Problem with PCI-GPIB under WIN98 and HTBasic

[BUCA]

Hi,
I just wanted to run one measurement program which worked quite well under DOS, HTBasic and GPIB-PCII/IIA on an old PC 486, now on Pentium I computer under WIN98 and new PCI-GPIB card, but program doesn't work quite well. In fact, program doesn't show any error, but comunication between computer and instrument and printer (through the GPIB) is bad. I tried to change EOI and EOS parameters in configuration panel, but it didn't get any results. In HTBasic I use GPIBNI.DW6 driver, which I found on the following address: http://www.htbasic.com/support/dwnload2.html#drivers.
HTBasic recognizes card, but program do not works well.
I will really appriciate any comment regarding this, and I will give more information to someo
ne who can help me!
Branislav Martinovic

[JohnM 64]

Branislav,

I am not sure from the information you have given why this program would not work now. There have been a lot of changes made, and I am not familiar with the HTBasic environment. Are you using HTBasic for Windows, or are you using HTBasic for DOS? What version of HTBasic are you using? The GPIBNI driver download page states that this release is supported for HTBasic versions 5.2 through 7.4 only.

Since HTBasic recognizes the card, but the old program is not working, I recommend trying to write a new, simple program to communicate with the instrument. Getting a simple program to write to and read from the instrument will at least tell us that we can send and receive data on this new computer. You may also consider contacting HTBasic to see if the
y have any ideas on why your program is not working with their driver on your new computer.

John M

[BUCA]

Hi John,

Thank you very much for your comment. Here are the additional information you asked.
I just wanted to run one measurement program which worked quite well under DOS, HTBasic for DOS and GPIB-PCII/IIA on an old PC 486, now on Pentium I computer under WIN98 and new PCI-GPIB card, under HTBasic for Windows ver. 5.1, but program doesn't work quite well. In fact, program doesn't show any error, but communication between computer and instrument and printer (through the GPIB) is bad. I tried to change EOI and EOS parameters in configuration panel, but it didn't get any results. In HTBasic I use GPIBNI.DW6 driver, which I found on the following address: http://www.htbasic.com/support/dwnload2. html#drivers.
HTBasic recognizes card, but program doesn't wo
rk well.
Also, when I tried to communicate with instruments using NI programs delivered with card, I got the message "Scan for instruments found to many listeners on the GPIB" and "Instrument Enumeration failed." When I started GPIB Analyzer, message was: "GPIB Analyzer - Error. Missing card ERROR: Supported GPIB+ interface not found."
Computer controls Saunders 2100 system for measurement of crystal units, and units under control are:
- 4210A Test chamber - 2 pcs
- 3577A Network analyzer 5 Hz - 200 MHz 1 pc
- 2476 Saunders switch controller - 1 pc
- Printer EPSON FX-80+ 1 pc
I hope you have enough information, and if you need more, I'm at your disposal.
Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards
Branislav

[JohnM 64]

Hi Branislav,

This information is very useful to troubleshooting this issue. The first thing that jumps out to me is that the driver you downloaded from that website for NI GPIB cards states,

"This release supports HTBasic Release 5.2 through 7.4 only."

Since you are using version 5.1 of HTBasic, I am not sure how much functionality you will have. It does not appear to be designed with 5.1 in mind. You may wish to contact them and ask them if they have a GPIB driver for NI GPIB products for your version of HTBasic.

I would like to help you get up and running with the NI software that shipped with the card. What version of the 488.2 driver is installed on the machine? And when do these error messages occur? We should definitely be a
ble to get the card to communicate using Measurement and Automation Explorer or other National Instruments Software.

-John

[BUCA]

Hi John,

Thank you very much for your replay.
At the beginning of next week I will give you information you requested.
Now I will tell you only that driver is NI-488.2 for Windows ver. 2.1.
Have a nice weekend!

Branislav

[BUCA]

Hi John,

Only what I can add new is that I used MAX (Measurement and Automation Explorer) delivered with card, when I tried to communicate with instruments, I got the message "Scan for instruments found to many listeners on the GPIB" and "Instrument Enumeration failed." When I started GPIB Analyzer, message was: "GPIB Analyzer - Error. Missing card ERROR: Supported GPIB+ interface not found."

Branislav

[JohnM 64]

Hi,

First, I recommend making sure that the NI-488.2 driver is present by going into Add/Remove programs. Second, make sure that you do not have multiple versions of the driver. NI-488.2 is installed by default with LabVIEW. Last, go into Device Manager and delete the entry for the GPIB board (it may be listed under "other devices"). Now select "Scan for Hardware Changes" under "Action" in Device Manager. This should bring up the dialogue box to install the GPIB board. Make sure that you complete each step and note any error messages that you get. If there are no error messages, then you should be able to communicate using both the GPIB Analyzer and with Measurement and Automation Explorer.

If this does not help you successfully complete the installation, please contact an NI engineer by going to www.ni.com/ask and selecting either "Call an NI Engineer" or "Email an Engineer".

Have a good
day.

-John M

[NI-488.2 master]

Please note that the GPIB Analyzer application will only work if you are using a PCI-GPIB+, not just a normal PCI-GPIB. The error "GPIB Analyzer - Error. Missing card ERROR: Supported GPIB+ interface not found." should be expected in this scenario.

Can you use NI-Spy to see if there is any communication between the HTBasic layer and the NI-488.2 driver? You seem to have hit upon an odd situation when you scan for instruments. Are you using a GPIB extender in this setup? It may be the source of the "Scan for instruments found to many listeners on the GPIB" error.

Craig A
National Instruments Engineer

[BUCA]

Hi Craig,

Thank you very much for your comments. In the mean time I got from HTBasic support team HTBasic for Windows ver. 6. but unfortunately it didn't help.
I used NI-Spy as you recommended, and please find as attachment capture.txt file which was recorded when I started measurement program. I have to say that I'm not programmer. I found that main error was ENOL(2) - No Listeners on the GPIB. Maybe it will help you to help me!

Best regards
Branislav

[ScottieB]

It looks like the instrument is not properly asserting NDAC when it is a listener, possibly. Your program appears to manually address the GPIB with a board-level handle (see the NI-488.2 help file for more information on board-level versus device-level). The error "ENOL" (No listeners) means that the software is directing the board to write to an instrument, but no instrument is out there listening. Can you provide further details like:

1) What is the address of your GPIB controller?
2) What is (are) the address(es) of the instrument(s) on the bus?
3) Do you have any bus extenders (how is this cabled together?)
4) Another spy capture, taken as described here: http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/8D890EC09B15C05A86256E6F007E3E86?OpenDocument

Thanks,
Scott B.
GPIB Software
National Instruments