WindowsXP support for GPIG%2FPCI%2FDOS

[labtek2]

I have 21 GPIB instrument control programs which run perfeectly on a PIII with an  NI  ISA  PNP board. They also run on a PII IBM laptop in a dock with an NI ISA GPIB board.

I have a P4 with  a NI gpib/pci board installed along with the 488.2  3.1.2  drivers etc. The software finds and I can set up the PCI board and all the instruments so that I have complete write /read capability and the control  commands are executed and responses correctly received in the "communicate with instrument" box.

DOS support is enabled and the rest of the setup for DOS seems to have executed properly,  however attempting to run any of the progams in the "dos box"  results in a "dos error" and an "Ibfind error"  once the program executes beyond the "on screen"  instrument control option menu and tries to access the instruments..

I have set up  the PCI-GPIB board and each each instrument with exaxctly the same  instrument # settings and aliases as used for the ISA-GPIB board.

The necessary GPIB "include" files are in the NI folder as are the runtime files.

What am I missing here???

Thanks for your help,

 Ted.

[coreyc]

Ted, 

First thought is that it's a permission issue - make sure you have admin within DOS. Also, take a look at the below link for some common errors. 

GPIB Error Codes and Common Solutions

If you could elaborate on the erro a bit too that would be helpful. (screenshot, error code, etc) 

Regards,

Corey C

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[labtek2]

Hi Corey,

The two attachments show the point at which the program crashes. This is very similar to all the other programs I have tried.

I have checked the configuration settings of the PCI boared against the ISA board an find no spelling or other errors.

The XP computer is run wide open ( no administrator or passwords for users)   as  it is never on the internet ( except when I downloaded the NI software. When required I just defeat the administrator requirement. I have a different set up,  XP runs on a separate drive to my normal Linux system and there is no path between them. I an on another Linux computer right now.

A seen on the attachments the program runs in the "DOSbox" up until it crashes so I do have DOS access as far as the "box"

is concerned.

I have assumed that the program files can( go in the 488.2 folder, but tried them also in them NI program folder as well. ( not in the download files.

Note: I had to load the camera pictures blind and hope they are what I wanted.

Have I somehow got a bad install with missing links?? 

Regards,

Ted.

[coreyc]

Hey Ted,

I'd check your 488.2 driver version for v3.0 or higher as it is the first version to support 32bit DOS. Also make sure you're running Windows XP SP3. 

Corey C

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[labtek2]

Hi Corey,

Windows XP is SP3 plus all available updates from Microsoft via the internet. The drivers etc. are the latest from NI, ie. NI488.2 3.12  which I downloaded 2 weeks ago . Note: I do not download using the Windows .exe downloader just the regular download as I am on Linux when I download. Process is : I  download  the NI drivers to the Linux computer, save file, do a check sum, burn a CD of the file, do a compare CD fie against the saved file, then install on the XP computer via the CD. The NI  install then wants to do an upgrade, which I allow it to do via the internet, then shut down internet access.

I went through the GPIB board setup again and also checked instrument settings which all seemd to be OK.

I also used the "communicate with instrument"  box to check again that I have control over the instruments and I do !

Had the Spectrum analyzer send a plot screen file to the "box"  and it did.

Any way I can store that file on disk?? I will then send it to the plotter to prove data is correct.  I also have control of in the plotter in  the "box"  as I can  select pens, feed new paper and draw lines all over the paper.

Any further thoughts??

Regards,

Ted.

[coreyc]

Ted, 

Do you have NI MAX installed? How are you addressing your instruments? You should be able to see all devices connected and their addresses if you have it installed. Are you using one PCI-GPIB card to control all devices or are they split between two? If you don't have NI MAX you can get it here. You'll need NI-VISA 5.4  to use the test panels. 

The first step is to verify the addressing of all the GPIB devices within NI-MAX: 

1. Open NI MAX - The GPIB controller and devices with their addresses will be listed on the left hand side. 

Then try and write using the open VISA test panel and write to one device. 

3. Click the device you want to test and then click "Open VISA Test Panel", a dialog box will open. 

4. Click input & Output and send a cmd to the device. 

5. Test all your devices. 

[labtek2]

Yes, Max is installed and I am able to communicate with instruments in the box  per your screen shot. I do have to change the "qwery"string in some cases as they respond to the ID? and or ID?/n instead of IDN? I also have some old instruments  that do not respond to the ID request but they do follow control cammands sent to them.

I have not tried all the instruments in Max however I have thoroughly tested the ones called out in the programs I am  testing and fail in DOS.

To me there is some link missing between the MAX and WIN32  and the DOS system. But that idea  raises the question of why does the DOS program start correctly in the  "DOS box" and then fail when the first instrument is called???

Looking at the NI white paper 4009 which shows the DOS and Win16 handling "map", is it possible that either gpib-nt.com

and/or gpib-vdd.dll are incorrectly installed or somehow corrupted??

Regards,

 Ted.

[coreyc]

Ted, 

Lets perform an I/O Trace and compare the captures between the DOS program and NI-MAX VISA test panel. Here's some documentation on how to do that. Capture an io trace when trying to execute the DOS program and the max programs.

Corey C

Applications Engineer

National Instruments 

[labtek2]

Hi Corey,

Attached are two trace files. The one showing a couple of timeout errors ( which should be completely disregarded as my errors) is the one using the "communicate with instrument" box for both the TEK495P  spectrum analyxer and HP7550  plotter.  The plotter provides no outputs unless directed to respond with a particular status. The calls for pens  were all completed correctly including attempts to fool it by repeating the same instruction which should not and did not cause any actions by the plotter. The second trace file is from running the program which provides plotting of the 495P analyzer screen on the HP7550 plotter, and uses only the 495P and 7550 instruments in the program.

So we have two instruments with which the "communicate with  instrument" works perfectly? ( please assess)  and a DOS program using the same instruments (which works perfectly with an AT GPIB board in DOS, and also in a "dos box" in win95 or 98 with the AT GPIB board.

I have checked the CONFIG.NT file and the "device =" file is correct and not remed out and therefore should be active.

I also note that at the beginning of the "DOS BOX" session  running the programam an advisory note flashes on the screen for a few seconds and says something about a "National Instruments  DOS handler"  . It is too fast to completely read it.

Regards,

Ted

[coreyc]

Ted, 

Could you export the trace event as a .txt  and then reupload? or a screenshot. When i open the trace files they are empty. 

thanks,

Corey C

Applications Engineer

National Instruments