Want to download NI-Serial. Am required to also download LabVIEW FPGA 8.5

[Dale_Olson]

I am wanting to run the serial port example VI's provided in LabVIEW 8.2.  The serial ports on my computer (COM1,...) don't show up in MAX.  An NI discussion forum note indicates I must install NI-Serial, the NI provided serial port drivers.  I've downloaded NI-Serial, but then find I must also install LabVIEW FPGA 8.5F, and a related RIO software product. Yet FPGA 8.5F is available only to 'premium' customers.  Does this mean that users of LabVIEW 8.2 Full version are not permitted to gain direct access to their serial ports through LabVIEW VI's?  If so, what level of LabVIEW is required?  (We have purchased an upgradae to LabVIEW 8.5, but haven't yet installed it.  Also, our science college has recently negotiated the purchase of a college wide version of LabVIEW, which will be more full featured.)

[Nick_CH]

Hello,

You downloaded the drivers NI-Serial for the NI-987x Module that requires LabVIEW FPGA and the NI-RIO driver. The NI-987x are serial modules for the CompactRIO.

For your PC, if you want to communicate with your Serial Port (Com1,...) You can download the NI-VISA (current version) and the NI-Serial (current version) under Drivers and Updates.

Best regards
Nick_CH

[Dennis_Knutson]

Just to clarify a bit - unless you are using NI serial cards, the only download you need is NI-VISA.

[Dale_Olson]

A note of thanks.  I downloaded VISA.  Now, all serial ports, and the parallel port, are listed in MAX.  All of the serial port examples provided in LabVIEW work.  One of them  (Find Examples >> Hardware Input and Output >> Serial >> Basic Serial Write and Read.vi) has permitted us to achieve communication with a Newmicros PlugaPod microprocessor.