Running LabView 7.1 with PCI-6251 in Windows 7

[esg.rsbonini]

I am very new to Labview, and would appreciate any assistance on this issue.  I was tasked with solving it and while I have made some progress I have now hit a wall.

A computer with a PCI-6251 data capture card, some custom built (external) hardware and LabView 7.1 has been used for many years for a single, specific task, to do verification testing in a manufacturing environment.  The system works well and no additional features or functionality is required.

The computer failed and a new one with a PCI card slot was purchased to replace it.  Of course as a new PC it has Windows 7 and hardware drivers for XP don’t exist.  I therefore need to run LabView 7.1 on Windows 7 with a NI-DAQ card.

I installed the NI-DAQmx 9.5.1 driver and then installed LabView 7.1 (as discussed here).  The driver would not install if LabView was already installed since it gave the “unsupported on this version of windows error”.  MAX recognized the card, which it couldn’t when trying to use the 7.5 NI-DAQ driver.

Now LabView opens but when I try to run the .vi used for testing it complains of 19 missing sub .vis which I cannot locate and I can’t find on the old computer to try to point LabView towards.

I think something weird is occurring with trying to use the 9.5.1 driver with LabView 7.1.  Are there any suggestion or is there any advice on getting a PCI-6251 working with Labview 7.1 on a Windows 7 machine?   

[JÞB]

19 missing sub-vis is a big clue to us DAQ guys.  So is PCI 6251 (M-Series) and the phrase "Its been running for years on LabVIEW 7.1"

Although there is no official support for LabVIEW 7.1 for Windows 7 it "Should" run.  The problem is the hardware driver!  specifically you are using "Traditional DAQ" and are installing "DAQmx"  different animals, different techknolodgies, they do not work together they do not even "play nice" when put in the same system. 

You have a problem.  Your team failed to plan for obsolesence.  Traditional DAQ suppport will not be compatable with DAQmx 9.5.1 and the M-Series card is also going to be a problem to support.

You need to look at either:

• updating the system to modern (supported) tech for both Hardware and Software OR
• Hiring a worker to spend larger and larger amounts of time scouring on-line auctions to maintain a supply of obsolete hardware to maintain the system.

Guess which is really a lot cheaper?

[esg.rsbonini]

I'm aware that I have a problem, unfortunately no one is around who originally set this system up and so I'm unable to ask them anything specific regarding their plans for dealing with obselesence.  I also have limited say in what purchases are/aren't approved.

You mentioned that the hardware falls into the traditional DAQ catagory and that's why 9.5.1 won't work with it.  I did try installing the Traditional NI-DAQ driver but when I opened MAX it did not recognize the card.  Did I miss something in the configuration of the legacy driver that prevented it from working?

[JÞB]

Well the only NI DAQ driver with support for Win 7 I can find is a BETA.  I can't even find the read-me for it.

We might need an NI-AE to tell us if there is even support for LabVIEW 7.1.  Since that version of LabVIEW is obsolete as well.... you might not be able to get there from here.

The system is overdue for retirement.  There are ways to schedule systems for review and decide when it is cost effective to modernize.

[Cavarval · Accepted solution]

On LabVIEW 7.1, the latest DAQmx driver you can install is 8.9.

Check this link:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/B0D5630C0A50D5C6862578E800459248?OpenDocument

You can download it here:

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-daqmx-8.9/1216/en/

Let us know how it goes.

[esg.rsbonini]

I tried NI-DAQ driver 8.6.1 and I could see the PCI card in Windows Device Manager but not in MAX.  When I opened the vi everything seemed ok (no missing sub-vis) but when I ran it no signal appeared at either inputs or outputs of the 6251.  This makes sense as Windows could see the card but it seems that LabView couldn't.

When trying 8.9 is there a specific order I should try installation of software / hardware in?  I have noticed different behaviours as I've varied the order of installaton of different elements.

Thanks for all of the help so far.

[Cavarval]

As long as you install the driver after having LabVIEW already installed, there should be no problem.

Let us know how it goes.

[esg.rsbonini]

After much greif and trying a half dozen various drivers with various settings and other ideas the following procedure based on Caraval's advice worked first time with no errors and seemingly no functional issues.  The system so far appears to be running in Windows 7 just as it was on Windows XP.

1.  Install LabView from original install CDs, by opening the folder and right-clicking 'setup.exe' and clicking 'run as administrator'.  Selected 'do not install drivers' during the install procedure.  Rebooted computer.

2.  Installed NI-DAQmx 8.9 from the self-extracting .zip file available here.  Shutdown computer.

3.  Removed power, pressed power button to completely discharge power supply.  Installed PCI-6251 card.

4.  Booted computer, and logged in.  Waited a long time, Windows eventually saw new hardware and installed drivers.  Verified MAX could see card.

5.  Opened LabView and everything worked.

Looks like we bought the system a few more years.  Will probably have to upgrade everything next time around though.  Many thanks to everyone who commented on this thread. 

[Cavarval]

Glad to see it worked!!

[bibo702]

Hii !

I  wanted to  open a programm that greatly runs under Labview 7.0 (on windows Xp ) with  the new version labview 10  on windows 7 but it doesent work .

A lot of error message indicating that there are  many miissing files .

Can anybody help me  to salve my problem ?