Error -88705 or 80040383 with DAQmx or GPIB Device in MAX

Updated Feb 27, 2025

Reported In

Hardware

  • NI ELVIS
  • NI-9862
  • CompactDAQ Chassis
  • GPIB Instrument Control Device

Software

  • NI-XNET 18.5

Driver

  • NI-DAQmx
  • NI-488.2

Issue Details

  • I have a GPIB or NI-DAQ™mx device that I'm trying to open in the NI Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX). When I self-test it in NI MAX, I get the following error

Error -88705: The specified device is not present or is not active in the system. The device may not be installed on this system, may have been unplugged, or may not be installed correctly.

  • When I look for my GPIB/DAQmx device in Windows Device Manager, my device shows up correctly. If this has happened before, I remember needing to restart something, potentially "NI Monitor". 
  • I receive an error message in MAX when trying to connect with my CompactDAQ Ethernet Chassis. I can ping the device and see the device and modules with the Web Interface. I can even change the IP address of the cDAQ and the IP address will hold correctly. But, I cannot see my C Series Modules in the CompactDAQ chassis in NI MAX. When I perform a self-test on the device, it returns 

Error -88705 Device is not reachable

  • When resetting my DAQmx device in NI MAX, I receive an error message with no detail:

Error code: 80040383

Solution

Your NI Device Loader and NI Configuration Manager Services may have stopped without restarting. Follow these steps to restart the service as well as set them to automatically restart if they encounter an error or timeout.

For Windows 10/8/7: 

  1. Log in as an administrator or as a user with administrative privileges. 
  2. Select Start » Control Panel » System and Security » Administrative Tools »Services
  3. Locate the NI Device Loader (nidevldu) and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
  4. Make sure that the service is Started. If it is not, use the Start button to start the service.
  5. Click on the Recovery tab and select Restart the Service from the First failure, Second failure, and Subsequent failures list boxes, as shown in the image below.


For Windows 2000/XP:

  1. Log in as an administrator or as a user with administrative privileges.
  2. Navigate to Start » Settings » Control Panel » Administrative Tools »Services.
  3. Right click on the NI Device Loader service and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
  4. Make sure the service is Started. If it is not, use the Start button to start the service.

The NI Device Loader will automatically start the NI Configuration Manager service. Changing this configuration should ensure that the correct service starts every time you reboot your computer.

If the NI Device Loader still does not respond, check if National Instruments mDNS Responder Service is started in Services. NI Device loader is dependent on the mDNS Responder Service in NI-DAQ™mx versions earlier than 9.6. 

Additional Information

The National Instruments mDNS Responder Service may not start when a computer's operating system takes a long time to boot. The additional time used by the OS to address the heavy demand for resources from another service may cause the NI Device Loader and NI Configuration Manager Services to timeout and not start properly.

If the previous procedure does not solve the issue, try following the next steps:

  1. Go to NI MAX
  2. Navigate to Tools » Reset Configuration Data.
  3. Click Yes on the next dialog box that appears.
  4. Restart the computer after that.

Or you can follow this article:
How to Fix or Reset the MAX Database File