PXI Express Chassis Randomly Reboots While in Use

Issue Details

I have a PXI Express chassis and I've noticed that occasionally it will shut down or reboot while I am using it. What could be causing this? Is my chassis broken?

Solution

• First make sure that the power coming from the wall is consistent; fluctuating power can cause your chassis to shutdown and possibly damage your equipment. Do the reboots or shutdowns correspond to anything that may affect power to your PXI Express chassis like a lightning storm or large machinery turning on? If so, you can try using a different electric outlet or adding a battery backup or surge protector. 
• Additionally, inadvertently flipping the Inhibit Mode switch on the back of your PXI Express controller or on the backplane board from Default to Manual can lead to this behavior. If this switch is set to Manual and nothing is attached to the Remote Inhibit and Voltage Monitoring connector, the Inhibit line of the connector will enter an unknown state and this may cause the chassis to shutdown. If your chassis is randomly rebooting or shutting down check to be sure this switch is in the Default position.
• Check whether the Status LED is solid red color when the chassis shuts down abruptly. This could indicate an over-temperature state and you might need to check the chassis ambient temperature and implement cooling clearances as per the article - Best Practices for Building and Maintaining PXI Systems
• If the above steps don't help, try replacing the chassis with another spare chassis if this option is available. If the spare chassis works just fine when connected to the same power outlet, then this might indicate that the initial chassis is faulty and requires repair.

Additional Information

The Remote Inhibit and Voltage Monitoring connector is designed to allow you to measure the voltage levels of the +3.3, + 5, +12 and -12 VDC rails on your chassis backplane as well as remotely power off/on your PXI Express chassis. Consult the following document for list of supported PXI chassis: Which PXI Chassis Support Remote Inhibit, Voltage/Fault Monitoring, and Remote System Monitoring?