Installing DAQmx 21.0 removes DAQ from LabVIEW 2018

[Brett_Percy]

Hi all,

I have a LabVIEW 2018 installation that I use to support some older software.  I also have LabVIEW 2020 and 2021 installed on the same laptop

According to the compatibility table here https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/compatibility/16/ni-daqmx-and-labview-compatibility.html DAQmx v21.0 is supposed to be compatible with LabVIEW 2018 as well as 2020 and 2021

When installing DAQmx 21.0, there is no option to install support for LabVIEW 2018 (this is from a Repair in NI Package Manager but the fresh install looks the same)

I have tried removing DAQmx and installing 18.5 which does work with LabVIEW 2018, but not the newer versions.  This works fine in LabVIEW 2018

I then updated DAQmx to v21.0 again, and now DAQ is missing from LabVIEW 2018 completely - so apparently the DAQmx v21.0 installer knows that LabVIEW 2018 is there, at least enough to remove the existing DAQmx folder from 2018's vi.lib

I've tried installing DAQmx via NI Package Manager and also the offline installer, both have the same result

There's a similar issue with LabVIEW 2017 here: https://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/NI-DAQmx-Driver-support-for-Labview-2017-is-missing/m-p/4368188 which doesn't have a solution

I'm sure this used to work, as I've replaced the SSD in this laptop in the last couple of months and this setup was installed and working prior to the previous SSD failing

Cheers

Brett

[Kyle97330]

I also know that DAQmx can work on 2018 and 2021 simultaneously... I have done so in the past.  My company updates every 3rd edition specifically so that the current and next editions can share support software in this way.

We did use DAQmx 21.3 for this though, not 21.0.  There is also a 21.8 out that we did not try.

Can you use either of those instead of 21.0?  Just in case this is a bug with the 21.0 installer/repairer?

[softball]

Hi

Kyle's advice makes sense.

However, if it doesn't solve the problem then you could try this hackery.

Install the 18.5 to get support in LV 2018.

Then temporarily rename the LabVIEW 2018 folder to something else. Requires administrative rights.

Then install the 21.5 version to get support in LV 2020 and 2021.

Then rename the LabVIEW 2018 folder back to its proper name.

This way the 21.5 installer cannot see the LabVIEW 2018 folder and will leave it unchanged.

This was my common practice in the old days to handle such issues with version range restricted modules. It was not bullet proof but usually worked.

I have since changed practice and now installs only one LabVIEW version per partition. Solves many problems.

Regards

[Brett_Percy]

OK so far I've tried installing 21.3.  The installer doesn't show LabVIEW 2018 support as an option either

I'll try 21.8 next, and if that doesn't work I'll uninstall DAQmx completely, install 18.5 again and rename the folder before installing 21.x.  I'm concerned about the stability of exes built against a mixed DAQmx installation though

I've already set up a separate VM with 2018 and DAQmx 18.5 which I'll use for production builds for now.  It takes about a day to do each reinstallation of DAQmx - it seems to want to repair the existing installation first.  At least this way I can get some work done in the VM while I wait

Cheers

Brett

[Brett_Percy]

OK so NI Package Manager / DAQmx 21.8 is definitely aware of LabVIEW 2018, it's currently doing this:

[JÞB]

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@Brett_Percy wrote:

OK so far I've tried installing 21.3.  The installer doesn't show LabVIEW 2018 support as an option either

I'll try 21.8 next, and if that doesn't work I'll uninstall DAQmx completely, install 18.5 again and rename the folder before installing 21.x.  I'm concerned about the stability of exes built against a mixed DAQmx installation though

I've already set up a separate VM with 2018 and DAQmx 18.5 which I'll use for production builds for now.  It takes about a day to do each reinstallation of DAQmx - it seems to want to repair the existing installation first.  At least this way I can get some work done in the VM while I wait

Cheers

Brett

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That won't work well for DAQmx.   The LabVIEW vis are shallow CLFN calls to the NI DAQmx shared library (*.dll)  Only one dll will be installed and the 2018 vis are not going to work as expected. 

[rolfk]

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@JÞB wrote:

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@Brett_Percy wrote:

OK so far I've tried installing 21.3.  The installer doesn't show LabVIEW 2018 support as an option either

I'll try 21.8 next, and if that doesn't work I'll uninstall DAQmx completely, install 18.5 again and rename the folder before installing 21.x.  I'm concerned about the stability of exes built against a mixed DAQmx installation though

I've already set up a separate VM with 2018 and DAQmx 18.5 which I'll use for production builds for now.  It takes about a day to do each reinstallation of DAQmx - it seems to want to repair the existing installation first.  At least this way I can get some work done in the VM while I wait

Cheers

Brett

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That won't work well for DAQmx.   The LabVIEW vis are shallow CLFN calls to the NI DAQmx shared library (*.dll)  Only one dll will be installed and the 2018 vis are not going to work as expected. 

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The porridge is not eaten quite as hot as it is prepared. 😀

The NI-DAQmx API is "quite" stable and for "most" functions it has remained exactly the same for many many versions. So it will "usually" work! But there is of course no guarantee. NI sometimes is forced to change an existing API to fix a bug or oversight and then things could go haywire very quickly if the VI library doesn't match the DLL version.

So while it is not supported and not guaranteed to work, it will usually work anyways. But as always when hacking away at things, thread carefully and anything is at your own risk. If the application eats your harddrive or shoots your computer, you can not blame NI for it. 😁

[Brett_Percy]

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@JÞB wrote:

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That won't work well for DAQmx.   The LabVIEW vis are shallow CLFN calls to the NI DAQmx shared library (*.dll)  Only one dll will be installed and the 2018 vis are not going to work as expected. 

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Yeah I was fairly sure this wasn't a great idea, thanks for the confirmation

Cheers

Brett