NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT® 17.0 Readme

March 2017


This file contains important information about the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software, including installation instructions, new features, and known issues.


Overview

Supported Operating Systems

Installation Instructions

Product Security and Critical Updates

New Features

Supported EtherCAT Masters

Known Issues

Accessing the Help

Finding Examples

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

Legal Information


Overview

The NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software provides an EtherCAT master driver to support the real-time EtherCAT network operations. Use the software with the LabVIEW Real-Time Module to configure the EtherCAT network and map the EtherCAT device signals to the LabVIEW I/O variables.


Supported Operating Systems

The NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT supports the following operating systems:


  • Windows 10/8.11/7 SP12
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)1
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (64-bit)2

Note  In 2016 NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT 17.0 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT 17.0 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT 17.0, you cannot use any installers built on this computer with any version of LabVIEW, LabWindows™/CVI™, NI TestStand™, or Measurement Studio on an unsupported OS.


For more information about the changes to our OS support for 2016, refer to KB 79UC78LS, Why Does my LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio, or TestStand Built Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Server 2003?.


Note  Support for Windows 32-bit operating systems may require disabling physical address extension (PAE). To learn how this might affect your system and what actions you might need to take, visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code PAESupport.


1 NI software installs VC2015 Runtime and .NET 4.6.2. Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Microsoft updates to support these items. Refer to Microsoft KB2919442 and KB2919355 for more information about how to install these updates.


2 NI software is signed with a SHA-256 certificate. Windows 7 SP1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP1, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 require Microsoft updates to support SHA-256. Refer to Microsoft KB3033929 for more information about how to install this security update.


Software Requirements

To install the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software, install the following prerequisite software.


  • LabVIEW 2014 or later
  • LabVIEW 2014 Real-Time Module or later
  • NI CompactRIO Device Drivers May 2017

Refer to the LabVIEW Readme for additional system requirements and supported operating systems for LabVIEW.


Notes  
  • NI 9144 and NI 9145 are the only EtherCAT slaves that have FPGA support in LabVIEW. To use the NI 9144/9145 in FPGA Mode, install the LabVIEW 2014 FPGA Module or later on the host computer and then download a bitfile to the FPGA of the NI 9144/9145. You can compile or copy a bitfile to download to the FPGA.
  • NI 951x Series drive interface modules require the LabVIEW 2014 SoftMotion Module or later to work for EtherCAT.

Installation Instructions

Before installing the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software, log on as Administrator or as a user with Administrator privileges. The NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software setup program must have Administrator privileges because the program modifies the configuration registry of your system. Complete the following steps to install the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software:


  1. Insert the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software media. The installer launches automatically. If the installer does not launch automatically, navigate to the media and launch the autorun.exe file.
  2. Follow the installation wizard to install the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software.

Note  Refer to NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT® Installation Guide to learn how to install the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software on the real-time controller. This manual is available in printed-format shipped with the media.


Product Security and Critical Updates

Visit ni.com/security to view and subscribe to receive security notifications about NI products. Visit ni.com/critical-updates for information about critical updates from NI.


New Features

Version 17.0

  • Added support for LabVIEW 2017.
  • Added support for the new C Series module—NI 9266.

Version 16.1

  • Added support for the new EtherCAT slave—NI 9145.

Version 16.0

  • Added support for LabVIEW 2016.
  • Added support for NI cRIO-9032/9035 (Sync)/9037/9039 (Sync).
  • Added support for new C Series modules—NI 9209/9216/9226/9344/9436.
  • Added support for IC-3171/3172/3173.
  • Added support for Remote I/O. Remote I/O is a modular I/O system for measurement, machine control, and industrial automation. NI provides Remote I/O API for communicating with Remote I/O devices in an EtherCAT environment.

Version 15.0

  • Added support for LabVIEW 2015.
  • Added support for new C Series modules—NI 9220/9222/9223/9242/9244/9437.
  • Added support for NI sbRIO-9607/9627.

Version 14.5

  • Added support for LabVIEW 2014 SP1.
  • Added support for new CompactRIO real-time controllers.

Version 14.0

  • Added EtherCAT master support for new real-time controllers.
  • Added support for new C Series modules—NI 9212 and NI 9218.

Version 2.7

  • Added support to import device profiles to real-time controllers.

Version 2.6

  • Added support for NI cRIO-9068.
  • Added support for new C Series modules—NI 9381 and NI 9482.

Version 2.5

  • Added support for more than eight modules on third-party modular slave devices.
  • Added support for 4-port slave devices when DC is not enabled.

Version 2.4

  • Added support for sending and receiving raw PDO data.
  • Added support for monitoring slave device states.

Version 2.3

  • Fixed a latency issue caused by using fiber-optic converters in an EtherCAT network.
  • Added support for third-party C Series modules in the NI 9144 FPGA mode.
  • Added support for using Remote Programmatic API with the LabVIEW Run-Time Engine.
  • Extended the maximum scan period to 1 second.

Version 2.2

  • Added support for cable redundancy.
  • Added support for Modular Device Profiles.
  • Added support for NI cRIO-908x.

