PM6666: Cannot read/write via GPIB

[rachdatu]

Hello

I am using an old PCI computer to connect to a PM6666 counter.
My interface is a NI PCI GPIB board.
 
Output of the lspci command:

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03:0b.0 Communication controller: National Instruments PCI-GPIB (rev 02)
Subsystem: National Instruments PCI-GPIB
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 23
Memory at feaff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Memory at feaf8000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Kernel modules: tnt4882
I have tried to get its model with this script:

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import sys
import time
import Gpib

inst = Gpib.Gpib(0,6) # Device address 6
time.sleep(1)
inst.write("ID?\n")
time.sleep(1)
str =  inst.read(40)
print str
The counter switches to remote but then issue an error:

Code: [Select]

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "test_gpib.py", line 14, in <module>
    inst.write('ID?\n')
  File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/Gpib.py", line 49, in write
    gpib.write(self.id, str)
gpib.GpibError: write() failed: A read or write of data bytes has been aborted, possibly due to a timeout or reception of a device clear command.

Here is my gpib.conf:

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interface {
        minor = 0       /* board index, minor = 0 uses /dev/gpib0, minor = 1 uses /dev/gpib1, etc. */
        board_type = "ni_pci"   /* type of interface board being used */
        name = "violet" /* optional name, allows you to get a board descriptor using ibfind() */
        pad = 6 /* primary address of interface             */
        sad = 0 /* secondary address of interface           */
        timeout = T10s  /* timeout for commands */

        eos = 0x0a      /* EOS Byte, 0xa is newline and 0xd is carriage return */
        set-reos = yes  /* Terminate read if EOS */
        set-bin = no    /* Compare EOS 8-bit */
        set-xeos = no   /* Assert EOI whenever EOS byte is sent */
        set-eot = yes   /* Assert EOI with last byte on writes */
        master = yes    /* interface board is system controller */
}
I tried as well with ibtest command and write RL1, but there is still an error

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: w
enter a string to send to your device: RL1
sending string: RL1

gpib status is:
ibsta = 0xc100  < ERR TIMO CMPL >
iberr= 6
EABO 6: Operation aborted

ibcntl = 0

I am now stuck! Anything else I could try?

Thanks in advance

Walter

[Andy Watson]

Do you need to explicitly send the carraige return ?  "inst.write('ID?\n')"  Also, depending on your OS,  "\n" is sometimes expanded into carraige return and line feed, or vice-versa.

[rachdatu]

Hello

Thanks for your answer.
I have tried more or less all possibilities, still without success.
The only script that works is the following: 

Code: [Select]

import sys
import time
import Gpib

inst = Gpib.Gpib(0,6) # Device address 6
inst.write("")
It did not return any errors !

Walter

[Andy Watson]

Does your GPIB card work with other devices ? I recall having to build libraries when I wanted to interface it with C.

[rachdatu]

I don't have any other equipments and I am just starting using GPIB.

According to this document (https://knowledge.ni.com/KnowledgeArticleDetails?id=kA00Z0000019LSwSAM&l=en-CH) my PCI-GPIB board may have been manufactured with different chips.
My assembly number is 188513E-01L which has the "TNT5004" GPIB chip on board. Does this corresponds to the driver of the board?
In my folder where I built the GPIB binaries, I can't find it.
So now, I am using "TNT4882" which "seems" to be somehow identical to the TNT5004 chip.
I did not have any issue loading this driver. This is why I assumed it's the right one.

But I have seen in different forums people asking for the differences and other people looking for the TNT5004.

I am kinda confused.

Walter

[rachdatu]

I finally managed to talk to this counter. However, I replaced my PCI board by an AR488 based on an Arduino Uno.
That works a treat!
It takes no more than a couple of hours to build one...once you have all the items.

By the way, the right command to get the device model is id?

Walter