Unable to Add FPGA Target in My LabVIEW Project Explorer

Updated Jul 16, 2024

Reported In

Software

  • LabVIEW FPGA Module

Driver

  • NI R Series Multifunction RIO
  • NI CompactRIO
  • NI-RIO (Legacy)
  • FlexRIO

Issue Details

  • I am not able to add my FPGA target in Project Explorer. Why is this happening, and what can I do to fix it?
  • My RT target can't see the FPGA target in LabVIEW. How do I fix this?

Solution

There are several potential sources of the error. Here are some possible solutions to the issue:
  • Make sure the LabVIEW FPGA Module is installed and compatible with your version of LabVIEW compatible with the version of LabVIEW you are using.
  • Make sure the LabVIEW FPGA Module is activated in NI License Manager. Refer to this article to activate your software product.
  • Make sure you have appropriate hardware drivers installed. Check the getting started manual of the hardware to determine the appropriate driver for your hardware. Similarly to the LabVIEW FPGA Module version, you need to make sure to install a version of the driver compatible with your version of LabVIEW. You can check compatibility with LabVIEW in the driver's readme.
  • If you installed a new LabVIEW version then you need to install again the compatible software and drivers to that version. For example, if you had LabVIEW 2020 and you now install LabVIEW 2021 then you need to install LabVIEW FPGA 2021 and the drivers to that LabVIEW version, you might want to install them using NI Package Manager.
  • If the Real-Time target is already configured with an IP address in the project explorer, make sure that the version of the driver installed on the host computer matches the version installed on the Real-Time target.
  • Make sure the hardware is supported in the version of the driver you are using. The readme of the driver will show all supported hardware.
  • If possible with your hardware, run NI Update Service on the computer to which you wish to add the FPGA target. This should apply needed updates to the system.
  • Be sure you are clicking the correct position in the LabVIEW project hierarchy to add your target.  If for example, you try to add a cRIO's FPGA to the project while clicking under My Computer in the project, you will be unsuccessful. Refer to Adding FPGA Targets to a LabVIEW Project for detailed steps on adding an FPGA target.
  • If you are using LabVIEW FPGA 64-Bit, make sure your hardware is supported.
  • If the LabVIEW FPGA Module is installed and licensed when experiencing this error, try force reinstalling it.
  • If reinstalling LabVIEW FPGA only does not solve it, you might need to uninstall all NI software including NI Package Manager before reinstalling it again.