NI-488.2 v17.6 and LV 2024

[AndyTailored]

Can't find this in any of the compatibility charts...  

I have a slew of older USB-GPIB adapters.  I stick to NI-488.2 with every LV 2020 install, because newer versions don't work with the older hardware.  

I need to upgrade to LV 2024, because my IT says there is a security issue in 2020 and Microsoft raises a flag on it.  

So, if LV2024 won't work with NI-488.2 v17.6, I will need to buy about 12 GPIB adapters, as well as the stupid LV subscription.  

Does anybody know the answer?  

Also, has NI become stricter on how many installs you can do on a license?  

[AndyTailored]

I mean, I stick to NI-488.2 *v17.6* with every LV 2020 install

[JÞB]

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@AndyTailored wrote:

I mean, I stick to NI-488.2 *v17.6* with every LV 2020 install

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That actually makes no sense!  There is NO WAY that a driver written in 2017 could possibly Provide support for LabVIEW 2020.  There may be means to allow the 2017 generated exe build to be executed by the 2020 LabVIEW RTE! (There are)

But there is no way to save code in LabVIEW 2024 that could possibly call a driver that was written 7 years ago.  The 488.2 driver written in 2017 could not possibly have an installer that would install support for any LabVIEW version that wasn't written yet!

Most NI drivers do install support for LabVIEW versions up to 5 years prior to the year of release (typically 3 years)  so, any source code written or saved in LabVIEW 2024 would need driver support for 2024 or newer.  And any Code written prior to 2021 would break because the 2024 driver could not support such an obsoleted IDE.  (AND the newer driver would need to be installed "with support for " the previous outdated IDE )

You cannot be using LabVIEW 2020 and 488.2 17.6! 17.6 simply can't install support for LabVIEW 2020.  While the 488.2 Driver installed with LabVIEW 2020 could support code written in LabVIEW 2017, the 488.2 driver installed with LabVIEW 2024 will not even potentially install LabVIEW 2017 support. 

[AndyTailored]

Perhaps I misstated what I have done.  

1: install LV 2020, and deselect the option to install 488.2

2: install 488.2 17.6.  

3: profit!

I just verified this on a computer that had step 1 but never got step 2.  When I plugged in the adapter MAX reported no driver.  I did step 2 and LV 2020 likes it.  I can *IDN? an instrument.  The 488.2 Runtime 2020 is not installed.  

So, this process works from 2020 to 17.6

As a sanity check, I upgraded to 488.2 20.0 and tested with that - still works.  Am I misremembering that older USB-GPIB adapters are not usable with 488.2 > 17.6?  Maybe this is a newer adapter, I'm not sure how to tell.  

I will download a trial of 2024 and check on that.  

[AndyTailored]

I did an eval install of 2024 and let it install 488.2 2020.  All the adapters I can test right now work fine.  Maybe the error I saw earlier was a bug, as suggested in this thread: https://forums.ni.com/t5/Instrument-Control-GPIB-Serial/ni-488-2-update-18-5-GPIB-USB-B-not-supporte...

Anyway. others saw the problem and had the same solution.  If 2024 acts up I will post it here.  

Thanks

Ed K

[JÞB]

Let's just say that no driver can ever install support for any IDE that didn't yet exist. 

Most drivers do install support for previously installed IDEs back to a few versions.   

Examples: install LabVIEW 2024 and NI Drivers on a new PC,  then install just an older version of LabVIEW 2023.   you will not have driver support for the older version 2023   If you try to install the 2023 drivers you will see that a newer driver exists 2024 and the installer will install 2024 version support for LabVIEW 2023.

If you then try to install LabVIEW 2010 with driver support you will install the IDE but, again, the drivers will see that a never driver version exists.  However,  no 2024 driver has support for 2010 so, no driver support will be installed for that IDE.  You could Uninstall the 2024 driver and install the 2013 drivers and get support for LabVIEW 2010 but, no support for LabVIEW 2014-2024 could be installed from that installer and you'll basically break the modern IDEs.

Better, use Virtual Machines and keep the IDE and Drivers on each if you really need historically obsoleted LabVIEW versions. 

[rolfk]

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@JÞB wrote:

Let's just say that no driver can ever install support for any IDE that didn't yet exist. 

While that is true for most NI drivers, the 488.2 and VISA drivers are somewhat different. These LabVIEW interfaces are directly implemented in LabVIEW and access the according driver shared library directly dynamically. So if the according DLLs (and sub-DLLs) are properly installed on a machine, LabVIEW can use them. And since these APIs are both over 20 years old and have only had minimal (usually fully upwards compatible changes) it is almost always possible to use an older driver installation than what the actual LabVIEW version is. The only case where that might not fully work is if you use a feature that was only introduced in a certain 488.2 or VISA version, but the only real situation where that could apply (if you don't use a really very very old driver installation) would be in the use of some advanced VISA attributes.

You might loose some auxiliary functionality such as convenience and compatibility VIs for that API, or extra example VIs, if you install a driver version that is not providing installation support for your LabVIEW version but the core API nodes (with yellow background and which can't be opened to look at a diagram) will work anyways.

Better, use Virtual Machines and keep the IDE and Drivers on each if you really need historically obsoleted LabVIEW versions. 

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That is of course always a good recommendation when dealing with specific driver and or LabVIEW versions.