Detect Third Party cPCI Modules in Linux

Issue Details

How can I detect third party cPCI modules in NI MAX in NI Linux Real-Time?

Solution

NI-VISA offers a generic way for vendors to expose access to their devices without having a native driver for different platforms like Linux and Windows.

PXI support for NI Linux RT has been added as of NI-VISA 19.0. You will need NI-VISA 19.0 or later installed to proceed with the following steps.

1. Generate the prerequisite files. Refer to Configuring the NI Real-Time Environment and NI-VISA to Recognize a Third Party Device to generate both a .inf and .ini file.
   1. Input the required information like manufacturer ID, name, etc. Select This Device is PXI Express
   2. Click Next.
   3. Add steps as necessary and then click Next again. For example, a Read access step.

4. Ensure that files in the form of pmd_linux.ini and prefix.inf file is listed as files to be generated. Example files are attached at the end of this article.

2. Copy the files to the Linux RT system. NI recommends using FileZilla when transferring the files to the Linux target as write permission is required for the file transfer. FileZilla allows you to create directory in the Linux target as well. Please refer to Tools Available for File Transfer/Access on NI Linux Real-Time Targets.

File Name	Location
prefix_pmd_linux.ini	/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/nipxi/services/peripheral_modules/Device Manufacturer Name/
prefix.inf	etc/nipal/devinit.d

 

3. Reboot the system.

Additional Information

The steps provided here are applicable for Linux Desktop as well. You can use NI-VISA Driver Wizard in Windows to generate the INF file then transfer it to Linux Desktop. Please refer to the .inf and pmd_linux.ini for the installation instructions. Please note that NI MAX is not supported in Linux Desktop.