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Installtion Labview RT on PXI Controller

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We have a PXI Controller 8106 which is running on Windows OS. We want to run it on Real Time OS from NI. What steps I need to perform to install that. Currrently when I boot in LabView RT fron BIOS, it displays "Transferring Control to User Program. System Unconfigured, Rebooting ...". I am able to connect it to MAX through Host PC and able to install Veristand 2011. But it does not reflect while booting Controller.

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Accepted by Piju1508

When converting from Windows to RT, there are some very important things you must do to manage the conversion; the big one is your hard disk.  Your hard disk must be formatted with a FAT32 partition - most likely Windows formatted it NTFS, which RT cannot read or use.  Converting your disk will be a manual step for you; if you follow these steps you can use an RT PC Desktop Utility disk to perform the swap (these instructions done with a PXI-8106):

 

First we have to put a FAT32 partition on it, and format.

  1.  Acquire a USB Flash Drive 256MB or larger.  Plug it into your host machine.
  2.  Format/Image the USB Flash Drive via MAX
    • Under Tools->Create Desktop PC Utility USB Drive in MAX
  3. Plug USB Drive in 8106
  4. Enter the BIOS of 8106 using "DEL" key
  5. Go under "LabVIEW RT" menu and set "Boot Configuration" to `Windows/Other OS".
  6. Press F10 to save and exit, rebooting the controller.  
  7. Enter the BIOS of 8106 using "DEL" key (we had to set the controller to Windows/Other and reboot to allow USB to be detected/used)
  8. In the "Boot" menu, make sure the "USB HDD" (probably also has your mfg of the USB key inserted) option is #1 in boot list (using +/- keys)
  9. In "Advanced->Integrated Peripherals" make sure "Legacy USB Support" is [ENABLED].  
  10. Press F10 to save and exit, rebooting controller.
  11. The controller will boot using the USB Flash Drive.
  12. In the USB Flash Drive Options, choose option 6 "Format Options" (depending on flash drive image, may say something else, but option # is same).
  13. Choose to format the drive, use Option #2 in format to "Erase All Partitions on the Drive and Create a Single New Partition" - this wipes the partition information from the disk and creates a single FAT32 partition on the drive.
  14. Format with FAT32 (DO NOT use Reliance on an 8106 - the BIOS does not understand the Reliance Filesystem).
  15. Once complete, reboot the controller (you can use Option 9 to do this).

Now we have to get the controller to think it's a PXI controller and not an RT Desktop PC

  1. Enter the BIOS of 8106 using "DEL" key
  2. Go under "LabVIEW RT" menu and set "Boot Configuration" to `LabVIEW RT Safe Mode"
  3. Press F10 to save and exit, rebooting controller.
  4. In MAX, find the device in Remote Systems.  Right-click the device and choose "Format Disk"
  5. Once you format the disk, the controller will then think it's a PXI controller.
  6. (You may have to delete the controller from MAX and press F5 to redetect for the images to update)

Now let's put the controller into RT mode so we can use it.

  1. Enter the BIOS of 8106 using "DEL" key
  2. Go under "LabVIEW RT" menu and set "Boot Configuration" to `LabVIEW RT"
  3. Press F10 to save and exit, rebooting controller.

There you go.  Now you're ready to deterministically rule the world.

-Danny

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Hi Danny,

 

I'm interested you don't mention licenses.  So is there any reason (other than convenience) why we shouldn't all buy the significantly cheaper Windows PXI systems and install the RTOS ourselves?

 

Thanks,

Ian

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There's no active licensing mechanism on the RT controller, but we do require that you have a license for each RT deployment you have - when you boot the controller using the USB key, you'll see a great message in solid white:

 

    • "RT requires a license. Refer to ni.com/info & enter "RT_Deployment" for details."

Also, when you format the controller, you'll see a similar message:

 

    • The LabVIEW Real-Time Module requires a unique
      deployment license for each PC you use as an RT target. Refer to ni.com/info
      and enter the info code "RT_Deployment" for information about purchasing the
      NI LabVIEW Real-Time Deployment License for Standard PCs.

       

When you purchase a PXI controller for Windows, you aren't guaranteed to get an RT BIOS extension with the controller; some of our controllers (such as the PXIe-8130) have Windows and RT variants of the hardware that will determine what you can run.  So, if you purchase a Windows PXIe-8130 you actually cannot run RT on that controller.  

 

Additionally, when you purchase the RT variant of a controller, you get a license bundled with that purchase.  You do not get a license bundled with the Windows variant. 

 

-Danny

Message 4 of 25
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Thanks Danny for the reply. I got it working.
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Hi Danny,

 

I tried these instructions and was not successful.  In step 12 where Option 6 should be Format Options, I have Format Disk.  When I choose it, it won't format because it is not already FAT16 or FAT32.

 

Is there is a size restriction on the USB drive?  You say make sure it's at least 256Mb, but can it be too big.  I'm using an 8Gb USB thumb drive.

 

Thanks for any extra information you can provide.

 

Ralph

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There is a maximum size to the USB Flash Drive; a Utilities drive made pre-LVRT 2010 has a maximum of 256GB, but for 2010 and newer it's something like 2TB - you're definitely not in any danger of either limitation with an 8GB thumbdrive.  The minimum size restriction isn't really a "restriction", it has to do with how the USB "auto" Emulation in the BIOS will treat the drive - you may have to force USB emulation to force an HDD emulation if you're below 256MB (otherwise it may treat it as a floppy drive, which isn't supported for the Utilities drive).  I've used 8GB thumbdrives personally with no problem, though daily I use primarily 2GB and 4GB drives.

 

Yes - if your menu just says, "Format Disk" then you're using an older Utilities image - that image doesn't have the ability to obliterate the partition and create a new one from scratch, it can only format what's there (and only if it's FAT).  I highly recommend updating your boot drive image, you can download an updated imager free here:

 

Just extract, and run the USBCreate.exe program to create your drive.  This set of utilties is backwards compatible, so the file partitions you create are still usable with LVRT back to 7.1.1.  However, the PC Evaluator functionality is for 2012 - so if the PC Evaluator says it's compatible you need to verify on your version of RT.

 

-Danny

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Thank you for your quick reply.  I'll try in the morning.

 

FYI, I'm using MAX 4.6.1; LabView 8.2.1; LabView 8.2

 

Thanks again,

 

Ralph

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Message 8 of 25
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Danny,

 

That did the trick.  Thanks!

 

Ralph

 

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I have one more issue.

 

Everything seems to be setting up fine.  Until I start configuring the Devices.  Typically they would show up as "PXI1SLOT2."  I have 4 cards that show up as "DEV1" "DEV2" and so on.  When you click on it, it doesn't know the slot or the chassis.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Ralph

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