NI-DAQ installation is intolerably slow - what is the MINIMUM that we need to bundle with our app?

[dtnpsi]

I've asked this before, but have never gotten a satisfactory answer. But here we go again...

We have developed a .NET 1.1 app that uses NI-DAQ 8.0 to interact with an NI 6008

In the past, we have just asked our users to install NI-DAQ 8.0 from the NI CD before they run our app.

But we have been getting CONSISTENT FEEDBACK THAT THE NI DAQ INSTALLATION IS UNACCEPTABLY SLOW AND TEDIOUS !

And we agree: it literally takes longer to install just the NI DAQ piece than it does to install the  .NET CLR, MSDE, Access PIA's,  the app itself and restore a sample database!

So what do we need to bundle with our app in order to not have to install ANYTHING FROM THE NI CD (and HOW do we do it)?

Past answers were along the lines of "just install the drivers from the CD", which is less than helpful.

I don't like folks who flame vendors (being a vendor myself), but...

NI, you need to realize how import this kind of "small" stuff is to real users.  If we can't resolve this, we'll have to switch to another vendor's DAQ device. No need for our app to get a bad rep just because we can't get a small pre-req part to install easily (and preferably invisibly).

Who do I need to talk to in order to get some movement on this?

Thanks,

David Thom
Director - Systems Technologies
NPSi Houston

[JonathanN]

Hi David,

This issue is one that has been around for a little while and we are currently looking at making this easier and more compact in future versions of DAQmx.  For now however, I am currently looking into options of integrating a reduced DAQmx installer (via a LabVIEW installer or CVI installer) with the Visual Studio Setup Wizards.  I will keep you up to date on what I find and what options we may have. 

Best Regards, 

[dtnpsi]

Jonathan,

What's the time frame for providing a reduced DAQmx installer?

We plan to migrate our app to .NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005, but not before Microsoft releases a Service Pack for .NET 2.0/VS2005

Therefore, we hope the near-term solution would be for the present version of DAQmx, and would work with Visual Studio 2003.

David

[JonathanN]

Hi David,

Here is an update on what we have been working on.

Option 1) Use a batch file to launch your Visual Studio and DAQmx setup programs. This batch file will launch your Visual Studio setup installer that you create and then launch the downloadable DAQmx driver. This works fine but does install all of the DAQmx driver.

Option 2) Use LabWindows/CVI 8.0 as the installer to distribute your Visual Studio application, your DAQmx driver, and the appropriate Measurement Studio merge modules.  LabWindows/CVI 8.0 has a new and improved distribution kit and inside this kit, we will add our Visual Studio executable, watered-down version of DAQmx (using DAQmx 8.1 and notice in the screenshot, different DAQmx installers) and include the appropriate merge modules. The needed merge modules for Measurement Studio are referenced in the Measurement Studio help for deploying applications. 

I am still determining all the in's and out's of Option 2 as it seems to be the best approach. See the attached screenshot to give you an idea of what CVI installs especially the reduced DAQmx installer. If you have CVI 8, you can also try working on this to. 

I will keep you up to date on my findings.

Best Regards,

[JonathanN]

Hi David,

We just finished testing out the second option with LabWindows/CVI. I am assuming that you do have LabWindows/CVI. Under the Drivers & Components tab, you will need to specify what "water-down" version of the DAQmx driver you will need. Then you will need to include several merge modules as shown in the attached screenshot "CVI Merge Modules". After that, you will need to include your Visual Studio executable under the Files tab. Also under the Files tab, include three DLLs which are shown in the "CVI DLLs" attachment. You will need to add other merge modules, depending upon what assemblies you are using in your Visual Studio application. Refer to the Measurement Studio documentation for help on determining which ones you will need. 

Using this method will allow you to create simply one installer for everything.

Let me know what you think!

Best Regards,

[JonathanN]

Hi David,

I have uploaded the CVI installer that just installs the watered-down version of NI-DAQmx. You can download it at ftp://ftp.ni.com/outgoing/ 

The file is called Small DAQmx Installer.zip

Let me know what you think.

Best Regards,

[Atacama]

Hello,

We have exactly the same problem trying to create a compact installation package for our VB6 application that uses DAQmx 8.5.
However, we do not have Labwindows/CVI.
What can you recommend, as an alternative of waiting 1 hour for the installation to take place?

Thanks

[Paul_C.]

Hi Atacama,

As stated previously, we do have the ability to create smaller runtime versions of DAQmx.  I'm not aware of all of the functionality of Visual Basic 6.0 installers, but you may be able to run a DAQmx runtime executable as part of the application installer.  If this is not the case, you could write a batch file that runs both the application executable and the DAQmx runtime executable.  I would also like to note that files that I would be able to provide are simply executables generated with LabVIEW.  I'd be happy to help you get a runtime version of DAQmx 8.5 if that would work for your situation.  Please let me know if it would be alright if I emailed you with information on how to obtain these DAQmx runtime versions.

Thanks,
Paul C.

[slzeb]

I am in the same situation, I need to deploy to another location outside this facility to low-tech area. 

Please forward me all the run-time options as I will select the best one that works for me.

Also, can you include an example of the batch file you mention.  This may work for me also, but after spending countless hours searching for a solution , I am pretty burnt out.

I do not have LabView, but am using MS Visual Studio 2005 C#.

Regards

SL

[Paul_C.]

Hi SL,

Here is the information for DAQmx 8.5.  I'm sorry I don't have the full information for DAQmx 8.7.1 yet.  The sizes should be similiar.  In addition, the installed footprints will often vary from system to system by a small margin.

Flavor	Installer Size	Installed Footprint	Features Removed
Full Development Version	810 MB	2370 MB*	-
Runtime 1	523 MB	1010 MB	No Signal Express, or ADE support
Runtime 2	403 MB	576 MB	No Signal Express, ADE Support, or DAQ Assistant
Runtime 3	341 MB	560 MB	No Signal Express, ADE Support, DAQ Assistant, or NI-DAQmx Documentation
Runtime 4	305 MB	550 MB	No Signal Express, ADE Support, DAQ Assistant, NI-DAQmx Documentation, or RT Support
Runtime 5	125 MB	195 MB	No Signal Express, ADE Support, DAQ Assistant, NI-DAQmx Documentation, RT Support, or MAX

These runtimes can all be selection when you build and installer in LabVIEW and include the DAQmx driver.  Unfortunately, at this time there is no other way to create these runtime version of the installer without LabVIEW.  We do have two of the runtimes currently available for download.  

The batch file method I was mentioning is kind of generic.  For example, if you have two executables to run on a target machine, you can create a batch file that executes the two installers in a sequence for you rather than having to run one and then run another.  This is more useful when having to install multiple things on one computer.  This just helps you save time.  I found a good website by searching google that has some information on batch files here.  If all you're installing is DAQmx and your application (in the form of two .exe files), manually running both installers might be just as easy as creating the batch file to run them both for you.

Regards,
Paul C.

Message Edited by Paul C. on 03-14-2008 12:32 PM