National Instruments PCIe-8371 User Manual page 12

Table 2. National Instruments MXI-Express x4 Copper Cables
Cable Length (Meters)
3 m
7 m
Connect the MXI-Express x4 cable to both MXI-Express x4 cards. The cables have no
polarity, so you can connect either end to either card.
Do not remove the cable after the system is powered on. Doing so can hang
Note
or cause errors in applications communicating with devices behind MXI-Express x4.
If a cable becomes unplugged, plug it back into the system. (You may need to restart
your computer.)
Powering On the MXI-Express x4 System
1. Power on all of the expansion chassis in any order you choose.
2. Power on the host.
Note
are powered up relative to each other, as long as they are all on before the
computer is powered on.
3. Observe the LED status on the PCIe-8371, PCIe-8372, PXIe-8370, and PXIe-8374 where
applicable. A properly connected and powered up system should report a valid link and
power status on all of these boards once the host PC is powered on. Refer to the LED
Indicators section for more information.
Typical PCI-PCI bridges and switches are used to add PCI devices to a PCI hierarchy in
which all the bridges and devices are contained within a single chassis. Because of this,
BIOSes and operating systems make the assumption that all PCI devices in the entire
hierarchy will be available as soon as code execution begins at power-up time. This
assumption means that all of the expansion chassis must be turned on before the host PC
for the BIOS and OS to correctly configure a MXI-Express x4 system.
Powering Off the MXI-Express x4 System
Because operating systems and drivers commonly make the assumption that PCI devices will
be present in the system from power up to power down, it is important to not power off the
expansion chassis until after the host PC is powered off. Powering off the expansion chassis
while the host is still on can cause crashes or hangs. However, once the host PC is powered
off, the order that you power off the expansion chassis is not important.
To power down the chassis while the host PC or host chassis is on, you may
Note
need to hold the power button for at least four seconds. However, this behavior
cannot be guaranteed.
MXI-Express x4 copper cable
MXI-Express x4 copper cable
There are no requirements on how MXI-Express x4 expansion chassis
Description
PCIe-8371 User Manual | © National Instruments | 11
Part Number
779725-03
779725-07