Software Tab for Unconfigured cRIO Not Visible in NI MAX

Issue Details

I have plugged in my cRIO-9012 to my PC via an Ethernet cable. My cRIO-9012 is discovered in NI Measurement and Automation Explorer and listed under Remote Systems, but the status is Unconfigured and I can't expand the list item to show "Devices and Interfaces" nor "Software" tabs. Thus I am unable to deploy any software to my device.

How can I get around this?

Solution

The unconfigured state of the cRIO means that that you must actively assign an IP address to your remote system.

Follow this tutorial to assign a valid static IP address for your remote system: Getting Started with CompactRIO Hardware and LabVIEW.

After selecting a static IP address, reboot the cRIO to confirm the new settings. 

When a valid IP address has been assigned to the target, refresh NI MAX, and you should be able to install/deploy software as the "Devices and Interfaces" and "Software" tabs should be visible. 

If the unconfigured state of the cRIO continues after actively assigning an IP Address to your remote system, disconnect all other Ethernet connections to the host due to multi LAN issues.

Additional Information

The unconfigured state of the cRIO-9012/9014 implies that the cRIO has recently reset its IP settings to default. When you reset the controller, the IP address, subnet mask, DNS address, gateway, and Time Server IP are set to 0.0.0.0, which is not a valid IP address. Hence, the system will not allow further configuration before it has been assigned a proper IP address.

When assigning a static IP address, it is important that the IP address of the remote system is contained within the same subnet as the host PC. To check the current IP configurations of your host PC you can use the command prompt. Open the command prompt and type in the command

ipconfig

This will provide you with information about your host PC's Ethernet adapter settings. Note the IPv4 Address and Subnet Mask. 

Use the same subnet mask as your host. Then chose an IP address for your cRIO. For a subnet mask of for example 255.255.255.0, the first three numbers in the target IP address must match the PC's IP address. For 255.255.0.0, the first two numbers in the IP addresses must be the same.