[CRIO] Powering CRIO for the first time

[Sorooshster]

Hi ecw,

Do you have the NI-RIO driver installed on your windows machine?  If you could send a screen shot of MAX with the software tab expanded I can tell you if you have the proper software installed in your host PC.  If the install software button is not function it may be because you don't have the right software on your host pc to install onto the RT controller.  Again, you will be better off if you can call NI tech support.  The number is 866-Ask-MYNI.  Thanks and have a great day. 

[JMota]

If haven't tried it already, this might help you.

Once the device comes up as unconfigured, you need to configure its network settings. You have two options: (1) use DHCP, or (2) use a static IP address. If you are using a cross over cable, you want to go with static IP address. To setup that correctly, you want to use the "Suggest Values..." button so that MAX will choose settings that (hopefully) work with the network connection you have setup.

Once you have configured the network settings, you should now be able to install software onto the controller.

[ecw]

[ Screenshot of Software Tab in MAX ]

I am now able to get to the Add/Remove Software option. But when I click on it, I see that I cannot install any software.

[ No software options ]

What software do I need to work with the chassis?

The problem I had before, was that when I used "Suggested Values", I chose the values for the wireless connection
instead of the ethernet connection. I didn't realize that there were two sets of Suggested Values. When I used the
wireless values the device times out. I also learned that it cannot put put zeros for the DNS Server. I used the suggested
DNS Server value.

- Thank you.

[JMota]

Good catch about the wireless vs wired setting. All the time I connect to cRIOs from desktop machines, so that has never been a problem for me.

Even though MAX says that NI-RIO is installed, seems that there are files that didn't get installed into your system that are needed in order to install software onto the controller.

In order for the right files to get installed you need to first install LabVIEW Real-Time onto your system and THEN install NI-RIO. Even if you have already installed the two, re-run the installers in that order. From the picture you sent out about what software is installed, you need to expand the LabVIEW item in order to see if LV Real-Time is installed; if it is already installed, then just re-run the NI-RIO installer.

If you don't have LV Real-Time at this time, then you need to re-run the NI-RIO installer and turn on the "Support for cRIO Real-Time controllers" subfeature.

[ecw]

I am still trying to install the software. At the moment I would like to check whether my understanding is correct:

I have two computers. One has LabVIEW 7.1, the other has LabVIEW 8.2.1.

cRIO comes with two CDs, the version of that two CDs is NI-RIO 2.4.1.

Right now I am trying to make LabVIEW 7.1 work with the cRIO9074 controller. I was wondering whether all

software I need are included in the NI-RIO 2.4.1 CDs.  Is it true that it is a matter of picking the right features 

in the CDs to install (such that if I install all features, I could add the necessary software to cRIO to work with

LabVIEW 7.1)?

When I tried to add software to the controller, MAX mentioned that I was missing required programs such as 

NI-VISA 4.2, LabVIEW RT 8.5, Base System Common 4.1, and LabVIEW RT Common 8.5.1.  Are these programs

on the NI-RIO 2.4.1 CDs or another CD? Dose 'RT' stand for Run-time or Real Time?

[ I assume this is the cRIO Real-Time controllers subfeature ] 

( It seems that I need a cRIO-900x controller if I want to use LabVIEW 7.1. Is it what the screenshot shows? ) 

- Thank you 

Message Edited by ecw on 08-13-2008 05:36 PM

[JMota]

LabVIEW 7.1 will not work with the 9074. Check out this page to know what's the minimum version of LabVIEW and NI-RIO that support that chassis

ftp://ftp.ni.com/pub/devzone/tut/crio_software_versions.htm

---

ecw wrote:

I am still trying to install the software. At the moment I would like to check whether my understanding is correct:

When I tried to add software to the controller, MAX mentioned that I was missing required programs such as 

NI-VISA 4.2, LabVIEW RT 8.5, Base System Common 4.1, and LabVIEW RT Common 8.5.1.  Are these programs

on the NI-RIO 2.4.1 CDs or another CD? Dose 'RT' stand for Run-time or Real Time?

[ I assume this is the cRIO Real-Time controllers subfeature ] 

( It seems that I need a cRIO-900x controller if I want to use LabVIEW 7.1. Is it what the screenshot shows? ) 

---

Those programs come on the NI-RIO 2.4.1 CD, but you need to have LabVIEW Real-Time installed for the features to get selected by default.

In that context, RT stands for Real-Time. When talking about cRIO and real-time controllers, RT will be for Real-Time 99% of the times.

[Sorooshster]

Hi ecw,

JMota is correct, you need LabVIEW 8.5 to use the 9074.  Just to help clarify the way that the hardware and software work together, think of it this way.  You have application software on your computer and you have driver software that enables the application software to interface with the hardware.  The application software includes LabVIEW.  To do LabVIEW RealTim and LabVIEW FPGA applications you need both the LabVIEW RealTime module and the LabVIEW FPGA module.  That is the software you use to develop your application.  Once an application is developed you need to deploy it to your hardware, this is where the driver software comes in.  The driver software for cRIO devices is called NI-RIO, which is the software that came with your cRIO device.  You must have both the correct application software and the correct driver software for everything to work.  The link that JMota gave shows you the software compatibility (both application software and driver software) needed for each of the cRIO devices.  I hope this helps clear things up a bit.  Thanks and have a great day. 

[ecw]

Where do I get the Real-time module and FPGA module?

I have just installed LabVIEW 8.5. I selected to install everything that comes with it, but I don't see any real-time or FPGA module in MAX:

[ Should I see "real-time" or "FPGA" on this list? ]

[ When I click on Add/remove Software for cRIO, the options are still not available ]

If I choose the minimal option, it tells me that these are missing in my local system:

LabVIEW RT VxWorks Common 8.5.1 (not available on host)

Base System Common 4.1 (older version available on host)

The attachment is the list of software I installed from NI-RIO. I think that I need to install something from NI-RIO, but

which one do I need? 

- Thanks 

[rex1030]

Labview Real Time and FPGA are separate components of labview that you typically have to buy. If you got the development suite then it probably came with it, it appears you do not. You need these modules to configure the crio. Thats your problem.

[Sorooshster]

Hi ecw,

I'm sorry you have had so much trouble getting up and running.  As mentioned by rex1030, the FPGA module and the RealTime module are add-on's to LabVIEW that must be purchased.  However, with the release of LabVIEW 8.6, customers have the option to install all of our modules and evaluate them for 30 days.  What I would recommend doing is downloading and installing LabVIEW 8.6 evaluation version and include the LabVIEW FPGA and LabVIEW RealTime modules.  This will give you access to them for 30 days.  Also, download NI-RIO 3.0 and after installing LabVIEW on your computer you will want to install RIO-3.0.  Then you will be able to put the RIO software on your cRIO device and you can get started with programming your application.  After the 30 day trial you will have to purchase LabVIEW with the RT and FPGA modules but you can save your work with the evaluation software until you are ready to upgrade.  I hope this helps.