI leverages from the

CompactPCI specification, which defines a rugged form factor for PCI that

offers superior mechanical integrity and easy installation and removal of

hardware components. PXI products offer higher and more carefully

defined levels of environmental performance required by the vibration,

shock, temperature, and humidity extremes of industrial environments.

PXI adds mandatory environmental testing and active cooling to the

CompactPCI mechanical specification to ease system integration and

ensure multivendor interoperability.

Additionally, PXI meets the more specific needs of instrumentation users

by adding an integrated trigger bus and reference clock for multiple-board

synchronization, a star trigger bus for very precise timing, and local buses

for side-band communication between adjacent peripherals.

PXI-8170 Series Design

The PXI-8170 PXI embedded computer is a high-performance PXI system

controller with standard I/O features built in. The PXI-8170 uses

state-of-the-art technology and packaging to create a fully PC-compatible

controller for PXI. Due to the unique design and packaging, the computer

has onboard AGP video and connects to the PXI bus without the need of a

PCI-to-PCI bridge. As a result, it preserves the full 132 Mbytes/s PCI

bandwidth for other PXI boards. In addition, the PXI-8170 supports

masters in all seven available PXI slots.

The PXI-8170 design includes the standard PC ports (that is, serial,

parallel, USB, PS2 mouse and PS2 keyboard). It also has two

user-accessible SO-DIMM sockets, so it is easy to upgrade memory.

The unique packaging includes a built-in 1.44 MB floppy drive and 2.5 in.

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Chapter 1

Introduction

hard drive. The mechanical assembly of the PXI-8170 mounts these devices

to the PXI-8170 main board so you can remove the entire unit intact. This

eases integration issues and cabling. The PXI-8170 plugs directly into the

system controller slot and expands to the left, thus preserving all usable PXI

slots for user-defined peripheral devices.

PXI-8170 Series Models

Currently, the PXI-8170 Series consists of a 450 MHz Pentium III model

and a 700 MHz Pentium III model.

The PXI-8170 comes complete with a 3.5 in. 1.44 MB floppy drive, Super

VGA with 2 MB SGRAM, a serial port, an IEEE 1284 parallel port, a PS/2

keyboard and mouse, a USB connector, and software installed.

Memory

The PXI-8170 and its memory sockets are easily accessible so you can

install additional DRAM in the field. You can install up to 256 MB of

10 ns SDRAM, using two 144-pin SO-DIMMS.

For information on adding RAM by installing SO-DIMMs, refer to

Appendix B, Specifications.

Hard Drive

The PXI-8170 contains at least a 4 GB internal, enhanced IDE hard disk.

System Slot Functionality

You can use the PXI-8170 computers to achieve full PXI system slot

control of your PXI system. In the system slot, the PXI-8170 provides

master/slave capabilities to all slots in the PXI system.

Front Panel Features

The PXI-8170 Series has the following front-panel features:

•

Internal 3.5 in. floppy drive

System reset push-button (hold for ~ 2 seconds for reset to assert)

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

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Chapter 1

Introduction

•

Front-panel connectors:

–

RS-232 Serial

Extended Capabilities Parallel (ECP)

VGA Controller

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

PS/2-style keyboard

PS/2-style mouse

•

Two front-panel LEDs that show PC status

–

POWER OK LED indicates that the power is on and reset is no

longer asserted.

–

DRIVE LED indicates when an access to the internal hard disk is

occurring.

Peripheral Expansion

The PXI-8170 uses Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) and PCI local bus for

peripheral expansion. AGP is a new generation high-performance

component level interconnect graphics interface. AGP 1x provides a bus

speed of 266 Mbytes/s. The PCIbus is a 32-bit multimaster bus that

achieves a top throughput of 132 Mbytes/s and can handle numerous

peripherals.

For information on installing and configuring these peripherals for use

with the PXI-8170, refer to the C:\Images\Pxi8170 directory. The

drivers.txt file explains how to install support for each peripheral. This

directory also contains manufacturers’ documentation for the peripherals.

Also, refer to the readme files for the most up-to-date information.

Table 1-1 lists the various peripherals and describes the external connector,

its bus interface, and its function.

Table 1-1. PXI-8170 Series Peripherals Overview

ISA,

External

Connector

PCI, or

AGP

Peripheral

Video

Function

15-pin DSUB

(standard VGA)

AGP

High-resolution/color support for a

Super VGA monitor

IDE

None

PCI

Supports internal fast ATA-3 hard drive

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Table 1-1. PXI-8170 Series Peripherals Overview (Continued)

ISA,

External

Connector

PCI, or

AGP

Peripheral

Function

16550 serial ports

Serial

Parallel

USB

Serial Port

(9-pin DSUB)

ISA

PCI

Parallel Port

(IEEE 1284)

Extended capabilities

Universal Serial Bus

4-pin Series A

receptacle

Keyboard/Mouse

Watchdog Timer

PS/2

ISA

PS/2-style keyboard and mouse

None

Indicates when timer is not refreshed

PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 Chassis Support

The PXI-8170 Series controller is designed to interface directly to

PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 chassis. This interface contains the signals

required to control a TFT LCD, an IDE device (slave), a PS/2 keyboard,

and a PS/2 mouse.

Because the keyboard/mouse controller on the PXI-8170 Series supports

only one keyboard and one mouse at a time, the controller has two switches

you can use to control whether to enable either the keyboard and mouse

ports on the front panel of the PXI-8170 or the built-in chassis devices.

Refer to the Keyboard and Mouse section in Appendix A, Configuring the

PXI-8170 Series, for switch settings.

PXI-1020 Chassis

The PXI-1020 chassis currently does not contain a built-in keyboard.

When using the PXI-8170 Series controller with the PXI-1020 chassis, the

LCD may be dimmed through software. The software is located on your

hard drive in the C:\Images\PXI8170\LCD directory. Also, with this

chassis you can select whether the LCD is enabled while booting or off

until the operating system loads and software turns it on. Refer to

Chapter 3, PXI-8170 Series Installation, for the jumper settings and

Chapter 4, BIOS, for LCD BIOS settings.

