Multiple PCI-GPIB cards - issue with addressing/handles

[stratocaster_master]

I have 3 PCI-GPIB (IEEE 488.2) cards on a machine running Windows 7 (6.1).  I see an intermittent issue (that I'm not able to consistently reproduce yet) where GPIB1 and GPIB2 appear to swap (communication with 1 goes to 2 and vice versa - it appears the serial numbers swap in NI MAX so I'm assuming calls to these two get the wrong handles to the card).  

I've noticed after a restart of the system, the INI file created (I'm assuming by NI software or driver) sometimes has the serial numbers for GPIB1 and GPIB2 swapped as well (although we produce our own INI before use to setup for our needs and are able to get the correct serial numbers with an ibask call from the gpib-32 library).  Our GPIB0 (which we specify as controller-in-charge via the INI) has had no problems.  Even with our INI file, the issue has been reported to happen.

The cards always remain in the same physical PCI slot so I'm assuming the PCI bus driver enumerates the devices consistently.  

My only guess as to the root cause of the problem is that we are using an older version of NI 488.2 (v 3.1.2) - however I'm unable to prove this.  Has anyone seen anything similar or have any insights/suggestions?  I'll be happy to provide more information if needed.

[Davidvilla87]

Can you find images or even better an explanatory video? There is a good way to do this. https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Why don´t you try with a newer version of this driver? Here it is

http://www.ni.com/download/ni-488.2-16.0.0/6132/en/

[stratocaster_master]

Unfortunately, we have several of these systems that are widespread.  We can certainly update the driver, but it will take some effort (not networked, drivers would have to be included in new disk image).  I'd prefer to identify the root cause or prove the latest driver would fix it before recommending we update it .

I will update the driver on a local system and post again if the problem persists.

[Davidvilla87]

All right. It sounds like a goog idea.

[stratocaster_master]

Following up in the small chance someone else sees this problem:

I discovered the problem occurred with changes on the bus (i.e. unplugging an instrument's 488 connection would cause GPIB0, GPIB1, GPIB2 to 'swap' in NI MAX after a restart)

I updated NI-488.2 from 3.1.0 to 3.1.2 and so far the problem hasn't recurred.  

[stratocaster_master]

Thought the problem was solved (see my previous post)...  Another identical system (same physical configuration) was updated to Windows 7 today and all 3 GPIB cards were swapped (PCI slots mixed up) in NI MAX.  I updated the driver on this system and restarted and the cards still had the wrong PCI locations.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas?