Does My NI Linux Real-Time Controller Supports NI-EtherCAT?

Issue Details

I have installed NI-EtherCAT Communications software in my NI Linux Real-Time (RT) controller through NI MAX, however when I try to configure the Ethernet Port to be in EtherCAT mode, it disappears.

• Where can I confirm if my RT controller supports this driver?
• Does the current installed NI Industrial Communications for EtherCAT Driver support my device?

Solution

To confirm if your RT device supports EtherCAT interface you can review the following link.

• NI EtherCAT Supported Hardware

On that page you will find a list of controllers that support the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software, the table shown in the link indicates the earliest and latest version of the driver where your device is supported.

For the NI-9144 and NI-9145 RIO expansion chassis you may refer the following link.

• Software Support for CompactRIO, CompactDAQ, Single-Board RIO, R Series, and EtherCAT

Additional Information

Under certain circumstances you might encounter strange visual behavior if you choose to install NI-EtherCAT to an unsupported device. A few scenarios that you might encounter:

• Under safe mode you might be able to set your Ethernet port to EtherCAT.
• Under runtime mode your secondary Ethernet port disappears.
• Under runtime, if you connect your PXIe/cRIO to a monitor, it will list NI-EtherCAT as operation mode for the secondary Ethernet port.

While these scenarios, could indicate that the controller supports NI-EtherCAT, they actually do not. We can confirm that these are just visual bugs.