Need 64-bit Windows 7 driver for USB-1359 controller for my SCXI-1000 chassis

[T_Bragg]

I know this is a little used controller for the SCXI-1000 chassis, but the fact is my company has three of these and other than Windows 32-bit computer obsolescence we have no reason to upgrade. I would like to know if anyone has a solution to my 64-bit Windows driver issue? I don't want to spend $1000's on buying a DAQ interface that can control my SCXI-1000 relay boards just because I can't get a driver for a 64-bit Windows PC.

I searched the NI site yesterday and found what I thought was the solution in NISWITCH1511. I installed this and still did not contain an appropriate driver. 

I'm running Labview 2013 f2 - (not SP-1) The complete list of my installed software is in the attached image:

Thanks for any help.

[Ben]

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@T_Bragg wrote:

.... I would like to know if anyone has a solution to my 64-bit Windows driver issue? I don't want to spend $1000's on buying a DAQ interface that can control my SCXI-1000 relay boards just because I can't get a driver for a 64-bit Windows PC.

...

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I am not in the IT world but I thought we could run a Windows 32-bit OS on a 64 bit PC.

So your work-around MAY be to load a 32-Bit OS and not a 64-Bit OS.

Google seems to support that possibility.

Ben 

[T_Bragg]

Yes, Ben this is possible. I could also create a virtual machine to run Windows XP or Windows 7. I was really hoping that since my last communication with NI that a driver may have popped up. The lack of continued support offered by NI is crap. Getting a solution to "reload" a PC with a 32 bit OS is not really reasonable in my opinion. 

I think I just need to design all my future hardware test racks with equipment that does not have a NI logo on it.

[Ben]

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@T_Bragg wrote:

Yes, Ben this is possible. I could also create a virtual machine to run Windows XP or Windows 7. I was really hoping that since my last communication with NI that a driver may have popped up. The lack of continued support offered by NI is crap. Getting a solution to "reload" a PC with a 32 bit OS is not really reasonable in my opinion. 

I think I just need to design all my future hardware test racks with equipment that does not have a NI logo on it.

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Well "that is a horse of a different color."

I was trying to make sure that you understood that you are not being forced;

"

... to spend $1000's on buying a DAQ interface that can control my SCXI-1000 relay boards just because I can't get a driver for a 64-bit Windows PC.

"

Still trying to help,

Ben

[T_Bragg]

I'm sorry if I jumped the gun on some sarcasm. But really, I could spend a day or two rebuilding a PC that is designed for a 64-bit OS, downgrading it to a 32-bit OS. Sound board drivers, video drivers, USB drivers, etc. etc. If I take on this as an option, I would just spend the $(honestly don't remember how much but it is in the thousands) to get that DAQ. I was really just hoping that I could be pointed to a driver that I may not have found by searching. 

I really am discouraged because my last communications with someone inside NI was that no driver for this device would be created for a 64-bit OS and changing my system design to fix this issue would be the only option. So those few that chose valid, current hardware, to design a test rack that pre-dates 64-bit OS's are stuck needing to upgrade because NI has chosen to not update the driver to work with the latest OS. Many other NI hardware drivers reside in my (x86) program folder. Why not one more?

[Ben]

I am NOT NI but I have worked with them for over two decades now.

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@T_Bragg wrote:

...Many other NI hardware drivers reside in my (x86) program folder. Why not one more?

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NI is a publicly traded company that has fiduciary responsibility to return a profit for their investors. Technically the leaders could face legal complications if they fail to act in the interest of the investors.

Now I sprinkle in a little guessing...

I suspect that SCXI hardware just is not selling. Developing a driver would cost NI money to do so.

Back to not guessing anymore...

If the investment in the new driver would not produce a good return, then NI has to make the decision and walk away from support of hardware that just does not sell.

Full disclaimer time!

I have been very busy lately upgrading SCXI and FieldPoint application to use cDAQ.

And to offer you one more alternative...

