NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers Readme

October 2020

This document contains the following important information about NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers:

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Application Software Support

Installing NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers

Product Security and Critical Updates

What's New in NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers

Supported Hardware and Software

Preserving Device Aliases when Upgrading Software

Bug Fixes

Known Issues

Accessing the Help

LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 10

Using NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.1

NI CompactRIO and Drivers Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021

Legal Information


System Requirements

Installing NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers requires at least 2 GB of RAM in addition to the requirements for LabVIEW, the LabVIEW Real-Time Module, and the LabVIEW FPGA Module.

Supported Operating Systems

NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers supports the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2016/2012 R21/2008 R2 SP12
  • Windows 10/8.11/7 SP12
  • Windows Embedded Standard 7 SP12

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  Refer to NI CompactRIO and Drivers Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021 for information about future OS support.

Note  In 2016, NI CompactRIO and Drivers dropped support for Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and installations of Windows 7 without any service packs. NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers will not install or run on an unsupported OS. You cannot deploy or distribute applications that use NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers to an unsupported OS. Additionally, after installing NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers, 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/r/PAESupport.

Application Software Support

NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers supports the following application software versions, including service packs.

Application SoftwareVersions Supported
LabVIEW LabVIEW 2020
LabVIEW 2019 SP1
LabVIEW 2018 SP1
LabVIEW 2017 SP1
LabVIEW NXG5.0

Installing NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers

Complete the following steps to install NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers for use with LabVIEW. Refer to the Supported Hardware and Software section to confirm which software versions support your specific hardware devices.

  1. Install one of the supported versions of LabVIEW. Refer to Application Software Support for a list of which versions of LabVIEW NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers supports.
  2. Install the LabVIEW Real-Time Module.
  3. Install the LabVIEW FPGA Module.
  4. Install NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers.

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.

What's New in NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers

  • Added CAN API for sbRIO-9603/9608/9609/9628/9638/9629 controllers in LabVIEW 2020.
  • Added NI 9326 and NI 9470 FPGA I/O Node support in LabVIEW 2018.

Supported Hardware and Software

Refer to the Software Support for CompactRIO, CompactDAQ, Single-Board RIO, R Series, FlexRIO, and EtherCAT support document on ni.com for a complete list of the hardware and LabVIEW software versions supported by each version of NI CompactRIO.

Visit ni.com/compactrio for additional NI CompactRIO product support and information.

Preserving Device Aliases when Upgrading Software

Ensure that you back up any aliases for local RIO devices before you upgrade the software on your system, or ensure that the devices remain connected to the system during the upgrade. Any local aliases that are not associated with a connected device might be removed during the upgrade.

Bug Fixes

Refer to the List of Known Issues and Bug Fixes for NI-RIO Device Drivers on ni.com for a list of bug fixes in this release.

Known Issues

Refer to the List of Known Issues and Bug Fixes for NI-RIO Device Drivers on ni.com for a current list of all known issues in this release.

Accessing the Help

In the LabVIEW Help, click the Contents tab and select NI CompactRIO and Drivers to access the software help for your NI CompactRIO device.

LabVIEW NXG Support and Considerations

The following sections detail considerations for using LabVIEW NXG 5.0 with NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers.

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

NI CompactRIO 20.5 and Drivers supports the following devices in LabVIEW NXG 5.0

  • C Series Modules
    • NI 9201
    • NI 9203
    • NI 9205
    • NI 9206
    • NI 9221
    • NI 9263
    • NI 9264
    • NI 9265
    • NI 9266
    • NI 9269
    • NI 9401
  • CompactRIO Controllers
    • cRIO-9040
    • cRIO-9041
    • cRIO-9042
    • cRIO-9043
    • cRIO-9045
    • cRIO-9046
    • cRIO-9047
    • cRIO-9048
    • cRIO-9049
    • cRIO-9053
    • cRIO-9054
    • cRIO-9055
    • cRIO-9056
    • cRIO-9057
    • cRIO-9058

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.

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.

NI CompactRIO and Drivers Drops Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-Bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and All 32-Bit Windows Operating Systems in 2021

NI CompactRIO and Drivers will drop support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit), Windows Server 2008 R2, and all 32-bit Windows operating systems starting in 2021. Versions of this product that ship after May 1, 2021, may not install or execute correctly on these operating systems. For detailed information about NI operating system support, visit ni.com/r/win32bitsupport.

For detailed information about NI application software product life cycles, visit ni.com/info and enter one of the following Info Codes:

Product Info Code
LabVIEWlifecycle
LabWindows/CVIcvi_lifecycle
Measurement Studiomstudiolifecycle
TestStandtslcp
DIAdemddlcp
SignalExpressselcp
VeriStandnivslifecycle

Legal Information

Copyright

© 2004–2020 National Instruments Corporation. 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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