New MAX problems

[jyang72211]

My MAX got updated, and it has a new interface.  I have the following problems:

1. Before the update, I was able to send hex through serial.  For example, I can use "\x0A\x10" to write hex 0A10 to my device through the serial port.  Now, under the input/output option, I can only write commands.  How do I write hex with the new MAX?

2. Before the udpate, I was able to change all of the serial port parameters, but now I can't.  There are only a few parameters that you can change under I/O setting, but the options (such as termination character) are much more limited now.  

[Renée]

jyang72211,

Which version of MAX have you upgraded from/to? What hardware do you have in your project setup?

There are two things that I think could be happening, without knowing which version of MAX we're dealing with.

1) If you just updated to MAX 3.0.0.3010, some notes on that version are that: "Change encoding of strings during upgrade. Previously we converted backforth between unicode and a multi-byte format but now we just read and write the unicode strings as hex blobs. "

2) Depending on which version of MAX you have now and what hardware you are trying to use, it might not be supported with that version of MAX. If these options are greyed out, make sure you are running MAX as an administrator (right-click, run as administrator).

[jyang72211]

My MAX version is 5.0.0f1.  I am just trying to send some hex through my PC serial port, COM1.  What did you mean by hex blobs?  I used to do \x to send hex.  How is it done now?

[Renée]

jyang72211,

You should be able to still do this. Take a look at this article from our site:

http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/19B075803E013125862575CF006B37F8?OpenDocument

[jyang72211]

I can't.  See screen shot.  After I click write, MAX will delete all my "\", and by looking at how mnay bytes is written, it is easy to tell that it is not hex.  

[Justin_E]

That KB refers to an older version of VISA Interactive Control shipped with NI-VISA 5.0 and previous. We modified VISA Interactive Control starting with NI-VISA 5.1, and unfortunately do not have the ability to send raw hex values. I've filed Corrective Action Request 318274 to re-add this functionality.

[jyang72211]

I hope the hex function will be put back soon.  Being able to send hex through MAX is such a great debugging tool, and I assume that was why we had a KB article for it.  I can't believe that it was taken out. 

Where can I download the old version of MAX that will allow me to send hex?  How do I install an old version?  Do I have to uninstall the new version first?  I assume that I can't just install an old version over top of a new version.  

[Renée]

jyang72211,

First of all, I'm not sure which version of MAX you would need because that depends on what hardware you are trying to communicate with. Also, you will have to remove your current version of MAX in order to install another version. Unfortunately, doing this is quite an adventure. If you start to try to remove MAX, you will see that under "Dependent Products" it lists...practically all of your NI software installed. So with that, you could uninstall everything and reinstall everything but MAX, and then use the link below to install the version of MAX which you would like. Keep in mind that when you want to revert back to the current version of MAX that you have installed, you would have to do this again.

http://www.ni.com/drivers/

I suggest using other methods of debugging until the Corrective Action Request goes through for sending Hex with the current version of MAX.

[Justin_E]

Just to be clear, the version of MAX on the system is not the issue. It's the version of NI-VISA. VISA Interactive Control is shipped with all versions of NI-VISA, and we updated to the new VISA Interactive Control starting with version 5.1. Versions prior to 5.1 allow you to send hex characters. Here's a link to NI-VISA 5.0.3:

http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/2251/lang/en

You'll have to uninstall VISA 5.1 before installing VISA 5.0.3.

[jyang72211]

Thanks!  I think I will wait until the new release of NI-VISA with the hex function added back in.