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Chapter 1

Introduction

National Instruments Software

National Instruments has developed several software kits that you can use

with the PXI-8170 Series. The software is already installed on your hard

drive.

NI-DAQ has an extensive library of functions that you can call from your

application programming environment. These functions include routines

for analog input (A/D conversion), buffered data acquisition (high-speed

A/D conversion), analog output (D/A conversion), waveform generation,

digital I/O, counter/timer operations, SCXI, RTSI, self-calibration,

messaging, and acquiring data to extended memory.

NI-VISA is the National Instruments implementation of the VISA

specification. VISA is a uniform API for communicating and controlling

Serial, GPIB, PXI, VXI, and various other types of instruments. This API

aids in the creation of more portable applications and instrument drivers.

For information on writing your own PXI instrument driver with NI-VISA,

see the NI-VISA Getting Started manual and the readme.txt file in the

NI-VISA directory.

You can also use the National Instruments LabVIEW and

LabWindows/CVI application programs and instrument drivers to ease

your programming task. These standardized programs match the modular

virtual instrument capability of PXI and can reduce your PXI software

development time. These programs feature extensive libraries of GPIB,

Serial, and VXI instrument drivers written to take full advantage of direct

PXI control. LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI include all the tools needed

for instrument control, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation.

LabVIEW is a complete programming environment that departs from the

sequential nature of traditional programming languages and features a

graphical programming environment.

LabWindows/CVI is an interactive C development environment for

building test and measurement and instrument control systems. It includes

interactive code-generation tools and a graphical editor for building custom

user interfaces.

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Files and Directories Installed on Your Hard Drive

Your hard drive includes a directory called images in its root that

contains software and soft copies of manuals for the operating system

and peripherals. The directory structure under the images directory is

logically organized into several levels.

In the images directory itself, you will find a manuals directory,

an os directory, and directories for each of the peripherals of your

computer.

The manuals directory contains quick reference guides, technical

reference manuals, and National Instruments software manuals, all in

Adobe Acrobat format. To access any of these manuals, change your

directory to c:\images\pxi8170\manuals and list the contents of that

directory. You will see several files, one corresponding to each peripheral.

The os directory contains a subdirectory corresponding to the operating

system installed on your computer. That subdirectory contains an image

of the CD from which your operating system was installed, so you do not

need to insert the CD when you install a new peripheral. When the software

prompts you to insert the CD, direct the system to look in the images\os

directory instead.

For example, if your system has Windows 98 installed, you should find an

image of the Windows 98 CD in c:\images\os\win98.

The rest of the directories correspond to each peripheral in your system.

Within each of these directories are the drivers for the peripherals. These

files and directories are copied exactly from the distribution disks of the

manufacturers, so the naming conventions vary from peripheral to

peripheral.

Because the naming conventions may not be completely straightforward,

National Instruments provides a text file named drivers.txt in the

c:\images\pxi8170 directory. The drivers.txt file explains how

to install support for each peripheral. You may want to print this file for

reference when you install your peripheral device drivers.

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Functional Overview

This chapter contains functional descriptions of each major logic block on

the PXI-8170 Series embedded computers.

PXI-8170 Functional Description

The PXI-8170 is a modular PC in a PXI 3U-size form factor.

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Chapter 2

Functional Overview

Figure 2-1 is a functional block diagram of the PXI-8170 Series. Following

the diagram is a description of each logic block shown.

Slot 1 CPU

VGA

Connector

Chip Set

Memory

Controller,

AGP & PCI

TFT LCD

Interface

SO-DIMM

SDRAM

AGP

VIDEO

Ultra DMA 33

IDE Hard Drive

Chip Set

Ultra DMA

33IDE,

PXI

Connector

USB

Connector

PCI BUS

USB, ISA

ISA BUS

Keyboard

& Mouse

Controller

BIOS

Real Time

Clock

Peripherals

Internal

Floppy

Watchdog

Timer

LPT 1

Keyboard

& Mouse

Connectors

COM 1

Figure 2-1. PXI-8170 Series Block Diagram

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Chapter 2

Functional Overview

The PXI-8170 consists of the following logic blocks on the CPU module

and the I/O (daughter card) module. The CPU module has the following

logic blocks:

•

Slot 1 CPU is the socket definition for the Intel Pentium II and III

processor families.

The SO-DIMM block consists of two 64-bit SDRAM sockets that can

hold up to 128 MB each.

The Chip Set North Bridge connects to the CPU, SDRAM, AGP port,

and PCI bus.

The Chip Set South Bridge connects to the PCI bus USB, IDE, and ISA

ports.

The AGP video circuitry is a 1x AGP-based design that has 2 MB of

video RAM. It also contains a TFT LCD Interface, which is used in the

National Instruments PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 chassis.

•

The USB connector connects the chip set to the Universal Serial Bus

interface.

The PXI connector connects the PXI-8170 to the PXI/CompactPCI

backplane.

The Keyboard/Mouse block contains the PS/2 keyboard and mouse

interface.

The BIOS/RTC block contains the boot Basic Input Output System

(BIOS) and the Real Time Clock interface.

The Watchdog Timer block is the circuitry that, once configured,

signals if the timer is not refreshed. Refer to the drivers.txt file in

the C:\Images\PXI8170 directory for more information on

configuring and using the watchdog timer.

•

The PC Peripherals blocks represent the other peripherals supplied by

the PXI-8170 Series. The PXI-8170 has one serial port, an ECP/EPP

parallel port, and a 1.44 MB, 3.5 in. floppy drive.

The IDE block is dedicated PCI-IDE circuitry providing fast ATA-3

transfers to the internal hard drive. The IDE feature is built into the

chip set.

The I/O module has the following logic blocks:

•

Internal 1.44 MB floppy drive

2.5 in. hard drive—4 GB or larger

TFT LCD interface for PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 chassis

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

PXI-8170 Series Installation

This chapter contains basic instructions for setting up the PXI-8170

embedded computer.

