*** NI-DAQ 6.1 Readme File
Thank you for using NI-DAQ 6.1 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.
This file contains important information regarding NI-DAQ 6.1. Please read it
carefully so that you will be aware of any known problems or incompatibilities.
Since the 6.1 release follows the NI-DAQ 6.0 release
by only a few months, much of the 6.0 “what’s new” information is
repeated here also.
Information in this file is organized in the following sections:
New products and feature summary
Known problems
Operating system specific information
Configuring products with your operating system
Specific hardware products
USB support requirements and limitations
OPC Server for NI-DAQ
Remote Device Access (RDA)
Miscellaneous
*** New Products and Feature Summary
New Products
The following new products are supported in NI-DAQ 6.1:
·
PCI-4451, 4452, 4551, 4552 ***
·
PCI-4060, PXI-4060, PC-4060 ***
·
PXI-6110E
·
PXI-6111E
·
PXI-6031E
·
PXI-6071E
·
PXI-6503
·
PXI-6508
·
SCC-DI01
·
SCC-DO01
·
SCC-LP01…LP05
The following new products were supported for the first
Time in NI-DAQ 6.0:
·
PXI-1010 (PXI Chassis with SCXI slots)
·
PXI-5102 ***
·
SCXI-1126
·
PC-6503
·
PCI-6110E
·
PCI-6111E
·
DAQPad-6507 (USB-DIO-96)
·
DAQPad-4350 (USB-4350) ***
·
DAQPad-5102 (USB-5102) ***
Products marked *** are supported only in LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI Easy I/O, and
by Instrument Drivers. There is no NI-DAQ API support for these products.
New Features
The main purpose for the NI-DAQ 6.1 release is to support the new products listed
above. However, several new features are also a part of this release.
The following new features are supported in NI-DAQ 6.1:
·
NI-DAQ 6.1 now contains LabVIEW VIs in native LabVIEW 5.0 format.
·
Configuration of RDA devices is now carried out in the standard NI-DAQ
Configuration Utility, instead of in a separate utility.
The following new features are supported in NI-DAQ 6.0:
·
DAQ Channel Wizard support for analog output and digital channels
·
RDA Remote Device Access within LabVIEW and the CVI Easy IO Library
·
OPC server for use with Industrial Automation applications
New NI-DAQ Functions
There are no new NI-DAQ functions introduced in revision 6.1.
The following functions have been added to the NI-DAQ Function Reference Manual
for PC Compatibles for the NI-DAQ 6.0 release:
·
AI_Change_Parameter
·
SCXI_Set_Threshold
·
Line_Change_Attribute
·
Calibrate_DSA
·
DAQ_Set_Clock
·
WFM_Set_Clock
*** Known Problems

You Must Reprogram Your SCXI-2000 and SCXI-2400 to work with NI-DAQ 6.1. Refer
to the hardware specific portion of the readme for more details.
*** Operating System Specific Information
Windows 3.x Not Supported by NI-DAQ 6.1
Beginning with NI-DAQ version 5.1, Windows 3.x is no longer supported. To use
Windows 3.x, you must use NI-DAQ version 5.0.x or earlier. The NI-DAQ 6.1 CD also
contains NI-DAQ version 5.0.5 which you can install from Windows 3.x.
16-Bit Programs Under Windows 95
NI-DAQ 6.1 no longer support 16-bit programs under Windows 95. You must use NI-DAQ
5.1 or earlier if you want to write 16-bit applications under Windows 95. The 16-bit
import library and 16bit DLL are no longer available.
Miscellaneous NT Topics
1) NI-DAQ 6.1 is intended to run with Windows NT Version 4.0 and higher.
2) As of NI-DAQ 5.0, the NI-DAQ C API function prototypes for Windows NT have
changed. In the NI-DAQ 6.1 C API, Windows 95 and Windows NT share the same function
prototypes.
