NI-488.2 Version Confusion

[kehander]

I've been using NI-488.2 2.3 on my PXI-8186 in RT mode for some time now. The suggestions that the performance of NI-488.2 2.3 is much lower than it should be bother me somewhat. Still, since I never received NI-488.2 2.4 on any of the 7.1 update CDs I was sent and since I'm not upgrading to LabVIEW 8 just now, I never bothered installing it. I'm wondering if I should.

Unfortunately, the Current GPIB Driver Versions (NI-488/NI-488.2) list is a little ambiguous. Along with the Drivers and Updates page, it suggests that the latest version of NI-488.2 for Real-Time OS is 2.0, but clearly I have RT 2.3.0 installed on my PXI controller, according to MAX. The Current Versions page also suggests that NI-488.2 2.3 is the most recent version that the GPIB controller on the PXI-8186 supports.

What's going on?

[kehander]

No suggestions?

I'd really like to know more about this. If there are serious performance flaws in NI-488.2 2.3.0, I'd like to replace it as soon as possible, but not if it's going to mess up my system.

[Chris_R.]

Hello,
The RT version 2.0 download page is not correct.  It shouldn't say that 2.0 is the latest version.  It will soon be changed to state that it is the most recent version available for downloading.  Later versions are available on the driver CD.  Where did you hear that the performance of version 2.3 of NI-488.2 is lower than expected? 

The current GPIB versions page is currently in work for updates and will be updated shortly.

Please let me know what performance concerns you have with NI-488.2 v. 2.3 and I will address them.  Thanks for the feedback and have a great day!

Chris R.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[kehander]

The performance issue in 2.3 is documented right there in the readme for 2.4:

"Driver version 2.3 performance during IBCMD and serial poll calls was lower than version 2.2. This has been fixed and improved over version 2.2."

A practical example is documented in http://forums.ni.com/ni/board/message?board.id=140&message.id=13001 .

So, should I install NI-488.2 2.4 on my Host PC and install it on my PXI-8186 through MAX?

[Chris_R.]

Oh yes, I know what you are talking about now.  Yes, I would recommend upgrading to version 2.4 on both your host machine and controller through MAX since this bug should be fixed in 2.4.  It should work fine with your system.  We will be updating the GPIB Versions page soon.

Chris R.

[kehander]

Hmm.  Well, I download the package from [link removed] and installed it on my host PC, and now MAX reports that I have version 2.42 installed on My System.  However, the Real-Time Install Software Wizard does not indicate that I can install version 2.4.0 on my PXI chassis.

Is the real-time component not actually included in that download?  Should I use the device driver disks from the latest LabVIEW 8 disk set I have received instead?

[ss06]

Hi, is there an NI (whatever) uninstaller? I wanted to perform a clean re-installation of the NI-488.2's DOS/Win98 (V 1.6), but Win98's Remover could not show those installs and since I touched it it never is right now --- always something is missing or interface problem, although Device Manage is okay.

[Ebele_Obijiofor]

Hello,

I am a little confused when you say Windows 98 remover does not see the NI-488.2 installation, and things haven't been right since you "touched it". What exactly do you mean by touched it? You should uninstall NI-488.2 using "Add/Remove Programs" from the control panel. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Regards,