Each Issue appears as a row in the table and includes these fields:
Issue ID—Contains the number in at the top of each of the cells in the first column. When you report an issue to NI, you may be given this ID, you can also find IDs posted by NI on the discussion forums or in Knowledge Base articles.
Legacy ID (optional)—Contains the legacy CAR ID, if an issue has a legacy ID from NI's legacy/deprecated bug reporting database. This ID appears on a separate line directly below the Issue ID in the table, or to the right of the Issue ID in the table of contents (separated by a space).
Issue Title (in italics)—Describes the issue in one sentence or less.
Problem Description—Describes the problem in further detail. The brief description given does not necessarily describe the problem in full detail, and it is expected that you might want more information on an issue. If you would like more information on an issue feel free to contact NI (contact information below) and reference the ID number given in the document.
Workaround—Provides possible ways to work around the problem. The workarounds that appear in the document are not always tested by NI and are not guaranteed to resolve the issue. If a workaround refers you to the NI KnowledgeBase, please visit www.ni.com/kb/ and enter that KB number in the search field to locate the specific document.
Reported Version—Contains the earliest version of the NI SoftMotion Module the issue was reported in. If you discover the issue appears in an earlier version of the NI SoftMotion Module than is reported in this field, you can report that to NI (contact information below) to have the field updated.
Resolved Version—Contains the version the issue was resolved or was no longer applicable. If an issue has not been resolved "N/A" will be reported.
Date Added—Contains the date the issue was added to the document (not the reported date).
Feel free to contact NI regarding this document or issues in the document. If you are contacting NI in regards to a specific issue, be sure to reference the ID number given in the document to the NI representative. The ID number contains the current issue ID number as well as the legacy ID number (use the current ID number when contacting National Instruments). You can contact us through any of the normal support channels including phone, email, or the discussion forums. Visit the NI Website to contact us. Also consider contacting us if you find a workaround for an issue that is not listed in the document so that we can add the workaround to the document.
The following items are known issues in the LabVIEW 2015 and 2015 SP1 SoftMotion Modules sorted by Category.
ID | Known Issue | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Configuration | ||||||
298886 Return | Encoder velocity filter distances greater than 1 do not work. Setting the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance to a value greater than 1 causes the velocity returned to never update. This is only apparent if you are using the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance only (setting the Velocity Filter Time to 0 to disable it). Workaround: None.
| |||||
305115 Return | Setting the closed-loop stepper correction profile velocity to 0 returns error -77037 (NIMCDM_invalidDataError). When configuring a closed-loop stepper axis using the instructions found in the "Configuring a Closed-Loop Stepper Axis (NI SoftMotion Module)" topic in the NI SoftMotion Help, error -77037 is returned when the correction profile velocity is set to 0 when you attempt to enable the drive. Workaround: Set the correction profile velocity to 0.01 instead of 0.
| |||||
360277 Return | When the NI Scan Engine is set to boot into Configuration Mode and you try to deploy changes to an axis, you will get error -70235 (NIMC_resourceNotSet) This error only occurs when you set the RT target to boot into Configuration Mode and you try to deploy new settings to an axis while still in Configuration Mode. Workaround: If you have already received error -70235, you must reboot the target to clear it. To avoid getting this error, either have the NI Scan Engine boot into Active Mode or switch the NI Scan Engine from Active Mode and then back to Configuration Mode before deploying changes to an axis.
| |||||
404235 Return | Rebinding an axis to a different hardware resource can cause parameters to be outside of the valid range. When you bind an axis to a different hardware type than what it was originally configured with, it can cause parameters to fall outside the valid range for the new hardware type. Workaround: When you are rebinding axes, make sure to check that the axis configuration parameters are still valid.
| |||||
601616 Return | VxWorks RT Controllers do not work with SoftMotion Remote Axes. NI Real-Time Controllers running the VxWorks OS and SoftMotion do not work with SoftMotion Remote Axes or the Interactive Test Panel. They will function correctly until the target is restarted. Workaround: None.
| |||||
EtherCAT | ||||||
296911 Return | Axis properties cannot be set while in configuration mode for NI 951x modules in a 9144 chassis. Any axis properties configured using property nodes when the NI Scan Engine is in Configuration mode are reset to the values configured in the Axis Configuration dialog box when the NI Scan Engine switches to Active mode. Workaround: Any axis properties that cannot be set in Active mode must be configured using the Axis Configuration dialog box rather than the NI SoftMotion axis property node.