3) Because of the parameter changes (from i32 to i16) and also the use of NIDAQ32.DLL
instead of NIDAQ.DLL, NT programs that write to the C language interface using
NIDAQ 4.9.0f2 and earlier will not work with NIDAQ 6.1. To fix the problem,
recompile the programs with nidaq.h (this file comes with NIDAQ 6.1), fix the type
mismatch of the called NIDAQ functions parameters, and link it with NIDAQ32.LIB.
4) Windows NT limits the total amount of memory that is page locked. The default
amount of memory is determined according to the total amount of physical memory
available in your system. If you are working with large data acquisition buffers,
you might encounter an outOfMemoryError, unless you increase the default I/O page
lock limit using the Windows NT Registry Editor, regedt32.exe.
The IoPageLockLimit registry key is located in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
By default, this limit is 0, which indicates to the system that it should use a
built-in algorithm to determine the amount of available memory. You can change
this value to indicate the number of bytes that can be page locked. For example,
set this value to 1048576 to lock down 1 MB of memory.
WARNING: Use caution when changing this value. The default value computed by the
system when IoPageLockLimit equals 0 is tuned specifically for system performance.
Allowing the system to lock down more memory can have a detrimental effect on system
performance and can even render your machine non-usable. Change this value with
caution.
5) You can install ISA Plug and Play DAQ Devices in Windows NT. The order of
installation is : (1) NIDAQ 6.1; (2) ISA Plug and Play Device Driver (see
Configuring ISA Plug and Play Devices for Windows NT 4.0 later in this readme file);
(3) Plug in the ISA PnP device.
6) NI-DAQ 6.1 now supports the full DAQ product line on dual processor machines.
7) Moving or resizing a LabVIEW front panel while a data acquisition is running
might cause NT to freeze. This problem will be fixed in a future version of LabVIEW.
*** Configuring Products with your Operating System
Configuration File Format Update
The format of your configuration file has changed in NI-DAQ 6.1. The driver will
recognize your existing configuration file and will operate correctly. However,
the NI-DAQ 6.1 Configuration Utility will automatically update your configuration
file to the new format the first time it is run. The new file format will not be
recognized by previous versions of NI-DAQ. You will be prompted before this happens
and a backup will be made of your original file.
If you are using versions of NI-DAQ prior to 5.0, the NI-DAQ 6.1 Configuration
Utility will not be able to read your SCXI and DAQ configuration information. You
should record your gains and other settings for SCXI and DAQ hardware before
installing NI-DAQ 6.1 over NI-DAQ 4.9.0 or earlier. The WDAQCONF.TXT file in your
Windows directory contains much of the information that you will need.
Using Multiple Configuration Files
When using multiple configuration files you must remember that only devices that
are currently in the computer will be displayed. For example, if configuration
one has a DAQCard-700 cabled to a SCXI chassis and the user removes the DAQCard-700
and puts a DAQCard-500 in instead, when configuration one is opened the SCXI chassis
will not have a cabled device and the DAQCard-700 will not appear. All SCXI
information will be saved no matter if the SCXI hardware is present or not.
Resource Ordering on AT Products with Multiple IRQs or DMA Channels
AT products with multiple IRQs or DMA Channels (such as the AT-DIO-32F) need these
resources configured in a specific order. If you have already tried configuring
your device and you are certain you have selected the DMA and IRQ resources that
match your jumper settings and you are getting test failure notices from the
configuration utility, try the following:
Change one of the resources to not assigned. Change the remaining resource to the
other value of the pair. Select the apply button. Now set the one that is not
assigned to the final value of the pair and select OK or Apply. This will swap
the resource order.
Configuring ISA Plug and Play Devices for Windows NT 4.0
If you plan to use ISA Plug and Play DAQ devices on Windows NT 4.0, you must first
install the Windows NT 4.0 ISA Plug and Play driver before configuring your device
with the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility. This driver is not installed by default.
Follow these steps to install the driver:
1)
Insert your Windows NT 4.0 CD.
2)
Go the \Drvlib\Pnpisa\X86 directory.
3)
Right-click once on the Pnpisa.inf file, select the Install option, and
follow the instructions.
4)
After you have installed the Pnpisa.inf file, shut down your computer.
5)
Install NI-DAQ if you have not already done so, and shut down your computer.
