The rest of FieldPoint 5.0, etc

[hendra@ngms]

NOTE TO SELF -- DON'T TOUCH THE TAB KEY!!

This seems to be a FieldPoint 5.0 and Max issue -- on my LabWindows development computer.

I used this computer for LabWindows 7.1 development, involving GPIB.  Worked fine.  I ended up using the NI-GPIB-USB-HS for this application. 

New project, needing FieldPoint.  I installed LabWindows 8.0, and the kludge that got old FieldPoint 4.x working in LabWindows 8.  Worked fine.  Installed FieldPoint 5.0 when it was available.  Worked fine.

Now, it's time to put that project asside, and return to GPIB development. 

  -- Max does not see my PCI-GPIB card

 --  Max does not see my NI-GPIB-USB-HS module

The drivers are installed.  I ran through the new hardware wizard, after deleting NI-488.2 and re-installing an older version, and the drivers are definately installed, but Max cannot see them.

To get rid of Max 4.0 and go to an older version, will un-install all kinds of stuff, and I'll have to do re-install LabWindows 8 to get it all back, hopefully avoiding updating Max.

Any idea what is going on here?  Solution? 

Is it NOT possible to have FieldPoint installed at the same time with GPIB?

[Matt_S.]

Ya, that tab key can be a pain, haha.

Regarding the FieldPoint 5.0 and GPIB issue, I've been testing this a bit. The picture I attached is a screenshot of my MAX screen showing that I'm using MAX 4.0, FieldPoint 5.0, and my GPIB devices are showing up. I'm using NI-488.2 version 2.4. I'm able to communicate with my instrument with no problem.

Do you see the GPIB cards in your Device Manager in Windows? Are they showing any error in the Device Manager?

Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this pretty quickly for you.

Regards,
Matt S.

[hendra@ngms]

I checked the Hardware Manager, and both devices are there.  See the screenshot.

As indicated in the original post, I downgraded to NI488.2 2.3, so I upgraded that again to 2.4.  2.4 tries to install Max 3.1.1, which will not overwrite 4.0. 

These are the problems:

1.  Max does not see either GPIB device.

2.  Max does not show my NI software -- I have both LabWindows and LabView 8.0 on the computer

3.  Max 4.0 operates like it has serious bugs.  The pulldown menus don't work when clicked a dozen times, then start working.  It can take a full minute for response to clicking the explorer items in the left window.

See the screenshot.

I believe there are significant issues in Max 4.0.  I would like to revert to Max 3.1.1, but there does not seem to be any way to do that without uninstalling all NI software and re-installing it.  See the screenshot.

[allen_h]

The first thing you can try is a repair of your MAX installation.  To do this, go to Control Panel>>Add/Remove Programs.  Then select National Instruments software and click Change.  Then under NI Products, select NI Measurement & Automation Explorer 4.0 and then click Repair.  Check to see if you can detect your PCI-GPIB and GPIB-USB-HS now.

If your PCI-GPIB and GPIB-USB-HS are still not being detected, then check if they still work on a different computer with the NI-488.2 version 2.4 driver.  If they do not work on a different computer, then they are probably broken and you should call National Instruments to repair them.

If the PCI-GPIB and GPIB-USB-HS do work on a different computer, then the MAX or driver files on your non-working computer probably got corrupted at some point in these past upgrades or reinstallations.  To fix this, you should uninstall all of your drivers and MAX.  Then reinstall the drivers and reinsert your GPIB cards.

Allen
National Instruments

[hendra@ngms]

The problem appears to be solved for the moment, though I no longer have LabView 8 on my development computer.  Not a problem, I detest LabView.

I tried to selectively uninstalling Max 4.0 and re-installing Max 4.0 -- same issues, no GPIB hardware listed, and no software listed.

I tried to selectively uninstalling Max 4.0 and re-installing Max 3.1.1 -- same issues, no GPIB hardware listed, and no software listed.

So I deleted all NI software from my development computer, re-installed LabWindows Base 8, and the driver distribution CD.  This installed Max 4.0.  It worked fine -- GPIB devices and software listed in Max.

I installed FieldPoint 5.0 from a CD I burned from the website download.  Prior to Restart, GPIB devices and software were not listed.  After restart, all of the above are listed, and my GPIB applications work fine.

I don't know if something go corrupted along the way, or there is some incompatibility problem with LW8, LV8, FP5 causing Max to break.  At any rate, it works now.

Thanks to those who helped...