XP-SP2 Blue screens of death with GPIB driver NI-488.2 v2.52 on Dell Precision T7400 computer

[NickFi]

Hi All,
 
We upgraded our computer to a Dell Precision T7400. We installed the latest NI drivers for GPIB (NI-488.2 V2.52 and NI VISA V4.3). The NI hardware consists of two GPIB-PCI cards. We run custom software (based on Visual C++) that we know it is reliable (haven't had such problems with it in the past). Now we start getting randomly the blue screens of death from Windows XP-SP2 (with the latest software updates):
 
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
gpibprtk.sys
address B9D35A64 base at B9D28000. Date Stamp 45ef268e
 
I found previous posts refering to similar problems experienced by users of Dell Precision computers, but they were related to older versions of NI software. I would appreciate some support from NI engineers regarding this matter.
 
Regards,
Nick

[chris_amadasun]

Hello Nick, This errors can sometimes occur when a certain memory space is being accessed as described in the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/w2000Msgs/6093.mspx?mfr=true" target="_blank">MSDN KB</a> Can you go ahead and uninstall your drivers (488.2 and VISA) and then re-install them.Also can you tell us if this occurs if you use the Measurement &amp; Automation explorer to communicate with your device?

[NickFi]

Dear Christian,
&nbsp;
Thank you for your support. I will uninstall the drivers as you recommended and let you know about the outcome in a few weeks. The problem I described occures rarely. We use this computer 8 hours a day and run automatic tests almost continuously. There are thousands and thousands of commands executed during each test. We just installed the new computer a few days ago.&nbsp;The old computer using old drivers from NI never gave a BSOD. This new one did it twice in two days. After we repeated the tests, everything was ok. That means the problem occures very rarely and most likely, when using MAX we would never be able to cause the error (and we don't know the&nbsp;command that caused the crash). I suppose I could run NI Spy and record all the communication and after crash I could check what was the last command that caused the crash (assuming it was logged). We don't have access to the source code.
One more difference compared to the old computer consists in the connector type for the GPIB cards. The old&nbsp;computer&nbsp;had PCI connectors, and the new one has PCI-express connectors (I am not sure if PCI and PCIe are fully compatible in regards to the PCI GPIB card).
&nbsp;
Best regards,
Nick

[chris_amadasun]

Hello I doubt that the PCI GPIB would fit in an PCI express slot.But could you verify that you have attached this to a PCI slot and then run your application.

[NickFi]

Dear Christian,
The newer models&nbsp;of PCI GPIB cards actually fit into PCI Express. I noticed that we have two different models of PCI GPIB cards. The newer model PCI cards have two cuts into the PCI slot (toward front and back), and the older model have only one cut (toward back). PCI cards with two cuts fit in both PCI and PCIe, while PCI with only one cut&nbsp;don't fit into PCIe, which has the cut at the front. We were supposed to buy a computer with 2 spare PCI connectors for two GPIB cards, but we got&nbsp;a computer&nbsp;that&nbsp;has only one PCI available and two PCIe.
Here is a PCI card with only one cut: <a href="Loading Image..." target="_blank">http://www.ecrunch.com/images/listing_photos/104_ni_pci-gpib_front.jpg</a>
and here is one with two cuts: <a href="Loading Image..." target="_blank">http://www.sell2buy.com/images/goods/m74.gif</a>
Regards,
Nick

[NickFi]

Dear Christian,
&nbsp;
I was saying that I will let you know after I reinstall the latest drivers from NI. I've done more than that. The IT person reinstalled Windows XP on our old machine and the&nbsp;NI Drivers on it (we downloaded the latest drivers from NI about two months ago).
I&nbsp;run the computer by about two weeks and today I got&nbsp;the first&nbsp;blue screen of death, caused by the same driver.
The message on screen was:
gpibprtk.sys, Address F741FA64 base at F7412000, DateStamp 45ef268e, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA.
Before we upgraded to the new NI drivers, I don't remember to have seen this blue screen and I've been using the computer everyday for almost two years.
The problem seems to occure very rarely and at random.
I wonder if you had similar feedback (that this version of the driver seems more unstable than previous ones) from other users, or is it just me?
&nbsp;
Regards,
Nick
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

[chris_amadasun]

Hello Nick, I would like to work more closely with you on this issue. Would it be possible for you to create a email Service Request for this issue?Worst case scenario you could give me your direct phone number?Thank you.

[chris_amadasun]

Hello Nick, We do have a few cases where this has happened.But we should have a fix for you, is there a direct number or email address I could reach you on?Thank you.

[NickFi]

Hi Chris,
I will send you an email with my phone number. How can I contact you?
Regards,
Nick

[chris_amadasun]

Hello Nick, Please give me a call at 1 866 275 6964Follow the instructions and punch in the service request number 1181219.Your phone call will be routed to me, if I am unavailable please leave me a message with your direct line and email address.Please let me know here if you run into any difficulties getting through.Thank you.

[NickFi]

Dear Chris,
I am very sorry I haven't contacted you in such a long time, I've been very busy. Since my last post, I've been running the old computers 8 hours a day and it didn't crash anymore. It looks this computer performs much better than the new one (only one crash so far). Considering this, I am not sure if we can find the problem.
The reason I didn't call you is because I am in Australia and the time difference makes it pretty difficult to get in contact. My email address is listed in my NI account on the forum, can't you access that?
Regards,
Nick

[chris_amadasun]

Hello Nick, &nbsp;I sure hope you're having a good time in Australia.&nbsp;I am not able to see your email address. There is no contact information under Contact Me section.Could you save it to a text file and upload to our ftp site @ ftp.ni.com/incoming&nbsp;Is the older PC also running the same version of the 488.2 driver?Thank you.&nbsp;&nbsp;