FIRST Robotics Competition Documents

[FRC 2012] LabVIEW Software Setup for FRC 2012

Please note that the content contained in this document is out-of-date for the current competition season. Please feel free to use it as a reference moving forward.

This year teams will be given FRC LabVIEW 2012 in their Kit of Parts. FRC LabVIEW 2012 is built off of LabVIEW 2011 where previous years were built off of LabVIEW 8.6.1.

To install the software insert the USB key that comes with the Kit of Parts and select Install Everything. This will install LabVIEW, the FRC tools, and driver station on your computer.

After installing the software from the flash drive there are three updates that should be installed.

LV update: http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2261

Utilities update: http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2262

Driver Station update: http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2263

FAQ:

I already have LabVIEW 2011 installed. Will I be able to install LabVIEW for FRC 2012?

You will be able to install FRC LabVIEW 2012 on top of an existing LabVIEW 2011 installation. Installing FRC LabVIEW 2012 on top of LabVIEW 2011 will add the libraries, tools, and other support for FRC 2012. It will also change the getting started window to the FRC getting started window. You will still be able to use all the functionality of your existing LabVIEW installation. When the FRC season is complete you can repair your original LabVIEW installation to undo the changes performed by the FRC 2012 installer and return to your normal getting started window. NOTE: It is not recommended to install FRC LabVIEW 2012 on top of a trial version of LabVIEW 2011 SP1.

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Comments

Member

Managed to open the flash drive exactly once, and it says that there is absolutely nothing on it. No files, no data, nada.

Member

Same here, but it also seemed to load a cd (the flash drive is being treated as a virtual cd?) and I found the files on the CD drive. If that doesn't work for you, you can probably find the files on the flash drive if you plug it in to a non-windows computer.

Hope that helps.

Member

I have tried both a windows XP laptop (disk can't be read - might be corrupt or encrypted) and a Mac laptop (no data). Any help?

Member

I'm on the same team as nil42 (and therefore trying to figure out the same flash drive). It is officially unrecognized in the latest version of Ubuntu x64... I don't know how this stupid thing works. The thing doesn't appear in Windows 7 x64's Device Manager or Disk Management. It doesn't make the "Installing new hardware..." message appear when it's plugged in for the first time (as in, it isn't recognized by plug-n-play). Linux doesn't respond at all to its insertion, and it doesn't appear on GParted. I'm very experience with computers, but this thing has me stumped... I have the serial number on the package, so all I need is the files. Could someone (preferably the NI staff) post the files that are supposedly contained on the flash drive so that the teams that this isn't working don't have to wait for another flash drive to ship to them? We all have the license keys, so we just need the files. Oh, and to all the teams having this problem and reading this forum because of it, DON'T THROW AWAY THE PACKAGE THE USB KEY CAME IN! You need the serial number on the lower-left corner of the cardboard envelope that the usb key came in in order to install the software. Could someone who has figured this thing out please post how you got the dang thing recognized in EXCRUCIATING detail? Thanks!

Member

Interestingly it shows up as blank on ubuntu for me (actually the same hardware as my windows machine; it dual boots) but it is recognized on both platforms and files show up on windows. The only reason I can think of for it not being recognized is if it's inserted upside down, which is all to easy do with this flash drive.

Member

I did not insert it upside down. The contacts on the USB key are touching the 4 contacts located in the USB port. Did you just plug it in? Where did the files appear? On the disk drive? Or did it show up like any other flash drive? HOW DID YOU MAKE IT WORK???

Member

Sorry, I really don't know what's wrong. So far, on each of 6 computers I've tried installing LabVIEW on, it has worked for me (see my above comment about the CD drive -- that's the only irregularity I've seen)

Member

GAR! And NI doesn't have the FRC version of LabVIEW available for the public to download. Could you please post the fiies on the flash drive or arrange for a way to get them to me? The files will be the exact same as what's supposed to be on my flash drive. The only difference is the serial number on the packaging. My team wants to get rolling with the build season, and we want to test out a new drive system we bought pre-season. Thans for the help!

Member

Hey MasterGeek360,

I am looking into what options we have for teams who are having trouble with the flash drives. If you have tried it on more than one Windows 7 machine and its not showing up with any files on either than I suspect an issue with the drive itself. Not sure how they would show up on a Linux system so I can't really comment on whether the behavior you are seeing there is expected.

Member

Thanks for helping us, Kevin_F. You're probably right about the flash drive being bad...these things don't look too strong, to tell the truth... Unless a team accidentally threw the packaging away, we all have the serial numbers for the software still. Since the software cannot be used without being licensed, couldn't NI just post the files on the flash drive for download? It would be the fastest and easiest way for teams that this happened to to get the software on their machines. It would also help all the other teams to distribute the software around their various team members, since all they have to share to the team members is the license key, instead of having to wait a turn for the flash drive or ripping the files to CDs. If you have problems with making the software public, then couldn't you just verify someone belongs to an FRC team through STIMS or something? I have actually read posts from a few other teams who also had these problems. And there's probably quite a few more who simply haven't gotten around to installing LabVIEW yet.

Member

Also, is there a way to download the regular version of LabVIEW 2011 and then license it with the serial number found on the packaging of the FRC version? If you could post a download that turns the regular LabVIEW 2011 into FRC LabVIEW 2012 (given that it's licensed with an FRC serial number, of course), it would solve the problem as well.