6)
Install your ISA Plug and Play DAQ device.
7)
Turn on your computer. When Windows NT 4.0 detects your ISA Plug and Play
DAQ device, it will specify the necessary driver files. Because this will result
in a configuration change, restart your computer.
8)
After you have restarted your computer, run the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility
to configure your device.
In Windows NT, only one DAQCard can be used at a time
Because NT only allows the storage of one set of resources in the registry for
PCMCIA devices, only one DAQCard can be used at a time. If you wish to use a second
card, you must delete the first DAQCard in the NI-DAQ configuration utility and
eject the card. Then configure your second DAQCard using the normal configuration
procedure for DAQCards in NT.
In Windows NT, DAQCards Do Not Respond to Certain Base Addresses
Because of an existing problem in Windows NT, DAQCards will fail the base address
test and will not work correctly when configured for certain base addresses. Most
DAQCards cannot be configured for base address 0x100. The DAQCard-AI-16E-4 and
DAQCard-AI-16XE-50 will not work at base address 0x200. If you encounter this
problem, set the base address to a different free base address.
Plug and Play DAQ Devices Under Windows 95
In some cases, Windows 95 might classify a National Instruments Plug and Play DAQ
device (PCI, PC Card, ISA PnP) as a generic card and install it in the Device Manager
under Other Devices. The device will then not be recognized by NI-DAQ as a valid
DAQ device. This might occur if the card has been installed in the computer prior
to installing NI-DAQ 6.1.
The following steps will correct the problem:
1)
Install NI-DAQ 6.1 if you have not already done so.
2)
Open the Windows 95 Device Manager. (From the Start menu, choose Settings
and then Control Panel. From the Control Panel, double-click on System. In the
System Properties dialog box, choose the Device Manager tab.)
3)
Under Other Devices, remove the entries that correspond to your type of Plug
and Play DAQ device.
4)
Restart your system.
Acquisition devices.
Windows 95 will re-identify all of your Data
The devices will now appear in the Windows 95 Device Manager under Data Acquisition
Devices.
As mentioned in step 3, there might be more than one PCI card, PC Card or ISA PnP
card classified under Other Devices in the Windows 95 device manager. If you are
not sure which generic entry corresponds with your DAQ device (or devices), you
may wish to remove all the entries under Other Devices, restart, and let Windows
95 identify the devices again.
*** Specific Hardware Devices
You Must Reprogram Your SCXI-2000 and SCXI-2400 to work with NI-DAQ 6.1
In order to use your remote SCXI chassis (either the SCXI-2000 chassis or the
SCXI-2400 module) with NI-DAQ 6.1.0, you must reprogram it with the rscxi.dmg file
shipped with NI-DAQ 6.1.0. To reprogram your chassis or module, select the chassis
or module in the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility and click on the "Configure" button.
Then click on the "Reprogram" button. It will ask you for the "Image File Name".
The file is located in the nidaq subdirectory in your windows directory and is
named rscxi.dmg.
If you do not reprogram the chassis, the chassis may appear to work but will
eventually behave erratically and possibly hang your system.
Devices Not Supported by NI-DAQ 6.1
Beginning with version 5.0, the following devices are no longer supported by
NI-DAQ:
·
AT-A2150
·
AT-DSP-2200
·
EISA-A2000
To use any of these devices, you must use NI-DAQ version 4.9.0 or earlier.
6533/DIO-32HS Devices
The REQ polarity is now programmable for pattern generation mode. In LabVIEW, call
Digital Mode Config to select the desired polarity setting. In C API, call
DIG_Grp_Mode followed by DIG_Block_PG_Config. The order of calling sequence is
important in this instance. The REQ polarity is active high by default.
For 32-bit group I/O, the PXI/PCI devices require that the buffer must be 4-byte
aligned. Unaligned buffers will result in an error and no transfer.
The state of data lines will remain unchanged even after the block transfer has
terminated and the data lines are released from the group assignment. The direction
of the data lines are left unchanged as well.
