Configuration

[mcampbe]

I am trying to connect a Stanford Research Systems Model SR785 2 Channel Dynamic Signal Analyzer to my Windows XP computer.

I have Labview 8.5, VISA and MAX installed.  The problem is that I cannot use Instrument I/O Assistant, because it says that MAX isn't installed.  Does Max have to be installed in a specific place in order for it to work? Right now it is in the general labview folder.  This may be correlated, but when I open MAX it doesn't read any software or devices in my system, although everything shows up in VISA.  I have installed the Labview plug and play driver.

When I run a diagnostic test on the IEEE card, the computer can find it.  When I use VISA to query the SR785 I get a response.  So that leads me to believe that the problem is with MAX and where it is located.  However, I could be far off the mark.  I'm no expert in programming.

Any help, would be really appreaciated.

[mcampbe]

oh and the IEEE card is either a Kiethley KPCI-488A or a KUSB 488A, version 9.0

[Dennis_Knutson]

I'm not sure if the Instrument I/O Assistant will even work with anything other than an NI board. When you installed the driver for the keithley, it might have changed the setup. The assistant does use VISA so you might want to try doing a repair on the MAX installation.

If you cannot use the assistant, using the low level functions is not that difficult and the instrument driver wizard can jump start the creation of a driver. What is the instrument (make and model) that you are trying to communicate with? I'm assuming that you already did a search for an existing driver but you might want to post a question to the forum to see if anyone has developed one themself.

[Rikud]

You do not need MAX to solve your problem (unless you have a VISA Passport problem)....best to take this one step at a time.

First step is to be sure your GPIB is working correctly.

Run the folllowing program to be sure the device is recognized. Start->All Programs->CEC488->TEST488. If this fails, you should first power off and reinstall the card or device and see if it can be recognized. If that fails, uninstall and then reinstall the driver. I'd recommend using version 8.3 if you are still having problems.

If your card is recognized, then connect your instrument and attempt to communicate using the CEC diagnostic: Start->All Programs->CEC488->TRTEST.exe (use the Send and Enter buttons to test writing and reading respectively).

If you can communicate with the CEC TRTEST diagnostic then try to use the NI Visa Interactive Control on your system (Start->All Programs->National Instruments->VISA->Visa Interactive Control) you could also open this and see if your instrument is listed on the VISA I/O tab. If your device is listed then you are good to go!

If your device is not listed, then it would be good to check the VISA Passports. To check the VISA Paassports, you will need to open the NI Measurement & Automation (NI Max) utility and click on Software->NI-VISA, go to the VISA-Options tab, click on Passports and ensure the NI-VISA Passport for GPIB is marked off and the KEVICec Visa Passport for GPIB is marked on.

[mcampbe]

I got a NI board.     The Signal analyzer appears in MAX and VISA and I can talk to it.  The problem now seems to be with labview only.  Whenever I try to use instrument I/O Assistant, it tells me that either MAX or the instrument I/O assistant is not installed correctly.  I have tried reinstalling MAX and I can open up MAX through labview and it sees the signal analyzer.  Do I need to reinstall labview and start from fresh with a NI board?

[Andy L]

Hi mcampbe,

I would try reinstalling NI-VISA before reinstalling LabVIEW. The instrument I/O assistant requires VISA to run correctly and it could have been corrupted. You can find the latest release of NI-VISA here.  If reinstalling NI-VISA does not fix the issue I would recommend starting fresh with LabVIEW.  

Regards,