| |||||
300628 Return | Disconnecting the EtherCAT cable on an AKD EtherCAT servo drive requires a reinitialize or reboot to recover. Workaround: Reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module or reboot the controller. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
| |||||
332899 Return | Powering an AKD EtherCAT slave when the master is already powered can put NI SoftMotion into a bad state. If you power up an AKD EtherCAT slave when the master is already powered, you may get error -77055 (NIMCDM_axisCommunicationWatchdogError) when trying to enable the drive. Workaround: Reboot the EtherCAT master. Prior to NI SoftMotion 2011, you can switch the NI Scan Engine from Active to Configuration mode, then back to Active mode to clear the error. For NI SoftMotion 2011 and later, you can reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module to clear the error. Refer to the Reinitialize example in the <labview>\examples\Motion\ConfigurationAPI\Reinitialize directory for an example showing how to programmatically reinitialize the NI SoftMotion Module.
| |||||
607840 Return | SoftMotion Drive Interface (SDI) VIs will not deploy when SoftMotion is not licensed The Axis:Execute Plugin Read and Write methods require licensing and will not deploy to a real-time target if SoftMotion is not licensed. This prevents the use of SDI axes when SoftMotion is not licensed on the development computer. Workaround: None.
| |||||
583192 Return | SDI Axes do not implement the Smoothing attribute on reference moves On other SoftMotion axes, the Smoothing attribute calculates suitable acceleration values when supplied the position and velocity of a move. Because reference moves (home, limit, and index moves) are performed entirely by the EtherCAT drive, SoftMotion does not perform trajectory generation for these moves, and an acceleration and deceleration value of 0 will be used if none is commanded. Workaround: Always give the position, velocity, acceleration, and deceleration values for reference moves with SDI axes. Some drives may error when commanded a homing move with an acceleration of 0.
| |||||
591142 Return | SDI Axes do not have Home Switch Enabled by default or available in Axis Configuration dialog SoftMotion Drive Interface (SDI) Plug-in axes (third party EtherCAT drives) do not have the ability to set the Home Switch as enabled. Even though homing moves will be handled correctly by the drive, the Read: Motion I/O method does not show if the home switch is active. Workaround: Use the Axis property node Enable Home Switch to programmatically enable this setting.
| |||||
Ethernet Steppers | ||||||
565434 Return | Ethernet Steppers do not coerce or error when commanded out of range move parameters. Ethernet Stepper SoftMotion axes will not return an error or coerce inputs when the limits are exceeded for the following move parameters: position, acceleration, deceleration, and velocity. The drive will use the last acceptable value for the next commanded move. Workaround: If move parameters are based on user inputs, use front panel control properties to coerce parameters sent to the drive to acceptable limits based on your motion system.
| |||||
545883 Return | Ethernet Steppers Read: Status Profile Complete and Read: Status Move Complete do not work as intended. The Read: Status Profile Complete and Read: Status Move Complete methods for SoftMotion will not return a value of True when a move is complete with Ethernet Stepper resources. Workaround: To check if the move is complete, compare the axis position with the commanded move position.
| |||||
544536 Return | Ethernet Steppers Read: Digital Line does not work as intended. The Read: Digital Line method for SoftMotion will not correctly read values of digital input lines with Ethernet Stepper resources. Inputs wired as limit switches will continue to be recognized by the drive, but the individual line status will not be read by SoftMotion. Workaround: None.
| |||||
544537 Return | Ethernet Steppers do not use the correct Encoder Velocity or Velocity Feedback. Ethernet Stepper SoftMotion axes will return the velocity setpoint value as the velocity feedback value even when operating with encoder feedback. There is only a discrepancy between these values when the motor is moving when not commanded or the motor is slipping or stalled during a move. Workaround: Use the encoder position feedback to manually calculate the encoder velocity.
| |||||
551680 Return | Error -52007 and -52008 are generated when using multiple Ethernet Stepper axis resources in parallel. When using multiple Ethernet Stepper axis resources from the same host controller, parallel access to axis properties or methods can generate Errors -52007 or -52008. Workaround: None.
| |||||
551578 Return | Ethernet Steppers cannot update parameters correctly if the Windows decimal separator is comma. Ethernet Steppers will receive acceleration and velocity commands incorrectly if the operating system decimal separator is set to comma. The drive will revert to the last successfully loaded value for both acceleration and velocity. Workaround: Set the operating system decimal separator to period.
