*idn? problem

[canglong]

I use GPIB-USB-HS, and send *IDN? in MAX to Agilent N3300A, but it response a series binary array instead of string. anyone know why ?

other instruments no problem. 

[canglong]

The response is "binary information receiving..." , just like this:http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/A9D41E0F5F7F75DB86256AE300774595 but the link do not give the solution

[smercurio_fc]

Does this happen with any query, or just *IDN? That page actually provides two possible steps to take. I can add one more: Have you verified that you don't have an address conflict? I've seen this kind of thing occur when two instruments were set to the same GPIB address. You may also want to check to make sure it's not related to bad cabling, as I've seen that cause this as well. Try to move your cables around to see if the problem follows a cable.

[MarkAPC]

I've had both bad cables and old, non- 488.2 compliant equipment cause this problem.