Question about updating "ni-rt.ini" file to use NetConsole

[Randy Forgaard]

We have a question about the proper way to update the "ni-rt.ini" file on the cRIO for use with NetConsole, the nifty utility available from the WPI FRC C/C++ Updates page at "http://first.wpi.edu/FRC/frccupdates.html" to perform console interactions with the cRIO across the wireless network link between the Classmate and the cRIO.

The instructions for NetConsole say that we need to add "NetConsole.out;" to the beginning of the EarlyStartupLibraries token in the "ni-rt.ini" file. We haven't had to update the "ni-rt.ini" file before. However, by wirelessly FTP'ing to the IP address of our cRIO, we discovered that, indeed, there is a "ni-rt.ini" file in the root folder of the cRIO. Also, we found that by updating that "ni-rt.ini" file as indicated above, we indeed got NetConsole working easily, which is very cool.

But here's the question: Did we update "ni-rt.ini" the correct way? Do we just FTP over to the cRIO and change the file (saving both the old and new versions of the file for future use just in case)? Or, will that "ni-rt.ini" file get overwritten at some point during normal development, and we should actually be updating some other copy of the "ni-rt.ini". For example, on any of our developer computers that have the FRC LabVIEW 8.6.1 software installed, we have discovered many different "ni-rt.ini" files that the LabVIEW installer placed into many different folders on the computer. Is there any scenario where our Wind River C++ or other developer tools might overwrite that change we just made to the "ni-rt.ini" file on the cRIO?

We're just trying to make sure we updated the file in the correct manner. Any help appreciated. Many thanks!

[Joe Ross]

Yes, that is how you are expected to update the ni-rt.ini file.

It will definitely be overwritten when you run the cRIO imaging tool in format mode. I'm not sure if it will be overwritten if you run the imaging tool without formatting.

[mikets]

I have never used netconsole before. I have been using a serial cable. But netconsole sounds cool, so I want to try it. But I can't get it to work. I FTP'd into the cRIO, found the ni-rt.ini file at the root folder as expected, added the "NetConsole.out;" at the beginning such as the line below.

EarlyStartupLibraries=NetConsole.out;vxfpsup.out;tsengine.out;

After rebooted the robot, I can see the COM console spitted out the following:

Loading LVRT...
* Loading EarlyStartupLibraries: NetConsole

So, it looks like it loaded the NetConsole server. After this, the COM console went quiet so it looks like all the output has been redirected from then on. But nothing showed up in the NetConsole client. The IP box did not show anything. I even type the robot's IP address there but as soon as I hit enter, it cleared out and nothing happened. Is there a trick that I missed? I checked my laptop's firewall and netconsole.exe is allowed to go through. Anything else I should check?

Thanks.