You can use this chapter as a guide to configure and operate your PXI

system quickly using the PXI-8170 Series. This chapter assumes that you

intend to perform a basic configuration as follows:

•

You have one PXI mainframe in which you will be using the PXI-8170.

You will use the default settings.

The PXI-8170 Series default settings are listed below. If you want to use

a different configuration, refer to Appendix A, Configuring the PXI-8170

Series, for information about changing the settings.

Caution Electrostatic discharge can damage several components on your PXI-8170

module. To avoid such damage in handling the module, touch the antistatic plastic package

to a metal part of your PXI mainframe before removing the module from the package.

Default Settings

This section summarizes the hardware default settings for the PXI-8170

Series for easy reference. The module is set at the factory for the most

commonly used configuration.

Tables 3-1, 3-2, and 3-3 list the factory-default settings (in bold type) and

options for the onboard jumpers and switches. Two jumpers and three

switches are on the CPU board, and three jumpers are on the I/O board.

Table 3-1. Jumpers on CPU Board

Function

(Default Setting in Bold)

Clear CMOS

J4: 3-5 short

J4: 1-3 short

J4: 2-4 short

J4: 4-6 short

Clear CMOS

Normal operation

Onboard Video Enable

Onboard video enabled

Onboard video disabled

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Table 3-1. Jumpers on CPU Board (Continued)

Function

J7: 3-5 short

J7: 1-3 short

J7: 3 open

J7: 4-6 short

J7: 2-4 short

J7: 4 open

(Default Setting in Bold)

Legacy IRQ—INTP

INTP connects to NMI

INTP connects to IRQ14

INTP not connected

Legacy IRQ—INTS

INTS connects to serialized IRQ

INTS connects to IRQ15

INTS not connected

Active Keyboard Port

Active Mouse Port

S1: up

Controller front panel keyboard

port

S1: down

Chassis keyboard (if available)

S2: up

Controller front panel mouse

port

S2: down

Chassis mouse (if available)

Table 3-2. Switches on CPU Board

Setting

(Default Setting

in Bold)

Function

Switch (X = Off, O = On)

LCD Resolution

Mode/LCD Enable

S3: 1

S3: 2

S3: 3

S3: 4

No LCD

640 × 480/

LCD enabled

⁸⁰⁰× ^600/

LCD enabled

Others

Reserved

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PXI-8170 Series Installation

Table 3-3. Jumpers on I/O Board

Function

(Default Setting in Bold)

LCD Sleep Control

W1: 1-2 short

W1: 2-3 short

LCD always on

LCD in sleep mode at power-on;

software enables the LCD

LCD Dimming Control

W2: 1-2 short

LCD software dimming control

always enabled

W2: 2-3 short

LCD at full brightness at

power-on; software can enable

dimming control

LCD Backlight Supply

Voltage

W4: 1-2 short

W4: 2-3 short

PXI-1020 and PXI-1025

Reserved

Figures 3-1 and 3-2 show the location and factory-default settings of the

configuration switches and jumpers on the PXI-8170 Series.

Figure 3-1. PXI-8170 Series I/O Board Parts Locator Diagram

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PXI-8170 Series Installation

Figure 3-2 shows the CPU board.

SO-DIMM Sockets

Figure 3-2. PXI-8170 Series CPU Board Parts Locator Diagram

Installing the PXI-8170 Series

This section contains general installation instructions for the PXI-8170.

Consult your PXI mainframe user manual for specific instructions and

warnings.

1. Plug in your mainframe before installing the PXI-8170. The power

cord grounds the mainframe and protects it from electrical damage

while you install the module. (Make sure the power switch is

turned off.)

Warning To protect both yourself and the mainframe from electrical hazards, leave the

mainframe off until you finish installing the PXI-8170 module.

2. Remove or open any doors or covers blocking access to the system

controller slot (Slot 1) in the mainframe.

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Chapter 3

PXI-8170 Series Installation

3. Touch the metal part of the case to discharge any static electricity that

might be on your clothes or body.

4. Make sure the injector/ejector handle is in its downward position.

Align the PXI-8170 with the card guides on the top and bottom of the

system controller slot.

Caution Do not raise the injector/ejector handle as you insert the PXI-8170. The module

will not insert properly unless the handle is in its downward position so that it does not

interfere with the injector rail on the mainframe.

5. Hold the handle as you slowly slide the module into the mainframe

until the handle catches on the injector/ejector rail.

6. Raise the injector/ejector handle until the module firmly seats into the

backplane receptacle connectors. The front panel of the PXI-8170

should be even with the front panel of the mainframe.

7. Tighten the four bracket-retaining screws on the top and bottom of the

front panel to secure the PXI-8170 to the mainframe.

8. Check the installation.

9. Connect the keyboard and mouse to the appropriate connectors. Use a

PS/2 to AT keyboard adapter if you need to adapt an AT-style keyboard

to the PXI-8170 mini-DIN connector.

10. Connect the VGA monitor video cable to the VGA connector.

11. Connect devices to ports as required by your system configuration.

12. Replace or close any doors or covers to the mainframe.

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PXI-8170 Series Installation

Figure 3-3 shows a PXI-8170 installed in the system controller slot of a

National Instruments PXI-1000 mainframe. You can place PXI devices in

any other slot.

PXI-1000B Chassis

PXI-8170 System Controller

PXI Board

Injector/Ejector Handle

Injector/Ejector Rail

Figure 3-3. PXI-8170 Installed in a PXI Mainframe

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Chapter 3

PXI-8170 Series Installation

How to Remove the Unit from the PXI Mainframe

The PXI-8170 Series is designed for easy handling. If you later decide to

change any of the jumper settings or the amount of DRAM installed on the

module, remove the unit from the PXI mainframe as follows:

1. Turn off power.

2. Remove the bracket-retaining screws in the front panel.

3. Press the injector/ejector handle down.

4. Slide the unit out of the mainframe.

Setting up the PXI-8170 Series

At Windows NT/98 startup, the software prompts you to insert a disk to

configure the system for LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI, and to enter the

serial number for the operating system. These programming environments

are already installed on your system, but you must insert a configuration

disk when prompted so that you can access and use them. If you ordered

either of these programming environments, select the appropriate checkbox

and insert the configuration disk. Follow the instructions as prompted.