If you are using DMA to repeatedly transfer very large amounts of data with a
PCI-DIO-32HS and you are reusing the same buffer each time. You can perform these
operations faster if you call Set_DAQ_Device_Info with infoType set to
ND_DIGITAL_RESTART and the infoValue set to ND_ON. This will only be a significant
difference if you are using very large buffers. The Set_Device_Info function
description does not document this functionality. This will not work from a LabVIEW
application. That is, using Call Library Node to call the Set_DAQ_Device_Info
function from a LabVIEW app will not have the desired effect.
SCC Devices
NI-DAQ 6.1 has improved support for SCC devices (SC-2345 and CA-2345 carriers and
SCC modules). With the NI-DAQ configuration utility, you can configure the carrier
and modules as accessories of your E-Series device. NI-DAQ 6.1 will account for
the gain and attenuation of the SCC modules when returning scaled data. Readings
obtained from channels connected to SCC-CI20 modules will return scaled readings
in milliamps while other modules will return scaled readings in volts. Note that
you must configure your E-Series device in NRSE (non-referenced single ended) mode
to obtain proper readings from SCC modules.
PCI DMA Support with PCI-MIO-16XE-50 and PCI-1200
The PCI-MIO-16XE-50 board will support DMA transfers in NI-DAQ 6.1 if the board
is revision E or later. Earlier revisions of the board will use interrupts or
polling only.
The PCI-1200 board will support DMA transfers in NI-DAQ 6.1 if the board is revision
E or later. Earlier revisions of the board will use interrupts or polling only.
SCXI-1200, DAQPad-1200, DAQPad-MIO-16XE-50
If you are using an SCXI-1200 that is directly connected to your computer, a
DAQPad-1200, or a DAQPad-MIO-16XE-50, you must apply power to the device before
you attempt to configure it or otherwise activate NI-DAQ.
Failing to apply power to these devices before starting NI-DAQ will induce
communication failures which may or may not be obvious based on the status values
which will be returned by any NI-DAQ functions you might use.
Recommended Sequence for Configuring the SCXI-1200 in a Remote SCXI Chassis
Follow these steps to ensure a proper configuration:
1) (Windows 95) Use Add New Hardware in the Control Panel to add the SCXI-1200
device.
2) Launch the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility.
3) (Windows 95) A dialog box will appear asking for a device number for the newly
added SCXI-1200.
4) (Windows NT) Select the Add button and select the SCXI-1200 for the parallel
port sub-menu. The configuration screen will pop up.
5) In the System tab, select the Parallel Port resource, and then select Modify.
6) For the Port selection, select Remote and click OK.
7) In the Configure Device menu, select OK. The Utility will inform you that the
device did not pass the test. This is expected because we have not placed it in
a chassis yet. Click on OK for the dialog to proceed to the main panel.
8) Select the SCXI Devices tab, select Add to add a chassis.
type and ensure the chassis parameters are correct.
Select the proper
9) If your configuration includes an SCXI-2400, add the 2400 module now by clicking
Add with the proper module slot highlighted. Select the SCXI-2400 and ensure the
module parameters are correct. Select OK.
10) Add the SCXI-1200 and any other module(s) to the chassis.
11) Save the configuration.
*** USB Support Requirements and Limitations
Operating System Support for USB
Software support for USB is provided only in recent versions of Windows 95. To
determine whether your computer will work with National Instruments USB DAQ
products, run UsbDetect.EXE. If you have NI-DAQ on CD-ROM, you can find this program
in the USB folder on the NI-DAQ CD-ROM. If you have NI-DAQ on floppy disks, you
can find this program in the USB folder on the first NI-DAQ floppy disk.
When it is run, UsbDetect.EXE will display a message box indicating whether your
computer is ready to work with National Instruments USB DAQ devices. UsbDetect.EXE
may detect the following problems:
* The operating system version is incorrect. Only recent versions of Windows 95
support USB. The updated version of Windows 95 is available only with new computers.
* Open standard USB hardware and proprietary USB drivers are not supported. Some
computers have USB hardware that is not supported by Windows 95. Other computers
use proprietary USB software that will not work with National Instruments USB DAQ
devices.