| |||||
554473 Return | Ethernet Integrated Stepper Motors show drive fault when updating move velocity during a move. Updating the commanded velocity during a velocity move with Ethernet Integrated Stepper Motors (741X) without stopping the first move will cause a communication fault on the drive. The status LED will blink red times then once green. To recover from the fault, power cycle the motor. Workaround: None.
| |||||
571557 Return | Ethernet Steppers Home Reference Move does not work. Commanding a Home Reference Move with Ethernet Stepper resources will not result in a move. The Express VI, function block, or method will complete without error, but the drive will not move the motor. Workaround: None.
| |||||
572896 Return | Ethernet Steppers Axis Timeout is at least 20 seconds when drive is disconnected. If an Ethernet Stepper resource is offline or disconnected when a SoftMotion Express VI, function block, or property or method is called, the timeout is at least 20 seconds depending on operating system. The reference must be closed and reopened in order to reestablish connection to the resource once the timeout has occurred. Workaround: None.
| |||||
579212 Return | Error -52007 can be generated when using multiple Ethernet Stepper resources with high CPU usage. When using multiple Ethernet Stepper resources combined with high CPU usage, SoftMotion may have lengthy delays in reading data from the axis or generate Error -52007 if a function call times out. Workaround: Lower the CPU usage on the target or read axis properties from the Ethernet Steppers at a slower rate.
| |||||
Express VIs | ||||||
550404 Return | Opening a SoftMotion Express VI on Windows 8.1 64-bit crashes LabVIEW if the axis is not deployed prior to opening the Express VI. When a SoftMotion Express VI containing trajectory generation is double clicked to open up the visualization window a fatal crash of LabVIEW will occur. Workaround: If the axis is deployed prior to opening the Express VI, then this issue can be averted. However it is highly recommended to update to SoftMotion 2015 f1.
| |||||
Installation | ||||||
164539 Return | "Error!: niecatsv.dll not found!" or "Error!: niecatsv.dll not found!" are reported when booting an RT PXI controller with NI SoftMotion installed. The error returned differs depending on the version of the NI SoftMotion Module installed. NI SoftMotion Module 2012 and earlier returns "Error!: niecatsv.dll not found!." NI SoftMotion Module 2012 SP1 and later returns "Error!: niecatmaster.dll not found!." These errors are incorrectly reported and the specified .dlls are not required to use NI SoftMotion unless you are using NI SoftMotion with an EtherCAT device. Workaround: Ignore the error or install support for EtherCAT.
| |||||
Interactive and Tuning | ||||||
349432 Return | Resetting an axis position on an RT target to +/- 1x10^68 or greater causes the target to lock up. When you reset the axis position past +/- 1x10^68 the target locks up until it is rebooted. This occurs for all axis types. Workaround: None.
| |||||
NI SoftMotion Engine | ||||||
227752 Return | Using a contour table configured for one axis with a multi-axis contour move does not immediately return an error. The move will start on the single axis, but as the buffer points are consumed NI SoftMotion eventually returns error -77032 (NIMCDM_bufferNotUpdatedError). Workaround: None.
| |||||
231425 Return | Profile Complete and Move Complete are True when the drive is disabled during a move. The Profile Complete status is incorrectly set to TRUE when the drive is disabled during a move. Because the Profile Complete status is always included in the Move Complete Criteria, Move Complete is also true when the drive is disabled even when it is not included in the Move Complete Criteria. Workaround: None.
| |||||
235309 Return | Relative to Capture moves on a coordinate resource function as regular relative moves. Coordinate resources do not support the Relative to Capture straight-line move mode. Using this move mode on a coordinate move is the same as executing a straight-line move using the Relative mode. Workaround: None.
| |||||
236390 Return | NI 951x Module Cannot Clear Position Error When Performing Coordinate and Single Axis Moves on the Same Axis. When performing both coordinate and single axis moves in the same VI it is possible to have a position error occur that cannot be cleared even by switching the NI Scan Engine to Configuration mode and back to Active mode. The error typically occurs after writing a setpoint greater than the maximum step length specified on the module. Workaround: Perform individual axis moves by using a coordinate move that only moves a single axis.
| |||||
298886 Return | Encoder velocity filter distances greater than 1 do not work. Setting the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance to a value greater than 1 causes the velocity returned to never update. This is only apparent if you are using the Encoder Velocity Filter Distance only (setting the Velocity Filter Time to 0 to disable it). Workaround: None.
| |||||
325655 Return | Starting a move that has a final position larger than 1E16 will produce error -77109 (NIMCDM_parametersDefineOutOfRange). Workaround: None.
