VISA Read hangs. Get Resetting VI dialog on abort.

[Axlon]

It seams to be a problem after VISA driver V5.0.3.

I have uninstalled V5.1.1 VISA driver from my computer, and installed VISA V5.0.3 instead, and then the time out for the VISA work again.

Have installed V5.1.1 on an old Win XP machine with Labview 8.2.1, and then the VISA timeout error occurs.

[tkott]

I'm glad you were able to downgrade and get things working. I was originally on 5.0 when my problem started occuring. I can now confirm that the process (total hang of LabVIEW by VISA read) has happened on four different instruments, on totally unrelated commands:

• SR830 Lock-in
• Oxford IPS-120 Magnet power supply
• Keithley 2400 sourcemeter
• SRS SIM900 mainframe (assorted modules)

@George: Unfortunately this seems to always happen when I'm not at work any more, and am remote desktoping. The only solution I've found is to restart LabVIEW and/or the computer to clear all the GPIB / VISA errors. Then I can take control of the keithley (and other instruments) with no problem. Additionally, due to the experimental setup, it is typically much faster (and safer for our samples) to simply restart the computer than powercycle the keithley :).

With the errors happening on different instruments, and the instruments themselves not crashing, I have to think it is a driver issue. I just wish I could help debug it for NI. It seems like it is a very hidden type of bug. I'm pretty confident it is not a processor / memory issue on my end -- I've yet to use more than 30% of my available ram (24GB) and max out more than 3 out of 8 cores. Come to think of it, perhaps motherboard / pci type thing? I can double check in the morning, but I'm pretty sure I'm running a NI PCI GPIB board as the controller, and this is on a Dell Precision 3800 workstation.

Tomek

[MilanR]

Hi tkott,

You mentioned that you are using a GPIB range extender with these instruments. Do you see the same behavior if the range extender is not used? In addition if an error is occurring on the bus that prevents the VISA Read from returning we may be able to see the error on the line using the NI I/O Trace Utility. Instructions for creating a trace can be found in the KB titled Performing a Good NI I/O Trace Capture for Debugging/Troubleshooting.

[SyrinxIndustrialElectronics]

 i see that this forum is a little old,

but i dont see a sollution for this problem.

i have the seem problem to. i send the seem command 8000 time and it goes well. but the next time it will hang in Visa Read.

is there already a solution for this problem??

i'm using 2 differend pc both have windows 7.

1. but on one i use runtime engine with visa drivers 5.0.3.

2. and on the other i use labview 2011 with visa drivers 5.2.0.

on pc 1 i send the command 8000 and it will hang the next time. in visa Read

on the other it will hang and give a bleu screen of dead error code 0x0000000A

greets

[George_G]

The thread is old, but I still watch it hoping for some kind of resolution.  I still encounter the issue often.  Unfortunately I still haven't been able to get it to happen in a predictable way.  For me it does not appear to have any dependance on the instrument.  It has happned with old HP function generators during error queries, with new LeCroy scopes, with Keithley source meters... but it is always during a VISA read that fails to timeout.  (I don't know if the instrument actually sent data or not when this happens)

[SyrinxIndustrialElectronics]

I have tested it verry wel now. this problem starts in visa read and hangs there.

the device i have connected is a usb to serial converter and i have connected the TX to the RX.

everything i send is every thing i read. and when it hangs i get a bluescreen BSOD.

the vi whit my test is attached.

[MilanR]

@SyrinxIndustrialElectronics

The BSOD sounds like a problem with the driver for the hardware that is being used. If it is an NI USB to Serial device then you should update to the newest version of the NI-Serial driver that is compatible with your system. If it is a 3rd party piece of hardware then you should check the manufacturers website for updated drivers. In addition, if you are using a Windows XP machine there is a known issue with the Microsoft Windows XP USB driver that can cause this behavior and more information can be found in the Microsoft KB A data transfer is corrupted when you transfer data from or to a USB device on a computer that is ru....

@George_G

Unfortunately it will be difficult to troubleshoot unless we can reproduce the issue in some way. If it is possible, you can try to create an I/O trace using the instructions mentioned above in the article  Performing a Good NI I/O Trace Capture for Debugging/Troubleshooting. The I/O trace may give more of an insight into what data is being sent to NI-VISA and if any errors are occurring. In addition, it was mentioned previously that NI-488.2 version 2.80 was being used so upgrading to NI-488.2 version 3.02 may help.

[SyrinxIndustrialElectronics]

I do not think it is a problem with the driver.
testing the vi, is about 8000-24000 loops properly.
but the next course will give a BSOD.

but I tried a different driver.
but it does not have the desired results.

I also tested it on another computer at run-time.
there it would not lounge a BSOD but it will stuck at visas READ.

and there are the same drivers.

[SyrinxIndustrialElectronics]

i've searched at the interet. and on the ni forum i found this:

you can also use .NET instead of VISA. it will take a litle chance but it would work.

and almost every Windows pc has the .NET applications so you dont need to instal them.

attached is a vi that use the .NET.

it isn't a sollution for the visa READ. but you can use it 

[Albert.Geven]

The problem is probably not visa but the usb to serial converter.

Some are OK but some are almost OK.

So I do not believe in a .net solution for this problem.