NI-FGEN 18.5 Readme

September 2018


This file contains important information about NI-FGEN, including installation instructions, new features, a partial list of bugs fixed, and known issues.

If you plan to use LabVIEW NXG, refer to LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations.



Overview

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Application Software Support

Installation Instructions

Product Security and Critical Updates

Upgrading Firmware

New Features

Supported Hardware

Known Issues

Bug Fixes

Accessing the Help

Finding Examples

LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations

IVI Compliance Package Functionality

Automating the Installation of NI Products

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

Legal Information


Overview

NI-FGEN is an NI instrument driver that enables you to implement frequency sweeping and hopping, waveform linking and looping, and frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation for complex measurement solutions. NI-FGEN is an interchangeable virtual instrument (IVI)–compliant instrument driver, and it features a set of operations and properties that exercise the functionality of the waveform or signal generator and includes an interactive soft front panel and examples.


System Requirements

NI-FGEN 18.5 has the following requirements:


  • Processor—1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • RAM—1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
  • A screen resolution of 1,024 x 768
  • Windows 10/8.1/7 with all available critical updates and service packs

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


Supported Operating Systems

NI-FGEN 18.5 supports the following operating systems:


  • Windows 10/8.11/7 SP12 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2012 R21 (64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP12 (64-bit)

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.


Note  In 2016 NI-FGEN dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. NI-FGEN 18.5 will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use NI-FGEN 18.5 to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing NI-FGEN 18.5, 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 Why Does my NI ADE Installer Fail on Windows XP/Vista and Windows 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.


Application Software Support

NI-FGEN 18.5 supports the following application software versions, including service packs. If you are not using NI application software, refer to Microsoft Visual Studio Support.


Application SoftwareVersions Supported by NI-FGEN
LabVIEW 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
LabVIEW Real-Time Module3 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
LabVIEW NXG 3.0
LabWindows™/CVI™ 2013 and later
LabWindows™/CVI™ Real-Time Module3 2013 and later

3No support for PXI/PCI-5401/5411/5431 or PXIe-5413/5423/5433 waveform generators.


Microsoft Visual Studio Support

If you are using the NI-FGEN .NET Class Library, the .NET Framework 4.0 (minimum) is required. The NI-FGEN .NET Class Library can be used with the Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET programming languages in any Visual Studio version that can target the .NET Framework 4.0 or the .NET Framework 4.5.


To use the .NET API, you must select the .NET Framework 4.0 Languages Support or the .NET Framework 4.5 Languages Support packages in the NI-FGEN installer to install the the .NET class libraries in addition to the NI device driver. For information about versions of the .NET Framework and the drivers each supports, refer to the National Instruments .NET Driver Support document at ni.com/info and enter Info Code NETAPIdriversupport.


Installation Instructions

  1. Install an ADE, such as LabVIEW or LabWindows™/CVI™.
  2. Visit ni.com/downloads and search for NI-FGEN 18.5.
  3. Click NI-FGEN 18.5 and then the download link and run the executable (.exe) file.
  4. Follow the instructions in the installation prompts. You may see access and security prompts during installation. Accept the prompts to complete the installation.
  5. When the installer completes, select Restart in the dialog box that prompts you to restart, shut down, or restart later.

Note


  • If Windows Update is enabled, the installation process might hang if Windows Update interferes with the installation of Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Run-Time. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code exjq43 for more information and steps to resolve this issue.
  • If you purchased this product with an NI Software Suite or NI Product Bundle, use the installation media that shipped with your purchase to install this product.

Installing NI-FGEN 18.5 for LabVIEW NXG

NI automates LabVIEW NXG installation using NI Package Manager. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code NIPMDownload to download NI Package Manager. Refer to the NI Package Manager Manual for more information about installing, removing, and upgrading NI software using NI Package Manager.


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.


Upgrading Firmware

The PXIe-5442, PXIe-5450, and PXIe-5451 have upgradeable device firmware. It is highly encouraged and may be required that you upgrade the firmware on these devices; newer firmware contains new features and important bug fixes. To update the firmware, run the Firmware Updater application for your device (54xxFirmwareUpdater_X.Y.Z.exe, where 54xx is the name of the device and X.Y.Z is the firmware version) that is installed in the Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\Drivers\niFgen\ directory or the Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\IVI\Drivers\niFgen\ directory. This application upgrades your firmware to the latest available version that works with this driver. After the application runs, you are required to power down your computer and PXI Express chassis to complete the firmware update.


New Features

  • NI-FGEN 18.5 adds support for LabVIEW NXG 3.0.

Supported Hardware

The following list details the hardware models supported in NI-FGEN 18.5.


Hardware Product Supported Under Windows 10 (32-bit)/8.1 (32-bit)/7 (32-bit)1 Supported Under Windows 10 (64-bit)/8.1 (64-bit)/7 (64-bit)1
NI-DAQmx-Based Waveform Generators
PXI/PCI-5401
X2
X2
PXI/PCI-5402
PXI-5404
3
3
PXI/PCI-5406
PXI/PCI-5411
X2
X2
PXI/PCI-5412
PXI/PCI-5421
PXI-5422
PXI/PCI-5431
X2
X2
PXIe–5413
PXIe–5423
PXIe–5433
PXI-5441
PXIe–5442
PXIe–5450
PXIe–5451
NI 5413, 5423, and 5433 Waveform Generators
PXIe–5413
PXIe–5423
PXIe–5433
1 MXI Express and MXI-4 are supported on Windows 10/8.1/7.

2Simulating these devices is also not supported on Windows 8.1/7, using either NI-FGEN or the FGEN Soft Front Panel. Simulating a device that is not supported on your operating system results in indeterminate behavior.

