MATLAB crashes when using Data Acquisition Toolbox functions with Digilent Analog Discovery hardware support package installed.

Why does MATLAB crash due to access violation when using Data Acquisition Toolbox functions with Digilent Analog Discovery hardware support package installed.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Data Acquisition Toolbox Team]

The crash occurs when both the legacy Data Acquisition Toolbox Support Package for Digilent Analog Discovery hardware (for MATLAB R2012a to R2012b) and the current Data Acquisition Toolbox Support Package for Digilent Analog Discovery Hardware (for MATLAB R2013b and later) are installed. In this situation, MATLAB prioritizes the legacy package becasue it is on top of MATLAB path, causing it to run the old “mexdwf.mex64” file instead of the updated one. This old MEX file interacts with the latest Digilent Waveform application, leading to an access violation and crashing MATLAB.

To fix this issue, uninstall the legacy support package from MATLAB’s Manage-AddOns or remove the legacy support package folder from the MATLAB path.

To Uninstall via Manage Add-Ons:

1. Open MATLAB.
2. Navigate to Home > Add-Ons > Manage Add-Ons.
3. Locate the legacy support package for Digilent Analog Discovery and uninstall it.

To Remove from MATLAB Path:

1. Open MATLAB.
2. Navigate to Home > Environment > Set Path.
3. Find the legacy support package directories and remove it from the path.