Labview 2012 SP1 FPGA & EVS1464RT FPGA-IO

[Merlin_Welker]

Hello,

there seem to be problems with the new Labview FPGA 2012 SP1 in combination with an EVS1464RT Embedded Vision System, which only occurred after the upgrade to Labview 2012 SP1 :

• While trying to compile our FPGA-code for the NI EVS1464RT (Embedded Vision System with FPGA IO based on a Virtex-II-FPGA) the Xilinx-Tools (V10.1, since it is a Virtex-II) reported an error saying that the compile job tried to set the property "Data (Output Events)", which does not exists, so the Xilinx-Tools just quit with an error.
  
  A full deinstallation and "clean" reinstallation did not solve the problem.
  
  Some research showed that there is a correct property for the Xilinx Tools called "Done (Output Events)". An extensive search in the Labview files turned up the incorrect "Data (Output Events)"-Text in the 2 files "resource.xml" in the directories "...\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2012\Targets\NI\FPGA\IMAQIO\IMAQIO-1" and "...\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2012\Targets\NI\FPGA\IMAQIO\IMAQIO-5" (and nowhere else). Changing these 2 texts to "Done (Output Events)" corrected the error and made it possible to compile the code again.

• Another problem is that you can not start the FPGA-VI interactively (e.g. by clicking on the Run-Button). This just produces another error message saying that the VI "...\National Instruments\LabVIEW 2012\vi.lib\FPGAPlugInAG\IMAQIO-5\niFpgaOpenAndRun_IMAQIO-5.vi" could not be found (and it really does not exist anywhere on the harddrive).
  
  The FPGA-VI can be startet from another VI on the target-host by using the "Open FPGA Reference" function. Then it works without any problem, so the bitfile was obviously compiled correctly.

All this worked out of the box without any problems on my old Labview installation (before 2012 SP1 upgrade).

Now the first problems seems to be a simple typo, and using the "Open FPGA Reference" function is a work-around for the second problem. But I'm very angry that National Instruments does not seem to test their software before releasing it. A service pack should never break things that worked before.

Finding these work-arounds cost me 3 days, which in my opinion might be acceptable for an open-source-software, but not if you are paying several hundreds of euros per year for a "Standard Service Program". For that kind of money I expect NI to test all changes they make thoroughly.


Best regards


Dr. Merlin Welker

[Elmar_NI · Accepted solution]

Hello Dr. Welker,

First of all, thank you for your feedback. I'm really sorry that you ran into this issue. Please allow me to give you some background information on it.

You are right that the focus for service pack releases is to address reported issues and it should never break things that worked before. Unforunately, a change in LabVIEW FPGA exposed an underlying issue with the NI-IMAQ I/O driver's FPGA compilation. We identified this issue and addressed it in the Vision Acquisition Software February 2013 release, which includes NI-IMAQ I/O 2.6.1.

It is available now in NI Update Service. We also found and addressed the issue with running the FPGA Open and Run interactively in thatsame release.

We recommend upgrading to use the latest driver release whenever you upgrade LabVIEW versions, to ensure the best compatibility between them. Please note that whenever you upgrade LabVIEW FPGA or Vision Acquisition Software, you should also recompile your LabVIEW FPGA projects.

While these issues were found and fixed in the latest release, we are currently reviewing our development and testing processes for future releases. Please accept our apology for the inconvenience. National Instruments is committed to your satisfaction and to maintaining your confidence in our products.

Thanks,

Elmar

[Merlin_Welker]

Hello Elmar,

thank you for xour extensive reply.

I installed the February 2013 release for the Vision Acquisition Software and everything now works as you said. Perhaps I should have looked for the latest upgrades first ...

In my defense I have to say that the update is in the upgrades section of the NI Update Service (which is collapsed by default, at least on my computer) and even after I found it, I did not connect it with my problems (I had problems with the FPGA, not with the Vision Acquisition Software ...). I did not recognize that this upgrade might affect the FPGA on my embedded vision system.

Well, thank you again for your support.

Best regards


Dr. Merlin Welker