Problems with MAX

[pallen]

I've got a frustrating one here.

I'm trying to integrate a Xantrex XDL 35-5P DC Power Supply with LabVIEW 7.1 using the drivers supplied with the power supply. But MAX is not cooperating at all.

According to the instructions, for USB control the Virtual COM (created when installing the Xantrex drivers) port settings must be set to 19,200 with Xon/Xoff flow control. I've tried setting this in the Windows Control Panel. But this gives me a conflict in MAX that no matter what I do I cannot get rid of. If I tell it to use the Windows settings, it's happy until I refresh the screen or restart MAX. Then there's the conflict again. It's like it can't remember the new settings even though I've hit the Save button dozens of times.

I've also tried to return the Windows port settings back to default and changing the MAX port settings. But again this gives me a conflict. But oddly enough it's telling me that the Windows settings have changed and the VISA settings remain default.

I've included a few screen captures of MAX. I'm using MAX 4.3.0f0

I'm guessing this probably has something to do with the fact that I'm using a Virtual COM port, and perhaps it's confusing MAX. But I'm sure I've done similar things in the past. Could it be that this version is broken?

Thanks.

[Ashish Uttarwar]

QUOTE(pallen @ Oct 3 2007, 06:51 AM)

....For now I'm just going to configure the port manually.

Pallen,

Did you try to configure the COM port using a VI?

I usually do not rely on MAX and configure COM port before running my application, using "VISA Configure Serial Port" function.

Look at the following picture for location this on the pallette.

http://lavag.org/old_files/monthly_10_2007/post-2466-1191442108.jpg' target="_blank">

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Ashish

[Rolf Kalbermatter]

QUOTE(ashishuttarwar @ Oct 3 2007, 03:09 PM)

Pallen,

Did you try to configure the COM port using a VI?

I usually do not rely on MAX and configure COM port before running my application, using "VISA Configure Serial Port" function.

Look at the following picture for location this on the pallette.

http://lavag.org/old_files/monthly_10_2007/post-2466-1191442108.jpg' target="_blank">

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Ashish

I would really recommned doing that. It's not a good idea to rely on a particular MAX default setting. You might end up just copying the program to a different computer (maybe your development machine died) and suddenly it doesn't work at all. Setting the serial port parameters explicitedly in your program before using it will prevent this problem. And believe me when you are in a hurry it is usually not the first thing to do to search the problem exactly there. So 5 minutes of extra programming time can save you many minutes or even hours of problem solving later on.

Rolf Kalbermatter