what is an EHDL (23) error? And no control panel icon.

[JarettM]

I just installed a PCI-GPIB into a 1 GHZ Win2K computer.  When I attempt to run the test software, I get EDVR (0) and EHDL (23) errors in NI Spy.  Also, the NI icon does not show up in the control panel.  The "Explore GPIB" program does pick up everything that I have installed on the GPIB bus. 

Thanks for any help.

[Chris_R.]

Hi Jerett!
You first need to make sure you installed the GPIB drivers before installing the GPIB card.  This is often the reason you are not seeing it correctly in the control panel.  If it was not installed in the order, be sure to remove the card from the machine, uninstall the drivers, reboot the computer, reinstall the drivers, shut down the computer, install the card, and start the computer (in the order).  This way, Windows will know how to handle the new hardware.  If you are still seeing the same behavior, I have included some things you can try.  The EDVR is a driver error and the EHDL is an invalid handle error.  Please follow the following links to find additional information on the EDRV error: EDVR Error, GPIB Error Codes.  I found these documents by searching for EDVR at www.ni.com.  They also provide possible fixes.  Also, pasted below is an explanation of the EHDL error with some possible solutions.  Best of luck and let me know if you are still having trouble after trying these potential fixes!  Have a great day!

Chris R.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

EHDL(23)
Error Condition:Input Handle is invalid
Possible Cause:Several GPIB commands take in the input handle of the board or the device as an input parameter which can be the source of this error. This error can occur under several circumstances. Some scenarios are listed below:

• A valid board handle is passed in as a device handle parameter or vice versa
• An invalid board or device descriptor is passed as input to any NI-488.2 function
• A board id outside the range of 0-99 is passed in to a traditional NI-488.2 board-level function or NI-488.2 routine
• ibconfig or ibmask is called with a device unit descriptor and a board-only configuration option, or with a board unit descriptor and a device-only configuration option

Solutions:

• Check to see if the device-level and board-level functions are not mixed up when calling the respective functions.
• Also check if the board index passed to the NI 488.2 call is a valid index number.

[JarettM]

Unfortunately, I'm not a coder by any means.  I'm just the tech trying to get this newer computer to work with our ATE.  I'll pass on the information to the proper engineer though.  Thanks for the assistance, and as soon as I know anything, I'll pass on the info.

[Chris_R.]

Ok, just let me know if you have any trouble or need any more help.  In my post above, I said "control panel", but I meant to say "device manager".  You should see a "GPIB Devices" in the device manager with the NI logo next to it and the GPIB card underneath it if the drivers are installed properly.

Chris R.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[JarettM]

I do get the GPIB card in the device manager.  And in the Measurement & Automation program, it's there too, as GPIB0.  Is there not a way to set up the individual devices that are on the bus like with the older ISA cards?

[GPIB_Guru]

In the old drivers, the configuration was done through the control panel. With the newer drivers, they are all done through MAX (Measurement and Automation Explorer)

Are you trying to setup device templates? I don't believe it is exposed through MAX (someone else may be able to explain why), but you can still get to it by opening up a command shell and going to the NI-488.2\bin directory (on my machine this is c:\program files\national instruments\ni-488.2\bin) and running gpibconf with no parameters.

To change the name of the device name, double click on the name. To modify the parameters of a device name, you can modify the settings in the attributes section.

Good luck.

[JarettM]

Thanks for your help. I'm certainly going to try that tonight. I'll post to let you know what I did and if I got it to work or not.