Status LED Blinking/Flashing on sbRIO

Updated Oct 24, 2023

Reported In

Hardware

  • sbRIO-9651
  • CompactRIO Single-Board Controller

Issue Details

  • My sbRIO Status LED is blinking on and off continuously and I'm unable to see it in NI MAX. How can I fix this?
  • After power cycling my sbRIO the LED issue was resolved for a period of time, but it ends up back in the flashing state. Is there anything I can do to resolve this myself?
  • My sbRIO Status LED flashes briefly then stops before flashing again. What does this mean?

Solution

The Status LED flashing can mean a variety of things depending on the pattern of the flashes. Please refer to the user manual for your device to understand the meaning or there is a general summary here, which references CompactRIO but the same applies.

For a continuous flashing Status LED (no longer pauses), this means the device is in an unrecoverable state. There are a variety of reasons that can cause your sbRIO (Single Board RIO) device to enter this 'unrecoverable state'. Before contacting National Instruments support, try the following steps:

  1. Power cycle the device if you have not already done so.
  2. Reset the device using the Reset button on your sbRIO or if using the sbRIO-9651, the reset button on the reference carrier board your SOM is attached to.
  3. If the device is able to establish connection with a host, try to format and reinstall software on the device outlined in: How Do I Format My Real-Time Target and Reinstall the Software?
Sometimes improper power can be a cause of this issue. If you are unable to connect to the host PC:
  1. Using a multi-meter or other measurement device, verify the DC power to the device is a steady and continuous 3.3V for the sbRIO-9651 or within the specifications outlined in the user manual for your other sbRIO device..
  2. Verify all pins connecting your SOM to the carrier board are making full contact.
  3. Try different ethernet cables to connect to the host to ensure it is not a cabling error.
  4. Verify if the device is able to enter safe mode by following the procedure outlined in the user manual.
If none of the above troubleshooting steps work or the device is simply not able to leave this unknown state at all, please contact National Instruments technical support for advice.