winmac96

QUOTE(Matheus @ Jul 10 2007, 04:01 PM) Hi Matheus, I myself have just upgraded to LV 8.20 and can build my applications to an executable (EXE) via AppBuilder. The difference with my version and yours (seems to be) is that you have the Professional version while I have a Full Development version. Although LabView installer installs pretty much the same code into your machine (like Vista does), different functionalities are activated by what license you have purchased at the time of install. When you purchase the full development capability you won't have to reinstall LV 8.2 again. You will just update the license file located in C:\Program Files\National Instruments\Shared\License Manager\Licenses and after you reboot LV...Voila! You will have that capability. LV Robo

I have just installed LabView 8.2 on an XP SP2 VAIO (3.3 GHz) desktop along with the Modulation Toolkit and Spectral Measurement Toolkit. When the dust settled and rebooted PC, an "Error 1605 occurred while installing NI-PAL 1.6.1f0 engine". Using MAX to verify the NI software installed and indeed lists the above NI-PAL version. After reading NI forums regarding the subject, I tried downloading NI-VISA. Installing the latest NI-VISA (version 4.1 at this stage) installs a fresh new version of NI-PAL (v. 2.0.0). After NI-VISA installation, rebooting XP SP2 no longer come up with the old error message. Just a tip for those LV 8.2 upgraders. LV Robo

Hi M3NTH, I apologize for the late reply. Yes I did try running LV with the multi-threading feature of LV off and on. I assume you meant the multiple thread capability of LV and not the hyperthreading of the CPU which I don't know how to disable. So, my solution is to rebuild the PC back to SP1 to get back on my feet. Thanks! Winmac96

Hi All, Has anyone experienced problems with NI-VISA (version 3.1) when VI is run under XP SP2? I have just updated my laptop (P4 2.8G Toshiba) running LV 7.1 to the supposedly better XP Service Pack 2. I think I just opened a can of worms... With SP1, my LV 7.1 worked flawlessly. Now, when I run my app (it is a rather large and complex and uses events extensively to communicate via GPIB and remote wireless serial). The problem I am encountering now is that LV gives me occassional (but persistent thereafter) VISA errors. A sample of one error attached. I have tried installing the NI-VISA 3.2 but I fail installation at step 13 of 14 (Visa Runtime assembly error...). I have even turned-off the security measures in SP2 with the same errors. Can this be an XP SP2 issue? or NI just needs to issue a 7.2 update? HELP :!: Aldrin Download File:post-454-1095892872.bmp

Hi dnvalen, I assume you have used the standard RS-232 serial VIs provided with LV. As you may know, those are designed for a single-ended or point-to-point serial communications. For example, COM1 to ONLY one device (mouse, keyboard, so on). The provided VIs assumes both sides of the line have been set to the same parameters - (e.g. 9600-N-8-1). But you are using a different serial communication standard - RS-485. Signaling and topology is completely different. For one, RS-485's signaling is called 'Balanced data transmission', or 'Differential voltage transmission'. Compared to RS-232, an RS-485 data line (Tx & Rx) requires two (2) wires or a twisted pair (similar to CAT5's twisted pairs). Each of the wire in the pair can carry 0 or +5 VDC. Data transitions (high or low) are derived from the difference between the voltages in the two wires - hence, differential signaling. An active transition is when the one wire is 0 V and the other 5 V. If both are 0V or 5V, there is no difference and the data is considered inactive. Actually, the receiver threshold to determine the logice is >=200mV. This is to prevent line noise from corrupting the signal integrity. Determining which is logic zero or logic one is the job of the protocol and the application. In an RS-232 the signaling format is of 'marks' and 'spaces'. There is only one Tx wire and one Rx wire referenced to a common ground line. Marks (or binary one) are indicated when the Tx or Rx line is a positive voltage (normally +5 to +15 V), and a Space (or binary zero) when either line is negative (-5 to -15 V) compared to the common reference line. Anyway, one more thing about RS-485, it is designed to be a multi-point serial standard. This means to communicate to a certain device on a 'networked' serial devices, certain topology has to be used. The simplest of which is a 'master & slave' topology (like yours). Make sure your PC controller is the master and the multimeter the slave. There is only one VI in the examples: NI RS-485 Transceiver Control to get you started. Enjoy! winmac96

Hi Nan All the previous suggestions are quite helpful. Controlling the serial ports is like a never-ending trial & error experiment. Timing is everything. Since it is the most common device interface around, it is very useful to get to know how it works. I wrote a LV driver for an antenna rotator control box recently (for a project) and it came with its own set of control app. I needed to have this box controlled by LV and the distributor did not have one. But I did get the format of the commands. This is important since serial commands can in ASCII or binary format (you have to find out). To find out how the control app was communicating with the box, I created a "loopback" line on a regular DB-9 cable into a spare port (I had a USB-to-4 RS232 port converter since my PC only has one serial port). The purpose of this cable is to monitor the communication of the app and the box without interfering. You would then use a terminal program (Hyperterm, Procomm, etc) to monitor that port. You can also get this from an elex dealer (I got one from Fry's Elex called an RS-232 Break-Out-Box for $29) that can do the same. But if you already have spare cables around, preferably the unsealed type, you can solder the TD of the main cable to the RD of the monitor line, and vice-versa. The Signal GND (pin 5) needs to be connected also. For the lines to be uninturrupted, a regular diode (I used 1/8 watt) should be on each of the TD & RD lines. I played with the serial port parameters until I found the correct baud rate, parity, #bits, etc. Then you can use the built-in Visa serial functions to send/receive your ASCII or binary-formatted commands. Enjoy! :thumbup: winmac96