Help with Agilent 82357B GPIB/USB VISA connection

[SeanB_1]

Hello,

I am running LabVIEW 8.5 on a PXI 8106 Controller.  I'm connecting to an Agilent E3632A DC Power Supply via an Agilent 82357B GPIB/USB cable.  I've installed the Agilent IO Library Suite 15.5 and have NI-VISA 4.4.1 installed as well.  All my PXI chassis hardware and NI software show up in MAX.

LabVIEW is currently not able to see my 3632A over the VISA bus, but the Agilent Connection Expert sees it just fine.  I'm at a loss as to why NI-VISA can't see it.  Please help!

Thanks,

Sean

[ben64]

You have a conflict between the Agilent VISA and the NI-VISA. It is very difficult to have them both working well and it should be avoided. Remove the Agilent VISA and use the NI-VISA to control your Agilent supply.

Ben

[Dennis_Knutson]

The PXI-8106 has an integrated GPIB controller so why would think about using an external one (and a non-NI one at that)?

[SeanB_1]

ben,

The Agilent IO Library Suite contains the drivers to configure and use the 82357B.  Removing it is not an option as it would render the GPIB/USB cable unusable.

Sean

[SeanB_1]

Dennis,

True, the 8106 has a GPIB interface but unfortunately I do not have a cable that fits that particular GPIB port size. I figured I could just get by with the 82357B.

Sean

[ben64]

You can try to set the Agilent VISA as the secondary VISA. I don't remember where you can set this but I don't think it is hard to find.

Ben

[SeanB_1 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the responses, but I finally found it.  From the Agilent IO Libraries Suite 15.5 Help:

----------------------------------------------------

Enabling the NI-VISA Passport for Tulip

For NI software to recognize Agilent hardware, you must enable the NI-VISA Passport for Tulip. This is a software module included with NI-VISA for support of Agilent hardware, and is not enabled by default. Use the NI Measurement and Automation Explorer (NI MAX) to enable the Passport for Tulip.

In versions 3.0 and later of NI MAX, you can do this by:

Start NI MAX
Click Tools > NI-VISA > VISA Options ...,
Select Passports in the tree view.
Select the Passport for Tulip check box.
Click Save to save your settings
Exit NI MAX, wait a few seconds, and restart NI MAX (you must restart NI MAX for your changes to take effect).

For specific details for your version of NI MAX, refer to NI's documentation.

----------------------------------------------------

Doing this worked like a charm.

Thanks,

Sean

[Dennis_Knutson]

There have been numerous posts about the need to enable tulip support and for those that don't want to spend $500 for a controller when you already have one, get a cable with single ended male from NI or a place such as L-Com.

[napoy]

MAX NI-VISA 5.2 Passports list shows:

NI-VISA Passport for Tulip (32-bit only)

Does this means that the driver will only run and support the GPIB card in 32-bit OS or Labview 32-bit only and will not run in 32-bit OS or Labview 64-bit?

[Erik-S]

Usually you will encounter errors when using a 32 bit dll with a 64 bit version of LabVIEW. Have you tried it, and received errors?

-Erik S