xp service pack 3 problem?

[jesse geis]

I have an xp sp 2 laptop (dell) that I connect to a pci-gpib card through a dell-docking station with pci card slot. Normally, this configuration works. However, I'm forced to upgrade to xp sp 3 and have had no luck connecting to the card. With the old laptop I was using NI 288 1.7. I've tried 1.7 with the new laptop and it won't recognize the card. I tried installing the latest driver - NI 288 2.7 released this feb. 2009 - and it appears to recognize the card, but won't communicate with it. In my troubleshooting I'm guessing it's xp sp3 however,  I'm up for any suggestion.

Thanks!

Jesse

[pflores]

Hello Jesse,

I am not aware of any issues with sp3 and this card.

When you say the drivers recognize the card, but won't communicate, what does that mean? Does it show up in MAX? Does it show up in Windows Device Manager?

Also, does the Dell docking station have drivers? Have you updated them?

Cheers

[jesse geis]

Under my XP SP3 machine:

Windows Device Manager sees the card (only when NI 288 version 2.7 is installed - not under 1.7). Under Windows Device Manager, under the properties for the card, it says that it's working properly and there are no conflicts.

Yes it does show up in MAX, it sees the serial number and I'm able to see/assign addresses, etc. However, when I click on "Scan for Instruments" it says "There was an error performing the instrument scan." When do the same thing and I have NI Spy running it returns the following:  Description: ibfind(GPIB0) Status: 0x8000 iberr: EDVR (0) ibcntl: 0xE01E001F. When I double click on on it, and click on the "Output" tab, the Status Description says: "Error connecting to driver or device."

Sorry, if you couldn't already tell I'm pretty much a rookie on this. My other machine with XP SP2 and NI 288 1.7 works perfectly. So my best guess is that it has something to do with the new driver and sp3.

Thanks!

[jesse geis]

Update:

I uninstalled xp sp3. I left the 2.8 driver in and it still failed to work - although the Windows Device Manager says it's working properly it still fails to communicate as previously described. I uninstalled 2.8 and installed 1.7 and it continues to fail to work. However, with 1.7 the Windows Device Manager sees the device, has the NI logo next to it, but has a yellow exclamation mark and under it's properties says the device cannot start.

Thanks!

[pflores]

Aside from upgrading to SP3, can you think of any other changes to your system?

What PCI-GPIB card are you using?

[pflores]

Hello jesse geis,

I have some things to check.

 - Can you check if the PCI card shows up in the GPIB.ini file?  It should be located at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\National Instruments\NI-488.2 If you can attach that file, it would be helpful.
 - Was the driver installed on the system at the time of the upgrade?

[jesse geis]

Hi,

It appears to be in the ini file, here's what it reads:

[^INFO]
Driver = GPIB
Type = 0xFF
NumGpibBoards = 4
NumGpibDevices = 32

[GPIB0]
AUTOPOLL = "No"
BoardName = "PCI-GPIB"
BoardType = "0x5B"
CICPROT = "No"
CompatibleType = "0xFF"
EOSchar = "0"
EOScmp = "7-bit"
EOSrd = "No"
EOSwrt = "No"
EOT = "Yes"
HSCableLength = "Off"
IPAddress = "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
PAD = "0"
PPollTime = "Default"
SAD = "None"
SC = "Yes"
SerialNumber = "0x01059372"
SRE = "No"
TIMING = "500nsec"
TMO = "10sec"

Then it goes on for the other addresses - gpib1, gpib2, etc. except without any serial numbers, just blanks.

I installed the driver after the upgrade.

One major difference between the two systems is we now use windows authentication vs. the old system with novell authentication. I wonder could it be a permissions issue? The user account I'm using has full administrator rights.

Thanks!