Do not select either checkbox if you did not order LabVIEW or

LabWindows/CVI. Continue with the rest of the Setup program.

The PXI-8170 Series comes with the NI-VISA software already installed.

However, if you need to reinstall NI-VISA in the event that your files are

accidentally erased, use the Setup program and follow the prompts to install

these programs from the diskettes.

Similarly, if you need to reinstall LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI, use the

CD or diskette package that came with these programs.

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

BIOS

This chapter contains information on Basic Input Output System (BIOS),

the low-level interface between the hardware and PC software that

configures and tests your hardware when you start up the system. This

BIOS is an easy-to-use graphical user interface so you can configure

system aspects according to your needs.

Entering BIOS Setup

To enter the BIOS setup program, perform the following steps.

1. Turn on or reboot the system. A screen appears with a series of

diagnostic checks.

2. When the message Press <DEL> to enter SETUPappears, press

<Delete> to enter the BIOS setup program.

3. Choose options with the keyboard. Modify the settings to reflect

system options.

Default BIOS Setup Settings

To restore the default settings while inside the BIOS setup program, select

either Load Optimal or Load Fail-Safe.

Select the Optimal settings if you want to get maximum performance from

the PXI-8170 Series. Fail-Safe settings are more conservative settings.

BIOS Setup for LCD Support

To enable the LCD Display, enter the BIOS setup program and select

Standard CMOS Setup. Under the LCD & CRT menu item, you can

select the following options:

•

CRT—Just prior to the OS loading, only the CRT Display will be

enabled.

•

LCD—Just prior to the OS loading, only the LCD Display will be

enabled.

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Chapter 4

BIOS

•

Both—Both the CRT and LCD Displays are always enabled.

Auto —If a CRT is connected to the controller at boot, only the CRT is

enabled. If a CRT is not connected at boot, only the LCD is enabled.

Note During the initial boot process, both the LCD and CRT displays are enabled.

You must set the correct resolution for the LCD Display. See Appendix A,

Configuring the PXI-8170 Series, for LCD resolution settings.

Updating the BIOS

Your PXI-8170 Controller contains Flash ROM that allows the BIOS to be

updated. Contact National Instruments for BIOS updates.

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Configuring the PXI-8170 Series

This appendix describes how to configure the following options:

•

System RAM

System CMOS

LCD output

LCD resolution

Keyboard and mouse ports

Serial IRQ, INTP, and INTS connection

Onboard video

Installed System RAM

You can change the amount of installed RAM on the PXI-8170 Series by

installing DRAM SO-DIMMs. Refer to Appendix B, Specifications, for

more information on SO-DIMMs.

System CMOS

The PXI-8170 contains a backed-up memory used to store BIOS defaults

and configuration information.

To clear the CMOS contents, short pins 3–5 of J4 as shown in Figure A-1b.

Plug the unit back into the mainframe and apply power momentarily. Turn

the power off again and remove the unit. Place the jumper back in the

default state (short pins 1–3).

Note Pins 2, 4, and 6 are for the onboard video. See the Onboard Video section for the

proper configuration.

Caution Do not keep these two pins short-circuited. The computer cannot sustain the

CMOS memory when the power is turned off if you leave these two pins shorted.

ni© National Instruments Corporation

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Appendix A

Configuring the PXI-8170 Series

a. Normal Operation (default)

b. Clear CMOS Contents

Figure A-1. System CMOS

LCD Resolution and Enable

The LCD output resolution can be switched between 640 × 480 and

800 × 600 or no LCD. Figure 3-6 shows the LCD resolution options.

See Chapter 4, BIOS, for information about updating the BIOS to enable

LCD support.

off

No LCD (default)

800 × 600

640 × 480

Figure A-2. LCD Resolution Setting

Keyboard and Mouse

Two switches—S1 and S2—control whether to enable the PS/2 keyboard

and mouse ports on the front panel of the PXI-8170 controller or the

built-in chassis devices, if available. By default, both front panel ports are

enabled. Change S1 to use a chassis keyboard port and S2 to use a chassis

mouse port.

Note Only the PXI-1020 and PXI-1025 chassis currently have built-in PS/2 devices that

you can select in this manner.

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Appendix A

Configuring the PXI-8170 Series

Figures A-3 and A-4 show the keyboard and mouse options, respectively.

a. PXI-8170 Front Panel (Default)

b. Chassis

Figure A-3. Active Keyboard Port

a. PXI-8170 Front Panel (Default)

b. Chassis

Figure A-4. Active Mouse Port

Serial IRQ, INTP, and INTS

You can use jumper settings on the PXI-8170 Series to connect INTP on the

PXI backplane to IRQ14 or NMI, as well as INTS to either IRQ15 or to

serial IRQ. Refer to the documentation that comes with your PXI peripheral

device to see if you need to make any changes from the default settings.

For more information on Serial IRQ, refer to the Serialized IRQ Support for

PCI Systems Specification.

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Appendix A

Configuring the PXI-8170 Series

Figure A-5 shows the INTP configuration options and Figure A-6 shows

the INTS configuration options.

a. No Connection

(Default)

b. IRQ14

Short Pins 1,3

c. NMI

Short Pins 3,5

Figure A-5. INTP Configuration

a. Serial IRQ (Default)

Short Pins 4,6

b. No Connection

c. IRQ15

Short Pins 4,2

Figure A-6. INTS Configuration

Onboard Video

The onboard video can be disabled to allow the use of a CPCI or PXI video

card. Figure A-7 shows the onboard video configuration options.

a. Onboard Video

Enabled (Default)

b. Onboard Video

Disabled

Figure A-7. Onboard Video

Note Pins 1, 3, and 5 are for system CMOS. See the System CMOS section for the proper

operation.

