Problems with InstrumentStudio and PXI

[ed.s]

We had an extra empty PXI chassis at work, so I claimed it, loaded it up with cards, and have been using it for a few months now.  I do not use an embedded controller.  Instead, I use an NI PXIe-8360 with my work notebook.

Since this was a brand-new installation vs the older builds that we have in the lab, it uses InstrumentStudio for the soft panels.  I'm not a fan, and have tried to install the older standalone soft panels with no success, so I've learned to live with the resource hogging InstrumentStudio.

Earlier this week, my notebook was upgraded to the 1903 build of Windows 10.  After this upgrade, InstrumentStudio only loads up as a blank, transparent window.  It's not really a window at all, just an outline that I can move around my desktop.  It is completely unusable.

I've tried a few different things, like compatibility settings, but downgrading the Windows version is not an option.

Does anyone know of a way to force my system to use the old standalone soft panels (my desired solution) or get InstrumentStudio to work?

I can still get the PXI modules to work using LabVIEW, but I don't want to have to use LabVIEW to do simple things like adjusting a power supply or reading a multimeter.

[JoeFriedchicken]

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@ed.s wrote:

Earlier this week, my notebook was upgraded to the 1903 build of Windows 10.  After this upgrade, InstrumentStudio only loads up as a blank, transparent window.  It's not really a window at all, just an outline that I can move around my desktop.  It is completely unusable.

I've tried a few different things, like compatibility settings, but downgrading the Windows version is not an option.

Does anyone know of a way to force my system to use the old standalone soft panels (my desired solution) or get InstrumentStudio to work?

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Hi Ed, the legacy soft front panels are installed on the system, but no longer added to the Start Menu. You can find them by category here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\IVI\Drivers

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I've learned to live with the resource hogging InstrumentStudio.

Would you share more about your experience? Which resources was the app hogging, and what is your core system configuration (processor, memory, disk)?

[Austin_W]

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@ed.s wrote:

We had an extra empty PXI chassis at work, so I claimed it, loaded it up with cards, and have been using it for a few months now.  I do not use an embedded controller.  Instead, I use an NI PXIe-8360 with my work notebook.

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@ed.s : We'd like to know more about the system you're using InstrumentStudio with (core system configuration for your notebook).

[ed.s]

Sorry for the delayed reply.  My IT department was convinced that there was something wrong with my computer, even though everything seemed to work except InstrumentStudio, so they wiped my machine and re-imaged my drive.  Since I was back to a brand-new machine, I opted to install older versions of the PXI driver installations that didn't have the InstrumentStudio defaulted as the device soft panels.

I was not a fan at all of the InstrumentStudio experience. It took up too much real estate and you couldn't see any of the settings unless you opened the menu button. I realize that you could modify the interface somewhat, but was never able to get it set up the way that I wanted. I strongly preferred the older soft panels where you could have a small window up for each instrument. When I was running bench tests and using four power supplies at one time, I preferred arranging individual windows on my desktop instead of using a scroll bar to see which supply I wanted.

I didn't know that the old soft panels were still available, since that didn't seem to be documented anywhere.  Even the test panel button in MAX that used to open the simple soft panels is now linked to InstrumentStudio.

On top of that, InstrumentStudio was using 25% of my CPU while it was running, vs 8% for a single soft panel.

I am using a Lenovo T540p, Core i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB SSD (about 40% full).