Linux GPIB ENET configuration & failures

[Jason_L]

We're trying to setup a Linux Workstation, which has mutliple ethernet adapters to use a GPIB ENET/100 Box.  We're using Redhat Enterprise WS 4, Kernel 2.6-9.5

We use a similar GPIB ENET/100 setup on both Solaris and Tru64 workstations, and the setup and configuration has worked fine on these systems.

On Linux, we've run into the following problems:

- Trying to install the 2.3 version of the driver fails the NI-KAL portion of the install.

- If we independantly install the NI-KAL 1.3 driver first, the 2.3 driver install completes fine.

After it's installed, we're unable to use EthernetConfig to see the GPIB Box.  I've read http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/48BEC3CD0D4F378C86256EE1006EE0D0, which claims that the subnet that the GPIB box is on, needs to be set as the default gateway?   This does not seem like a good solution, as we want it set up as follows (this is how we have it on our other workstation setups as well)

- 1 "house" network setup, which the GPIB box can't see and the GPIB box can't be seen from the "house" network

- Several other local subnets under 192.168 are used for private network communication, one of which includes the GPIB ENET/100 Box.

We have a route setup to communicate with the GPIB ENET/100 Box, and we can ping it, but EthernetConfig still fails.  If we do some cable swapping, and connect the adapter used for the house network to the ENET Box, EthernetConfig can see the ENET Box.  It appears that EthernetConfig ignores the route, and will only communicate on the default gateway. 

So after these troubles, we installed (after uninstalling the 2.3 stuff) the nienet 1.2 drivers.  Tried the EthernetConfig again, and it still didn't work.  So out of curiosity, I tried using ibic instead, and I WAS able to talk to the ENET Box.  So then I tried our SW w/ these drivers, and it appeared to work fine.

So after all this back and forth, is it OK to use the nienet 1.2 drivers?

Should we use the 2.3 drivers instead?  Is it OK to install NI-KAL first, then the rest of the drivers to get it to work?

Does EthernetConfig only communicate on the default gw? Should this be fixed?

Thanks.

[fivestar]

The EthernetConfig utility uses UDP packets to discover GPIB-ENET/100s connected to your network.  Unfortunately, with Linux, outgoing UDP packets are only routed to one Ethernet adapter.  TCP packets are used for normal communication with the GPIB-ENET/100, and Linux is smarter about routing that type of communication, which is why you can ping the device.  Using EthernetConfig is something you probably won't have to do very often, so you can make the desired configuration changes with the cables switched or on another network, and then connect the GPIB-ENET/100 like you want to.  As long as you can ping the device, you can add it using the GPIB Explorer utility and the driver should work fine.

I would recommend using NI-488 v2.3 instead of the ENET v1.2 driver because it includes fuller API support and works with the latest versions of LabVIEW.  It should be noted that RHEL 4 is not an officially supported distribution for v2.3.1, but if you were able to install it with NI-KAL v1.3, it will probably work fine for your GPIB-ENET/100.

Dan
GPIB Software

[Jason_L]

It's been a while now, but I wanted to thank you for your response.

As we are not using Labview, only GPIB ENET/100, we're currently using one of the older installs.  It has seemed to work for us, and it doesn't use any of the previously mentioned utilities for configuration.

Thanks again for your assistance.