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Specifications

This appendix lists the electrical, mechanical, and environmental

specifications of the PXI-8170 Series embedded computer, and describes

how to add RAM.

Electrical

PXI-8170 450 MHz PIII Processor

Current (A)

Voltage (V)

+3.3

Typical

3 A

Maximum

10 A

3.5 A

7 A

+12

0.05 A

0.01 A

1.0 A

–12

0.1 A

PXI-8170 700 MHz PIII Processor

Current (A)

Voltage (V)

+3.3

Typical

Maximum

10 A

2.5 A

3 A

6 A

+12

0.05 A

0.01 A

1.0 A

–12

0.1 A

Physical

Board dimensions................................... PXI 3U-size module

8.1 by 13 by 21.6 cm

(3.2 by 5.1 by 8.5 in.)

Slot requirements ................................... One system slot plus three

controller expansion slots

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Appendix B

Specifications

Compatibility..........................................Fully compatible with

PXI specification

MTBF .....................................................Contact National Instruments

Weight ....................................................1.1 Kg (2.4 lb) typical

Environmental

Adding RAM

Temperature............................................0° to 50° C operating

–20° to 70° C storage

Relative humidity ...................................10% to 85% noncondensing,

operating

5% to 95% noncondensing,

storage

EMI.........................................................FCC Class A verified, EC verified

To add RAM to the PXI-8170 Series, remove the unit from the PXI

mainframe and add SO-DIMM modules to the empty SO-DIMM sockets.

National Instruments recommends the following types of SO-DIMMs for

use with the PXI-8170 Series controller (SDRAM):

32 MB:

64 MB:

4 MB × 64 SO-DIMMs—10 ns, 1.05 in. max.

8 MB × 64 SO-DIMMs—10 ns, 1.05 in. max.

16 MB × 64 SO-DIMMs—10 ns, 1.05 in. max.

128 MB:

Note National Instruments has tested and verified that the SO-DIMMs we sell work with

the PXI-8170 Series. We recommend you purchase your SO-DIMM modules from

National Instruments. Other off-the-shelf SO-DIMM modules are not guaranteed to work

properly.

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PXI-8170 Series

System Resources

This appendix describes the system resources available on the PXI-8170

Series embedded computer and where they are allocated. Because PCI is a

relatively new addition to PCs, this appendix describes how PCI interrupts

fit into a PC architecture before listing the devices that use them.

PCI Interrupts

PCI interrupts are more flexible than ISA interrupts because multiple

devices can share these interrupts. PCI interrupts do not actually connect to

the processor directly; they map through ISA interrupts in the system I/O

module. The interrupt handler for a particular ISA interrupt must know if it

will be acknowledging a PCI device.

Resource Tables

The following tables describe where system resources are assigned.

Table C-1 lists how the ISA interrupts are allocated on the PXI-8170 Series

and whether a PCI interrupt drives them.

Table C-1. PXI-8170 Series ISA Interrupt Resource Allocations

ISA Interrupt

NMI

PCI Interrupt

None

Device

Parity

None

PCI

Timer

Keyboard

IRQ Expansion (8–15)

Plug and Play PXI Modules

COM1

None

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Appendix C

PXI-8170 Series System Resources

Table C-1. PXI-8170 Series ISA Interrupt Resource Allocations (Continued)

ISA Interrupt

PCI Interrupt

Device

PCI/None

Plug and Play PXI

Modules/Watchdog timer

if enabled

None

PCI

Floppy Drive

LPT1

RTC

Plug and Play PXI Modules

Mouse

PCI

None

PCI

FPERR

IDE

Plug and Play PXI Modules

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LED Indicators

This appendix describes how to interpret the status of the PXI-8170 Series

computer by reading the LEDs on the front panel.

Interface Status and Access LEDs

POWER OK

When lit, the POWER OK LED indicates that the power is on and the

PXI-8170 is out of reset.

DRIVE LED

The DRIVE LED indicates when an access to the internal hard disk drive

is occurring.

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Front Panel and Connectors

This appendix describes the front panel and connectors on the PXI-8170

Series embedded computer.

The PXI-8170 Series has the following front panel connectors:

•

VGA Controller

Extended Capabilities Parallel (ECP)

PS/2-Style Keyboard

PS/2-Style Mouse

Universal Serial Bus (USB)

RS-232 Serial

Note The illustrations in this appendix show the mating face of the connectors.

An asterisk suffix (*) on a signal name indicates that the signal is active low.

Front Panel

Figure E-1 shows the front panel layout of the PXI-8170. The drawing

shows dimensions relevant to key elements on the front panel. Dimensions

are shown in inches and millimeters, with millimeter dimensions in square

brackets. The front panel thickness for all models in the PXI-8170 Series is

2.49 mm (0.098 in.)

ni© National Instruments Corporation

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

3.753 [95.33]

2.965 [75.3]

2.504 [63.59]

1.856 [47.13]

2.004 [50.90]

1.448 [36.78]

.980 [24.88]

Figure E-1. PXI-8170 Front Panel Layout and Dimensions

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Keyboard and Mouse

Figure E-2 shows the location and pinouts for the keyboard and mouse

connectors on the PXI-8170 Series. Table E-1 lists and describes the

keyboard and mouse connector signals.

AMP manufactures a mating connector with part numbers 212437-4

(housing), 212435-7 (ferrule), and 66735-4 (pin contact).

Keyboard

Mouse

Figure E-2. Keyboard and Mouse Connectors Location and Pinout

Table E-1. Keyboard and Mouse Connector Signals

Signal Name

DATA

Signal Description

Data

Not Connected

Ground

GND

+5V

CLK

+5 V

Clock

Not Connected

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

VGA

Figure E-3 shows the location and pinouts for the VGA connector on the

PXI-8170 Series. Table E-2 lists and describes the VGA connector signals.

