Error setting up NI sbRIO 9612

[aym1]

Hello,

I am trying to setup NI-sbRIO-9612 board on a Windows 10 computer. I have read the online resources and tried to access the board using two different LabVIEW versions, with many combinations, updates, patches, but I see errors in all the cases.  

1. LabVIEW 2014 platform, FPGA module 2014 and Real time module 2014 on Windows 10 computer

• In this case, though NI-MAX detects the board, and the board starts in safe mode. NI-MAX does not allow me to install software on the board. LabVIEW detects the board when I open an FPGA project, but says that the target isn't connected.
• Also that LabVIEW 2014 is not compatible with Windows 10.  

2. LabVIEW 2020 platform, FPGA module 2020 and Real time module 2020 -

• In this case, NI-MAX detects the board,
• When I install drivers for 2020, NI-MAX says that the board was last supported by NI compact RIO 19.6.
• When I install 19.6 drivers, NI-MAX says I need atleast 2020.  

I can see that LabVIEW 2020 cannot support sbRIO. But is there any work around to option 1, can I use sbRIO with LabVIEW 2014 with any specific patches installed, if yes, which patches can I install? If not, which LabVIEW version fits best, I guess 2018 and 2019 versions would work well with he board and OS of my computer and should not throw any errors. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Though I get that sbRIO is very powerful, with different versions of NI LabVIEW and drivers, updates, and patches it is very inconvenient to have to go through so much trouble to just get the board up and running.

[aym1 · Accepted solution]

Hello, I figured out what the problem was, sbRIO 9612 FPGA board was compatible only until 2019 LabVIEW and Windows 10 OS. All other versions had compatibility issues or stopped supporting the FPGA board or the OS. I tried versions 2014 through 2020. After a few installations and un-installations, using NI package manager I got the FPGA board to work using the following combinations of software (and thier corresponding patches): 

• LabVIEW 2019
• LabVIEW Real-Time Module 2019 
• LabVIEW FPGA Module 2019 
• NI-RIO 2019

On the hardware side - I had to use an ethernet cable (for communication) and an RS232 cable (for NI MAX to find the FPGA board). I have attached a picture of versions of installed software.