How to access PXI 5152 from a Laptop via ethernet cable?

[jj@IIT]

Hi,  I have the following setup.
   PXI 1002 chasis
         PXI 8175 controller
         PXI 6025E DAQ card
         PXI 5152 scope
          PXI 6602 counter timer.

    I have written a program that uses the counter timer for triggering an external circuit board and the scope for data acquisition. I need to run the vi on my laptop and get access to the PXI devices.

I have connected the Laptop to the PXI using a cross over LAN cable and configured manual IP addresses and identical subnet masks on both systems. If i run the Remote Device Access Server(RDA) on the PXI chasis, I can access the 6025E card and a portion of the 6602 card also. I can see them from MAX directly.But how can I access the scope, as the RDA server works only with DAQ devices.

What I want is a method to configure the PXI system as a remote device on my Laptop.so that I can see the PXI cards in NI MAX on my laptop.

I would like to see if I can do this without having to get a new express card.

Please help!! I am newbie with remote systems.
Thanks in advance!!

[jj@IIT]

Remote desktop was not working because the 8175 controller was having Win2000 Pro Embedded OS.  But I installed the VNC server and was able to connect remotely. However, this does not completely resolve my issue.

Since the controller is a bit old, LabVIEw and other s/w runs a bit slow in it..What I want is to run a program in my external laptop..and be able to access the DAQ cards and the digitiser mounted on the chasis. Is this possible?...

Does there exist anything similar to RDA for accesing scopes like 5152 and DAqMx devices?

[David L.]

Hi JJ,

This forum will answer your question. It mentions a workaround of using shared variables, but we could also develop remote front panels.

Hope this helps!

[jj@IIT]

thanks !!!..But I still have one doubt. Even if I use remote front panel, it means that my vi is running using the reources of the PXI systems only..isn't it?The remote panel only allows me to start, stop the vi..and do other front panel modifications only.

As I mentioned before, the PXI controller I have is a bit old, and is really slow as far as loading LabVIEW etc is concerned and hence it is difficult to develop code in it.So what I really want is to develop and run my vi on my laptop, but be able to access the 5152 scope mounted on the chasis.So that the vi uses the resources of my laptop and accesses the PXI only for data accquisition.

For DAQ cards, the RDA server meets my requirements.It is unfortunate that nothing similar exists for the scope.

Thanks for the help again!

[jj@IIT]

on more small doubt. Even though the PXI and my laptop are connected to together and I can remote deaktop to the PXI, the PXI does not show up in MAX. Is it possible to MAX to the PXI system when it is running Windows2000, or should I boot it using RT OS for that.?

[David L.]

Hi JJ,

Sorry for the delay. You are correct that using remote front panels will still require the VI to run on your PXI system, and you will not be able to do any configuration other than that allowed with the front panel. If your controller is slow, is there a reason why the development can’t be done on another computer and then transferred to the PXI system only to test? To help speed things up on your PXI system, you could create an exe on your development machine (if you have the application builder or LabVIEW Professional) and then run this on the PXI system. This only requires the LabVIEW runtime engine (which is already installed since LabVIEW is on the system), but will not require LabVIEW to open. If you do this, please read this knowledgebase: How Do I Enable The Web Server Or Use Remote Panels With an Application (EXE) Built in LabVIEW?

As far as the RT vs. Win 2000 – this can change things very juristically. If you boot using RT, then this will require you to develop on your host computer, and then deploy it to the RT system. If you use Win 2000, then my above comments apply.

Hope this helps you out.

Message Edited by David L. on 06-10-2008 02:37 PM