Labview 6.1 freezing

[Ck10]

Hello, I am currently running Labview 6.1. Whenever I try to run my VI, Labview freezes. Sometimes it freezes right away and sometimes it will take over an hour. I took my National Instrument PCI-6024e board out of the computer and setup a new computer and I got the same problems. Has anybody else had an issue like this in Labview? Thank you in advanced!

[altenbach]

You don't give enough information.

• What does the program do?
• Who wrote it?
• Are you running this on an OS version that still supports LabVIEW 6.1?
• When was the last time it worked fine and what has changed since?

[Ck10]

What does the program do?  The program is setup to collect strain, temperature, pressure, and friction data.  A computer is wired to a control box which is wired to a thermocouple, two strain gages, and a DC motor enclosed in a cabinet.  

Who wrote it?  A programmer that worked at our company wrote it about ten years ago, and four years ago the programmed worked fine.  Everything had been sitting for four years before I started this project a month ago.  

Are you running this on an OS version that still supports LabVIEW 6.1?  Yes, we are running it on Windows XP, and because this labview VI worked seamlessly before I am confident it is not a computer issue.  

When was the last time it worked fine and what has changed since?  Four years ago.  Not much has been changed on the computer.  A few days ago I cleaned the registry and did all the Windows updates it needed.  I replaced the computer and set everything up on a new computer and Labview would freeze more often than on the original computer.  Now I have the PCI board back in the original computer and it runs for about 30-60 minutes before it freezes again.

[altenbach]

Do you have access to the code? It is possible that a new multicore processor exposes a race condition. Are all drivers installed?

[Ck10]

I can access the code.  I didn't replace the processor, just the memory (512MB).  Yes, all the drivers are installed. 

[smercurio_fc]

You said you're running it on XP. Was that what was being used previously? When you installed the drivers did you install the drivers that were used at the time the program was written, or recent ones? If you installed recent ones, then things may have changed, causing instability.

You said "A few days ago I cleaned the registry and did all the Windows updates it needed.  I replaced the computer and set everything up on a new computer and Labview would freeze more often than on the original computer." What prompted you to "clean the registry"? This rarely fixes problems, and usually just creates new ones. What did you replace the computer with? When you said LabVIEW freezes, under what circumstances? While you're simply writing code? When you run a specific VI?

We can't really help too much other than to say you need to do some debugging. Since you have access to the code, you should be able to do this. Put some probes in key places so you can see what the program is doing, and try to catch the state when it freezes. Adding some logging would help as well.

[Ck10]

I only cleaned the registry because I was originally concerned the computer was too slow.  I then took the PCI board out of the IBM computer and put it into a Compaq.  Both computers are running on the same OS.

Labview freezes after I run the .vi file.  The VI file opens properly, and after I click "run" the whole system freezes.  Ctrl+alt+del does nothing so I have to unplug the computer to restart it.

It would make sense that there is an issue with the code, but the computer sat untouched for 4 years without any use.  4 years ago the code worked, so I don't understand why it's being flaky now.  Could the problem be with the PCI board, or does this sound more like a coding error?

[altenbach]

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Ck10 wrote:

Labview freezes after I run the .vi file.  The VI file opens properly, and after I click "run" the whole system freezes.  Ctrl+alt+del does nothing so I have to unplug the computer to restart it.

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Wlell, "LabVIEW freezes" is very different than "the entire system freezes".

Anything in the system log?

[Ck10]

Well Labview freezes, so the computer screen freezes.  Technically the computer doesn't completely freeze because the pumps that are controlled through the computer still run.  The only errors in my event log say, "Product: NI Labview 6.1-1:02:" in the description.

[BriceS]

More information is still needed. For one, when the computer freezes, does the mouse respond? Also, you might want to try putting breakpoints in several spots in your code to find out which part of your code is causing the problem.

Regards,

Brice Sorrells

Systems Engineer

National Instruments

www.ni.com/support