Problem establishing communication with GPIB-USB-A

[ms1]

Hi

The following occurs when I try to establish communication with my HP 8594A Spectrum Analyser:

1) The troubleshooting wizard for 488.2.2.4 verifies the first and second step but produces an error on GPIB Interfaces Sequentially Verified.

2) The error suggests that there is an address resource conflict.

3) Everything appears OK with no resource conflict in the device manager or event logger.

4) Max 3.0.2.3 crashes when I try to access devices and interfaces.

5) I have tried changing VISA passport to include NIVISATulip.dll as suggested on NI knowledge base but still no resolve.

I have had no problems in the past and this has occurred on two different machines that both contain the software in the past two days. I have re-installed the LabVIEW 6.1 software twice with no luck. Any help is much appreciated

[Scott-M]

Hi Ms1

What is the exact wording of the error from step 2, does it have an error code with it? You mentioned you have tried reinstalling LabVIEW, have you tried reinstalling NI-488.2 and MAX? You can find the latest and older versions of 488.2 on our website here.

Thanks

Scott McCaig

[ms1]

Hi Scott,

I'll run through the process as best I can.

1) The NI-488.2 Troubleshooting Wizard runs through three steps.

2) The third step produces a red cross and a dialog box displays the message "One or more GPIB interfaces failed". "Double-click on each individual GPIB interface, for example "GPIB0", in the list to get detailed information about the status of that interface."

3) The Troubleshooting Wizard has three columns with the associated description a) GPIB name - GPIB0, b) Interface Type - GPIB-USB-A, c) Status - Failed.

4) When I double-click GPIB0, the troubleshooting wizard help window appears with the heading "Address Resource Conflict in Windows 2000/XP" with the following description "This error occurs if the address resources assigned to a GPIB interface conflict with the address resources being used by other devices in the system.

5) From this it tells me to go to the event viewer, device manager etc and I check to see that everything is working fine with no resource conflicts.

To answer your other questions. There is no error code. Yes I have re-installed NI-488.2 and MAX from the CD and the relevant version of 488.2 from your website a few times. I have even removed individual components from add/remove programs and re-installed appropriate drivers. To re-iterate, this was working fine all year until Monday. The last time I used it successfully was 5th Nov. It worked on two PCs until then.

I found a piece of information on your website relating to this problem and it suggested to me to change the VISA passport settings as mentioned. An earlier post said to delete the GPIB.dll file in the system32 folder and re-install which I have done as well with no change. Another article mentioned to go into BIOS and alter the plug and play settings to not automatically detect but I'm not sure how to do this on XP.

Thanks,

Matt

[Scott-M]

Hi Matt,

I think the issue might be about driver version compatibility. The following Developer Zone article outlines which versions are supported for each type of hardware and OS.

GPIB Driver Versions for Microsoft Windows and DOS

You will see on the chart that the last version of NI 488.2 that supported USB-A is v2.2, you can find that driver here.

Hopefully this is just a compatibility issue, try out the older driver and let us know what you find. (keep in mind you will have to un install the newer drivers first)

Thanks

Scott M.

[ms1]

Hi Scott,

Sorry I failed to mention but I have done this and the computer detects it properly in the add hardware wizard.

Matt

[ms1]

I have just gone through my PC and completely rid anything and everything pertaining to NI.

This included:

1) add/remove programs

2) delete system32 files created by NI

3) delete any shortcuts, folders and files that went undetected

4) delete regedit files in hkey_local_machine

I then reinstalled LabVIEW and its associated components. I then installed the NI-488.2 applicable for the GPIB-USB-A adapter.

I opened MAX and tried to establish communication and it crashes like before. The troubleshooting wizard comes with the same error as previous. In other words, the problem is identical to the one in the subject header.

I have no idea on how to persist

[Scott-M]

Hi Matt,

It's starting to sound like there might be an issue with your actual hardware, to make sure you might want to try this GPIB-USB-A device on another computer, and if possible try another GPIB-USB-A device on your computer, these two steps would isolate the issue to the hardware (rather than the software). At that point you might have to look into having the card sent into us for repair.

Let me know what you find.

Thanks

Scott M.

[ms1]

Hi Scott,

As mentioned above, I have been trying to get this to work on two seperate PCs that both worked last month. The issue is that they are on the same network and there was a system overall within this period. I think that the resource conflict was created during this but I can't be completely certain. I have spoken to the person who is in charge and he doesn't know how to resolve the issue. We only have one GPIB-USB cable so it is difficult to try this. I am going to try and load up the software and hardware on my laptop over the weekend and I will let you know the outcome.

[karen_w00]

Hi Matt,

I was wondering if you were ever successful in resolving this problem.  I am having almost the exact same issues that you are describing here.  I have been working under the assumption that various versions of software I have are incompatible, but nothing I do seems to help.  Additionally, my event log shows an error with startup of nipalsm.exe - not sure if this is relevant, but this process won't start up manually, either.  Any input you might have if you've learned anything would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You!

Regards,

Karen

[ms1]

Hi Karen,

I managed to purchase a GPIB-USB-HS as it was my only option remaining. It has proved to be a solution as it worked on first attempt. It will set you back $1000 but if nothing else works from what I've described previously then I suggest you do this. Hope all is successful!

Matt