How do I configure my PCI-GPIB cards so that one is a controller and the other is a device being controlled by the first card

[Pete F]

I have 2 PC's, both fitted with PCI-GPIB cards. One will be the system controller and the other will be a device on the GPIB bus. How do I configure both cards using LabWindows/CVI v7.0 to achieve this ? What commands are used to send and receive the data ?

[DiegoF]

Hi Pete,

For the controller board you don't really need to do anything. By default the GPIB interface is configured as controller.

The non-controller can be configured in MAX. Right-click on the interface, uncheck the ono-controller box and change the primary address. It is usually a good idea to set these parameters programatically. Use ibpad to set the primary address and ibrsc to release system control.

For the controller you can use a device descriptor (using ibdev) or a board descriptor (ibfind).

You can only open a reference to the non-controller board using ibfind (ibfind("gpib0"), for example). This will open a board reference. You cannot use a device reference because that implies that the board is capable of addressing the bus. On
ly the system controller can.

Here are some links I found on the web on this subject:

Passing GPIB Control -- System Controller vs. Controller In Charge
Tutorial: Programmatic File Transfers over the GPIB
Example: Using a C Program as a GPIB Non-Controller with LabVIEW as the GPIB Controller

Example: Serial Polling Between Two Computers (Controller and Non-controller)


Hope this helps.

DiegoF
National Instruments.