Use of USB6501 I/O board with Linux and USB hub

[Teltz]

I am developing a hybrid test system and I would like to use the NI USB6501 discrete I/O board.  

The platform is x86, Linux (Gentoo).  I want to be able to read and write discrete I/O from my Linux C application.  Low speed, no interrupts.

Q1: what minimal libraries do I need for this?  I want to avoid having to have a GUI.  Ideally I would simply link to a shared or static library  and call into an API.

Q2: does the USB6501 work through a USB hub?  If so, what type of device does is enumerate as?  I expect to have some mass storage devices also on the hub and I weant to be able to differentiate between them and the USB6501.

regards
Rich Teltz

[Sandra_T]

Hello Rich,

I see that you are programming with the Gentoo distro of Linux. National Instruments does not officially support this distribution. I suspect you will have to write an install script.

Refer to this document:

National Instruments and Linux: Frequently Asked Questions

You may find some ideas on these discussion forum

How to get LabVIEW to control GPIB on Linux?

notes on installation under linux 2.6.19 kernel (gentoo)

With regards to your second question about using the USB-6501 and a USB hub. National Instument does not support the use of USB Hubs with our USB products. The reason for this is, we can guarantee our USB is This is not supported, but I have seen customer sucess with some externally powered USB hubs. One recommendation I have for you is to plug each of the devices in at a time so that the hub detects each of them correctly.

Regards,
  Sandra T.

Applications Engineer | National Instruments