How can I use traditional NI-DAQ VIs with a USB-6009 DAQ device?

[GeoffHammond]

I have been using LabVIEW to read and process biological signals acquired with an AT-MIO-16E card for a long time.  My current sysem is LabVIEW 7.0 running under Windows XP. I decided recently to upgrade to a USB-6009 multifunction DAQ device with a view to shifting to a more recent PC and enhancing performance.

I downloaded and installed DAQmx 8.1 (which supports the USB device and LabVIEW 7.0) and can read and write the device using the DAQ Assistant, but not using any of the traditional VIs, such as "AI Sample Channel".  Any attempt to use these VIs results in an "Error -10401" message.

Running the Measurement and Automation Explorer shows the device and the test panels work correctly.

Running NI's "DriverSelector" VI gives the message "No devices found" and suggests updating the driver to "NI USB-6xxx Multifunction IO" in the device manager. The device manager, however, offers only USB-6009 (not specified as 'multifunction') and does not find another driver. I have downloaded and installed the Traditional NI-DAQ 7.4.4 but this makes no difference.

I'm not willing to sacrifice the data acquisition VIs that I've written over time for the AT-MIO-16E card: what do I need to do for these traditional VIs to read and write the USB device while I develop new VIs using the DAQmx drivers?

Regards,

Geoff Hammond

School of Psychology

University of Western Australia

[Abhinav T]

Hi Geoff,

According to this document, the USB-6009 is only supported using the latest NI-DAQmx driver. The traditional NI-DAQ driver will not recognise the USB-6008. Unfortunately you will have to re-write your code to use the DAQ Assistant or NI-DAQmx VIs instead. Here are some resources to get you started with NI-DAQmx:

NI-DAQmx Express VI Tutorial

Transition from Traditional NI-DAQ to NI-DAQmx in LabVIEW

Getting started with NI-DAQmx

Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

[GeoffHammond]

Sorry to perseverate here, but just to clarify: does this mean that there are no drivers that will let you use VIs like AI Config, AI Read, AI Start, and the rest with the USB-6009?

Geoff

[Dennis_Knutson]

NI has the Traditional DAQ Compatability VIs. At some point though, you should think about rewriting to use the DAQmx functions.

[GeoffHammond]

Fantastic. Thank you.

Geoff

[GeoffHammond]

I downloaded and installed the compatability VIs, but when I run a traditional 'analog in' VI the following error message appears:

Error -200220 occurred at Traditional NI-DAQ Compatibility VI: AI Group Config --> DAQmx Create Channel (AI-Voltage-Basic).vi

Is there something I've failed to do correctly?

Regards,

Geoff

[Abhinav T]

Geoff,

Here are three links you can try to resolve this issue: here, here and here.

I have a feeling that you may not be using the correct device name. Here is an excert from the Traditional NI-DAQ Compatiblity VIs Help file that shows you how to set the names for DAQmx devices:

Configuring NI-DAQmx Device Names

To use the Traditional NI-DAQ Compatibility VIs with NI-DAQmx devices, you must configure the NI-DAQmx device descriptors in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to be similar to Traditional NI-DAQ device descriptors. Use the following guidelines to configure the device names in MAX:

• NI-DAQmx uses strings to identify the device; Traditional NI-DAQ uses numeric values. Therefore, to use the Compatibility VIs, you must rename the NI-DAQmx device strings to contain only numeric values. For example, a device supported in NI-DAQmx, such as the NI PCI-6229 in the following example, must be named "2" instead of "Dev2." To rename a device, right-click the device name in MAX, and select Rename.
• If a device is only supported by NI-DAQmx, the device cannot share the same device number of any Traditional NI-DAQ device in the system. If a device supported only by NI-DAQmx is named "2," no Traditional NI-DAQ devices should have a device identifier of "2." In the following example, the NI PCI-6229 is only supported by NI-DAQmx; therefore, its numeric name is unique from any of the Traditional NI-DAQ device identifiers.
• NI-DAQmx device identifiers cannot be set to 256 or higher.
• Devices that are supported in both Traditional NI-DAQ and NI-DAQmx appear in both folders under Devices and Interfaces in MAX. In this scenario, the Traditional NI-DAQ Compatibility VIs always use Traditional NI-DAQ.

Message Edited by Abhinav T on 08-29-2007 02:55 AM

[GeoffHammond]

Abhinav

Thanks for your advice. Your hunch was correct, and giving the device a numeric name eliminated the Error -200220.

However, I didn't get much further, and attempting to run the traditional AI Config VI returned a different error:

Error -200452 occurred at Traditional NI-DAQ Compatibility VI: AI Clock Config --> Property Node DAQmx Timing (arg 1) in AI Clock Config.vi --> AI Config.vi

The error code seems to indicate that AI Config.vi tries to use a property that is not supported by the USB-6009.

Any help is greatly appreciated ...

Geoff

[Ima U]

Hi Geoff,

What are you using AI Clock Config.vi for? This Knowledge Base article talks about 3 different uses for AI Clock Config. The Knowledge Base is specific to E Series Devices since they work with Traditional DAQ and have the option of having an external channel clock. I was looking at the USB-6009 User Manual and did not see that you could specify an external channel clock. You may be using functionality that is not available to you on the USB-6009.

[GeoffHammond]

Hi Ima

Thanks for your reply, which I've only just got to. I didn't specifically use the AI Clock Config.vi; rather, I just used the higher-level AI Config.vi, which  in turn must have called the AI Clock Config.vi. I had though that hte comp[atibility VIs would extend to the level of the lower-order sub-VIs.

I see that it's sensible to make the transition to DAQmx, but still welcome any help in getting the traditional DAQ VIs working with the USB-6009.

Thanks to all,

Geoff