* The Microsoft Windows 95 USB supplement is not installed or is not properly
installed. Some computers ship with the correct version of Windows 95, but by
default do not have the software support for USB installed. Contact your computer
manufacturer regarding the installation of the USB supplement.
* USB support is disabled on this computer. Contact your computer manufacturer
about enabling USB support in the computer's BIOS.
Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 will include complete support for USB.
National Instruments will release an updated version of NI-DAQ to work with Windows
98 and Windows NT 5.0.
National Instruments Software Support for USB
* NI-DAQ version 6.1 or later is required to use USB DAQ devices.
* LabVIEW version 4.0 or later is required to work with USB.
Potential Problems
Do not power on or off your USB device while an application which uses NI-DAQ is
loaded. This includes the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility. Doing so could result in
a system hang.
If the computer is extremely busy while USB products are in use, your system may
hang or the operation in progress may be halted. Try to minimize other activities
on your computer while using USB products. Examples include loading large
applications or switching among a large number of applications while USB products
are acquiring data.
Configuration and Power Management
USB devices support plug-and-play configuration and hot swapping. Windows 95 also
provides some operating system support for power management. Although these
features generally facilitate device configuration, please follow these
guidelines to avoid configuration problems.
On some computers, power management can interfere with active DAQ applications
that are using USB devices. On some systems it can even cause a crash in NI-DAQ
6.1. This is because OSR2.1 doesn't provide proper power management. If your DAQ
application needs to run while the computer is unattended, disabling power
management in the operating system is recommended.
To disable power management in the Windows 95, do the following:
1. Open the Control Panel (Choose Start >> Settings >> Control Panel).
2. Launch the Power applet.
3. If there is a Power tab in the Power Properties window, choose it, and make
sure the option labeled "Allow Windows to manage power on this computer" is
disabled. If there is no power tab, power management is already disabled on your
computer.
4. Click OK, then close the Control Panel.
5. Some systems have power management built into the BIOS. You should disable power
management in the BIOS setup for your system. Refer to the documentation which
came with your sytem to find out how to modify your BIOS setup.
6. You should disable your screen saver also. Right click on the background of
your desktop to get to the screen saver options.
The USB device must be turned on before launching the NI-DAQ configuration utility
or a DAQ application. If the device is turned off and back on while NI-DAQ is loaded,
the device must be reset in software before it can be used. This can be accomplished
by calling Init_DA_Brds (in the NI-DAQ API) or the Device Reset.vi (in LabVIEW).
Performance
USB performance is highly dependent on system-specific factors such as CPU speed,
memory architecture, and system chipset characteristics. USB operations are
software-intensive, so running other applications during data acquisition
operations may affect performance. Higher-speed USB operations may also affect
the performance of other applications.
All USB devices share the same bandwidth. Using multiple USB devices simultaneously
may affect the performance of DAQ applications. Also, since the PC's USB host
controller resides on the PCI bus, using other bandwidth-intensive PCI devices
may affect USB performance. Because data is transferred across the USB bus in
packets, the timing of operations involving the transfer of small or precise
amounts of data is less deterministic than with plug-in DAQ devices. For example,
the timing of messaging and interrupt-intensive operations may vary more with USB
devices.
Set_DAQ_Device_Info
ND_SUSPEND_POWER_STATE sets the default behavior of USB devices such as the
DAQPad-4350 during suspend mode. The appropriate infoValues to use are ND_ACTIVE
and ND_INACTIVE, not ND_ON or ND_OFF.
ND_ACTIVE will make the default behavior
of a USB device to remain powered but static when the host computer enters a low
power mode known as 'suspend'. ND_INACTIVE will set the default behavior to turn
off power when the host computer enters suspend mode.
*** OPC Server for NI-DAQ
Configuring the OPC Server
Use the following procedure to configure the OPC Server:
1. Run the NI-DAQ Configuration Utility to configure your data acquisition
hardware.
2. If the DAQ-OPC Server will be performing analog input operations, set the
Recalibration Period on the OPC page for your hardware. Refer to Recalibration
later in this section for more information.