Member

As an alternative installation method to the USB flash drives. You can download trial versions of LabVIEW 2011, the Real Time, FPGA, and Vision modules from ni.com/downloads and then install the FIRST updates and you should be able to get up and running (I just tried it here on my machine to make sure this method worked). To activate the modules you will just need the serial number that came with the Kit of Parts

Member

Thanks a lot! I was thinking of doing that, so I'm already half-done with the LabVIEW 2011 download. However, I didn't know what modules I needed, so I'm going to start those now. I also had no idea if it would work or not, so thanks for confirming it for me. I'm already skyping the other programmer on my team this info so he can get his stuff running. Thanks again!

Member

You are going to need the NI-RIO 4.0 drivers and the PID and fuzzy logic module as well (from ni.com/drivers for rio and ni.com/drivers for PID). Just realized I left that off the first list. I would also suggest still trying to get a new USB drive from FIRST since if you have to reinstall for any reason its nice to have it all in one place.

Member

Thanks. I trust that's it? I'm also downloading the FPGA compilation tools, which I saw on the FPGA installation page. Do I need that? I'm going to DL everything, and then 7zip it and post all of the files on my team's FTP server. Other teams who got bad flash drives are free to download everything from our server (where it's all in one place, instead of scattered around NI.com). If NI have no objections against us distributing these files (we are NOT posting our serial number, BTW), I'll post the link to it. I expect I'll have all the files on the server sometime tomorrow.

Member

You do not need LabVIEW fpga.

You should not publicly redistribute binaries from NI.com. Feel free to post a list of links to the software on NI.com if you wish.

Member

Just trying to help... I'll still be putting them on the server because our team members need to get at them, and some of them would greatly prefer the highly compressed 7zip format. The server doesn't require a log-in to access, but I won't share the link...

Also, I was looking at what modules are licensed on my LabVIEW install from from last year, and I noticed the LabVIEW_InternetTKCore....Do I need that (and what's its real name)?

Member

The Internet toolkit is now integrated with LabVIEW 2011 Pro. There is no longer a separate installer.

Member

Thanks for your help! The downloads are taking FOREVER, but we're all set to go for programming. Thanks!

Member

Hey. I have successfully installed all the applicable modules on my computer, but the serial number on the cardboard wrapper won't activate the system. Here is the email I recieved about activation (with all of the serial numbers removed). The activation code that came in the email didn't do anything... I KNOW I put the serial number in correctly. My fellow programmer and team member is also having the same problem.

Dear MasterGeek360,

Thank you for choosing National Instruments products. If your product is not yet activated, use the activation codes listed below. Please save the activation codes in case you need to reactivate your products on the same computer. Activation Code: <activation code>

The activation codes in this message were generated for the following computer:

Computer ID: <computer ID>

National Instruments is unable to provide activation codes for the following items in your request:

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: LabVIEW Application Builder

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: LabVIEW FPGA Module

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: LabVIEW PID and Fuzzy Logic Toolkit

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: LabVIEW Real-Time Module

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: Vision

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: Vision Runtime

Version: 11.0

Reason: Serial number is not found, is found but does not match feature/version, or is found but not yet active

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apply Your Activation Codes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Option A: Apply ALL Activation Codes At Once

To apply all activation codes, simply copy all of the codes below and paste them into the NI Activation Wizard. You may also copy and paste activation codes individually.

1. Launch the NI Activation Wizard using one of two methods:

From your NI Software

* Launch your NI Software

* Select Activate from the initial start screen

Or from NI License Manager

* Launch NI License Manager by selecting Start » Programs » National Instruments » NI License Manager

* Click the Activate button on the toolbar

2. Select "Apply one or more 20-character activation codes previously acquired for this computer"

3. Copy and paste all of your activation codes into the NI Activation Wizard:

4. Follow the prompts in the NI Activation Wizard to complete the process.

*** Option B: Apply SOME Activation Codes

Apply selected Product Activation Codes.

1. Launch the NI Activation Wizard using one of two methods:

From your NI Software

* Launch your NI Software

* Select Activate from the initial start screen

Or From NI License Manager

* Launch NI License Manager by selecting Start » Programs » National Instruments » NI License Manager

* Click the Activate button on the toolbar

2. Select "Apply one or more 20-character activation codes previously acquired for this computer"

3. Copy and paste selected activation codes from the confirmation message above into the NI Activation Wizard

4. Follow the prompts in the NI Activation Wizard to complete the process.

Thank you for completing Product Activation.

For technical support, please visit http://ni.com/support.

National Instruments Product Activation and Licensing

http://ni.com/activate

Serial Number: <serial number>

Product: LabVIEW

Version: 11.0

Member

The LabView Update is requiring a Password to unzip it. Does anyone know that password? blank does not work

Member

The password is: !HotShots!KnowBalance!

Member

Hey... The image "software_install.png" (above)

is disallowed for viewing, even though I am signed in.

When I right click and try to view it, instead of showing it, I am taken to

... https://decibel.ni.com/content/login.jspa?authzFailed=true

Can someone at NI please fix the permissions on the image,

so we can see it?

Thanks.

Member

I have installed the USB for the 2012 labview on both the classmate and a nonclassmate desktop, when i open the ni labview software it is showing the 2011 version. I am supposed to be using the 2012?