Install CVI real-time on an RT target

[RobDekker]

I am having problems installing CVI real-time on an RT Target.  I have the following software:

- Labview 8.5
- LabWindows/CVI 8.0
- LabWindows/CVI Run-Time 8.1..1.361
- MAX 4.3

When I connect to a Target with CVI installed I can see LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine for RT 8.0.0, and LabWindows/CVI Analysis 8.0.0 on the Target and MAX tells me I have those versions on my computer.  When I connect to a different Target without CVI, I don't have the option of installing it.  The target with CVI was originally set up as 8.0.1 and then upgraded to 8.5.  Any idea what could be causing this problem?

thanks,

rob

[Eric A.]

Hi Rob,
What type of RT target are you trying to deploy CVI RT to?  Also, what versions of CVI Real-Time do you have?  I have attached this knowledge base that answers frequently asked questions.

[Eric A.]

Sorry about that, here is the knowledge base article.

[RobDekker]

I am trying to deploy to a Desktop PC configured as an RT Target.  It has a 2 port high speed CAN card in it.

My problem is that I used to be able to install CVI on Desktop PC Target computers, but since upgrading to Labview version 8.5 I can't.  Do I need to get the latest version of CVI?  I took a look at what programs Labview 8.5 is compatible with and CVI was not listed.  http://www.ni.com/support/lv8_5.htm
thanks,

rob

[JonathanN]

Hi Rob,

Based off your screenshot, I am assuming that you are not using the LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module. Is that a correct assumption? The reason I ask is that LabWindows/CVI 8.0 introduced direct download support for LabVIEW Real-Time for Pharlap. This behavior has changed for LabWindows/CVI 8.0.1 because LabWindows/CVI now provides support for the LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module. See the KB LabWindows/CVI 8.0.1 Requires the LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module to Downloads DLLs Directly to Real....

If I understand correctly, when you installed LabVIEW 8.5 and the LabVIEW 8.5 Real-Time Module, you were unable to see the LabWindows/CVI Run-Time Engine for RT item in the LabVIEW Real-Time Software Wizard dialog that is launched from Measurement and Automation Explorer? However, you could see this item on the other target?  Could you post a screenshot of what you see on that new target in that dialog?

What version of LabVIEW and LabVIEW Real-Time did you have installed before LabVIEW 8.5?

Best Regards,

[RobDekker]

I do not think that I am using the LabWindows/CVI Real-Time Module.  The version of CVI I am using is 8.0

I had version 8.0.1 of both Labview and Labview RT before.  I can not attach a screen shot right now but it would look the same as the other one except that the CVI software is listed for installing on the Target.

Another thing that might be complicating things are the boot disks I used to setup the Target PCs.  For one I used the Desktop boot disk (Can't install CVI), and for the other I used the PXI boot disk (can install CVI).  About a year ago when I setup my first RT computer I was having problems and called the labview help.  The Applications engineer told me the Desktop boot disk MAX created did not work and that I had to use the PXI boot disk.   Is this true?  Could having one computer configured as a PXI and the other as a Desktop be part of the problem?  I am going to do some more experiments because I am also having problems installing NI RT Extensions for SMP on on these Targets and I think that all my problems are related.

thanks,

rob

[JonathanN]

Hi Rob,

Yeah, it doesn't sound like your using our CVI Real-Time Module.  Thanks for clarifying that. I also see that you have called into our support team as well and have them working on your issue as well. Its probably best if we keep the issue in one place so I'll let everything go through our support team and then trickle up if needed.

Just a couple of questions though. On the target that you don't see CVI on, I assume you see other software that you can install like LV RT? If so, can you successfully install those components and boot up the target without errors? If you could install the software, did you try going back into software wizard and seeing if then you could see CVI?

Are the boot disks that you are using new or old boot disks? By that I mean are you still using boot disks that you made in LV 8.0.1 or are these new boot disks that you made with LV 8.5? If you are using old boot disks, have you tried creating new boot disks and then trying to use those new ones?

Best Regards,

[RobDekker]

Hi Johnathan,

I can install all the other RT software just fine (LV Rt, Network variable engine, NI-IMAQ, etc.)  The only thing that is missing is the 2 CVI programs.  I have uninstalled and reinstalled other software  from the RT software wizard but the option to install the CVI modules never appears.  The target boots up fine and runs properly.

My problem is that if I don't have the CVI programs installed on the target I can't run some of the dlls we have created.  Do you know why the target can run some dlls without the CVI software but not others?  All the dlls we use were created with CVI and ran fine on RT version 8.0.1

I have been making the boot disks using Max 4.3 for Labview 8.5.

I was told to try setting up the target with the USB drive so I will try that.  I now have CVI version 8.5 (no RT module) but that does not seem to have solved anything.

thanks,

Rob

[JonathanN]

Hi Rob,

Are you saying that you can download and run some LabVIEW VIs that call CVI DLLs on the "bad" target that doesn't have the CVI RTE installed? And other VIs that call other CVI DLLs don't work? I would expect you would receive errors in general for all CVI DLLs if you didn't have the CVI RTE installed. Do you happen to know what the difference is between those CVI DLLs? Are the ones that don't work doing analysis, or something?

Have you tried using the PXI bootdisk on the "bad" desktop target?

Best Regards,

[RobDekker]

Here is where I am at:

I was told last year by an NI Applications engineer that I should use the PXI boot disk instead of the Desktop PC boot disk with labview 8.0.1.  It worked fine with computers that were single processor.  I did the same things when converting the targets to 8.5, which appears to have been a mistake.

I can tell which targets were configured as PXI vs. Desktops in MAX because is the symbol beside them under Remote Systems

On the tragets set up as PXIs I do not have the option of installing multiprocessor support but I can install CVI Analysis and Run-Time.  On the Targets set up as Desktops I can install the multiprocessor support but not the CVI modules.

I have been able to run dlls on the Desktop Targets.  I did not write these dlls so I do not know how complicated they are but they do not make use of any of the real-time libraries unlocked by the CVI real-time module.

On a PXI Target we had trouble deploying an rtexe that uses dlls after uninstalling the CVI modules.  We reinstalled the CVI modules and the rtexe deployed properly.

My latest problem is that my vis deploy and run properly on a Desktop Target when run from the host computer.  When they are built into an rtexe and run, the vis calling dlls are shown as bad in the system manager.  This exact same rtexe runs just fine on a PXI Target with the CVI modules installed.