Error -200220: DAQmx Device Identifier is Invalid

Updated Dec 23, 2023

Reported In

Software

  • LabVIEW
  • Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX)

Driver

  • NI-DAQmx

Issue Details

I recently changed or added new hardware to my data acquisition system using NI-DAQmx and now I'm getting the following error when I run my VI or executable:
Error -200220 occurred.
Possible reason(s):
Device identifier is invalid.

 

Solution

  • This error message can be caused by having the wrong device name. Follow the steps below to ensure the name given to the hardware in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX) matches the name of the device name being specified and used in your application.
  1. Open MAX and expand Devices and Interfaces in the left-hand pane.
    • If you are using a NI Real-Time Controller that has a DAQmx device connected to it, find the Real-Time Controller under Remote Systems and check Devices and Interfaces under the controller. 
 
  1. Find your desired hardware and take note of the name in quotes. Alternatively, right-click and rename the resource to the DAQmx alias name that is used in your LabVIEW or application. Click Save in NI MAX. 
 
 
  1. In LabVIEW or your application, ensure the name used in your DAQmx VI function calls match the alias name in NI MAX. By default, the drop-down menu for DAQmx physical channels will only auto-populate with valid names in LabVIEW. For other application development software verify the alias' match. 

 
  1. If the names in DAQmx still do not seem to match, programmatically find what the device names are. 
  • If you still receive the DAQmx error and are running the code on a Real-Time controller, ensure the code is being run on your Real-Time target. To check if it is being run on the Real-Time controller, your VI should be listed in your LabVIEW project under your Real-Time controller and the VI window title should be formatted in the following way: <VI Name>.vi Front Panel on <Project Name>.lvproj/<Target> where the target is the name of your Real-Time controller. If it is not, close the VI and then reopen it from your project underneath the Real-Time target.
  • The error may also be seen if NI MAX database is corrupted. To resolve that you can Reset your NI MAX Configuration Data or install a higher compatible  version of DAQmx drivers. Installing a higher version of NI DAQmx drivers will automatically upgrade NI MAX as well.
  • This error can also be caused by a hardware failure. To test, open NI MAX and click Self Test for the device in question. If it passes self test, attempt a simple Test Panel in NI MAX and verify the results are expected.