AMP manufactures a mating connector with part numbers 748364-1

(housing) and 748333-2 (pin contact).

10 15

VGA

Figure E-3. VGA Connector Location and Pinout

Table E-2. VGA Connector Signals

Signal Name

Signal Description

Red

Green

Blue

Not Connected

Ground

Not Connected

Ground

GND

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Table E-2. VGA Connector Signals (Continued)

Signal Name Signal Description

Not Connected

Serial Data

HSync

VSync

Horizontal Sync

Vertical Sync

Serial Clock

COM1

Figure E-4 shows the location and pinouts for the COM1 connector on all

models in the PXI-8170 Series. Table E-3 lists and describes the COM1

connector signal.

AMP manufactures a serial port mating connector, part number 745491-5,

for the COM1 connector on the PXI-8170.

COM1

Figure E-4. COM1 Connector Location and Pinout

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Table E-3. COM1 Connector Signals

Signal Name

DCD*

Signal Description

Data Carrier Detect

Receive Data

RXD*

TXD*

DTR*

GND

DSR*

RTS*

CTS*

RI*

Transmit Data

Data Terminal Ready

Ground

Data Set Ready

Ready to Send

Clear to Send

Ring Indicator

Parallel Port

Figure E-5 shows the location and pinouts for the IEEE-1284 connector on

the PXI-8170. Table E-4 lists and describes the IEEE-1284 connector

signals.

AMP manufactures a parallel port compatible connector, part

number 747052-2.

Parallel Port

Figure E-5. Parallel Port Connector Location and Pinout

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Table E-4. Parallel Port Connector Signals

Signal Name

BUSY*

Signal Description

Device Busy

Select Input

Acknowledge

Fault

SLCTIN*

ACK*

FAULT*

ERROR

PD0

Error

Data Bit 0

Data Bit 1

Data Bit 2

Data Bit 3

Data Bit 4

Data Bit 5

Data Bit 6

Data Bit 7

Initialize Printer

Strobe

PD1

PD 2

PD3

PD4

PD5

PD6

PD7

INIT*

STROBE*

SLCT

AUTOFD

GND

18–25

Select

Auto Line Feed

Ground

Not Connected

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Universal Serial Bus

Figure E-6 shows the location and pinouts for the Universal Serial Bus

(USB) connector. Table E-5 lists and describes the USB connector signals.

AMP manufactures a USB mating connector, part number 787633.

USB

Figure E-6. USB Connector Location and Pinout

Table E-5. USB Connector Signals

Signal Name

VCC

Signal Description

Cable Power (+5 V)

USB Data–

–Data

+Data

GND

USB Data+

Ground

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

PXI Connectors

Figure E-7 shows the location and pinouts for the PXI connector on the

PXI-8170 Series. Table E-6 shows the P2 connector pinouts for the PXI

connector as it applies to the system controller slot (Slot 1). Table E-7

shows the P1 connector pinouts.

P2 Connector

P1 Connector

Figure E-7. PXI Connectors Location and Pinout

E-9

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Table E-6. P2 Connector Pinouts for the System Controller Slot

PXI_RSVB22

GND

PXI_RSVC22

RSV

PXI_RSVD22

RSV

PXI_RSVE22

RSV

GND

PXI_RSVA22

CLK6

GND

CLK5

GND

RSV

GND

RSV

GND

RSV

PXI_TRIG3

PXI_TRIG2

PXI_TRIG1

PXI_TRIG4

GND

PXI_TRIG5

PRST#

DEG#

GND

PXI_TRIG6

GNT6#

PXI_TRIG7

GNT5#

AD[32]

AD[36]

AD[39]

AD[43]

AD[46]

AD[50]

AD[53]

AD[57]

AD[60]

PAR64

REQ6#

GND

PXI_TRIG0

PXI_BRSVA15 GND

AD[34]

FAL#

REQ5#

GND

AD[35]

AD[38]

AD[42]

AD[45]

AD[49]

AD[52]

AD[56]

AD[59]

AD[63]

C/BE[5]#

V(I/O)

AD[33]

V(I/O)

GND

AD[37]

GND

AD[41]

GND

AD[40]

V(I/O)

AD[44]

GND

AD[48]

GND

AD[47]

V(I/O)

AD[51]

GND

AD[55]

GND

AD[54]

V(I/O)

AD[58]

GND

AD[62]

GND

AD[61]

V(I/O)

C/BE[4]#

GND

PXI_BRSVB4

GND

C/BE[7]#

GNT3#

SYSEN#

REQ1#

C/BE[6]#

GNT4#

REQ3#

REQ2#

CLK4

REQ4#

GNT2#

GNT1#

CLK2

CLK3

CLK1

GND

Note: PXI signals are shown in bold

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

E-10

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Appendix E

Front Panel and Connectors

Table E-7. P1 Connector Pinouts for the System Controller Slot

12–14

REQ64#

ENUM#

V(I/O)

AD[3]

3.3V

GND

3.3V

GND

AD[1]

3.3V

AD[7]

3.3V

AD[0]

ACK64#

AD[2]

AD[4]

GND

AD[6]

M66EN

AD[11]

GND

AD[5]

AD[9]

GND

AD[8]

V(I/O)

AD[14]

3.3V

C/BE[0]#

AD[10]

AD[13]

C/BE[1]#

PERR#

LOCK#

TRDY#

AD[12]

3.3V

AD[15]

GND

SERR#

3.3V

PAR

SDONE

GND

SBO#

GND

DEVSEL#

3.3V

V(I/O)

IRDY#

Key Area

AD[16]

3.3V

STOP#

GND

FRAME#

GND

AD[18]

AD[21]

C/BE[3]#

AD[26]

AD[30]

REQ#

AD[17]

GND

AD[20]

GND

AD[25]

GND

CLK

C/BE[2]#

AD[19]

AD[22]

AD[24]

AD[27]

AD[31]AD[31]

GNT#

GND

IDSEL

GND

AD[23]

V(I/O)

AD[28]

3.3V

AD[29]

GND

BRSVP1A5

BRSVP1A4

INTA#

BRSVP1B5

GND

RST#

GND

INTP

V(I/O)

INTC#

TMS

INTS

INTB#

INTD#

TDI

TCK

TDO

+12V

–12V

TRST#

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Common Questions

This appendix answers common questions you may have when using the

PXI-8170 Series embedded computer.

