Error When Opening NI Example Finder: The NI HelpServer Could Not Be Found

Issue Details

I am trying to access the examples for LabVIEW from Help>>Find Examples, but I get one of the following errors:

Could not find LabVIEW service port from ServiceLocator. You will not be able to browse by Directory Structure. 


An error occurred - The NI HelpServer could not be found

How do I fix either of these errors?

Solution

When LabVIEW starts up it launches a service called Help Server. This opens TCP/IP ports to communicate with other NI applications, namely the NI Example Finder. Sometimes, the ports that these applications access are used by other applications.

To fix this problem, there are different approaches:

A) Restart the HelpServer

1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW x.x\resource\system. If you are on macOS navigate to /Applications/NationalInstruments/LabVIEW xxxx/ xx-bit/resource/system.

2. Double-click on HelpServer.llb. 
3. Launch Set HelpServer Config Settings__NATIONALINSTRUMENTS.vi.
4. Click the Enable Help Server? boolean button to change its value to TRUE.
5. Run the VI once.
6. Close the VI.
7. Now the Example Finder should work.

You can also restart the HelpServer using the following steps:

1. Navigate to C:\WINDOWS\system32.If you are on macOS navigate to /Library/Application Support/National Instruments/Service Locator
2. Double-click on nisvcloc.exe.
3. This starts the NI Service Locator service.

1. Navigate to Start » Program Files » Startup.
2. Click in the Apple menu and select System Setting » General » Login Items » Open at Login
3. Click the "+" button and open a folder path to create a link to /Library/ApplicationSupport/NationalInstruments/ServiceLocator/nisvcloc as a Unix Executable File.

B) Change the Port used by the Help Server
If the above steps did not solve the issue, then follow these steps to change the port used by the Help Server:

1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\National Instruments\LabVIEW x.x\resource\system. If you are on macOS navigate to /Applications/NationalInstruments/LabVIEW xxxx/ xx-bit/resource/system.
2. Double-click on HelpServer.llb.
3. Launch the HelpServer__NATIONALINSTRUMENTS.vi.
4. Now you can see the port that HelpServer is using. Change the port by stopping and running this VI several times.
5. Hit the Stop button to see the 'Registered?' light go off. Now Run the VI and you will see it come on. 
6. On your last run, close the VI without stopping it. 
7. Now the Example Finder should work fine.

C) Change the firewall settings
Another possible cause of the problem is if a firewall is blocking the TCP/IP ports the HelpServer is trying to use. Change the settings of the firewall to unblock the correct port.