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Installing NI-488.2 on Redhat 7.5

I'm trying to get set up to use my NI GPIB-USB on my Redhat 7.5 laptop. The laptop was purchased strictly for this purpose.

 

I followed all of these instructions to install the NI Linux Drivers here:

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-linux-device-drivers-2018/7664/en/

http://www.ni.com/product-documentation/54754/en/

And everything seemed to install nicely. I just went ahead and tried installing all the drivers and rebooted.

 

But I can't start gpibexplorer. When I try I get a pop-up window saying:
"The attempted operation failed. libnipalu.so failed to initialize. Verify that nipalk.ko is built and loaded." Similar thing when I try to run visaconf.

I gathered that nipal needs to load the drivers. There are no ni drivers coming up in lsmod. So I ran:
[radio@toucan ~]$ sudo /etc/init.d/nipal start
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'nipalk': Required key not available

error: nipalk failed to load
error: Consult the product documentation for support
error: Or search for solutions on ni.com.

What is the required key that I need? I can't figure out how to run updateNIDrivers. Any other ideas?

 

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What is your exact version of RHEL?  (e.g., 7.5)

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It may be that your system has UEFI Secure Boot enabled, which would require a complete chain of signed drivers.

 

Additionally, the GPIB-USB is not supported on Linux with the NI software stack.  There are some third-party alternatives.

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I'm using 7.5. I updated the original post.

 

From /etc/redhat-release:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server release 7.5 (Maipo)

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I haven't experienced your specific error but FYI my updateNIDrivers lives here: /usr/local/bin/

 

You may need a symbolic link from libnipalu.so > libnipalu.so.version#   For some reason that error seems vaguely familiar. Try to find where the libnipalu.so.17.0.0 (or whatever version it is) with the command: locate libnipalu.so

 

Also, in my experience, I needed NIKAL version 17.5 for RHEL 7.5 (17.0 won't work):

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-kal-17.5.1/7685/en/

 

I am talking to devices over Ethernet, not USB.  Using GPIBEXPLORER I can edit / modify ENET100s, but if I want to talk to an ENET1000 I have to manually edit the gpib.ini file (GPIBEXPLORER has a bug when trying to add a 1000 to the gpib.ini file).  If you manually edit it works.  All in all, the NI Linux stuff is pretty hack-y.

 

Good Luck.

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But I can't start gpibexplorer. When I try I get a pop-up window saying:
"The attempted operation failed. libnipalu.so failed to initialize. Verify that nipalk.ko is built and loaded." Similar thing when I try to run visaconf.

 Perhaps contact your NI sales representative and demand your money back.

 

I gathered that nipal needs to load the drivers. There are no ni drivers coming up in lsmod. So I ran:
[radio@toucan ~]$ sudo /etc/init.d/nipal start
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'nipalk': Required key not available

That's one of the thousand problems w/ proprietary drivers. If the was free (GPL), then it would most likely already be in mainline, therefore shipped by the distro w/ proper signature, and you wouldn't have any problem at all.

 

You have "secure boot" enabled (that thing which was originally introduced to boycott free operating systems), and the kernel was built w/ CONFIG_EFI_SECURE_BOOT_SIG_ENFORCE. Disable "secure boot" in UEFI setup / recompile the kernel w/o that option, so it doesn't check for signatures anymore.

 

What is the required key that I need?

You'd need the distro's privkey (pretty much impossible) to sign the module, or rebuild your own kernel w/ your own key and add that to UEFI's trusted keyring. The NI scripts won't help you w/ that, you'll have to do that all on your own. There're several guides in the web, but it's a task for a seasoned linux operator, not the average desktop user.

Linux Embedded / Kernel Hacker / BSP / Driver development / Systems engineering
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I am using ni-pal-18.2.0.49152-0+f0.x86_64 on Redhat 7.4.
My nikal verion is 18.2.0f0, i.e. precisely ni-kal-18.2.0.49152-0+f0.noarch

All the NI compatibility docs referencing ver. 18.2 supports Redhat 7.*, i.e. RH 7.4 and 7.5.

I am finding problems communicating with my gpib devices.

I kept my gpib.ini file in /etc/ni4882/gpib.ini

 

Note: attempting to restart nipal caused problems:

<snip>

# /etc/init.d/nipal restart

error: unable to unload nipalk

<snip>

 

Q1. Where should I keep gpib.ini file?
Note: Once I copied my gpib.ini to /etc/ni4882/gpib.ini I can run the "gpibexplorer" to browse my gpib devices.

I have gpib.ini in the following locations:

/etc/gpib.ini
/etc/ni-visa/passports.d/gpib.ini
/etc/ni4882/gpib.ini

What is the purpose of the /etc/gpibrc ?

 

Appreciate any insight.

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Did you by chance have any of the pre-18.0 versions of any NI drivers installed on the system before attempting to install the most recent 488.2 driver?

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I have sucess with centos 7.4 and Labview.

 

 

Sorry, if you need some help with centos 7 tell me.

 

 

Thanks

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Thanks. I think centos 7.4 should work similar to Redhat 7.4.

LV 2018 installation is straight forward. Have you configured gpib/ni488.2?

What ver of gpib/ni488.2 did you install?

Thanks

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