NI CompactRIO Device Shows up as "Generic USB-EEM Network Adapter" in Windows Device Manager

Updated Apr 18, 2024

Reported In

Hardware

  • myRIO Student Embedded Device
  • cDAQ-9133
  • cDAQ-9139
  • cDAQ-9136
  • roboRIO
  • NI ELVIS III

Software

  • CompactRIO OS for Embedded Controllers

Driver

  • NI CompactRIO 18.0

Issue Details

  • When I try to ping my CompactRIO device, the request times out even though it is connected at the standard USB Ethernet address of 172.22.11.2.
  • When I plug in my CompactRIO device using USB, I don't see any pop-up window showing that the device is detected. I am not able to see it under Network Devices in NI MAX either. When I open up Windows Device Manager, I see my device represented as "Generic USB-EEM Network Adapter" under the "Network adapters" dropdown.
  • When I open the properties of the device, I see an error that says "This device cannot start. (Code 10)".
  • When I look at my driver details it shows my driver file as C:\WINDOWS\systems32\DRIVERS\usbnet.sys

Solution

  • Manually associate the network adapter driver with the NI CompactRIO driver. The adapter should show up as an NI-USBLAN adapter. If you see the dialog shown below proceed to the next troubleshooting step.

 
 
  • Replace the usbnet.sys file in your host computer by following these steps:
  1. Open the Windows File Explorer and navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\CompactRIO\Staging\USBLAN\Win7\amd64. You will see a file named nationalinstrumentsblan.sys.
  1. Open another File Explorer window and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers. Find usbnet.sys and rename it to usbnet.sys. Finally make a copy of nationalinstrumentsblan.sys and name it usbnet.sys, then move it into C:\Windows\System32\drivers.
  1. Once you have replaced the usbnet.sys with a renamed copy of nationalinstrumentsblan.sys, reconnect your device.
  • Download and install the latest version of the CompactRIO driver that is compatible with your device.

Additional Information

This issues involves the cRIO 18.x drivers, it happens after the Windows 10 1703 update is performed. This issue only occurs if you have cRIO 18.x installed through the Windows update.