Agilent E5810A LAN / GPIB errors

[lmtis]

Hello,

I have been living with an annoying error for too long.  I have a test that controls a device via an Agilent E5810A LAN / GPIB Gateway.Periodically I get error 1073807343 at VISA open.  Most of the time the test works flawlessly, but sometimes the operator will get this error 6 to 10 times in a row before communication gets re-established.  I cannot find any information on this type of behavior with any of the searches that I have made.

Jim

[Chad B]

Jim,

That error code indicates that the device described by the VISA resource constant you've entered isn't present in the system.  When this happens, are you experiencing any network outage?  If not, does resetting the gateway help at all?

[lmtis]

Hi Chad,

Usually when this error appears, the operator clicks the continue button, and the program attempts the operation again.  This cycle can continue for numerous repitions, or just once.  I have not detected any network problems, but communicating with this gateway is the only test & measurement use of the network outside of file operations.  Also, this program can operate sometimes for hours without an error.

Jim

[Chad B]

Jim,

When the error occurs, does the device disappear from MAX? (Is it even in MAX?)  This sounds a lot like a network problem to me.  Just out of curiosity, what error do you get if you pull out your network cable while the test is running?

[lmtis]

Chad,

I don't know how to get MAX to see a network device.  It only shows my GPIB devices.  If it is a network issue, how on earth would I verify it?  It is VERY intermittent.

Jim

[Chad B]

Jim,

Even though it's a GPIB interface, it communicates over Ethernet, right?  If the Ethernet link between the interface and your PC goes down, it's possible that the error you're seeing could be a response to that.  If that's the case, we should be able to create that exact same error whenever we want by disconnecting the Ethernet cable from the PC while a program is running.

If you run the program and disconnect the Ethernet cable from the PC while taking data, what error do you receive?

[lmtis]

Chad,

Yes it gives the same error when it is disconnected.  I would expect that since the description of error 1073807343 is that the device or resource is not present in the system.  I do not have enough information to rule out a network problem, but I can say that with all of the data that we are transmitting across the network, this is the only apparent problem that we are having.  That said, this is also the only instrument that we are controlling via a TCP/IP connection.  Any idea how I can discern between a problem with the network and the GPIB/LAN gateway?

Jim

[Scott_G]

Hey Jim,

It sounds like you have it narrowed down to either a network or hardware problem.  Are you hooking the GPIB adapter to a hub or router? Or are you connecting straight to your computer?  Also, is it possible to try disabling your firewall? 

[antennaguy]

Chad,

I too have seen this problem with the VISA drivers in more recent years (LV7 +). I just put the open in a loop for it to try the open twice.
The second time always works :). We had pre-LV7 code that never had this problem, and it was quite something to figure out as well.

If you get the error twice, then it is a true error.

I think it has something to do with the VISA drivers not being loaded up initially, and after you make one call in the program, all is ok, but that is just my conjecture.

Regards.

[Chad B]

If you can't detect any other network problems at all, it's probably a hardware problem.  The easiest way to check for something like this would be to connect the device to the computer with an Ethernet crossover cable.  This eliminates the chance that any network problems would cause issues.