I want (need) a linux-2.6-compatible driver for NI-GPIB

[EvanHeidtmann]

I am trying to use an NI GPIB card under Linux 2.6.7 (Debian). My efforts at hacking the source to get it to compile have so far been in vain. I would greatly appreciate it if someone experienced with this code could port it to Linux 2.6.

Thank you!

[Methis Elddir]

Are you referring to the NI source? If you want 2.6.x support, it may be
easier to use the source provided by the Linux-GPIB project. Are you
using this with LabVIEW?

Go here for more details:
http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/

You'll notice they've supported kernel 2.6.x since May 2004. See Frank's
announcement:
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=4427555&forum_id=2853

[Geneva L.]

NI-488.2 v2.2 for Linux/x86 and the GPIB-ENET/100 is the first official National Instruments GPIB release for Linux. It should work on kernels 2.2.x, 2.4.x, and 2.6.x.

You can find out more info at the ni.com/linux page.

[EvanHeidtmann]

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. My card is PCI-GPIB, which is only supported on 2.0, 2.2, and 2.4. The driver you mention (unless I am severely mistaken) is for GPIB-ENET/100 and not for PCI-GPIB.

[EvanHeidtmann]

I am using this with LabVIEW. I was trying to make the binary driver from NI work, but that project looks promising. Thank you!

[Methis Elddir]

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 08:44:25 -0500, Geneva L. wrote:

Where does it say there's support for 2.6.x kernels? No mention of it
here:
http://www.ni.com/linux/ni488dl.htm

I also went to ftp.ni.com and looked in /support/gpib/linux. Nothing
special there. The highest version I can find is
nigpib-linux-0.8.6.tar.gz which still doesn't claim to support 2.6.x
kernels. Looked in the 2.2 folder too. There are only two files:
LICENSE.txt and README.txt. That README.txt doesn't claim to support
2.6.x kernels either.

Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places. Where did you hear or read that
it should work on 2.6.x kernels? Please, share these links 🙂

[Geneva L.]

You are correct; the software I mentioned is for GPIB-ENET/100 only. NI hopes to add support for PCI-GPIB on kernel 2.6 in the future, but there is no timeframe available at this time. If you would like to formally log your request at the Product Suggestion Center, you can describe your application (for instance, why 2.6 is critical) and the details of your distribution. This could help in prioritizing the project and in trying to address the specific customer needs.

[Geneva L.]

Sorry for the confusion, Methis! Only the GPIB-ENET/100 is supported. The README.txt for it was completed before NI had distributions available to test 2.6, so we focused on updating the website. If you look in the description at the http://www.ni.com/linux/ni488dl.htmm page, you'll see that we did successfully test the GPIB-ENET/100 with NI-488.2 v2.2 for Linux with Mandrake 10 (which is kernel 2.6 based).

[Methis Elddir]

Since you're using LabVIEW, there's something else that could
ease your transition into using the Linux-GPIB drivers. Check out the
"LabVIEW library for Linux-GPIB" on OpenG.org:
http://openg.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Linux-GPIB+Library

(click on "Attachments" tab near the top of the page, the downloads will
show at the bottom of the page)

[Methis Elddir]

No problem and thanks for the clarification.