Version 2.1

  • Improved the performance of user-defined variables.

Version 2.0

  • Added support for Programmatic Configuration.
  • Added support for synchronization among multiple NI EtherCAT masters.
  • Added support for NI PXIe-8133 and RT desktop target.
  • Added support for NI 9214 C Series Module.

Version 1.2

  • Added support for NI cRIO-9023, NI 9792, and EVS-146x Series.
  • Added support for new C Series modules.

Version 1.1

  • Added LabVIEW FPGA Module support for the NI 9144.
  • Added support for Industrial Controllers and NI cRIO-9024.
  • Added support for new C Series modules, including the NI 951x Motion modules.

Version 1.0.2

  • Fixed incorrect installer dependency.

Version 1.0.1

  • Added support for NI cRIO-9022.

Version 1.0

  • Initial support for the EtherCAT protocol.

Supported EtherCAT Masters

The following table lists the supported EtherCAT masters and the earlist supported version of the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT.


EtherCAT MasterEarliest Supported Version
cRIO-90741.0
PXI-81061.0
PXIe-81301.0
PXI-81041.0
PXI-81831.0
PXI-81451.0
cRIO-90221.01
PXI-81081.01
cRIO-90241.1
NI 31001.1
NI 31101.1
cRIO-90231.2
cRIO-90251.2
NI 97921.2
EVS 1463RT1.2
EVS 1464RT1.2
All real-time embedded PXI controllers with the NI PXI-8231 or PXI-8232 Ethernet interface2.0
PXIe-81332.0
PCI-82322.0
PCIe-82312.0
PCIe-82332.0
PCIe-82352.0
cRIO-90812.2
cRIO-90822.2
RMC-8354RT2.5
RMC-8355RT2.5
PXI-81092.5
PXI-81152.5
PXIe-81152.5
PXIe-81352.5
cRIO-90682.6
cRIO-903014.0
cRIO-903114.0
cRIO-903314.0
cRIO-906714.0
sbRIO-965114.0
cDAQ-9132RT14.0
cDAQ-9134RT14.0
cDAQ-9139RT14.0
PXI-884014.0
PXIe-884014.0
CVS-1457RT14.0
PXI-811914.0
PXIe-811914.0
PXIe-888014.0
cRIO-903514.5
cRIO-903614.5
cRIO-903814.5
cRIO-903914.5
cRIO-906414.5
cRIO-906514.5
cDAQ-9133RT14.5
cDAQ-9135RT14.5
sbRIO-960715.0
sbRIO-962715.0
cDAQ-9136RT15.0
cDAQ-9137RT15.0
CVS-1458RT15.0
cRIO-903216.0
cRIO-903716.0
cRIO-9035 (Sync)16.0
cRIO-9039 (Sync)16.0
IC-317116.0
IC-317216.0
IC-317316.0

Note  NI does not recommend using cDAQ real-time controllers with the NI 9144/9145 EtherCAT slave device in FPGA mode, because cDAQ real-time controllers cannot read user-defined variables from the NI 9144/9145 EtherCAT slave device. When using a cDAQ real-time controller as the master device, you can only read EtherCAT device signals from the LabVIEW I/O Variable Functions. You cannot read directly from the LabVIEW I/O variables.


Note  If you use NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to install the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software on real-time controllers, some controllers, such as the Embedded Vision System, require you to install the controller driver software. Otherwise, MAX cannot discover the controllers.


Known Issues

You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI website for an up-to-date list of known issues in the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software.


Accessing the Help

Refer to the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT® Help, available by selecting Help»NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT from LabVIEW, for information about the NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT software.


Finding Examples

Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW to launch the NI Example Finder. Navigate to the Hardware Input and Output»NI-Industrial Communications»EtherCAT folder to access the examples.


You can also find the examples for NI-Industrial Communications for EtherCAT® in the labview\examples\indcomecat folder.


Automating the Installation of NI Products

You can automate the installation of most NI products using command-line arguments to suppress some or all of the installer user interface and dialog boxes.


If the NI product you are installing uses Microsoft .NET 4.0, the .NET installer may run before any NI software installs and may require a reboot before the installation of NI software begins. To avoid a .NET reboot, install .NET 4.0 separately before you install NI software.


For more information about automating the installation of NI products, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Microsoft Windows 10 is the latest version of the Windows operating system and features significant changes compared to previous versions. Windows 10 introduces several new capabilities and also combines features from both Windows 7 and Windows 8. For more information about NI support for Windows 10, visit ni.com/windows10.


Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

When you install NI software on Microsoft Windows 8.1, you will notice a few additional tiles in the Apps view, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.



Legal Information

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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices


You can find end-user license agreements (EULAs) and third-party legal notices in the following locations after installation:


  • Notices are located in the <National Instruments>\_Legal Information and <National Instruments> directories.
  • EULAs are located in the <National Instruments>\Shared\MDF\Legal\license directory.
  • Review <National Instruments>\_Legal Information.txt for information on including legal information in installers built with NI products.

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Patents


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Credits


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Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Thai Open Source Software Center Ltd and Clark Cooper. Copyright © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Expat maintainers.


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