| |||||
356333 Return | Starting a new move while another move is in progress can cause a hang The hang occurs when a move is in progress and you start another move in the same direction. If the move parameters would not allow the motion to stop at the specified position without moving in the opposite direction, the move does not start and the VI hangs. Workaround: Abort the VI.
| |||||
595072 Return | Position Error resets without being commanded. SoftMotion's Position Error parameter is the difference between the position setpoint and position feedback of an axis. This issue affects all axis types and causes the position error to be reset when commanding moves. Workaround: None.
| |||||
600105 Return | Position move setpoint can jump out of range on move start. On multi-core real-time controllers, it is possible for position data to be corrupted before a move is executed. For more information, visit the following site. Workaround: None.
| |||||
602055 Return | Wait Until Done VI completes execution before move is complete. The SoftMotion Wait Until Done VI is used as a blocking function to determine when the current move reference is complete. The Wait Until Done VI does not correctly evaluate the move complete conditions and completes execution before the move is complete. Workaround: Add a two Scan Engine cycle period delay after the Wait Until Done VI to ensure that the axis has successfully finished the move.
| |||||
606584 Return | Simulated axes can cause Scan Engine faults if using a low scan period. When using Scan Engine periods lower than 5 ms on some targets, SoftMotion simulated axes can cause the Scan Engine to fault. Workaround: Increase the Scan Engine period.
| |||||
Properties and Methods | ||||||
341045 Return | Some Method and Property Inputs do not Have Range Checking The following SoftMotion methods and properties only support certain values, but NI SoftMotion does not return an error if you use an unsupported value: 1) The Line input of Read Analog Line, Write Analog Line, Read Digital Line, and Write Digital line should not have inputs less than 0 or greater than the number of valid lines. 2) Any method or property with an enum or ring input may not work correctly when using an unsupported value. Refer to the NI SoftMotion Module Help for supported values. 3) The Position Compare Period property should not be set to a value less than 0 (the minimum value depends on your hardware). Function Block and Express VIs also fail to return an error when using these unsupported values. This Known Issue replaces previous Known Issues 117781 and 207784. Workaround: Only use valid values for all properties and methods.
| |||||
408297 Return | LabVIEW crash when operating on an NI SoftMotion reference while destroying it. Workaround: Don't operate on a reference that you are destroying. In applications where you create a motion reference once and destroy it at the end of the application, you can remove the Destroy Motion Reference VI and let LabVIEW destroy it for you automatically.
| |||||
SOLIDWORKS Interface | ||||||
297066 Return | Moving an NI SoftMotion Module project using SOLIDWORKS axes from Windows XP to Windows 7 does not update the log file path. By default, a LabVIEW project containing a SOLIDWORKS axis on Windows XP saves log files to "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\...". If you move this project to a computer running Windows 7, the log file path does not change and the selected path does not exist. Workaround: Manually change the log file path in the Assembly Properties dialog box. Right-click the SOLIDWORKS assembly in the Project Explorer window and select Properties from the shortcut menu to display the Assembly Properties dialog box.
| |||||
Trajectory Generator | ||||||
221638 Return | Preempting a move in the opposite direction can return error -77070 (NIMCDM_startPendingError). NI SoftMotion automatically performs a decelerate stop move when commanding a move in the opposite direction. If you command a second move before the stop has completed, error -77070 is returned. Workaround: Wait for the direction to change before starting a new move.
| |||||
296142 Return | Blending a Spherical or a Helical arc to a Circular arc causes velocity spikes when used with the "At Decelerate" blend mode. This is an error in reporting only and does not have an adverse affect on the motion system. Workaround: None.
| |||||
374856 Return | Large position error values can cause position oscillations when in closed-loop stepper mode. These oscillations only occur when travelling in one direction and only if the position error is greater than ~0.25 revolutions. Workaround: Use a motor that is properly sized for your application to eliminate the need for large position error corrections.
| |||||
447463 Return | Error -77108 with Specific Combinations of Target Position, Acceleration, and Velocity. Rarely SoftMotion can fail to calculate a valid motion profile with specific combinations of Target Position, Acceleration, Velocity, Jerk or other move parameters. Workaround: Make a minor change to any of the move parameters, and SoftMotion should be able to calculate a valid profile.
|
Note 1: Although these issues were addressed by patches, they have been fixed as of LabVIEW 2015 SP1 SoftMotion.
Document last updated on 10/31/2016.