New NI GPIB-USB-HS on legacy Apple systems

[3TMQ]

Hi Folks
Does any one know if new NI GPIB-USB-HS units still work as replacements in Apple OS X legacy test systems, or has there been a firmware change in the USB interface to the kext?
I have just bought a spare unit as a replacement, and it fails to work on my existing Apple NI 488.2 installs (V18.5 on OS X 10.13, OS X 10.11, V2.5.5 on OS X 10.5 intel). Borrowed unit for troubleshooting works fine. In NI Max, the new "faulty" unit reports as "GPIB-USB-HS" (note missing preceding "NI ") in the left hand panel, and missing configuration panels on right hand side.

Faulty new unit:-

PART NO: 187965J-01L
SERIAL NO: 201764C

Good trouble shooting unit:-

PART NO: 187965G-01L
SERIAL NO: 152CE23

Note the final character "J" vs "G" difference. Do "J" units not work on Apple Mac OS X?

NI Max results:-

Faulty unit on left, trouble shooting functional unit on right

My only need from these units is scripting with IBIC (which has always worked quite well) 🙂

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Many thanks
Michael

[rolfk]

Where did you buy it? There seem to have been counterfeit devices on the market and NI added measures in their driver to detect that and simply cause an error. The missing NI might be an indication but I'm not sure. Using NI in a counterfeit product might open the manufacturer to extra legal liability for brand name abuse and similar.

The G versus J difference is for legit modules simply a revision change. NI adds an incrementing letter to each part number. Every time they make any modification to the device, this letter is incremented. Modifications can be engineering improvements such as PCB changes to make a device less suspectable to electrical interference or failing, changes of components used on the board either for technical reason, market availability or EOL of a component. It could also be a mechanical modification or even things as changing the housing color as part of their rebranding.

[3TMQ]

Thank you Rolf for your helpful reply.

That was my guess about the "G" / "J" differences (mostly minor, and legit), but I have been unable to find any authoritative information on the NI website describing the "PART NO:" changes.  I was wanting to confirm "J" did not cause a backwards compatibility issue with old Apple Mac kexts for the USB comms, which I am pretty sure it would not - but you never know.

Unit was purchased from China, pretty much from where a search landed me avoiding anything that looked overtly unreliable, as I had to return a borrowed unit (and had a couple of old machines, with old software which always just worked - plug & play).

So I guess it's a poor copy.  I see now, that even buying on Ebay does not solve this problem.  I guess no one now tests their hardware on Apple, eh?  Makes the unit pretty much junk for me.

Many thanks

Michael