What do the LEDs on the front of the PXI-8170 mean?

Refer to Appendix C, PXI-8170 Series System Resources, for a description

of the front panel LEDs.

What kind of monitor can I use with the PXI-8170?

PXI-8170 computers that use Super VGA video output work only with

monitors having a horizontal scan rate of at least 50 kHz and a vertical scan

rate of 60 Hz.

Caution Make sure that your monitor meets this specification. Enabling the Super VGA

option on a monitor that does not meet this specification will damage your monitor.

What if my keyboard connector does not fit into the keyboard port on

the PXI-8170?

You can plug keyboards that have a 6-pin Mini DIN PS/2 type connector

directly into the PXI-8170. You can use a PS/2 to AT keyboard adapter

cable to adapt the larger AT keyboard connector to the 6-pin Mini DIN

connector.

How do I add RAM to the PXI-8170? What is the maximum amount of

RAM that I can install?

For information about adding RAM to the PXI-8170, refer to Appendix B,

Specifications.

Which interrupt levels are free for use by PXI bus boards? Which area

of upper memory (adapter space) is free for use by PXI bus boards or

expanded memory manager software programs?

See Appendix B, Specifications, for information on the available port I/O

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Appendix F

Common Questions

How do I check the configuration of the memory, floppy drive, hard

drive, time/date, and so on?

You can view these parameters in the BIOS setup. To enter the BIOS setup,

reboot the PXI-8170 and press <Delete> during the memory tests. Refer to

Chapter 4, BIOS, for more information.

How can I boot from an external SCSI hard drive?

1. Enter the BIOS setup program as described in Chapter 4, BIOS.

2. Select BIOS Features.

3. Change Boot Sequence Setup so that SCSI is listed fist.

4. Press <Esc> to exit from this screen.

5. Select Save and Exit Setup.

Can I use the internal IDE drive and an external SCSI hard drive at

the same time?

Yes.

My CMOS is corrupted. How do I set it back to default?

1. Enter the BIOS setup program as described in Chapter 4, BIOS.

2. Select Load BIOS Defaults.

3. Answer Y (Yes) to the verification prompt.

4. Select Save and Exit Setup.

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

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www.ni.com

Technical Support Resources

This appendix describes the comprehensive resources available to you in

the Technical Support section of the National Instruments Web site and

provides technical support telephone numbers for you to use if you have

trouble connecting to our Web site or if you do not have internet access.

NI Web Support

To provide you with immediate answers and solutions 24 hours a day,

365 days a year, National Instruments maintains extensive online technical

support resources. They are available to you at no cost, are updated daily,

and can be found in the Technical Support section of our Web site at

www.ni.com/support

Online Problem-Solving and Diagnostic Resources

•

KnowledgeBase—A searchable database containing thousands of

frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their corresponding answers or

solutions, including special sections devoted to our newest products.

The database is updated daily in response to new customer experiences

and feedback.

•

Troubleshooting Wizards—Step-by-step guides lead you through

common problems and answer questions about our entire product line.

Wizards include screen shots that illustrate the steps being described

and provide detailed information ranging from simple getting started

instructions to advanced topics.

•

Product Manuals—A comprehensive, searchable library of the latest

editions of National Instruments hardware and software product

manuals.

Hardware Reference Database—A searchable database containing

brief hardware descriptions, mechanical drawings, and helpful images

of jumper settings and connector pinouts.

Application Notes—A library with more than 100 short papers

addressing specific topics such as creating and calling DLLs,

developing your own instrument driver software, and porting

applications between platforms and operating systems.

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PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Appendix G

Technical Support Resources

Software-Related Resources

•

Instrument Driver Network—A library with hundreds of instrument

drivers for control of standalone instruments via GPIB, VXI, or serial

interfaces. You also can submit a request for a particular instrument

driver if it does not already appear in the library.

•

Example Programs Database—A database with numerous,

non-shipping example programs for National Instruments

programming environments. You can use them to complement the

example programs that are already included with National Instruments

products.

•

Software Library—A library with updates and patches to application

software, links to the latest versions of driver software for National

Instruments hardware products, and utility routines.

Worldwide Support

National Instruments has offices located around the globe. Many branch

offices maintain a Web site to provide information on local services. You

can access these Web sites from www.ni.com/worldwide

If you have trouble connecting to our Web site, please contact your local

National Instruments office or the source from which you purchased your

National Instruments product(s) to obtain support.

For telephone support in the United States, dial 512 795 8248. For

telephone support outside the United States, contact your local branch

office:

Australia 03 9879 5166, Austria 0662 45 79 90 0, Belgium 02 757 00 20,

Brazil 011 284 5011, Canada (Calgary) 403 274 9391,

Canada (Ontario) 905 785 0085, Canada (Québec) 514 694 8521,

China 0755 3904939, Denmark 45 76 26 00, Finland 09 725 725 11,

France 01 48 14 24 24, Germany 089 741 31 30, Greece 30 1 42 96 427,

Hong Kong 2645 3186, India 91805275406, Israel 03 6120092,

Italy 02 413091, Japan 03 5472 2970, Korea 02 596 7456,

Mexico (D.F.) 5 280 7625, Mexico (Monterrey) 8 357 7695,

Netherlands 0348 433466, New Zealand 09 914 0488,

Norway 32 27 73 00, Poland 0 22 528 94 06, Portugal 351 1 726 9011,

Singapore 2265886, Spain 91 640 0085, Sweden 08 587 895 00,

Switzerland 056 200 51 51, Taiwan 02 2528 7227,

United Kingdom 01635 523545

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

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www.ni.com

Glossary

Prefix

Meaning

nano-

micro-

milli-

kilo-

Value

10^–9

10^{– 6}

10^–3

10³

µ-

M-

G-

mega-

giga-

10⁶

10⁹

tera-

10¹²

Symbols

degrees

ohms

Ω

percent

amperes

ASIC

Alternating Current

application-specific integrated circuit

bytes

backplane

An assembly, typically a printed circuit board, with connectors and signal

paths that bus the connector pins.

