I Cannot See My WLS/ENET 9163 in NI MAX

Issue Details

• I cannot see my WLS/ENET 9163 in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX) when directly connected to my computer.
• NI MAX says my WLS/ENET 9163 device is not reachable.

Solution

• Make sure you have NI-DAQmx Driver 17.5 or earlier installed. The 9163 is not supported by versions 17.6 and later. You can follow these steps to install an earlier version of NI-DAQmx.
• Disconnect your 9163 from your computer. Restart the computer, and reconnect your device.
• Make sure that the device is using the correct cable when directly connected to the computer. You must use a standard CAT5 Ethernet cable when connecting between the WLS/ENET device and your computer (or an Ethernet hub), as opposed to using a crossover cable. The NI WLS/ENET-9163 device has a built-in switch in the hardware that handles the need for a crossover cable.
• Make sure to enable DHCP in your computer's network settings to dynamically obtain an IP on the correct subnet following these steps:

1. Click Start»Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Sharing Center (for Windows XP, click Network Connections).
3. Click on your active network to bring up the connection status, and then choose Properties.
4. In the scroll box, scroll to Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), select it, and click Properties.
5. If Use the following IP address is checked, copy the information down. You will need this later to reconfigure your computer with a static IP address.
6. Click the Obtain an IP address automatically option, and select OK.
7. Click OK to close the internet properties box.
8. Reboot your 9163, and attempt to reconfigure it.
9. Once your device is configured, disconnect it from your computer and plug it in to its permanent network location.

• If the NI WLS/ENET-9163 device cannot be discovered in MAX after connecting the device directly to the computer, attempt to connect to the device using a router.  The router can assign an IP address to the device using the DHCP server which may allow the device to be discovered within MAX.
• The NI WLS/ENET 9163 device manual (linked in additional information) can provide additional troubleshooting steps to discover the device.