3 Windows 8.1/7 support for the PXI-5404 does not include support for external calibration. Perform external calibration for the PXI-5404 on Windows XP operating systems.

Known Issues

You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Visit ni.com/info and enter the Info Code exeiuw for an up-to-date list of known issues in NI-FGEN 18.5.


Bug Fixes

The following items are the IDs and titles of a subset of issues fixed in NI-FGEN. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of NI-FGEN. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.


The following items are changes in NI-FGEN 18.1.1 from NI-FGEN 18.1.


IDFixed Issue
26171 Fixed an issue in which PXIe-5413/5423/5433 analog output settings were not reset to a known state of outputting 0 V after device reset.

The following items are changes in NI-FGEN 18.1 from NI-FGEN 18.0.


IDFixed Issue
686813 A clocking problem intermittently caused markers to be misaligned on PXIe-5413/5423/5433 waveform generators after reboot.
678387 Calling Clear User Waveform on channel 1 of a PXIe-5413/5423/5433 waveform generator caused LabVIEW or the NI-FGEN Soft Front Panel to crash.
643170 Calling NI-FGEN Get Hardware State on PXIe-5413/5423/5433 waveform generators returned an error (-1074135023).
658865 NI-FGEN returned an error (-1074135024) when using Arbitrary Waveform output mode if the Standard Function attribute for DC Offset was set to anything other than 0.
434355 Querying current temperature of an NI-DAQmx-based waveform generator using the System Configuration API resulted in memory leakage.
645379 The clocking status of PXIe-5413/5423/5433 waveform generators was not checked with NI-FGEN Commit, Initiate Generation, Is Done, or Abort calls.
648798 An empty string was returned for the invalid session handle error.
660993 The C prototype documentation for the niFgen_InitializeWithChannels function incorrectly listed parameters.

Accessing the Help

Refer to the NI Signal Generators Help, accessible from Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-FGEN»NI-FGEN Documentation, for information about NI-FGEN.


Finding Examples

You can access all the installed NI-FGEN examples for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, C, and .NET at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-FGEN»NI-FGEN Examples and online at ni.com/examples. Examples also are available online that demonstrate integrating NI waveform generators with NI toolkit software including the Modulation Toolkit. Refer to ni.com/examples for these examples and for more information.


Select Help»Find Examples from LabVIEW or LabWindows/CVI to launch the NI Example Finder. LabVIEW examples for NI-FGEN are located in the LabVIEW XXXX\examples\instr\niFgen directory. You can modify an example VI to fit an application, or you can copy and paste from one or more examples into a VI that you create.


The NI Example Finder offers two ways to access all installed LabVIEW example VIs and their descriptions:


  • Click the Browse tab to locate modulation examples by task at Hardware Input and Output»Modular Instruments»NI–FGEN or by directory structure at instr»niFgen.
  • Click the Search tab to search all installed examples by keyword. For example, search for "FGEN" to locate all waveform generator examples.

LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations

The following sections detail considerations for using LabVIEW NXG with NI-FGEN.


LabVIEW NXG Operating Systems and System Requirements

Software support for LabVIEW NXG differs in the following ways:


  • System requirements—Only 64-bit (x64) processors are supported.
  • Operating system—Only 64-bit operating systems are supported. Refer to the Supported Operating Systems section for more information.

LabVIEW NXG Hardware Support

Hardware Product Supported Under Windows 10 (64-bit)/8.1 (64-bit)/7 (64-bit)1
NI-DAQmx-Based Waveform Generators
PXI/PCI-5402
PXI-5404
2
PXI/PCI-5406
PXI/PCI-5412
PXI/PCI-5421
PXI-5422
PXI-5441
PXIe–5442
PXIe–5450
PXIe–5451
NI 5413, 5423, and 5433 Waveform Generators
PXIe–5413
PXIe–5423
PXIe–5433
1 MXI Express and MXI-4 are supported on Windows 10/8.1/7.

2 Windows 8.1/7 support for the PXI-5404 does not include support for external calibration. Perform external calibration for the PXI-5404 on Windows XP operating systems.

LabVIEW NXG Help

View context help in LabVIEW by pressing <Ctrl-H> and hovering over an object.


Search for items using the search bar in the upper right corner of the LabVIEW window. You can also view context help for the search results.


Additional documentation is available online at ni.com/manuals.


LabVIEW NXG Examples

Launch LabVIEW and click the Learning tab.


LabVIEW lessons are located in the Lessons tab, and LabVIEW Examples are located in the Examples tab. Follow the instructions in the lessons and examples.


IVI Compliance Package Functionality

NI-FGEN no longer installs IVI Compliance Package. NI-FGEN supports IVI configuration and runtime, but no longer supports the following features:


  • LabVIEW and CVI IVI class driver APIs for developing IVI interchangeable applications
  • IVI Class Simulation drivers
  • IVI-COM Adapters

If you want to use the above features, you must install IVI Compliance Package separately, either from ni.com/downloads or from the NI Device Drivers 2018 DVD.


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, Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), and NI Launcher. For more information about NI support for Windows 8.1, visit ni.com/windows8.



Legal Information

Copyright


© 2007–2018 National Instruments. All rights reserved.


Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.


NI respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our users to do the same. NI software is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Where NI software may be used to reproduce software or other materials belonging to others, you may use NI software only to reproduce materials that you may reproduce in accordance with the terms of any applicable license or other legal restriction.


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.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights


If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.


IVI Foundation Copyright Notice


Content from the IVI specifications reproduced with permission from the IVI Foundation.


The IVI Foundation and its member companies make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The IVI Foundation and its member companies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.


Trademarks


Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on NI trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.


Patents


For patents covering the NI products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the NI Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.


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