Windows 11 GPIB0 no communication with KE5FX GPIB Toolkit - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 am
content: There is a lot of history here using the KE5FX GPIB Toolkit. I use it just fine with a serial connection to my HP 54542A oscilloscope. However, in order to modernize my system I got an HP E2050A LAN/HP-IB Gateway. As practical work with anything GPIB is new again to me, I wasn't quite sure where to start. I'll save the entire history of what I did and list the state of things now:Windows 11 Computer:1. Installed the latest Keysight IO Libraries Suite (18.2.27313.1).2. Installed the latest National Instruments Measurement and Automation Explorer (NI MAX 21.5.0f239).3. Installed the KE5FX GPIB Toolkit.Windows Vista Computer:1. Installed an older version of the Keysight IO Libraries Suite (17.1.20011.4).2. No NI software was installed.3. Installed the KE5FX GPIB Toolkit.I can use the Keysight Interactive IO and NI VISA Test Panel tools to get the *IDN? response from both computers. The E2050A gateway shows the sessions from both computers.Keysight Interactive IO:Code:-> *IDN?<- HEWLETT-PACKARD,54542A,US36060143,00.13,01.14,03.10,01.01NI VISA Test Panel:Code:1: Write Operation (*IDN?\n)Return Count: 6 bytes2: Read OperationReturn Count: 58 bytesHEWLETT-PACKARD,54542A,US36060143,00.13,01.14,03.10,01.01\nI can then switch from Listen to Talk on the HP 54542A and with the HP 7470A Emulator I can get a screen shot using GPIB->No assigned plotter... and Acquire->Wait for device-initiated plot on the Windows Vista computer only.On the Windows 11 computer I get this error when running the query command in PowerShell. I get the same text in the popup window when the error happens in 7470.exe:Code:PS C:\HewlettPackard\GPIB\KE5FX\GPIB> .\query.exe 6 "*IDN?"National Instruments board (GPIB0) not foundAre you using a Prologix adapter? If so, you must run theGPIB Configurator application first. Select "Update CONNECT.INI"after selecting your adapter's COM port or IP address.Otherwise, you must either configure your NI488.2-compatibleGPIB adapter as GPIB0, or use the GPIB Configurator to select thecorrect board.Users of Agilent or Keysight GPIB adapters must enable NI488.2compatibility. Otherwise, the adapter will be unavailable forselection in the GPIB Configurator.ibsta=&H8000 < ERR >iberr=0 EDVR <DOS Error>ibcntl=-535560155connect.ini is the same on both computers, with these pertinent settings:Code:interface_settings GPIB0is_Prologix 0write_delay_ms 10reset_to_local 0force_auto_read 1restore_auto_read 0enable_lon 0Also, the KE5FX programs are set to Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode. I run 7470.exe in Administrator mode.What can I do on the Windows 11 computer to make this work:1. Why do the Keysight and NI suites see GPIB0 but not the GPIB Toolkit?2. Is there a firewall setting somewhere?3. Is there some other security setting?4. Is this a 32-bit / 64-bit problem?5. Is there another test that would help narrow down the problem?

author: alm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 08:11:55 am
content: Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amI would expect this to be a fairly easy route since the E2050A does not rely on any OS drivers, unlike a similar era PCI or USB interface.Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amDid you install just the NI configuration tools or did it include NI-488.2? If so, how did you set things upbetween Agilent IO Libraries and NI-488.2?Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amDid you enable NI-488.2 compatibility in the Agilent IO Libraries, or is NI MAX working through the NI-488.2 stack? Maybe the steps on page 1 ofthis checklisthelp?Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amMy guess is that they use a different interface, for example a 32-bit and 64-bit version of gpib32.dll. One of which might be the Agilent version and one of them might be the NI version. Or one us using VISA and the other gpib32.dll (I'm pretty sure the GPIB Toolkit uses gpib32.dll).Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amI would probably expect a different error then.Quote from: Tomorokoshi on April 03, 2022, 04:07:48 amI would installProcess Monitorand filter on the query.exe process. Using this is always about generating large haystacks and finding needles in this. I would for starters look for anything gpib32.dll related. I don't remember if this tool can show you which version of the DLL it is loading. If you can get one of the tools from the Toolkit to prompt for input, you could useProces ExplorerorListDLLsto figure out where it's loading the GPIB libraries from.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 03:25:05 pm
content: Before jumping to this win 11 thing, have you tried on win 7 and windows 10 ?? Win10 can run tons of old win 9x, xp ... stuff, not all but manyDitched win 11 recently got tons of problems with it, go to a more stable OS for a startMany people did not run into problems with Win 10 ?? Normally the compatibility mode should help a lot, try the lowest windows version going up a little at the timeOn a win10 x64, with the help of an leaked /reworked / ntvdm, i can even run very old 16 bits appsA firewall : for com lpt gpib ports uses should not block them, but could block an software if it's specifically configured to do soSome 64 bit systems can have bugs for i/o interfacing, a 64bit kernel doesn't run like an 32 bit, as some asked you, have you tried on 32 bit os'esand lastly WINDOWS 11 is more ''secure'' in a way, it could interfere with some drivers, remember windows 8 to 8.1, windows 8 was fun to use, but MS with the driver signature enforcement stuff in 8.1 scrapped tons of efforts to make things workStart on a Win10 32 bit ....

