• State TI Thinks Resolved
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 8 replies
  • Answers 5 answers
  • Subscribers 21 subscribers
  • Views 2887 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Support feedback
Options
Options
Related

This thread has been locked.

If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.

Original question:

LMX2594EVM: TICS Pro Control With MATLAB

LMX2595EVM: TICS Pro Control With MATLAB

Steve Krupa
Intellectual 300 points

Part Number: LMX2595EVM
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: LMX2592, LMX2595, LMX2582, USB2ANY, LMX2581

Hi Timothy T (or other  LMK hardware support team members)

I've been trying to an instance of TICS Pro as an Active X server in MATLAB R2017b (64 bit), without success.  I am able to create an ActiveX server object in MATLAB just fine, but when I invoke the "Initialize" method I get the the following error:

"Error

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Possible Reasons: TICS Pro"

I also tried to manually register the needed TICS Pro DLL (ActiveXTICSPro.dll)  in the registry using this command:

Regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Texas Instruments\TICS Pro\ActiveXTICSPro.dll"

and then I get the error message: 

"The module "C:\Program Files (x86)\Texas Instruments\TICS Pro\ActiveXTICSPro.dll" was loaded but the entry-point DllRegisterServer was not found.  Make sure that "C:\Program Files (x86)\Texas Instruments\TICS Pro\ActiveXTICSPro.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again."  

Is there a known-good .dll file that will allow MATLAB (R2017b, 64bit) to create an ActiveX server object for the TICSPro program?  I downloaded  and installed the latest version of the TICS Pro software (V1.6.8, released 8 June 2018), but this didn't help.  My operating system is Windows 10 Home 64 bit.

Thanks in advance for your help with this.

Best Regards,

Steve Krupa

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 28031 points

    Steve,

    I have create this excel workbook that automates TICSPro and highlights the key commands (on the second tab).  Hopefully a similar thing can be done in MatLab.

    Regards,
    Dean
    8484.TICSPro Automation Example.xlsm

  • 0 in reply to Dean Banerjee
    Intellectual 300 points

    Hi Dean,

    Thanks so much for providing the Excel file with the TICS Pro ActiveX commands.  This file has been a helpful debugging tool, as I tried it on 4 different computers (all running Windows 10 Home/ 64 Bit OS) and all gave the same error I mentioned earlier (when I tried to invoke Tics Pro as an ActiveX server in MATLAB).  Which version of Windows are you using?

    I did some digging, and I think the problem might be related to how the TICS Pro .dll was compiled.  Using the DependancyWalker .dll inspection tool, the "ActiveXTICSPro.dll" file is listed as a module compiled for 32-bit processors (x86).  In the MATLAB documentation, they mention that the 64-bit version of MATLAB cannot work with 32-bit .dll files. 

    Is there any chance that the TI software development team for TICS Pro could provide a 64-bit version of the  "ActiveXTICSPro.dll" file?  It seems like this would be a big help to many of your customers.

    Much thanks for your help with this issue.

    -Steve Krupa

  • 0 in reply to Steve Krupa
    TI__Mastermind 28031 points
    Steve,

    We use windows 7. We haven't tried TICSPro automation on windows 10, so there could be issues with that.

    From your response, I understand that Matlab has an issue, but it's not clear to me if the excel worksheet can launch TICSPro.

    Although we do the programming for the part specific information for TICSPro, the external program itself was done by an external contractor, so I don't see any way to compile this as 64 bit.

    Regards,
    Dean
  • 0 in reply to Dean Banerjee
    Intellectual 300 points

    Hi Dean,

    Your Excel sheet didn't work under Windows 10 (64-bit Home version).  When I try to run the first Excel macro, the TICS Pro intro graphic pops up on the screen, followed by the same error I mentioned when "Initializing" the TICS Pro ActiveX server instance in MATLAB 2017b (64-bit).

    It seems a shame that ActiveX support for the TICS Pro software isn't (yet) offered for 64-Bit Windows OS variants or development environments.   I included the (yet), as I'm hopeful that TI might provide this much-appreciated feature in the very near future. 

    Cheers & Thanks,

    -steve

  • 0 in reply to Steve Krupa
    TI__Mastermind 28031 points
    Steve,

    We tried it on windows 10 and also got an error. As the main TICSPro was written by an external contractor (although we can create parts for it internally), this does not seem like a simple resolution. We will address this eventually, but ( can't commit to a time or resources to solve this in the near future, so I am closing the thread.

    Thank you for your feedback and bringing this to our awareness. I have edited the tags on this also to make it easier to find in the future.

    Regards,
    Dean
  • 0 in reply to Dean Banerjee
    Intellectual 300 points
    Hi Dean,

    Thanks for trying out your Excel macros in Windows 10, and for explaining TI's position on providing ActiveX support for the TICS Pro software.

    Do you happen to know anyone in TI which programs RF Synthesizers using the SPI port? For TI parts equipped with an FDTI USB-to-Serial converter chipset, there is a way to load a FTDI "Pattern Generator" (text) file which opens communications with the targeted TI chipsets and allows direct register reads and writes. Any information you might be able to dig up for this approach, targeting the LMX2582, LMX2592, and LMX2595 RF Synthesizers (connected to either a USB-to-Any dongle or the Reference PRO board (USB-to-Any functionality PLUS reference oscillator function) would be greatly appreciated.

    Much Thanks,

    -steve
  • 0 in reply to Steve Krupa
    TI__Mastermind 28031 points
    Steve,

    Unfortunately, I don't.

    In our group, we just use a word generator when TICSPro is not sufficient.
    The USB2ANY was designed external to our group, so this is why it is hard for us to support USB2ANY/TICSPro.

    Regards,
    Dean
  • 0 in reply to Dean Banerjee
    Intellectual 300 points

    Hi Dean,

    Thanks for getting back to me.  I will be trying to interface with an LMX2581 this week using the SPI port, so wish me luck.

    Cheers,

    -steve