Legacy: Booting a PXI Embedded Controller into RT

Use the Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to configure PXI controllers for use with LabVIEW RT 6.0. You can purchase RT Series PXI controllers with the RT Engine pre-installed, or you can use MAX to turn an RT-compatible PXI controller into an RT controller.

The RT Engine, which must be installed on a PXI controller before you can use it with LabVIEW RT, is a combination of the real-time operating system, an embedded version of LabVIEW, and associated device drivers. Included are an FTP server, an RDA server, and a Web Server.

You can configure a Non-RT Series PXI controller for use with LabVIEW RT in the following two ways:

Configure PXI controllers with Windows installed using a boot disk to boot into the RT Engine.
1. You need a Real-Time Run-Time Licence (777849-01) to install the RT Engine on a PXI controller that did not come with it pre-installed. Click here to contact sales.
2. Configure a boot floppy disk, so that when the PXI Boot Disk is inserted the controller boots into the RT Engine. Booting the controller without the PXI Boot Disk boots the system into Windows. Follow the instructions below to create a PXI Boot Disk.
  1. Place a floppy disk in the drive of the host PC. Note that any data on the floppy disk will be overwritten.
  2. Select Programs » National Instruments » Measurement & Automation Explorer from the Windows Start menu on the host PC. Measurement & Automation Explorer appears.
  3. Select Tools » RT PXI Disk Utilities » Create PXI Boot Disk.
  4. The PXI Boot Disk dialog box appears. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to create the disk.
  5. When you finish creating the boot disk, remove the floppy disk and label it “LabVIEW RT PXI Boot Disk.”
  6. Shut down and boot the system with the “LabVIEW RT PXI Boot Disk” inserted into the floppy drive to boot into the RT Engine.
3. Proceed to RT Series PXI Embedded Controller Configuration
Remove Windows and install the RT Engine on an embedded PXI Controller. Use a PXI Format Hard Drive Disk, which you can create using MAX, to configure a PXI controller with Windows installed on it to boot into the RT Engine without a PXI Boot Disk.
1. You need a Real-Time Run-Time Licence (777849-01) to install the RT Engine on a PXI controller that did not come with it pre-installed. Click here to contact sales.
2. Create and then boot the controller using a PXI Format Hard Drive Disk.
  Note: Completing this step will erase everything on the hard drive and will only install the RT Engine.
  1. Place a floppy disk in the drive of the host PC. Note that any data on the floppy disk will be overwritten.
  2. Select Programs » National Instruments » Measurement & Automation Explorer from the Windows Start menu on the host PC. Measurement & Automation Explorer appears.
  3. Select Tools » RT PXI Disk Utilities » Create Format Hard Drive Disk.
  4. The PXI Format Hard Drive Disk dialog box appears. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to create the disk.
  5. When you finish creating the boot disk, remove the floppy disk and label it “LabVIEW RT PXI Format Hard Drive Disk.”
  6. Shut down and boot the system with the “LabVIEW PXI Format Hard Drive Disk” inserted into the floppy drive to remove Windows and install the RT Engine.
    
    Note: If you receive a KERNEL warning while formatting follow this troubleshooting link." to read, "Note: If you receive a KERNEL warning during formatting, please read KnowledgeBase 1WPH70KS: Warning KERNEL 346520 on an RT Series PXI Controller with the NTFS File System.
3. Proceed to RT Series PXI Embedded Controller Configuration