Axlink bus is dead?

bob

I have pulled a serial cable of a component (the other side was attached to an AXC-232 card) and the netlinx master did a beep and rebootet. I have never had such a behaviour. Now the Axlink bus is dead, no device on the bus blinks, no TP responds. The master responds fine though and is able to reboot and download the program, but the AXlink isn't operational anymore! The master still blinks Link and Status green LEDs. The green LED on the card server card in the ACCESS cardframe lights constant!?

Anyone have a suggestion what I might do? I have a NI-700 master with associated AXCESS cardframes and other AXB devices and everything was working for a long time. I have swapped the CS card in the cardframe and also other cards but nothing. The AXlink bus is ust dead and no AXlink devices shows up in Netlinx Studio when I refresh the system!

ericmedley

I can see an RMA in your future...

bob

But how can an intactive serial control cable when pulled kill the bus? Is it something on the cardframe side holding all the the cards, or the NI-700 master itself?

Hedberg

Disconnect the Axlink connector from your NI700 and observe the green Axlink light. It should be blinking steadily. If it is not, there is probably something wrong with your NI700. If you have a good blink on the NI700, connect up exactly one Axlink device directly to the NI700 and see what happens. Hook up a touch panel that you are confident works, and see if it shows up on the NI700 Axlink bus. If that one doesn't work, try another Axlink device. If none of your Axlink devices work when only one device is on the Axlink, probably your NI700 is not working correctly. Otherwise, test out the devices one at a time till you find the offender.

I've never seen an NI700 (or other NI controller) with bad Axlink, ao I can't offer any assistance in trouble shooting if it turns out to be the NI700. My wag is that the Axlink on an NI700 is not field serviceable. I have seen cases where a device on the Axlink would kill it. I seem to recall a Radia installation a couple years ago that we had trouble with. Also had a new from AMX G3 tp that would kill the Axlink when connected.

Axlink communications seem to be pretty robust. Every once in a while an installer will connect something wrong and it will kill communications but it always seems to be OK when connected properly -- I've never seen anybody actually damage an NI controller by incorrectly wiring an Axlink device including shorting the wires. So, maybe it will turn out to be just one Axlink device or a single card in your Axcess card frame.

ericmedley

Without actually having the unit nearby it's hard to say. Could have been a short. Could have been a static charge when you grabbed the cable. It's hard to say.

It's best to isolate the problem as much as possible. I'd make a cable and plug the G3 touch panel's axlink straight into the master and see if it comes back.

either way, I'd call tech support.

bob

- I have pulled all cards from the cardframe.
- NI700 axlink light blinks ok when I disconnect the axlink cable from the master. blinks still ok when I reconnect the bus again and shows devices.
- I have pulled all AXC cards out of the cardframe. When I put only the CS card into the cardframe, the green light lights constantly and bus becomes dead again.

ericmedley

bob wrote: »

- I have pulled all cards from the cardframe.
- NI700 axlink light blinks ok when I disconnect the axlink cable from the master. blinks still ok when I reconnect the bus again and shows devices.
- I have pulled all AXC cards out of the cardframe. When I put only the CS card into the cardframe, the green light lights constantly and bus becomes dead again.

The CS card is what determines the addresses of the cards in the frame. (Card Server)

You might try looking at the dip switch settings on the card. Perhaps they've been altered in some way. Also, the card could have gotten zapped somehow.

Also, I'm assuming you have no Master in the frame. right???

bob

Eric, yes, no master in the cardframe. The NI700 is the master. I have tried another CS card with the same DIP switch setting as the original one. Same effect. I haven't altered the hardware, I was changing the a/v preprocessor in the system and pulled the serial cable from the back (it was a Denon with a 3.5mm jack and not a RS232 conn) when the NI700 made a beep and rebooted.

Does it make sense to swap the cardframe itself? I have another one lying around. Does it have anything active on the backplane which may have been shortended?
I have pulled all the AXC cards and both CS cards I have tried constantly light green and the bus dies when I insert any of both CS cards (all other AXC cards removed).

bob

Swaped the cardframe but the CS card (as the only card in the frame) still lights constantly green and the bus dissapears as soon I put the CS card in!

Hedberg

Ok, if I understand correctly, you have two different card frames and two different AXC-S cards and with either frame and either card and no other cards in the frame, it brings down the Axlink communications. Also, you have gotten at least one Axlink device to work with your NI700. If all that's true, I can think of some things that you might check. One is that the dip switch settings on the AXC-S card must indicate an address of 240 or lower otherwise the last card slot would have an address greater than 255. I don't know what happens if you set the address higher than 240, but it's something to check. Another thing to check is that you don't have an Axlink address conflict, though I don't believe that would give you the symptoms you see. Another thing to check is the voltage you are getting to your card frame. Devices that are not receiving enough power sometimes misbehave. I don't know if an underpowered AXC-S card would cause a problem, but it's something to check. Finally, check to make sure that none of the wires into the connectors are loose or shorting. I suppose that if you've rewired anything you might double check your wiring too. If you still can't find a problem, isolate the card frame and put an EM card and the C-S card in it along with another card and try to program it and see if the cardframe works all by itself as an Axcess master (with the EM card).

bob

Lots of beafy power supplies in there...

I just noticed that without the cardframe the bus gets actualy splitted, i.e. half of the devices don't get power at all and the other half work correct. Checked that AXlink connectors and gotcha, it was a shortage there and because there go two axlink wirings to the cardframe as soon as it gets activated the whole bus shortens and disappears (the cardframe acting as a bridge between both halfs). So pulling he serial control cable from the a/v prepro and the shortenage in one of the bus strips at the same time must have been a pure accident in time.

Thanks MUCH to all who responded!