multiple nidaq driver installation

[TatC]

Hi, I am using a PC running NT4 that has the AT-A2150 and the AT-AO-6 cards with NIDAQ version 4.9.0f2.

My problem is this. I am having problems with "buffer underrun" when using WFM_DB_Transfer to generate 3 waveforms on 3 analogue output channels of the AT-AO-6.

I would like to try a newer NIDAQ version to see if there is a problem with the old driver. Unfortunately, the AT-2150 is only supported by NIDAQ 4.9.0f2.

Can multiple installation of NIDAQ drivers exist on the same machine? My application uses both the AT-AO-6 and AT-2150.

[Spencer S.]

Greetings,

Unfortunately, multiple versions of NI-DAQ cannot be installed on a computer at the same time. This will definitely cause problems. I do agree that upgrading your version of NI-DAQ could solve your buffer under-run problems. You may want to install your AT-AO-6 on another computer with a more recent version of NI-DAQ and see if that solves the problem. If it does not, then something else is to blame, and you do not need to worry about the AT-A2150 not being compatible with newer versions of NI-DAQ. If it does, you may want to consider upgrading your AT-A2150. Both the PCI-4452 and PCI-4552 have similar functionality to that of the AT-A2150. Below are links to the product pages for these devices:

NI PCI-4452
NI PCI-4552

Good luck with your application.

Spencer S.

[TatC]

Spencer,

Thanks for the advice. It turns out that the buffer
underrun was a symptom of a problem in another part
of the code. I have reworked the code and it works
fine now.

It would have been great if NIDAQ could
detect buffer underrun with double buffering even if
WFM_DB_Config() was configured without the oldDataStop
parameter set, as I was forced to actually listen to
the received samples to determine if an underrun had
occured. The alternative would have been to restart
the waveform generation which I found to be tricky and
it would still have resulted in several received
samples being repeated or a period of silence on the
receiving end.

Thanks for the info on the suitable replacements for
the AT-A2150. The card will ha
ve to be replaced sooner
or later, and it will be great to be able to use the
same code with the new cards.

Tat