Newer version of LV RT on remote target (PXI)

[teritask]

After hooking up my new PXI system for a job, I noticed that the "Software" item will not expand. I contribute this to the fact the version of Labview I'm running is 8.5 and the PXI has 8.6.1 installed. Can I downgrade the PXI to 8.5 or will this cause problems? I have 8.6.1 available but I'm reluctant to upgrade everything because I have 5 other systems out in the field with 8.5 installed and I'm not sure if my customers have 8.6.1 available to them (I received the upgrade right after the systems shipped).

As a workaround I've been trying to install 8.6.1 on my new Dell laptop to hook up to the PXI but have had way too many problems...something is constantly missing, libraries, dll's etc. This was taking up way too much time to resolve, including a complete uninstall/reinstall, registry cleaning, to no avail. But that's a different issue that I don't want to put anymore thought into

I'm guessing I'm going to have to upgrade everything and hope nothing in the field fails but I just wanted to pick some knowledgable brains first!

Thanks for any help.

[Cory_K]

Theres always 'save as previous'

[teritask]

Yes, I've used "save as previous" before and sometimes I've been bitten by doing so. After some checking I found out that I only have 8.6, not 8.6.1...don't know if this is an issue or not. I haven't been able to actually load the PXI with the program because it's quite hardware dependent and the hardware will not be ready for another week...I don't want to waste time commenting out everything.

I'm curious why I wasn't asked what version I wanted loaded in the PXI system so everything would be the same. All of the other 5 units were ordered at the same time so it wasn't an issue. I have no desire to keep spending a couple of grand each time a newer version comes out, especially if existing systems are running flawlessly.

Thanks for your response.

[Justin_P]

You said the the software tab will not expand, but can you still right click and choose "Add/Remove Software"?  If you can you should be able to install any version that is available on the host.

[teritask]

Yes, I can "Add/Remove" software but it will not display what is already on the controller. My other machine has newer versions than the host I'm trying to use and the tab will expand on that machine. But...that laptop still has issues, MAX will sometimes crash and I always get a "error loading NICAN" dll failed to initialize error, even though everything has been loaded/unloaded/loaded.

My main concern is if I upgrade everything through MAX to match the controller (the host has earlier versions), if I have to make a change for a unit in the field, they will have to upgrade everything also. There is a language barrier with a few of the units so it can become very difficult to get the customer to do things correctly!

So, is it safe to "downgrade" the controller to match what is on the host? Or will the real-time module that NI installed then crash? What if I just downgraded the modules and not the run-time engine (I have 8.5.1 and 8.6, new controller has 8.6.1)?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks for your response.

[Justin_P]

It is always best to keep current with the latest software releases.  But, if you already have 5 PXIs out in the field running just fine (and you don't have time to upgrade right now) there is no harm in installing older versions of the software to the new PXI controller.

[teritask]

I just want to make sure I'm not going to mess anything up on the new PXI. As for the older units, it's not that I don't have time to upgrade them, they are in different countries so it would be pretty tough to upgrade them!

Thanks for your input.

[Justin_P]

It won't mess up anything.  The LabVIEW Real-Time Software Wizard will make sure that all of the different versions your software and drivers agree and alerts you of conflicts.

[teritask · Accepted solution]

I resolved the issue...I took everything out of the PXI and loaded all the versions that I wanted. It seems to be working fine now.

Thanks for the response.