software conflict

[teritask]

I have gone round and round with this problem but still cannot solve it. MAX will not work on my laptop. It started awhile back when it was first installed with the nidevmon.exe error. I fixed that error in the registry and then the CAN issues started. I get a "canexperts" error, that issue was never resolved. Now the DAQmx portion of MAX will not load properly.

I removed ALL National Instruments software, used MSI blast and a registry cleaner, and started over using the latest version of MAX and DAQmx. Now the nidevmon.exe error is back and nothing shows up correctly in MAX. Basically I wasted 4 hours.

My coworker has the exact same laptop that we purchased together, so I loaded MAX, DAQmx, and XNET/CAN and it works fine. So now I'm stuck trying to figure out what could possibly be different, except for the obvious programs (I'm Labview, he's PLC). I'm not going to load any of my other software (Labview) until I figure this out.

I desperately need my laptop for debugging customer's PXI system and cannot lug around my desktop (which everything works correctly on). We do not have a "service agreement" with NI at this time since business has been really slow we cannot spend $4500 to upgrade Labview right now.

I have no anti-virus software, third-party firewalls, etc.

Windows XP, service pack 3 is my operating system. Dell Vostro 1510, Intel Core Duo T5670 processor.

I have also tried DAQmx 8.8 to no avail.

Any hints, ideas, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

[Bill_in_Detroit]

I am replying because I have been through similar situations before and I can identify with your frustration.

I can only think of a couple things you do not mention.

1.  Have you checked your registry for the occurance of the word "CANExperts"?  A quick check of the registry on my Windows XP SP3 machine shows a link to an installer for "CANExperts.mxe" in c:\Program Files\National Instruments\MAX\Experts.

2.  I know it is unlikely, but when you installed MAX did you disconnect all DAQ and CAN hardware from your laptop?  Years ago this was a MAJOR problem with NI installs, causing many a user (myself included) to gnash their teeth and pull out their hair during hours of run arounds and multihour reinstalls of all things LabVIEW.  

Hope these ideas help.

[teritask]

Thanks for your response Bill. I completely removed all NI software to start from scratch. I then reloaded NI-DAQmx only, no CAN stuff or anything. There is no hardware connected.

I'm doing a clean sweep again and I'm going to try and load vers. 8.8 to see what happens there. I can almost guarantee the same issues will occur though. There has to be some program that is interacting but short of uninstalling all the software on my system, I don't know what else to try. My NI sales rep gave me a number to call even though we don't have a current "service agreement". That in itself is a crock.

I'll post my results.

[teritask]

Nope, didn't work...

[Tom_Powers]

I am having more or less the same problem on my laptop.  New box running Windows 7  MAXGeneralTimeoutError  Technical information canexpertsplug-in

4th install in two days. . . 

[teritask]

I feel your pain. My issue is still not resolved, I spent 4.5 hours last Thursday on the phone with tech support and now we're going through email since they keep changing people on me!

Let me know if you have any luck and I'll keep you informed of any progress.

Thanks.

[Tom_Powers]

Ooh Ooh Ooh I have a work around.

After spending about 45 minutes on the phone with Caleb from NI support, searching around in the task manager, rebooting the computer 4 times . . .   , we figured out that if you go to the following directory 

C:\Program Files (x86)\National Instruments\MAX\Experts

find the file canexperts.mxe and change the name to canexperts.mxxxxx (or what ever just get rid of the .mxe part) the problem goes away.

He still owes me an email regarding a real fix and NI owes their customers a patch to LV 2009 SP1 driver DVD but at least it works.

For me it shows up two ways first MAX took like 3 minutes to load.  Second the first time that I clicked on any of the "+" symbols  in front of the options under "my system" the error would pop up.

System is Windows 7 64 bit.  LV 32 bit installed with only minor extra check boxes in the drivers neither of which was CANS on the second and subsiquent installs. 

Computer is an HP Elite Book 8540W with all of the bells and whistles.

I hope that this helps.

[teritask]

Hi Tom,

Unfortunately I don't even have the CAN or XNET stuff loaded right now. I have the same issue regarding the "+" sign but it's mainly the DAQmx stuff now. I spent 4.5 hours on the phone last Thursday with NI Support (they gave me 30-days of support, hopefully it's resolved in this time period). No resolution yet. I've been communicating with NI via email now, currently waiting for a response.

By changing that file extension, does that mean you cannot use CAN? That would suck.

Hopefully I get some answers soon before I have to travel. I really need my laptop to work with this stuff!!

[Tom_Powers]

First to answer you question Yes this means that until NI actually fixes the problem you can not do what ever CANExpert.mxe does.

I don't have the CAN stuff loaded either.. . but the file canexperts.mxe is in the specified directory.

When you get an error message does it refer to a file or plug in or something, i.e. make it happen and post up the exact error message. 

At the end of the message in the error window that pops up when I click on one of the "+" signs is the following:

"Technical Information:  CANExperts plug in"

Do you get a message like that?  That was the key hint as to where to start looking. 

[teritask]

This is the message I received. I currently do not have any CAN or XNET installed since I'm trying to resolve the DAQmx issue. This is sooooo frustrating. I just compared my system settings to the settings on the other laptop here that everything works on and of course there is no difference. Unfortunately I cannot just swap laptops since we both have 2 years of info on them (I'm labview, he's PLC).