Backup from NI 4100

Dmitry1212

Hello!
I was given the task of getting a copy of the code from the NI 4100. Our programmer has been lost for a long time and we do not have any spare files with commands, the only version is stored in the NI 4100 itself.
Is it possible to get it through NetLinx or are there other ways?
Thank you and greetings from the far corners of the planet.

(The problem is that the NI 4100 is detected in the web interface, but the panel control commands do not work. We want to exchange this buggy NI 4100 for a new one, but we won’t be able to program it again in the near future.)

Marc Scheibein

In NetLinx Studio, you have the ability to backup most of the files, like binary (tkn), src (if loaded), IR files, and any non-standard file stored on the NI. Also touchpanel files could be backupped.

Connect Studio to the NI, and go to Tools > File Transfer > Receive. Here you can add the different file types you want to receive.

Limitations:

• the source code is in the src archive. This archive in most cases contains the source, but the archive may be password protected, or it is empty (.src file size 256 bytes).
• The IR Files are not saved by name. When loading them you may save them with a new name, best use identifier on what IR Port it was received from, like "ir_file_port1.irl". If receive fails, no IR file is loaded on the IR port.
• in the src archive, only the "source code" is stored, means .axs and .axi files. If the previous programmer wrote and used a selfmade NetLinx module, it is not in the archive, and so the source could not be compiled again. The TKN file if the full compiled binary and so includes those modules, but can't be extracted.
• panel files by Studio will be received and later loaded again as a binary "stream". The TP4/5 files may be password protected and so couldn't be opened and edited with TPDesign, but Studio can transfer them anyway. When receiving them, like with the IR files they will not come with the original name, you may define a name like "device10001_MXT-1001" to mark device address and model type the file is.

With the tkn, the loaded IR files, the non-system/Jar/XDD files, and maybe also received panel files, you can recreate a new workspace as a backup of the existing system program.

John Nagy

@Dmitry1212 said:
(The problem is that the NI 4100 is detected in the web interface, but the panel control commands do not work. We want to exchange this buggy NI 4100 for a new one, but we won’t be able to program it again in the near future.)

Hate to say it but from your description, odds are not great that it's a hardware fail of the NI.

Do the panels detect a connection to the NI? (On the setup pages, the ball in the corner would be slow flashing green, red would be no connection). Can you connect to the NI by telnet, where you can log in, type MSG ON and see if the system is spitting errors you can recognize? Many other tests are available via the required NETLINX STUDIO software you'd need to set up the new NI anyway...

Be certain there's not a network issue before the work of replacing the NI.