usb 6218 on ubuntu 7.10

[robotbambi]

I am trying to get my usb-6218 card to work under Ubuntu 7.10 (due to a robot I also use, I have no choice about operating system).  I installed NidaqMX Base using the instructions here forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?message.uid=792706 (last post).  The install seems to go fine, but when I run lsdaq, I just get the following:

 --------------------------------
Detecting National Instruments DAQ Devices
Found the following DAQ Devices:
--------------------------------

The usb device is listed when I run lsusb.  I also tried the fix described in these forums for the usb 6218 and kubuntu, but I still have the same problem.  I would very much appreciate any advice that anyone might have. 

[The_Red_Barron]

Hi robotbambi,

 The problem you are encountering is probably due to the USB-6218 being loaded with DAQmx firmware.  Please refer to this forum post for the solution: http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=250&message.id=34124

Regards,

[JoeFriedchicken]

I don't believe that is the problem because the USB-621x devices do not have persistent firmware like the USB-600x devices. The problem could lie in the device's permissions (perhaps udev is only giving root access to the device); or in that firmware isn't being downloaded (in which case the USB PID from lsusb would helpful); or some other place.

[robotbambi]

I did go through the process suggested by Barron S, and I did not notice any changes.  I am currently trying to figure out enough about Ubuntu to check what the device permissions are.  I have used the card pretty extensively in Windows, but this is my first real experience with Linux, and I am facing a pretty steep learning curve.  The USB PID number should be given in the output of lsusb, right?  I have pasted the output below in case that is helpful.  I am not sure if the correct firmware is being downloaded. 

Bus 005 Device 004: ID 3923:7269 National Instruments Corp.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 093a:2510 Pixart Imaging, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000 

[JoeFriedchicken]

Yes, lsusb prints the VID and PID as well as the USB tree location for each device. Your paste shows that the USB-6218 is advertising the PID 0x7269, which is the 'USB-621x Loader' product ID, indicating that the firmware hasn't been downloaded to the device yet.

This could mean that the either the firmware isn't present on your computer for the driver to transfer to the device. The firmware installs into /etc/natinst/nidaqmxbase/bin/support/ and `ls *621x*` should return 5 files.

This could also mean that there's some break in the pipe between USB enumeration (when the kernel detects a new device), udev (which reacts to the kernel's detection), and the DAQmx Base scripts (which udev calls to download the firmware). If the firmware files are there, then I would start by looking in /usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase/etc at the udev rules and scripts that pertain to your device and see if they exist in /etc/udev/rules.d and /etc/udev/agents.d. Trace what they do and make sure each step happens, perhaps by logging to a file from each script or setting the -x option for each script. Since I don't test with Ubuntu, I don't know where the differences will be. You'll have to do the probing to discover them.

[robotbambi]

Sorry for the delay in responding, I was out of town and couldn't try out anything.  Okay, it looks as though the firmware is installed.  The ls command gives the following output:

robot@robot:/usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase/bin/support$ ls *621x*
NIUSBMXB621x0.bin  NIUSBMXB621xDig0.bin   NIUSBMXB621xFPGA1.bin
NIUSBMXB621x1.bin  NIUSBMXB621xDig1.bin   NIUSBMXB621xFPGA1Dig.bin
NIUSBMXB621x.bin   NIUSBMXB621xFPGA0.bin

That is more than 5 files though, is that a problem?

I will start trying to look at the udev rules and scripts. 

[JoeFriedchicken]

No, that's fine. I was referencing an older system I found on the network. The extra Dig[01] firmware files correspond to the USB-6212 and USB-6216 devices that were added to DAQmx Base in version 3.3.

[robotbambi]

Ok, good.  Then I will look in /usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase/etc to try to figure out what my udev rules and scripts are.  I found the following files in /usr/local/natinst/nidaqmxbase/etc/hotplug/usb, are they the rules and scripts I am looking for?

nimxb_621xdevice.rules

nimxb_621xdevice.usermap 

nimxb_621xloader         

nimxb_621xloader.rules

nimxb_621xloader.usermap 

[JoeFriedchicken]

Yes, and you probably forgot to paste nimxb_621xdevice 😉

[robotbambi]

You are right, I certainly did.  The first line in my nimxb_621xdevice.rules is the following:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", SYSFS{idVendor}=="3923", SYSFS{idProduct}=="726f", RUN+="/etc/udev/agents.d/usb/nimxb_621xdevice"

However, based on lsusb, it looks like the product ID is 7269.  Should I change "726f" or is the f a placeholder of some kind?  I'm sorry if this is an obvious question, I am quite new to Linux.