firmware update USB-6008 linux

[Donalbane]

I recently installed NI-DAQmx Base 3.4 in Red Hat linux.  Upon pluggin my NI USB-6008 into the computer, and running lsdaq I was informed of the need to update the firmware to be compatible with NI DAQmx Base.  The documentation I've read on how to do this instructs the user to run FWUpdate.exe from a Windows directory.  Can someone tell me how to update the firmware from Linux?

Thanks,

Don

[bstreiff]

Yeah, the instructions I found were rather Windows-centric too.

You should have a FWUpdate program in your DAQmx Base bin directory. I can't speak for Linux, but I have DAQmx Base installed on an OS X machine and I have a /Applications/National Instruments/NI-DAQmx Base/bin/FWUpdate.app.

The steps to follow once you have the application running should be the same on all platforms.

[Donalbane]

Well, knowing that the update utility is FWUpdate.app helps.  But, I have no idea where the installer put things.  I'm doing a "find . -name FWUpdate.app" from the base directory now...

Don

[bstreiff]

It wouldn't end with .app, that's an OS X extension. I would expect it to have no extension at all.

I believe that the default DAQmx Base install path on Linux is /usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase.

[Donalbane]

Thanks, bstreiff!  That is indeed where the FWUpdate utility was.

However, the utility did not seem to work.  When I run it, it lists the USB-6008 as a connected device in need of firmware updates, but when I press the Update Firmware button, it says that it is unable to find a device to update and suggests pressing the Refresh Devices button.  Refreshing the devices list shows the device again and indicates that it is in need of a firmware update.  Sigh.

Don

[Donalbane]

[1] I run /usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase/bin/FWUpdate, and a GUI pops up with the header "USB Firmware Autodownloader.vi". There is a text box with the message "Found one or more devices with out-of-date firmware." [2] In the devices list it shows "NI USB-6008 015BA348 Need to Update" with a checked box next to it. [3] Upon pressing the Update Firmware button the text box says "Updating firmware, please wait..." Then, the text box displays the message "No NI-DAQmx Base USB Devices Found. Click on Refresh Device List if you don't see one of your devices." The device list is empty. [4] Clicking on the Refresh Device List button returns the GUI to step [2]. Repeat ad infinitum. Can someone suggest a way to update the firmware for the USB-6008 on Red Hat linux? Don

[Donalbane]

Also, if I try to run lsdaq after attempting to update the firmware as described I receive the following response: $ lsdaq -------------------------------- Detecting National Instruments DAQ Devices Found the following DAQ Devices: VISA Write in Flush_Visa_USB.vi->check fusion version.vi->Find Devices.vi->daqmxbase_listdevices.vi->daqmxbase_listdevices.vi.ProxyCaller-------------------------------- which makes me suspect that something didn't quite go right with the firmware update attempt. Don

[Donalbane]

NI Tech Support suggested that I try to firmware update in Windows (niiiiiice). I installed NI-DAQmx Base 3.4 in Windows and ran the FWUpdate.exe utility. It shows the firmware as current and not in need of updating. Plugging the device into the Linux machine results in the same errors as before, however.

[Tom_W_[DE]]

Hi Don-

That utility uses NI VISA under the hood.  I can see a couple of points where it might fail.  Are you using LabVIEW on your Linux box or some other environment for programming?

If LabVIEW, please try this code snippet.  Point the VISA session at the alias that you see in lsdaq (or in FWUpdate).  Then make note of the Resource Name value and post it back here.

If you are using a C-based environment you can replicate the same code starting from one of the VISA shipping examples (try FindRsrc.c from the shipping examples) will have similar functionality. 

I suspect that there is an communication issue between NI-VISA and your device, so I wouldn't be surprised if one (or both) of these methods failed spectacularly.  But it might give more insight into why the communication is failing.

[Donalbane]

Tom, I'm just using a C-based environment and know nothing about LabVIEW. I'm not sure where to look for the source you are referring to, nor am I even sure what I would do with it. I have another post on this list about my inability to even compile a simple example, so I'm not sure I'd be able to do anything with FindRsrc.c if I can find it. Don