LV 8.5, NI-KAL 1.6, NI-VISA 4.2 on openSuSE 10.3

[anshuljain]

Hi, I've been trying out various options from the recommended distros of Mandriva, RHEL and Suse to zero in on the right one for my Labview 8.5 application which would involve heavy GPIB and Serial comms interfaces. I tried my hand at Mandriva, Mandriva 2008 to be precise as many posters had suggested over here that Mandriva provides the best support for LV alongwith the NI-KAL associated hardware drivers. It was a no-go, I tried several techniques from recompiling the kernel to the steps mentioned in the README.txt file. I couldn't install it...still. Then I turned to the latest Opensuse version 10.3, which runs the 2.6.22.xx kernel. The installation was flawless from the word go. NI-KAL and NI-VISA installed beautifully (at this point I will have to mention that one would need to perform the steps mentioned for Suse in the NI-KAL Readme.txt file). Labview 8.5 too installed without any hitches. I am currently using Windows developed VIs which involve a lot of TCP/IP and Serial comms on Linux, and all of it runs as it is supposed to. I would recommend Opensuse 10.3 for anyone wanting to use the 2.6.22.xx kernel distros alongwith Labview. -Anshul

[Shawn B.]

Anshul,

I'm glad you were successful at installing our products on openSUSE 10.3.

Though you didn't say what you exact problem was with Mandriva 2008 I'm sure I can guess.  Did you receive an error saying your kernel source was not configured for your currently running kernel?  The problem is that Madriva 2008 has confusingly provided two different packages: One for users who want to recompile their kernel which is named something like "kernel-source-2.6.22.rpm" and one that simply provides the headers needed to build new modules for your current kernel "kernel-desktop586-devel-2.6.22.rpm" (assume uname -r reports you are running the 2.6.22-desktop586 kernel).  Since you were trying to install new kernel modules for your current kernel you need to install the latter.

Shawn Bohrer
National Instruments

[jenkin507]

Shawn,

Any hints on how to do this?

Tx

Peter 

Message Edited by jenkin507 on 08-31-2008 08:18 PM

[Shawn B.]

---

Any hints on how to do this?

---

I'm assuming by "this" you mean install the correct kernel source?  First from a terminal I would run:

rpm -qa | grep kernel

If you have a package called "kernel-source" installed you have the wrong package for Mandriva 2008.  Uninstall it with "urpme <package>" or use the graphical package manager.

Next from a terminal run "uname -r" to see exactly what kernel you have installed.  Then I would recommend using Mandriva's graphical package manager to search for "kernel", and install the kernel-<something>-devel package that matches your current kernel.   For example if uname -r returns something like "2.6.22-desktop586", then you want to install the package named something like "kernel-desktop586-devel-2.6.22".  Note these names might not be exact and may be different for you kernel, but if you use the graphical package manager and simply search for "kernel" it shouldn't be too hard to find the right package.

Shawn Bohrer

National Instruments

[jenkin507]

Hi Shawn,

Error I get, when running INSTALL in nivisa,  is

************************************ ERROR *************************************
* Kernel source does not appear to be installed for the 2.6.24.4-desktop586-1mnb kernel.
*    Installation of the kernel-source package for kernel 2.6.24.4-desktop586-1mnb is
*                   required to continue this installation.
************************************ ERROR *************************************
 

Which seems to suggest I do need the source?

Tx,

Peter 

Message Edited by jenkin507 on 09-02-2008 10:43 AM

[Shawn B.]

Yes you need to install the headers that match your current kernel.  The trick is installing the correct rpm package that provides those headers.  From the output it looks like your kernel version is:

2.6.24.4-desktop586-1mnb

Now go into the graphical package manager (where you add and remove software) and search for "kernel".  If I recall correctly there should be a package named something like:

kernel-desktop586-1mnb-devel-2.6.24.4

Or something similar.  That is what you need to install to make this error go away.

Shawn Bohrer

National Instruments