If the system appears unresponsive and the a "SystemMenu - reset, to abort" (See Figure 1) message appears in the Message (Log File) window, follow the troubleshooting steps below to identify the root cause and take corrective action.
Symptom:
The "SystemMenu - reset, to abort" message appears whenever a GPIB Instrument does not respond in a timely manner (timeout occurs). Since the GPIB Bus is interrupt driven, the Cassini software will halt/wait until a message is received. This can happen when a PMeter instrument is active but is not responding.
Root Cause(s):
This can happen if the Power Sensor is not receiving enough power to make a measurement. This can also happen if the GPIB Instrument is connected but not set to the correct GPIB Address.
To Resolve The 'SystemMenu - reset, to abort' Symptom:
1. If a Testplan is running, press CTL+Break keys to interrupt the testplan.
2. If the UI is still unresponsive, press CTL+ALT+DEL and then T for TOP, then kill the VPM.EXE task. This will close the Cassini application and it will have to be launched from the Short Cut Guru button.
3. From the Cassini application, choose System > Reset to clear the RIFL bus and reset the GPIB instruments.
Note: If you are in the middle of calibration, this action will also reload all of the Calibration data for every instrument, including Fixture and DutInterface.
Troubleshooting Steps:
1. From Cassini application, choose System > Tester to open the Configuration window.
2. Left click on the the Pmeter instrument to select it and choose Instrument > GPIB Address. This will prompt with the current address that Cassini expects the instrument to be set too.
3. If a Power Meter is connected, use the buttons on the front of the instrument to navigate the system menu and confirm the GPIB Address matches the defined address in the Tester Configuration window. (Pmeter should be 13, Pmeter77GHz should be 20).
4. On the GPIB controller Instrument, confirm the control mode is "Remote" and not "Local". This should happen automatically when the GPIB bus is initialized. This can be forced by choosing System > Reset from the Cassini application.
5. Remove any additional Instruments from the GPIB cable/bus. Try reconnecting all the GPIB connectors and remove any additional instruments, if they are chained together.
6. From Cassini, choose System > Tester to open the Configuration window. Then choose Tester > Control to open the Tester Controller window. Select the Pmeter (or Pmeter77GHz) instrument and try to control the instrument.
Figure 1: SystemMenu, reset to abort.