LabVIEW FPGA Module Support for Windows 8

[MJ]

I have just bought a new laptop running 64-bit Windows 8.  After hours of setting up the computer and installing my usual suites of software, then I found out that the latest version of LabVIEW FPGA Module would not run on Windows 8.  Needless to say that I am very disappointed.  When will LabVIEW be fully supporting Windows 8?  I don't really want to downgrade Windows just because I want to run LabVIEW with it.

[PhillipBrooks]

Frequently Asked Questions regarding LabVIEW and Windows 8

You did not say in what way LabVIEW FPGA was not working correctly. There is one KnowledgeBase article regarding hardware that indicates you should disable Fast Startup in order for your hardware to be detected.

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/DF6372D57C15B20286257A4B0053DA1E?OpenDocument

[MJ]

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14281/en

The website above listed the FPGA module is not supported in Windows 8.  I will be happy if someone could tell me that I can program FPGA and upload the FPGA bitfile to a hardware target via Ethernet port on a Windows 8 computer.

LabVIEW FPGA Compile Farm	2012
LabVIEW FPGA IP Builder	Not supported1
LabVIEW FPGA Module (ENGLISH)	Not supported1
LabVIEW FPGA Module (Localized)	Not supported1
LabVIEW FPGA Xilinx 10	Not supported1
LabVIEW FPGA Xilinx 13	Not supported1
LabVIEW Internet Toolkit	Not tested2
LabVIEW Jitter Analysis Toolkit	2012

[T-REX$]

Hey MJ,

There are several incompatibilities between LabVIEW FPGA 2012 and Windows 8. As listed on the page linked above:

   "¹ - The Xilinx tools used by the FPGA Module do not officially support Windows 8."

This means that: the following may not work; Xilinx CoreGen IP, IP Integration Node, CLIP, iSim simulation, local compilation (compiling on a remote machine with a supported OS works). Note: existing IP (CoreGen, IP integration, CLIP) that isn't changed should still work, and downloading a bitfile to a target should also still work.

If your IP does not use any of the above features, you should be fine... but we can't check off on full validation of LabVIEW FPGA until everything works as expected, and thus Windows 8 isn't an officially supported OS at this time.

[T-REX$]

This may be a useful link for you if you plan on continuing development under Windows 8 (not recommended): Cannot Compile FPGA VIs on a Windows 8 computer.

[MJ]

Thanks T-REX$ for the information.

Does anyone know when Xilinx complier will be able to support Windows 8?  Are they working on this at all?

[Sriram_Iyer]

Follow the below link:

http://www.ni.com/white-paper/14281/en

Since Xilinx is not supporting Win8 and NI tied up with Xilinx, anything to do with FPGA development and deployment cannot be done right now. It seems to be unless Xilinx releases a compatible version, you (rather we) cannot work on FPGA module on Win8.

I hope this issue will be recovered soon. Till then we have to be patient.

Also if there is any workaround for this, it is welcome to update on this post, so it will be useful for others.

Regards,

Sriram

[PhillipBrooks]

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@T-REX$ wrote:

This may be a useful link for you if you plan on continuing development under Windows 8 (not recommended): Cannot Compile FPGA VIs on a Windows 8 computer.

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Would it be possible to virtualize XP or Linux in Windows 8 on the laptop and use the Remote Compile option to that virtual OS?

[T-REX$]

Yes, that is possible. You will still be missing some features though (IPIN, Xilinx CoreGen, ISIM, CLIP). If your goal is just to compile existing code, or to write new code without these features, then that should work for you. 

[rui.sousa]

This is a repost, but this thread topic title is more related with the subject, so...

http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW/Why-does-my-FPGA-compilation-stop/td-p/2863954 5th message.

Hope this helps...