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DAQmx NI 4461 Linux

I am using an NI4461 24bit DACs and ADCs using DAQmx under Linux (Suse 11.2 32bit)

It is very temperamental (sometimes needs a power cycle if a program crashes while using it).

The problem is that Suse 11.2 32bit is so antequated that it is becoming unsupportable, it is not up to date enough that other hardware drivers are always available for it, and the software choices are becoming more limited, no one supports it much any more.

 

It seems that DAQmx has stopped at 8.0.2mx for the 4461 board, and 8.0.2mx doesn't work beyond 11.2, and only 32 bit.

 

I only want to use this board, no other NI hardware, is there any source code alternative so that I can abandon any attempt at binary compatibility?

Any other possibilities?

 

Incedentally, I don't know that it won't work with a more recent Linux, I just know that it can't be installed.

 

PaulCMH

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Hi PaulCMH,

 

Do you have the option of using a different operating system?  If you must use Linux, are there any other distributions that you could use?

 

The readme file for the DAQmx 8.0.2 does list support for Suse 11.2 and the 4461, so in theory it should work properly:  http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3431/lang/en

 

Best Regards,

Michael B.
Applications Engineer
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Michael,

I suppose that I can use any OS I like.

I am using Suse 11.2 because it it the most recent that I can get any driver for the 4461 to work with. 

It does actually work, occasionally needs a power cycle to work again, very inconvenient. I would much rather be able to keep the OS up to date.

 

I am using Linux because it seems to me to be much easier to program for, and I am used to it. All of the software tools are easily available, if I'm missing one I can add it easily. The problem seems to be that hardware which has not been around for a few years, or which is not 'mass market' is often very poorly supported. In particular Linux does not lend itself to 'binary compatibility', which is beloved of hardware manufacturers.

 

My experiences with Windows programming have been far from positve.

 

I do not have any experience at all with programming for a MAC.

 

I used to have a lot of success with DOS, but that suffered from its poor networking and poor threading.

Graphical stuff is great on the desktop, but I never use it in testers.

 

One possibility I am considering is using a Microsoft Windows machine to run the 4641, and programming a simple server ( in Windows C of some flavor )  accessible from Ethernet. However I am daunted by the requirement to program in Windows.

 

The 4461is a small(ish) part of the overall system, and there is quite a lot of code involved, moving it all to Windows is not really viable.

 

My real question is whether there is any way of getting a more 'up to date' driver for the 4461, installable (if it needs installation) and runnable under Linux?

 

Best Regards,

Paul

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Hi Paul,

Since you're currently using openSUSE and are already familiar with it, my recommendation is to update to 12.1 32-bit. Then, install NI-KAL 2.3.1 [1] and follow that with DAQmx 8.0.2 [2]. As new versions of NI-KAL are released, you can check its readme file to see which new distribution releases have been added.

The NI driver stack is strongly tied to the kernel, and typically, once that first component is installed, the others follow suit without any additional effort. You haven't mentioned either way, but in case you use LabVIEW, you will need to take a few extra steps to install the DAQmx API [3].

[1] NI-KAL 2.3.1
http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/3477/lang/en

[2] NI-DAQmx 8.0.2
http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2322/lang/en

[3] DAQmx for Linux Labview 2009?
https://decibel.ni.com/content/thread/6883

Joe Friedchicken
NI Configuration Based Software
Get with your fellow OS users
[ Linux ] [ macOS ]
Principal Software Engineer :: Configuration Based Software
Senior Software Engineer :: Multifunction Instruments Applications Group (until May 2018)
Software Engineer :: Measurements RLP Group (until Mar 2014)
Applications Engineer :: High Speed Product Group (until Sep 2008)
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Thank you very much Joe,

 

I do not recall coming across KAL before, and I don't believe that I ever tried a more up to date distribution forced back to 32 bit.

 

I shall certainly try what you suggest, but I'll make a new system for it, rather than risk breaking the system I have which is sort of working.

 

If this (KAL) is tightly tied to the kernel, and it's a custom module I presume that this means I must recompile it when the kernel is updated?

 

Am I correct in presuming that KAL handles all of the interactions between DAQmx and the kernel, and is compiled from source?

 

From what I recall from when my current system was built there was a separate issue with the install scripts for DAQmx not working under newer versions of the OS distribution, quite possibly unrealted to actual operation.

 

I am not using Labview for this.

 

Paul.

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Joe,

one further question, perhaps I'm a little paranoid about my working system but:

Is there any reason I should not allow glibc to update?

I've been manually preventing updates to things which I suspect might break my working system, like a kernel or glibc update.

Paul

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Hi Paul,

Yes, NI-KAL must be recompiled when the kernel is updated. It is also the component that other NI modules use to interact with the kernel. This information is in the readme file [1], but after you upgrade the kernel, run updateNIDrivers to refresh the NI components.

It's possible that the installation scripts in the DAQmx 8.0.2 distribution use "#!/bin/sh" as their interpreter. Many Linux distributions have moved their sh symlinks from bash to dash, and this has caused some installation headaches. The newer NI scripts explicitly ask for bash, but since DAQmx 8.0.2 is older, it still contains the references to sh.

I hesitate updating glibc as well. I read the changelogs and determine if any of the advertised changes are required for my needs. I find myself updating when there are security fixes 😉 The maintainers of glibc have been better about not changing runtime behavior than those who caretake for libstdc++...

[1] NI-KAL 2.3.1 readme
http://download.ni.com/support/softlib//kal/2.3.1/README.txt

Joe Friedchicken
NI Configuration Based Software
Get with your fellow OS users
[ Linux ] [ macOS ]
Principal Software Engineer :: Configuration Based Software
Senior Software Engineer :: Multifunction Instruments Applications Group (until May 2018)
Software Engineer :: Measurements RLP Group (until Mar 2014)
Applications Engineer :: High Speed Product Group (until Sep 2008)
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