NI PCIe card not working under OS X 10.10

Support
1

Hi Evan,

Regarding the issue with your NI PCIe card on OS X 10.10:

Looking at the available drivers, I see that NI-VISA has been updated more frequently than NI-DAQmx Base. I think (but am not certain) that VISA is used to interface with PCIe devices. Maybe you should try installing a newer version of VISA? It looks like 14.0.2 is the first with official support for OS X 10.10.

Cheers,
Chris

2

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the heads up. Do any of your test machines running 10.10+ have a
PCIe slot? It would be great if we could test the new drivers without
having to mess around any more with our experimental rigs.

Thanks,
Evan

3

Do any of your test machines running 10.10+ have a PCIe slot?

Yes, I have a 2010 Mac Pro running 10.11. If you can lend me a card, I can test it there.

Chris

4

Hi Evan,

On my 2010 Mac Pro running OS X 10.11, with NI-DAQmx Base 15.0 (the latest) installed, your NI PCIe-6251 card is recognized by lsdaq.

Per your request, I ran the test application I used to demonstrate the “samples requested have not yet been acquired” error, and no errors were generated. That said, it’s worth noting that I’ve never seen those errors on the 2010 Mac Pro, even when running the test on my NI USB-6212, which does produce the errors on my 2013 Mac Pro and other systems.

Chris

5

Sounds promising!

Would it be possible for you to try the the card with the same system,
downgraded to NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, as a positive control that recreates the
failure to recognize the card on a separate machine?

Also, regarding the errors on the 2013 Mac Pro - this confirms that problem
isn’t fixed with NI-DAQmx Base 15.0, correct?

Thanks,
Evan

6

Would it be possible for you to try the the card with the same system, downgraded to NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, as a positive control that recreates the failure to recognize the card on a separate machine?

Done. After downgrading to NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, lsdaq no longer recognizes the PCIe-6251 (but does still recognize the USB-6212).

However, after installing NI-VISA 15.0 (the version that’s included with NI-DAQmx Base 15.0) on top of NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, lsdaq once again recognizes the PCIe-6251. So maybe that’s the easiest fix for your problem?

Also, regarding the errors on the 2013 Mac Pro - this confirms that problem isn’t fixed with NI-DAQmx Base 15.0, correct?

Correct. The latest NI-DAQmx Base release still has issues with analog input via USB devices on the 2013 Mac Pro.

Chris

7

Great. Sounds like we have a pretty painless path forward, then.

And just to confirm - is it the case that if I install NI-VISA 15.0 on top
of NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, then I can run both the PCIe and USB devices?

Evan

8

And just to confirm - is it the case that if I install NI-VISA 15.0 on top of NI-DAQmx Base 3.7, then I can run both the PCIe and USB devices?

Yes, I think so. At least, lsdaq recognizes both.

Note that I’m not 100% sure it’s OK to update only NI-VISA. If you decide to go that route, maybe start with just one rig, and run it for a while to confirm that there are no issues.

Chris

9

Following up on our conversation - do you think you could ask NI for an
update on the USB issue with NI-DAQmx Base > 3.7? I believe you submitted
an issue about this a few years ago (Service Request #7441619).

According to their website:

“NI proudly continues to provide Mac users the latest PC-based technology,
including full support for NI LabVIEW, more than 80 measurement devices,
and driver software for data acquisition and instrument control, for
developing custom measurement and automation systems based on macOS.”

So hopefully it’s not too much to ask of them to fix this…

Thanks,
Evan

10

Another thought - going back over the original thread:

https://mworks.tenderapp.com/discussions/problems/141-nidaq-error-on-new-mac-pro

was the issue with the USB Daq on the newer drivers specific to the trash
can? I’m wondering if this will be an issue at all on our 2012 Mac Pros.

What is the newest test rig you have right now?

Evan

11

Hi Evan,

Following up on our conversation - do you think you could ask NI for an update on the USB issue with NI-DAQmx Base > 3.7?

According to NI’s Service Request Manager, I am “entitled to digital resources and community support”. It’s not clear I can get any official support without a LabVIEW license. I guess I could post to the Mac users forum, but that appears to be little more than a black hole in to which sad Mac users occasionally dump their frustrations, entirely unheeded by NI.

Any idea who/where I’d even ask?

was the issue with the USB Daq on the newer drivers specific to the trash
can? I’m wondering if this will be an issue at all on our 2012 Mac Pros.

What is the newest test rig you have right now?

I have a late 2013 iMac, and it demonstrates the USB analog I/O issue, too. I wonder if the problem is somehow connected to USB 3. The 2010 Mac Pro is the only system I have without USB 3 support, and it’s the only system on which I’ve never observed the NI USB problem.

Apart from some minor spec bumps, the 2012 Mac Pro is identical to the 2010 model. I expect you wouldn’t see the USB issue there, either.

Chris

12

Hi Evan,

As of the current nightly build, MWorks’ NIDAQ interface is no longer tied to a specific version of NI-DAQmx Base. If you need to stick with version 3.7, you’ll still be able to upgrade to MWorks 0.8 when it’s released.

Cheers,
Chris

13

Thanks Chris! We are upgrading a 2012 Mac Pro rig to High Sierra for long-term testing now. Will keep you posted.