NI PXI-5660 Support (NI LabVIEW 2015) Readme

2015 Edition



Thank you for using NI PXI-5660 Support. This file contains important information about NI PXI-5660 Support and is organized into the following sections:



NI PXI-5660 Support Software: ni5660 APIs

This software installation provides support for customers using an NI PXI-5660 (NI 5660). To program the NI 5660, use the ni5660 API in LabVIEW and the NI-Tuner and NI-SCOPE APIs in other programming languages.


Supported Hardware

The NI 5660 is supported under all operating systems listed in the Supported Operating Systems section of this document.


System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

The ni5660 API supports the following operating systems1:


  • Windows 8.1 (32-bit)
  • Windows 8.0 (32-bit)
  • Windows 7 (32-bit)
  • Windows Vista (32-bit)
  • Windows XP Service Pack 3 (32-bit)
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-bit)

It is recommended that you have the most recent service pack for your operating system installed.


1 MXI Express and MXI-4 are supported on Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, but MXI-3 is supported on only Windows XP.


Minimum Runtime/Deployment System

You may need an update for Windows 8.1/8.0


  • Processor—Pentium III/Celeron 600 MHz or equivalent
  • RAM—
    • Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3): 128 MB
    • Windows 8/7/Vista: 512 MB
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
  • A screen resolution of 800 x 600 with 256 colors
  • Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista/XP SP3, with all available critical updates and service packs

Recommended System

  • Processor—Pentium 4 or equivalent
  • RAM—
    • Windows XP SP3: 256 MB
    • Windows 8/7/Vista: 1 GB
  • A screen resolution of 1,024 x 768
  • Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista/XP SP3, with all available critical updates and service packs
  • If you are running your application on an RT target, 64 MB of memory or more is recommended.

Application Development Environments (ADEs)

Note You should install ADEs, such as NI LabVIEW, NI LabWindows™/CVI™ or Microsoft Visual Studio®, before installing NI-RFSA. To add support for ADEs installed after installing NI PXI-5660 Support, modify your NI PXI-5660 Support installation or launch the NI PXI-5660 Support installer again.


  • LabVIEW 2012 SP1 (32-bit), 2013 SP1 (32-bit), 2014 SP1 (32-bit), 2015 (32-bit)
  • LabWindows/CVI 2009 or later
  • Any C compiler capable of calling a 32-bit DLL

Note The ni5660 API does not provide LabWindows/CVI support, but you can use the NI-SCOPE and NI-Tuner functions to create your application in this ADE.


Note The NI Spectral Measurements Toolkit must be installed for proper operation of NI RF vector signal analyzers. Install the Spectral Measurements Toolkit after installing NI PXI-5660 Support. Refer to the NI PXI-5660 Getting Started Guide for more information about software and hardware installation.


Note MXI users must install the software included with the MXI hardware.


Installed Software, Documentation, and Examples

  • <NIDocDir> is an alias for the following National Instruments file folder location:
    • Windows XP: Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\National Instruments
    • Windows 8.1/8.0/7/Vista: Users\Public\Documents\National Instruments
  • <IVIROOTDIR32> is an alias for Program Files\IVI Foundation\IVI\
    Note $(IVIROOTDIR32) is configured as an environment variable on the target system.
    If you upgraded an installation of IVI, your files may be located in Program Files\IVI\
  • <VXIPNPPATH> is an alias for the VISA file location Program Files\IVI\VISA
    Note If you upgraded an installation of VISA, your <VXIPNPPATH> folder may be located at C:\VXIPNP

File Locations

Files Installed Location on Windows 8.1 (32-bit)/8.0 (32-bit)/7 (32-bit)/Vista (32-bit)/XP
NI-TUNER Function Panel<VXIPNPPATH>\WinNT\niTuner\niTuner.fp
ni5660 Header file<VXIPNPPATH>\WinNT\include
ni5660 Import Library files<VXIPNPPATH>\WinNT\lib
ni5660 DLL (32-bit)<VXIPNPPATH>\WinNT\Bin

Examples

With LabVIEW running, select Help»Find Examples to launch the NI Example Finder. The NI Example Finder offers two ways to access all installed LabVIEW example VIs (including NI-RFSA, Spectral Measurements Toolkit (SMT) examples, and Modulation Toolkit (MT) examples) and their descriptions.


  • Click the Browse tab to locate modulation examples by task at Hardware Input and Output»Modular Instruments» NI-RFSA or by directory structure at instr»ni5660.
  • Click the Search tab to search all installed examples by keyword. For example, search for "RFSA" to locate all RF vector signal analyzer examples.

The NI Example Finder is also available in LabWindows/CVI by selecting Help»Find Examples.


LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI users also can access all the installed NI–RFSA examples at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI–RFSA»NI-5660 Examples.


Examples also are available online that demonstrate integrating NI RF signal analyzers with NI RF signal generators and NI toolkit software including the Modulation Toolkit. Refer to the NI Developer Zone on the Web at ni.com/examples for these examples and for more information.


Documentation

Documentation for NI PXI-5660 Support is located at Start»All Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»NI-5660 Documentation. The documentation set is composed of the following documents.


Document Format Description
NI PXI-5660 Help HTML/Windows Help Contains primary help content for NI PXI-5660 products. The help is an HTML version of a traditional user manual that includes the following information:
  • An introduction to NI PXI-5660
  • Hardware device information
  • How to get started with application development
  • A complete reference for all NI PXI-5660 VIs
Getting Started Guide for your device Printed and PDF Contains software and hardware installation, MAX configuration, signal connection, and troubleshooting information for your device.
Specifications for your device PDF Only Lists technical specifications for your device.
Calibration Procedures for your device PDF Contains calibration instructions for your device.
NI PXI-5660 Support (NI LabVIEW 2015) Readme HTML (this document) Contains information about supported hardware and operating systems, new features, fixed issues, and legal notices.

