What NI device drivers are necessary to use Configurator with CompactRIO Profibus Master-Slave device?

[swoboda]

I'm trying to deploy driver software to a production laptop that will allow technicians to download profibus configurations to CompactRIO profibus DP master-slave cards.  I know that I'll need VISA support and MAX in order to communicate with the device when it's in Slot 1.

I have a Windows XP machine that I've used in the past for this and a 32-bit Windows 7 development machine that can do it as well.  I assumed that I would need NI-RIO installed in addition to MAX and VISA but I'm running into problems installing the right RIO software on this machine.  Before I dig a hole any deeper than necessary can anyone point me in the right direction of what is necessary to install?

My development platform is LabVIEW 2010 with SP1.  The development machine and the production laptop are both running 32-bit Windows 7.  The development machine has the following (and additional) software installed:

LabVIEW 2010 (RT, FPGA modules) SP1

MAX 5.3.3

NI-VISA 5.2

NI-RIO 3.6

We're using Comsoft Configurator II 1.2.37

Any advice is much appreciated!

[Aix-La-Chapelle]

Hi swoboda,

You will also need to the PROFIBUS driver as well. The latest driver can be found here.  You may also need a version of the Xilinx tools to compile the FPGA code for the PROFIBUS module.  I would recommend also taking a look at the Getting Started guide.  Please let me know if you run into any issues.

[swoboda]

Matt,

Thank you for your reply.  I read the details of the Profibus for cRIO 2.0 driver and noted the following area of concern for me:

"The NI-Profibus for cRIO driver is shipped with the Comsoft cRIO PROFIBUS C-series module. The driver installs PROFIBUS Master and Slave support for LabVIEW 8.5.1 or later and installs the Configurator III to configure the module. 

Note: A break in API was made from the 1.3 version of the driver to the 2.0.1 version. The 2.0.1 version is built on the MDK 2.0 tookit and offers a far better user experience. However, users with pre-existing code will need to re-write it to use the new API. "

We are using version 1.3 of the driver in development right now and are not ready to upgrade to 2.0.1.  Additionally we are currently using Configurator II on our field units for configuration.

I don't expect that I'll need the FPGA compiler support because that's installed on the development machines and the embedded code is already deployed on the RTOS/FPGA.

For clarification, this is for deployment on the field units.  On installation of our field unit we occassionally need to update the device mapping stored on the Profibus module using a different XML file from Configurator.  As it stands right now, our LabVIEW HMI and RT applications run fine, but MAX on the field computer is not recognizing the RT targets and thus I can't select them for VISA configuration in Configurator II.

We have this system working with XP right now, but we're trying to create a similar Windows 7 image for future computers.

Thanks for any additional advice.  I'm going to try installing MAX, LV RTE, VISA, and RIO right now and will report back more as I find it.

Jason

[swoboda]

May have found the solution in NI CompactRIO 13.1, however...

The installer encounters a fatal error:

"Fatal Error!! Required NIPathsDir property NIPUBDOCSDIR is undefined"

I've run into this problem before and can't figure out how to resolve it, any advice?

[swoboda]

Attached is a log file of the unsuccessful installation if this helps guide anyone.  I called technical support, but apparently this forum is the default source of support for NI CompactRIO 13.1 Runtime software.  I'm formally asking for help getting this installer to run now.

Jason

[Aix-La-Chapelle]

Hi swoboda,

The installation of NI-RIO should be supported by tech support.  They may have been concerned about the PROFIBUS module, which is not supported by them.  If you are still having this issue with RIO installation, please call tech support, mention that I recommended it if you get push back.  Additionally, I've let tech support know that you need assistance, so they should be contacting you on the forums.  I will double check with that. 

Apologies for the delay.

[RyanPoPo]

Hello swoboda,

That particular fatal error is likely being cause my an incorrect 'Public Documents' directiory specified in your PC's registry. If the path in the registry does not exist, you can encounter this error.

The registry key for the Public Documents folder is located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\Common\Installer NIPUBDOCSDIR

Just open regedit.exe, go to this entry, and make sure that the specified path is valid for your machine.

Regards,

Ryan

[swoboda · Accepted solution]

Matt,

I understand the suggestion regarding Profibus throwing the call screener off, but I never mentioned the Profibus module - only the NI Compact RIO driver software.

Ryan,

I've checked that key and it is present and correct.  Later during some additional trials I ended up with several other installers throwing similar messages out.  I've seen CVIRTEDIR and MAXAFWDIR as well.

At this point I figured there must have been another really obscure registry entry that was holding things up, so I tried the same installer(s) on another field unit of the same setup.  Installed LabVIEW Runtime Engine 2010 SP1f5, NI-VISA 5.2 (included NI-MAX 5.3), and NI-RIO 3.6.1 and everything works well for use with Configurator II Version 1.2 (September 2011 release 1.09 of the TCP Socket Interface from Comsoft, includes LabVIEW 8.6 run time engine).

In the past I might have resorted to using MSI-Blast to clean up all of the NI related registry entries, but I couldn't get a hold of a copy and the NI Uninstaller did not remove those remnants (it appears).

Jason