reanimation of an old measuring system with LabView 8.6 - DAQmx driver missing

[regian]

dear community,

I am trying to reanimate an old measuring system, built in 2007-2009. It was in storage for 10 years.

It was programmed in LabView 8.6. To see if the system is still working I tryed the installation and it worked on Windows 10. I can open the old software.

However, I obviously lack drivers for the DAQ: USB-6251. That's why I can't start a "run" with the software.

On the NI homepage I am sent to the DAQ download page.

But which driver do I need for the DAQ USB-6251? - And is it still available for download on the homepage?

thanks for your time,

rs

[santo_13 · Accepted solution]

For USB-6251, you need the DAQmx drivers, but given it was written in LV8.6, I'm skeptical whether it would have used the DAQmx drivers or the Legacy DAQ drivers.

[Kevin_Price · Accepted solution]

I'm old-timer enough to declare:

Fear not, it would have been using the DAQmx driver even back then.  M-series devices (the 62xx series) were never supported under the legacy DAQ driver.

Remaining sticking points:

- you need a driver version that supports the device.  This part shouldn't be a major problem.

- you need your driver version to support the LabVIEW development version you intend to use while "reanimating".  If you only have the 8.6 license, you may need to revert to a much older DAQmx version.  LabVIEW 8.6 predates the switch to the versioning convention based on calendar years

- you'd want (and maybe need) OS support for the DAQmx driver and LabVIEW version.   This is where things could get troublesome.  If you're stuck at LabVIEW 8.6, you may find that you should *also* revert to Windows 7.   Now it's true that some combos of OS / LV version / DAQmx that aren't officially "supported" may still work, according to anecdotal reports.  But it could be a risky place to land.

-Kevin P

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan · Accepted solution]

Another old-timer here!

LabVIEW 8.6 looks to work with DAQmx v8.8 through 9.5.1 per the link at the bottom of this page:
https://www.ni.com/en-us/support/documentation/compatibility/16/ni-daqmx-and-labview-compatibility.h...

So follow the other two points of Kevin's: driver to support the device along with OS compatibility.

-AK2DM

[regian]

Hi there,

Thank you for your input!

Unfortunately, no one can really remember and the programmer is long gone.

The device was used until around 2011, but the programmer was no longer there. I think that after 2009 no one made any major changes (or could...).

I checked the version list for version 8.6 and NI offers the DAQ drivers up to version 9.0...that's what I've tried now.

The program opened and no longer threw a DAQ error. The test on Monday will show if it really works...

greetings

[regian]

Hi,

Thank you for the Input!

Fear not, it would have been using the DAQmx driver even back then.  M-series devices (the 62xx series) were never supported under the legacy DAQ driver.

-> important hint - thanks!

Remaining sticking points:

- you need a driver version that supports the device.  This part shouldn't be a major problem.

- you need your driver version to support the LabVIEW development version you intend to use while "reanimating".  If you only have the 8.6 license, you may need to revert to a much older DAQmx version.  LabVIEW 8.6 predates the switch to the versioning convention based on calendar years

-> I checked the version list for version 8.6 and NI offers the DAQ drivers up to version 9.0...that's what I've tried now.

The program opened and no longer threw a DAQ error. The test on Monday will show if it really works...

- you'd want (and maybe need) OS support for the DAQmx driver and LabVIEW version.   This is where things could get troublesome.  If you're stuck at LabVIEW 8.6, you may find that you should *also* revert to Windows 7.   Now it's true that some combos of OS / LV version / DAQmx that aren't officially "supported" may still work, according to anecdotal reports.  But it could be a risky place to land.

-> As soon as it's running again, I'll try to apply for a retrofit ... at some point it'll have to be reprogrammed with the latest software. ... I hope that it at least runs without errors for the time being ... our IT was not so happy with the old driver and Windows 10/11 and is watching the whole thing.

greetings

[regian]

Hi,

Thanks for the link!

I checked the version list for version 8.6 and NI offers the DAQ drivers up to version 9.0...that's what I've tried now.

greetings