Hardware for LabVIEW Realtime (ETS)

[Lingk]

Hello NG,

right now we are using two NI-Devices (PCI 5122 and PCI 6251) in an
Intel based PC with Windows XP as the operating system.

We would like to switch to a Realtime-System (ETS) using our PCI-devices
again in an Intel based PC. As I read (and as we also had to realise)the
hardware requirements are quite strict and it is very hard to figure out
if some hardware will work in advance.

So, does anyone have experience with setting up a realtime system (ETS)
on a standard PC? Moreover, can anybody give some advice which hardware
(manufacturer and product-id) will work?

Thanks in advance

Oliver

[M_B1]

Hi Oliver,

I am not sure if you have seen this KnowledgeBase yet, but it is a very useful guide in deciding what hardware requirements you need for a desktop ETS.  Also, there is another paper that just talk about the overview of Using a Desktop Computer LabVIEW Real-Time for ETS Target.  If you feel you have a system that might work you can test it out for compatibility.  I hope these links help you out.

[Lingk]

Actually I read all of those documents. First we tried to set up a
realtime system using RTX (realtime extension for windows), trying to
get our hardware to work in a realtime environment on top of windows.
It was really hard to get at least something to work, where something
means running labview without hardware on one of the several PCs we
tested. But we didn't get access to any of our NI-devices, where at
least the 6251 should have worked referring to the specs.

So, after calling the NI support they suggested using ETS on a separate
machine instead of using RTX. We then downloaded the programm to check
several PC for ETS capability. But all we tried got stuck somewhere in
the testing procedure (they are probably too new and maybe ETS is not a
friend of AMD 😉 )

So now, we are going to buy a PC for ETS, but after what we experienced
with RTX and also with ETS so far, we feel that it could be hard to get
the right PC or PC components. Because of this I'm looking for advice
regarding hardware (manufacturer, partnumber etc.).

[jjcimon]

I think NI should be able to suggest a brand name and model,
they tested on something? my best advise should be to try to find
with ni the model they use to test Rt-PC.

[reggier]

Hi Lingk,
If you are looking for a list of compatible ETS components, look no further than this thread!  Many people have posted the hardware that they use that works well.

reggier

[srhoar]

I just got a RT-PC system up and running. (Yesterday)

I am using a stock Dell GX270 with an ethernet crossover cable.

I created a PC Format disk from the MAX pulldown

I formatted the Dell HDD and rebooted.

Then re-booted and re-booted.......re-botted and it worked.

I saw it in MAX then changed the ethernet address on the DELL then re-booted.

I then installed a 6025E DAQ card in the DELL

Using MAX, I installed the RT-Engine and the DAQmx drivers to the DELL.

One more re-boot and the DELL-RT is now running. I can deploy apps to it and use variables to access the PCI-6025E

I hope this helps.

Red