Missing NiDaq VIs LabVIEW 2014 Student and NI-DAQmx 17.6 with NI-USB-6008

[ChrisLF]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post so please be gentle with me!!

I'm tearing my hair out trying to get an NI-USB-6008 to work on my LabVIEW 14 system

I've read lots of posts about version compatibility and installation order and have so uninstalled everything and started again with this order of events

Step1

Installed LabVIEW 2014 student edition from the CD-ROM and registered it with NI

It works, but if I go into Express -> Input -> the DAQ Assist VIs are missing

I then go into Tools ->Advanced -> Edit Palette set ->Edit Controls and Functions Palette the DAQ Assist box is a Question Mark

I believe this is normal at this point as I've not yet installed NI-DAQmx software

2)

Install NI-DAQmx version 17.6 

I believe this is the last version of DAQmx that is compatible with LV2014

(I previously tried V19 and also DAQmx base, but read these are not compatible with LV2014)

I then open LV again and try using a DAQ VI, but again, but still no DAQ VIs are showing up, and there is a question mark in the palette 

Annoyingly NI-MAX has also stopped working and won't load - it gets stuck at the loading plug-ins stage.  I've forced a repair via the NI Software tool, but it still fails at the same point - It was fine before I installed DAQmx

At one point, I had NI-MAX 19 and I could see the USB-6008 and run the self test mode and measure the inputs, so I know the hardware is at least functional.

So basically, can anyone help me to get the USB-6008 running on LabVIEW 2014 Student Edition.

I apologise if this has already been covered in a previous thread, but I have looked and failed

Many thanks in advance.

[Bob_Schor]

Whenever I install any version of LabVIEW, I install only that Version, I don't try to "mix and match", LabVIEW 2014 with some Device Drivers from LabVIEW 2017.

If you go on the Web and search for LabVIEW 2014 Device Drivers, you can find images of the 2 DVDs on which they were distributed.  DVD1 will probably have a Setup section that lets you choose what you need.  I recommend System Configuration, DAQmx, and VISA.  Do this after you install LabVIEW.  If you've got more recent versions (like LabVIEW 2017) installed, you'll have to do a careful and thorough uninstall first, and start from a clean slate.

Bob Schor

[ChrisLF]

Hi Bob,

Thank you so much for replying.  It makes sense and I hope it works. I'll give that a go tonight and see if it works.  

I hadn't realised that the 17.6 referred to LabVIEW 2017, but makes sense now.  I was just going for the latest version that was compatible so I had the latest features and least bugs.

I have some test gear with GPIB and Serial ports that I want to write VIs for some datalogging applications, but I seem to be spending most of my time trying to install LabVIEW rather than learning how to use it   LOL!

I bought the USB-6008 as I thought it would just work and be a simpler learning curve than writing instrument VIs.  I rather naively assumed it would "just work" on LabVIEW without any more installation required.

So at least at the end of all this I will have learnt loads about NI software installation and options - will be useful in the long run.

Thanks again bob

Chris

[Bob_Schor]

Ah, yes, the USB 6008.  I have one of those, myself, as well as its younger cousin, the USB-6002.  These work just fine with DAQmx.  If you want to do GPIB, you'll want to also install the 488.2 Driver (I don't remember exactly what it is called).  But the USB-600x will give you good practice with Analog Input and Output, Digital Input and Output, and introduce the idea of Counter/Timers, something I didn't, in fact, really "get" until this year (mainly because these simple multi-function devices don't have enough of them).

I was lucky when I started with LabVIEW -- I had a fair amount of programming experience (text-based languages, at least a half-dozen), so I got "up to speed" fairly quickly with LabVIEW (though it was definitely a "learning" experience).  One of our students from BME taught me the trick of using "Shift-<arrow key>" to move graphical objects horizontally or vertically quickly.  And my mentor taught me the "proper way" (which means "the only way that works") to install LabVIEW 7.  This was way before NI's Setup routine, which knows the proper order to install, LabVIEW, then Real-Time, then Toolkits/Modules, and Drivers Last.  We also were "sticking with a single version" in those days ...

Bob Schor

[crossrulz]

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@ChrisLF wrote:

I hadn't realised that the 17.6 referred to LabVIEW 2017

---

It doesn't directly refer to LabVIEW 2017.  The 17 is for the year of release, just like the 2017 for the LabVIEW version.  But that is really the only connection.

[ChrisLF]

Thanks Both for your help. I now have a working system. To help others along the way, Here's the route I took - making a couple of errors on the way. I had to do a through uninstall first as Bob suggested. I used the NI package manager to remove all the applications and the went into the C drive and deleted any remaining NI folders I searched for and found the driver DVDs page, but couldn't seem to find the actual download link. There was a suggestion I needed to register my hardware to get access, so I registered the USB-6008, but it made no difference, I still had no download button. Then searched for "NI-DAQmx download" and found a webpage which has every version listed and available for download. I then downloaded and installed the wrong NI-DAQmx version. I had selected the Runtime version - This does not have the application development content, so would never work. I then downloaded the 1.6Gb file for the Full version and it worked. Got there eventually thanks to your help. Now going to sit in the lovely UK sun for a couple of hours to relax ! Thanks again both