3. Launch the DAQ Channel Wizard to configure named channels. (See the NI-DAQ
on-line documentation for more details on running the DAQ Channel Wizard.) These
channels correspond to hardware resources on your DAQ device (analog input, analog
output, and digital) and serve as the correspondence between DAQ resources and
OPC items.
Recalibration
Accuracy and problems introduced by drift are important consideration for any type
of continuous acquisition. To address these concerns, the DAQ-OPC server can
perform a recalibration at specific, user-defined intervals to ensure your
hardware is returning good data. You can take advantage of recalibration if your
DAQ hardware has built-in channels for ground calibration or cold-junction
compensation. These channels are resampled every recalibration period. Select this
recalibration period by entering a number (in seconds) from the OPC tab of the
NI-DAQ Configuration Utility. If you do not select a recalibration period, the
default value (no recalibration) is selected.
Data collection
OPC defines a data collection process in which data is stored in a temporary cache
before it is read by the end-user of the OPC data. Occasionally, you may get old
data (i.e. a data value that was read previously). For example, you might receive
old data if a recalibration is in effect when you attempt to perform an OPC read
operation. You can recognize this condition by comparing your current timestamp
with a previous timestamp. If they have identical values, the data is old and you
must perform an additional I/O operation to get the current value for that item.
Timing
The DAQ-OPC Server uses hardware timing for analog input operations. Hardware
timing provides the best possible precision for timestamps. Onboard clocks ensure
that there are no lags due to operating system overhead or CPU speed issues. The
timing of digital and analog output operations, on the other hand, is calculated
in software, so these timestamps are not as precise.
*** Remote Device Access (RDA)
Explanation
With the NI-DAQ Remote Device Access (RDA) feature you can run programs written
in LabVIEW or in the CVI Easy IO library that use National Instruments data
acquisition devices plugged into other computers on your network (intranet or
internet).
The online help file contains a more complete description of the feature, its
associated terminology and the steps required to connect an RDA client with an
RDA server.
Limitations
RDA works with any programs written in LabVIEW or the CVI Easy IO layer. The standard
NI-DAQ C API is not supported. In addition, there are four VIs in LabVIEW that
will return -10403 (no support error) if used with RDA. They are DAQ Occurrence
Config, Get SCXI Info, Set SCXI Info and SCXI Cal Constants. All CVI Easy IO layer
functions are supported.
If the computer you wish to use as an RDA server is on your intranet and is not
listed in the network neighborhood on the computer you wish to use as an RDA client
you may have trouble connecting to that computer. Try typing the full path name
into the Remote name/IP address box (computername.natinst.com for example). If
this fails and yet the Find Computer applet can still locate and connect to your
potential RDA server, contact your network administrator.
NI-DAQ (on an RDA client) will attempt to connect to an RDA server the first time
you try to use the remote device on that server. If your RDA server computer is
not on your network or the computer itself is not turned on, this connection attempt
will take about one minute to fail. Note that if your RDA server computer is on
the network but the RDA server program is not running, the connection will fail
very quickly, typically within a few seconds.
*** Miscellaneous
Uninstalling NI-DAQ
NI-DAQ provides you with the option to easily uninstall all the files and
changes that were made during the installation process.
system
Open the Control Panels from the Start Menu and choose Add/Remove Programs. Select
NI-DAQ 6.1 in the list provided and click on the "Add/Remove" button.
NI-DAQ 6.1 Examples
The NI-DAQ installer has a suite of concisely written examples
that illustrate how to use NI-DAQ functions to perform a single task
For more information about each example, how to compile examples,
and details on the NI-DAQ example utility functions, please refer
to the NI-DAQ Example Online Help file. To open this file, go to Start»NI-DAQ
for Windows»NI-DAQ Examples Online Help.
These examples are written in the following languages:
· LabWindows/CVI
· Visual C++
· Visual Basic
· Borland C++
PC Card Power Cycling
Please note that PC Card power cycling is not supported in NI-DAQ 6.1. We expect
to resume support for this functionality in a subsequent release of NI-DAQ.