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 11:30:32 pm
content: Quote from: coromonadalix on April 03, 2022, 03:25:05 pmUnfortunately, I don't have Windows 7 or Windows 10 computers to switch to. That said, I agree that Windows 11 is disappointing and frustrating. For my immediate need, I can use the Vista computer to capture the data and copy it over.I am comparing the transactions between Windows Vista and Windows 11 now.

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 03, 2022, 11:40:23 pm
content: Quote from: alm on April 03, 2022, 08:11:55 amThanks! I am working through these hints and suggestions now. I've been working through comparing "SICL" and "SICL Detail" messages in the Keysight IO Monitor between the systems. On Windows 11, the first divergence when sendingtalk 6 "*IDN?" 100is with SICL:igpibsett1delay, which returns error code 8. According to the SICL Library Reference, igpibsett1delay is not supported when using the TCP/IP Instrument Protocol. Then things really start to diverge. Unfortunately, the only way to export the messages is to .XML, which is difficult to parse and doesn't properly convert to .CSV.Anyway, it will take the rest of the week to work through the suggestions. I will probably uninstall all GPIB software from the Windows 11 computer and install the same version that works on Vista. Then I will have a better comparison.

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2022, 02:54:13 am
content: In the process of trying to answer the questions from above I encountered several problems. I didn't get the time to thoroughly check all of them.As it turned out, I uninstalled the NI and Keysight software in order to start over. I then installed the IOLibSuite_17_1_20011.exe version that worked on Windows Vista.There was one curiosity that I recalled from the first installation that I ignored at the time: the Keysight installer found "another vendor's" copy of a VISA library. The first time through I installed the Keysight library as "secondary", so this time I installed it as "primary". I found, configured, and tested the gateway and *IDN? to the oscilloscope without any problems.However, 7470.exe would still not work. In fact, instead of failing after a few seconds, now it would fail immediately. I dabbled with this an that setting with no change. Finally I unchecked "Keysight VISA" as the enabled installation, I got a message about it switching to the other VISA library, and it worked! The strange thing is that it still shows Keysight VISA as the library.So there are still some remaining mysteries to be solved later:1. Does it work now because I used an older version?2. Does it work now because of the extraneous VISA library that was around?3. Does it work now because I didn't install any NI software this time?4. Does it work now because I installed Keysight VISA as primary?5. Does it work now because I installed Keysight VISA in Administrator mode?6. ?

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2022, 03:32:39 am
content: The toolkit doesn't use VISA, SICL, or any other higher-level protocols -- it just uses the original NI488 API. Based on the error message ("GPIB0 not found"), it sounds like you just need to enable NI488.2 compatibility in the Keysight utility.

author: Tomorokoshi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2022, 11:22:41 pm
content: Quote from: KE5FX on April 06, 2022, 03:32:39 amI had selected "Enable Keysight GPIB cards for 488 programs" in all the various configurations I tried.However, with the library change appearing to make it work, I followed up with alm's earlier suggestion about tracking down the .dll's.Here is what I have:In C:\Windows\System32 I have "Gpib-32.dll" and "gpib-32.orig.dll". These have sizes of 127,296 and 51,008 bytes, respectively. I attached the Properties->Details about each file.Perhaps the "Hook Library" was selected instead of the "488 Router" initially, and it switched over when I changed the "Keysight VISA" selection. Anyway, I will leave it as-is for now, until I decide to spend another 4 hours uninstalling and re-installing the various versions of the Keysight libraries. Thanks!