For the most recent revisions of documentation and for newly released documentation, visit ni.com/manuals.


Note  To view PDFs, you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can install the viewer from www.adobe.com/acrobat.


 


Accessing VIs and Functions

ni5660 palette VIs are available from the Functions»Instrument I/O»Instrument Drivers»ni5660 palette.


The ni5660 API does not provide LabWindows/CVI support, but you can use the NI-SCOPE and NI-Tuner functions to create your application in this ADE.


The 5660 Demo Panel

The 5660 Demo Panel is acaccessible from Start»Programs»National Instruments»NI-RFSA»NI-5660 Demo Panel.


Press <Ctrl-H> with the 5660 Demo Panel running to access context-sensitive help for all controls and indicators. Refer to the NI PXI-5660 Getting Started Guide for more information about the 5660 Demo Panel.



Product Security and Critical Updates

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


Uninstalling/Modifying NI PXI-5660 Support Software

Perform the following procedure to uninstall the NI PXI-5660 Support:


For Windows XP, complete the following steps:


  1. Launch the Control Panel by selecting Start»Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  3. Select National Instruments Software.
  4. Click Change/Remove.
  5. Select NI PXI-5660 Support from the dialog box that appears.
  6. Click Remove to uninstall the product; click Modify to change the components that are installed.

For Windows 7/Vista, complete the following steps:


  1. Launch the Control Panel by selecting Start»Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Programs and Features.
  3. Select National Instruments Software.
  4. Click the Uninstall/Change button.
  5. Select NI PXI-5660 Support from the dialog box that appears.
  6. Click Remove to uninstall the product; click Modify to change the components that are installed.

For Windows 8.x, complete the following steps:


  1. Right-click the Start screen.
  2. Select All apps, and launch the Control Panel.
  3. Select Programs»Programs and Features.
  4. Select National Instruments Software.
  5. Click the Uninstall button.
  6. Select NI PXI-5660 Support from the dialog box that appears.
  7. Click Remove to uninstall the product; click Modify to change the components that are installed.

As part of the NI PXI-5660 Support installation, the following software is installed. To completely remove the NI-RFSA installation from your system, you must also remove all of the following packages:

  • NI RFSA Run-Time 2.7.5
  • NI-DAQmx 9.6.1
  • NI-SCOPE 4.0.5
  • NI IVI Compliance Package 4.4
  • NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) 5.4
  • NI-RFSG 1.9.5
  • NI-FGEN 2.9.3
  • NI I/O Trace 3.0.2
  • NI System Configuration Runtime 5.4.0
  • NI-RIO 12.0
  • NI-RFSA 2.7/NI-RFSG 1.9 Run-Time Support for NI PXIe-5644R/5645R
Caution: Several of the software packages listed above are shared with other NI software packages. If you attempt to remove a piece of software that something else is dependent upon, a message warns you about the software dependencies. You can choose to either uninstall all of the software or to leave the shared software installed. If you choose to uninstall the shared software, some of your other NI software may no longer function correctly.

Note Do not attempt to uninstall by manually deleting files.


Known Issues

You can access the software and documentation known issues list online. Refer to the NI PXI-5660 Support Known Issues at ni.com for an up-to-date list of known issues in NI PXI-5660 Support.


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. However, starting with the August 2012 releases (products using NI Installers version 3.1 or later), you may need to perform additional steps before or during a silent installation of NI software.


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, refer to the following KnowledgeBase articles:



How to Use NI Software with Microsoft Windows 8.x

When you install National Instruments software on Microsoft Windows 8.x, you will notice a few additional tiles on the Start screen, including shortcuts to NI application software products such as NI LabVIEW, MAX, and the new NI Launcher.


Using NI Launcher

NI Launcher helps you find and launch installed NI products. It provides you with a method of finding NI products similar to the Start menu in previous versions of Microsoft Windows. To use NI Launcher, click the NI Launcher tile on the Start screen. NI Launcher launches the desktop and opens a menu containing a list of NI products. Click any NI product to launch it.


Note NI MAX does not appear as a desktop shortcut when installed on Microsoft Windows 8.x. You can launch MAX either from the Start screen or from within NI Launcher.


Pinning Frequently Used Applications

For convenience, you can pin your most-used NI applications, such as MAX, to either the Start page or the Taskbar on the desktop, as necessary.


Current ApplicationIcon LocationPin to Action
Windows 8.x DesktopDesktop TaskbarRight-click application and select Pin to Taskbar
Windows 8.x DesktopStart pageRight-click application and select Pin to Start
Windows 8.x Start pageDesktop TaskbarRight-click application and select Pin to taskbar from the menu bar on the bottom of the screen

Finding All Programs

If you want to find a particular application or related files, such as documentation files, from the Start screen, you can access all installed files from the Apps view. To get to the Apps view, right-click anywhere on the Start screen and select All apps (Windows 8.0) or click the down arrow on the bottom left of the screen (Windows 8.1).


For more information about NI support for Windows 8, visit ni.com/windows8.


NI PXI-5660 Support Drops Support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 in 2016

National Instruments NI PXI-5660 Support will drop support for Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 as of July 1, 2016. Versions of NI PXI-5660 Support that ship after July 1, 2016 will not install or run on Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003. 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
NI LabVIEWlifecycle
NI LabWindows/CVIcvi_lifecycle
NI Measurement Studiomstudiolifecycle
NI TestStandtslcp
NI DIAdemddlcp
NI SignalExpressselcp
NI VeriStandnivslifecycle

Important Information

Copyright


© 2004—2015 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.


National Instruments 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.

Trademarks


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


Patents


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


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