Loading Bit File to a R Series Card Without Update the Firmware Button

Updated Apr 3, 2025

Reported In

Hardware

  • PXI Multifunction Reconfigurable I/O Module

Issue Details

I am trying to download a working FPGA bitfile to my R series card. This is a deployment computer, so I do not have a full version of LabVIEW installed. So, I plan to load the bitfile onto the R series card via the Update Firmware button in NI Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX). However, this button is missing in NI MAX. How can I load the bitfile to the R series card if this is missing?

Solution

The bitfile can still be loaded through the RIO Device Setup Utility. 
The driver installation behaves a bit differently if only the LabVIEW RunTime is installed. In order to install the RIO Device Setup Utility:
1. Go to the folder where the installer for the R-series driver is located.
2. Open Products >> NI-RIO_DeviceSetup >> RioDeviceSetup.msi 
3. Run this installer (as administrator if possible).
4. Now the RIO Device Setup should appear when you search for it in Windows
5. Proceed with the steps from "Option 1: Download a bitfile using NI RIO Device Setup" to finish loading the bitfile to the R Series device. 

Additional Information

Some R Series cards intentionally do not come with the capability to update the firmware. If your drivers are up to date, this is probably the case for your device. 

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