Cannot run commercial software written using v7.1 when v8.5 is installed

[svozar]

I am trying to run a commercial program written using LV 7.1 in XP. The program works on the computers where LabVIEW is not installed, and it works on a computer that is running LV 8.2, but when I install LV v8.5, the program can no longer access the serial port. According to the person who wrote it, the software requires Serial Port Support from run time engine. I have the 7.1 runtime engine installed. Is there something else I need to do to enable the Serial Port Support? Thanks!

[TWGomez]

You didn't accidentally unistall the 7.1 run-time engine did you?

[svozar]

Well, this happened before on a computer using Vista, but I thought it was an OS problem.

When I moved over to XP and it happened again, I uninstalled the 7.1 runtime engine and then reinstalled it, but I had the same problem as before. It's almost definitely installed now, because when I try to run the 7.1 runtime engine installer, I get an error that says a higher version of the product is already installed.

[Dennis_Knutson]

Serial port supported is not included with the run-time engine and never has been. It is included with either the full NI-VISA or the NI-VISA runtime. With 7.1, there was an option to include a serial only VISA runtime with an installer but it was separate from the LabVIEW run-time. Check MAX to see if VISA is installed. If it is, make sure that the aliases for your com ports are present. What error code/message does the exe report?

[svozar]

Under the software, MAX says I have NI-VISA and NI-VISA Runtime installed (both are v4.2). How do I check the aliases for the com ports?

The error message from the exe says ''Unable to open COM port", which indicates that the program thinks that the selected com port is in use or not present. Neither com port is in use, and I've tested to make sure that they both work with a serial mouse.

[Dennis_Knutson]

The aliases will be the names 'Com1', 'Com2', etc.

I'm not sure that testing the port as a mouse is such a good idea. If windows keeps trying to start up a mouse driver for the port, that could be the cause of the conflict. What are the ports supposed to connect to? Can you open a VISA session from MAX or use Hyperterminal? If you run one of the shipping examples from 8.5, can you connect to the port?

[svozar]

They are Com1 and Com2. The mouse is no longer plugged in, and I only tested it with the mouse after I found out about the problem.

The software is looking on Com1, but I can specify Com2 if I want. The port connects the to a spin coater using an RS232 cable.

When I'm looking in MAX, I can see the NI-VISA icon in the sidebar and click on it, but when I do, I can only see the Version Number, Description and Path. I can't do anything with it. How can I open a VISA session?

Where can I find a shipping example?

[Dennis_Knutson]

In MAX, expand  Devices and Interfaces>Serial and Parallel. Right click on a port and select Open Test Panel. Under Serial and Parallel, you will also see the aliases for the com ports.

The shipping examples I am refering to are in LabVIEW. Help>Find Examples. Do a search for serial.

[svozar]

Under Devices and Interfaces, I only have NI-DAQmx Devices and PXI System (unidentified). There is no Serial and Parallel Option. So I guess that's the problem. I checked the computer I'm running v8.2 on, and it does have the Serial and Parallel Option. How do I fix this?

[Dennis_Knutson]

Sounds suspiciously like something I just ran into. We recently deployed new software to several hundred test stations. The new version installed the LabVIEW 8.5 and the latest NI-VISA runtimes. They previously had been running LaBIEW 7.1. On a handful of systems, we saw the same thing.

Open c:\vxipnp\winNT\NIvisa. See if there is a file called visaconf.ini. If there is, delete it. Open MAX and do a refresh from the View menu. See if the com ports appear.If this does not work, you can try doing a repair of NI-VISA.