Glossary-1

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary

BIOS

Basic Input/Output System. BIOS functions are the fundamental level of

any PC or compatible computer. BIOS functions embody the basic

operations needed for successful use of the computer’s hardware resources.

Celsius

cache

Small portion of high-speed memory used for temporary storage of

frequently used data

CMOS

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor; a process used in making

chips

CompactPCI

An adaptation of the PCI specification for industrial and/or embedded

applications that require a more robust mechanical form factor than desktop

PCI. CompactPCI provides a standard form factor for those applications

requiring the high performance of PCI as well as the small size and

ruggedness of a rack-mount system.

Direct Current

DIMM

DMA

Dual In-line Memory Module

Direct Memory Access; a method by which data is transferred between

devices and internal memory without intervention of the central processing

unit

DRAM

Dynamic RAM (Random Access Memory); storage that the computer must

refresh at frequent intervals

ECP

Extended Capabilities Parallel

EDO

EEPROM

Extended Data Out

Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary-2

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Glossary

embedded controller

An intelligent CPU (controller) interface plugged directly into the PXI

backplane, giving it direct access to the PXI bus. It must have all of its

required PXI interface capabilities built in.

EMC

Electromagnetic Compatibility

electromagnetic interference

Enhanced Parallel Port

EMI

EPP

expansion ROM

An onboard EEPROM that may contain device-specific initialization and

system boot functionality

FCC

Federal Communications Commission

1. grams

2. A measure of acceleration equal to 9.8 m/s².

GPIB

g_RMS

General Purpose Interface Bus (IEEE 488)

A measure of random vibration. The root mean square of acceleration

levels in a random vibration test profile.

hertz; cycles per second

IDE

IEEE

in.

Integrated Drive Electronics; hard disk and built-in controller

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

inches

Glossary-3

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary

instrument driver

A set of routines designed to control a specific instrument or family of

instruments, and any necessary related files for LabWindows/CVI or

LabVIEW

interrupt

interrupt level

I/O

A means for a device to request service from another device

The relative priority at which a device can interrupt

input/output; the techniques, media, and devices used to achieve

communication between machines and users

IRQ*

ISA

Interrupt signal

Industry Standard Architecture; the original PC bus architecture,

specifically the 16-bit AT bus

kilobytes of memory

LAN

Local Area Network; communications network that serves users within a

confined geographical area. It is made up of servers, workstations, a

network operating system, and a communications link.

LED

light-emitting diode

meters

master

A functional part of a PXI device that initiates data transfers on the PXI

backplane. A transfer can be either a read or a write.

megabytes of memory

Mean time between failure

Mean time to repair

MTBF

MTTR

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary-4

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Glossary

NI-488 or NI-488.2

The National Instruments software for GPIB systems

NI-DAQ

The National Instruments software for data acquisition instruments

The National Instruments implementation of the VISA standard; an

NI-VISA

interface-independent software that provides a unified programming

interface for VXI, GPIB, and serial instruments

NMI

Non-maskable interrupt; high-priority interrupt that cannot be disabled by

another interrupt. It is used to report malfunctions such as parity, bus and

math coprocessor errors.

PCI

Peripheral Component Interconnect. The PCI bus is a high-performance

32-bit or 64-bit bus with multiplexed address and data lines.

PCMCIA

peripheral

Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

any hardware device connected to a computer, such as a monitor, keyboard,

printer, plotter, disk or tape drive, graphics tablet, scanner, mouse, and so on

POSC

PXI

Power On Self Configuration

PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation; an open implementation of

CompactPCI that adds electrical features that meet the high-performance

requirements of instrumentation applications by providing triggering, local

buses, and system clock capabilities. PXI also offers two-way

interoperability with CompactPCI products.

RAM

Random Access Memory; the computer’s primary workspace

RAMDAC

Random Access Memory Digital to Analog Converter; the VGA controller

chip that maintains the color palette and converts data from memory into

analog signals for the monitor

resource

hardware settings used by devices in a computer system, including ISA

interrupt level, DMA channel, and I/O address

Glossary-5

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary

RMS

RTC

Root mean squared. See gRMS.

Real Time Clock; an electronic circuit that maintains the time of day, and

can also provide timing signals for timesharing operations

seconds

slave

A functional part of a PXI device that detects data transfer cycles initiated

by a PXI bus master and responds to the transfers when the address

specifies one of the device’s registers

SO-DIMM

SRAM

Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module

Static RAM; a memory chip that requires power to hold its content. It does

not require refresh circuitry as a dynamic RAM chip, but it does take up

more space and uses more power.

Start Trigger

Star Trigger Slot

This slot is located at Slot 2 in a PXI mainframe and has a dedicated trigger

line between each peripheral slot. This slot would be used for a module

with ST functionality that can provide individual triggers to all other

peripherals.

USB

Universal Serial Bus

Volts

VGA

Video Graphics Array; the minimum video display standard for all PCs

Watts

PXI-8170 Series User Manual

Glossary-6

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Index

default settings, 3-1

electrostatic discharge damage

(caution), 3-1

installed system RAM, A-1

keyboard and mouse, A-2

LCD resolution, A-2

Acrobat (online) documentation, xi

active keyboard port (figure), A-3

active mouse port (figure), A-3

adding RAM, B-2

Adobe Acrobat, xi

onboard video, A-4

parts locator diagram, 3-3

serial IRQ, INTP, and INTS, A-3

configuring the PXI-817 0 Series, A-1

for LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI

software, 3-7

BIOS, 4-1