USBTMC instrument problem

[TopherA]

I've been trying to use USB to control an Agilent E5071B but haven't been able to see the instrument in LabVIEW.  I am able to see and communicate with the instrument in MAX and Agilent's equivalent of MAX.  At first I suspected it may be the Agilent software as it had caused problems with a USB-GPIB connection so I looked around and it looked like that was a problem so I uninstalled and reinstalled NI-VISA.  Prior to the reinstall, if I exited the Agilent software, I was no longer able to see the instrument in MAX.  Now, I can see the instrument in MAX whether or not the Agilent software is running.  I checked the drivers in device manager and it is the NI driver (NIUSBTMC.sys).  The instrument works flawlessly when connected via GPIB.  I just can't get it to show up in the VISA resources drop down menu.  I've also checked to make sure no I/O name filters are on and there aren't any.

Thanks,

Chris

[Chad B]

Chris,

Does the instrument show up as a VISA Resource in MAX, or as a USB Device?  If it's a VISA Resource, what's the identifier?

You might try giving the device a VISA alias and seeing if it shows up then--I've seen make devices "appear" in VISA resource constants before.

[TopherA]

Chad,

I'm not sure what the difference is between being listed as a VISA resource and a USB Device.  It's listed under USB Devices in Devices and Interfaces, but I'm able to open a VISA Test Panel and use that to communicate with the instrument.  I had tried assigning a VISA alias, but that didn't seem to make any difference.  The identifier (if this is the correct identifier) is USB0::0x0957::0x0509::<Serial Number>::INSTR.  It's strange that MAX sees it and can interact with it but LabVIEW can't.

Message Edited by BSU_Chris on 08-02-2007 10:34 AM

[Chad B]

Chris,

Try grabbing the name of the USB device in MAX and dragging it into the block diagram of a VI--this should create a VISA resource constant.  If that doesn't work, I'd be curious to find out if anything at all shows up in the VISA resource constant list.  Can you see any serial or USB devices at all?

[TopherA]

I've been busy working on some other things and had to leave this alone for a while.  I did try the drag and drop from MAX to LabVIEW, creating the constant, but it didn't help at all.  I've also tried a second instrument with the same results.  Both work fine in LabVIEW when connected via GPIB, both work fine in MAX when connected via GPIB or USB, and neither works in LabVIEW when connected via USB.

[Chad B]

Chris,

You might try upgrading VISA.  You can download the latest version here:

http://joule.ni.com/nidu/cds/view/p/id/831/lang/en

[KR4K]

This is a continuing problem with NI's USBTMC driver. We are using this on MS VISTA ultimate, service pack 1.

We've experienced the same problem when trying to use Agilent's N9340A spectrum analyzer. See below for the details of the driver problem. The USBTMC device does not show up in MAX. We have the latest NI VISA, latest MAX, and there's no change. We've been working this since October 2007 with no resolution.

Earlier under support ticket 717590, Support blamed the new way Windows VISTA handles USB:

"I heard back from R&D today and there may not me much good news for us here.  I found out that on Windows Vista, NI-VISA uses WinUSB, Microsoft's user-mode USB driver framework, to perform all USB communication.

Unfortunately what this means is that WinUSB acts as the "driver" for the device and is responsible for the failing of the installation (returning error code 10).  Since this is all occurs in Microsoft's code, we have no way of knowing why it is failing to start the device.  It could be caused by a bug in WinUSB, or perhaps the 9340A.

The reason that it works with Windows XP is because on XP NI-VISA acts as the kernel driver for the device.  Likewise I'm assuming that the 9340A'
own software works on Vista because it also implements the kernel driver itself instead of using WinUSB.

At this point, if you need to use the 9340A with Vista, you may need to use a different bus instead of USBTMC.  Perhaps the device could be used over
GPIB, Serial, or TCP/IP.  Additionally you may just want to stick with XP, or hope that Vista SP1 may solve the issue when it is released."

VISTA SP1 did not solve the problem. There is no other bus option for the N9340A.

Last word from Support on ticket 7171590 was:
"I have contacted R&D for additional details and will get back to you as soon as I hear something back.Have a great day!"

We never heard back, even after following up with Support.

We removed all NI software, loaded Agilent IO Libraries v15, and everything works well. We can run the N9340A from MATLAB using Agilent's VISA. All our USBTMC interface devices now work. So we are writing our software in MATLAB instead of using LabView components.

73/ Dr. Gus Lott

This device cannot start. (Code 10)
Device description: USB test and measurement Device
Hardware ID: USB\VID_0957&PID_FFEF&REV_0100
USB\VID_0957&PID_FFEF

Compatible IDs: USB\Class_FE&SubClass_03&Prot_01
      USB\Class_FE&SubClass_03
      USB\Class_FE
Service: WinUSB
Device Class: USBTMC
Location information: Port_#0002.Hub_#0002
Devices class guid: {a9fdbb24-128a-11d5-9961-00108335e361}
Driver keys: {a9fdbb24-128a-11d5-9961-00108335e361}\0000
Config Flags: 00000000
Capabilities: 00000014
      CM_DEVCAP_REMOVABLE
      CM_DEVCAP_UNIQUEID
Manufacturer: National Instruments Corporation
Location Information: Port_#0002.Hub_#0002
Physical Device Object name: \Device\USBPDO-4
Device Instance Path: USB\VID_0957&PID_FFEF\MY47170214
Driver Node Strong name: oem38.inf:NIC:NIUSBTMC_Inst:1.0.0.0:usb\class_fe&subclass_03&prot_01
Driver assembly date: 10/31/2006
Driver assembly version: 1.0.0.0
Inf name: oem38.inf
Inf section: NIUSBTMC_Inst
DevNode status: 01806400
      DN_HAS_PROBLEM
      DN_DISABLEABLE
      DN_REMOVABLE
      DN_NT_ENUMERATOR
      DN_NT_DRIVER
Problem code: 0000000A
Current winusb.sys: 6.0.6000.16386(vistartm.061101-2205)

[sus]

dear TopherA

the Agilent E5071B not support  communication with USB

[KR4K]

Unfortunately. we have moved away from LavView and all NI products for USBTMC instruments. We cannot get them to work, and the NI support blames VISTA, which means LabView is not VISTA ready. They all work really well using Agilent's IO Library and MATLAB, which works correctly. Wish NI would fix this issue.