The right cDAQ DO module combined with relays from Pheonix Contacts can give you 32 Form-C contacts in a DIN rail mounted format AND give you a LED indicator for each output. Grant Industrial has supplied with me with ready built cables and DIN rail mounts for the relays that eliminates all of the work of figuring out what I need to wire to what. I do not make anything by recommending them. They have just made my life easier.

Take care,

Ben

[natasftw]

The data sheet for that device is copyrighted in 2005.  How many years would you expect for drivers to be made after that?  You brought up the idea of reasonable.  What's a reasonable expectation there?

[T_Bragg]

I'm a Test Engineer in the avionics industry and although 13 years since the board was created may sound like a long time, it is not. We still repair and test parts that are decades old. This is one of the bigger challenges in our industry.

Regarding return on investment, we also consider this and if we cannot depend on parts being supported for more than 10 years then we find other options. 

Sometimes companies provide updates purely for customer support and satisfaction. 

As I said above, I did some searching and thought I found an updated driver but it did not help. So, I hopped on here to see if maybe one did exist that I missed in my searching. That is all. I did not expect this thread to turn into lessons on ROI or point out the age of hardware I still use in my hardware test racks, or suggest to downgrade 64-bit PC's to 32-bit. I just need to be very cautious in the future to design test racks that do not have hardware with the NI logo since it is perfectly clear that after 10 years you are left with a dinosaur. 

[rolfk]

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@T_Bragg wrote:

I'm a Test Engineer in the avionics industry and although 13 years since the board was created may sound like a long time, it is not. We still repair and test parts that are decades old. This is one of the bigger challenges in our industry.

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The situation is most likely even more extreme. That last revision of the manual is not when the product was released but rather when there was the last modification made to the manual. That could have been fixing an error, omission or simply a typo, and the product itself may actually have been designed much earlier.

SCXI was introduced by NI in 1990 because there was a need to add signal conditioning possibilities to the new plugin DAQ boards, that NI just had been getting into manufacturing after mostly having sold GPIB boards for just about any computer system that existed under the sun until then. Personally I always found the SCXI system a bit of an adhoc design, with its proprietary very basic parallel/serial digital communication interface and the non standard form factor of the modules and chassis. But there was a need for such hardware, and the alternatives in the market where either a bunch of plugin modules on a PCB socket board or very expensive custom designs.

SCXI had its high tide in the 90ies of the previous century but lost its significance quickly at the onset of this millennium due to new standards such as PXI which were real standards. Also NI started to develop cRIO and later cDAQ systems which were much better suited to be directly installed in industrial e-cabinets. Since at least about 2005 there has been absolutely no significant new development in SCXI hardware and software. NI has put it in maintenance mode a long time ago and also marked most of the product pages as "Not recommended for new designs" or removed the product entirely from the catalog. You still can buy some of them which is for customers who have designed systems with them and might need spare parts or replacements, but they are not marketed actively for a long time already.

You may find 13 years a short period to support a product but fact is that it is hard in the modern industry to find anything that you can even buy for that long, lets not speak about getting any form of software updates for them. I'm sure you have certain products in the avionics, space, and fundamental science industry that guarantee a longer support period, but all of those are not even remotely in the price range of an SCXI system and use technology that dates back even further than the end of last century. And while SCXI may seem like expensive hardware, it's pretty low cost for signal conditioning but also limited in many ways.

[meihouwang]

I am having the same problem, too. At lease 90% the same. I am using 64-bit Windows 10 as that is the direction my IT department is heading for ALL my company's PCs. I mean a large amount of PCs, including those being used for manufacturing area. Buying SCXI chassis was an idea offered by National Instrument sales rep. in 2005. At the time we were pressed for a test solution at budgeted price (which was not a lot) and so we took the idea along with any white papers to present to our management. We were thinking that NI would maintain support for this product regardless of Windows evolution and the xx-bit OS hurdle. I am with you on biting the bullet this time to upgrade the entire system (hardware and software) to run on something without the NI logo on them because I find it to be unethical to force your customers to upgrade since the cost to upgrade using NI product is phenomenal. As for now, I am not holding my breath on trying to install or ask NI any more. I tried in vain.