IMAQdx error DLL could not be found

[MengHuiHanTang]

I had trouble with this error message. Fortunately I got it resolved. The solution is actually so simple, but I want to bring it up to the NI community, because there seems to be an issue with the uninstallation of IMAQdx driver. Here is what happened to me. 

I upgraded the device driver to 2019, but something was wrong that I had to reverse back to the previously installed version. So I uninstalled all the Vision acquisition drivers, IMAQ, IMAQdx, IMAQ IO, all of them from the Package Manager. After installation, there is none left in the Package Manager. I was assuming all drivers files had been deleted, but it turned out not to be the case. 

I reinstalled the previous version of Vision Acquisition package, and started MAX. All the cameras showed up, but when I clicked on one of the GigE cameras, it popped a message, saying 'IMAQdx error, DLL could not be found'. Reboot again, still the same message. What the hell ...

By random luck, I checked the 'niimaqdx.dll' file in the System32 and SystemWow64 folders. I was surprised to find that they were still the version of 2019, NOT the version that I reinstalled. That means the uninstallation does not delete the dll file from the Windows system. 

I deleted 'niimaqdx.dll' from both folders, and installed the Vision Acquisition again. Everything is working fine. 

I am not sure if this is a NI issue or Windows issue. But anyway, I want to put it here so if it happens to you, you can save the time and fix this issue.

[Andrew_B]

I'm not sure what the root cause is offhand. Can you clarify a few details so I can try to reproduce this issue:

What your starting version of NI-IMAQdx before you upgraded to NI-IMAQdx 19.0?

What operating system are you using? (64-bit I assume)

Thanks!

[MengHuiHanTang]

It is Win10 64bit professional verison

It was a brand new PC, so nothing before installing IMAQdx 19.0. I replaced the old PC and tried to upgrade all the drives the same time. 

[Andrew_B]

I tried reproducing the issue with an IMAQdx 19.0 installation on a matching OS system, but I'm seeing niimaqdx.dll removed from the System folders on uninstall. What might have happened was a process was using the niimaqdx.dll binaries during uninstall (ex: a Test Panel in MAX, a built application) so they were not properly removed. In the future, you can recover from this system state by running a 'Repair' through NI Package Manager 19.5 or later.

[MengHuiHanTang]

Thanks for trying. It is very likely that some other apps were holding the dll file such that it was not removed properly. 

so is it possible to implement a procedure in the 'Uninstall' to remind user of this error?

Like, when you are trying to delete a opened Excel file, Windows will prompt you to shut down the Excel file before proceeding to delete.