MATLAB: Do I receive the error “External Mode Open Protocol Start command failed” when trying to execute a Simulink model on a target machine using xPC Target 5.1 (R2011b)

Simulink Real-Time

I am using a speedgoat xPC target that communicates with 4 slaves via EtherCAT. I am able to successfully build the model and load it on to the target. However, when I click on the 'start real-time code' button in the Simulink model under External mode, I receive the following 3 errors on the host side:
Error 1:
External Mode Open Protocol Start command failed
Error 2:
Executing the 'Start' command produced the following error:
TargetPC1: TCP/IP timeout while receiving data
Error 3:
Executing the 'FinalUpload' command produced the following error:
TargetPC1: TCP/IP Read Error
At the meantime, the screen on the xPC target displays the following output:
System: initializing application finished
System: model thread stack is 64K bytes
EtherCAT Update rate 0.00025 sec
Could not set master state to PREOP
ERROR: EtherCAT error: No Error
System: execution cannot be started
System: execution stopped at 0.000000
Rx time is 0.000001
Cycl time is 0.000000
McSt time is 0.000003
MasterTimer is 0.000004
AsynctTime is 0.00000
xpcEtherCATstop called
EtherCAT Update rate 0.00025 sec

Best Answer

Please ensure the "PCI bus" and "PCI slot" fields within the XPCETHERCATINIT block is specified correctly, i.e., matches with the actual hardware setup. Entering the incorrect values for these two fields can result in the above set of errors.
If the "PCI bus" and "PCI slot" fields in the XPCETHERCATINIT block is specified correctly and the issue persists, please check that the network card works.