Raspberry Pi2/3 logging platform for Voltnuts

[bingo600]

@dr.d
Well done ...

I ought to try my Agilent LAN->GPIB adapter out.

Are you using the Raspi w. the voltnut image ?
This thread (image devel) seems to have come to a standstill for now.

/Bingo

[dr.diesel]

Are you using the Raspi w. the voltnut image ?
This thread (image devel) seems to have come to a standstill for now.

I was initially, but since the E5810 I moved it to a VM, it was just easier for me.

I'd love to see the image expanded on the web logging/graphing/trending side, but that is not my particular strong suit.  A standard here might be nice for those active in the T.C./LTZ arena.

Frank's branch is active and has more "stuff"

https://github.com/FrankBuss/RPi_LogNut

[Bud]

Sorry folks I am lost... Is am image available for download for Pi3 ?
Does it support Agilent 82357B clone?

[bingo600]

Sorry folks I am lost... Is am image available for download for Pi3 ?
Does it support Agilent 82357B clone?

The issue w. the Agilent 82357B ( and clones) is solved , by the linux-gpib maintainer Dave Penkler.
I'm not sure if the downloadable image for the Pi3 has been updated w. the latest SVN version of linux-gpib , that contains the fix.

But it would be quite easy to download the Old Pi3 image and do the linux-gpib update your self.

/Bingo

eevblog IRC
I'm sometimes joining the eevblog channel on irc , and might be able to help "online" , i'm using:
irc.afternet.org
#eevblog

[TheSteve]

I upgraded to a pi3 a week ago, followed TiN's howto to get gpib up and running and it is working fine with the 82357B.
This is just a basic image though - no builtin graphing or web server etc which would be very nice to have.

[TiN]

Image for Pi2/Pi3 is available here:
https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/_Images_RPI-DL/.

One currently there is based on older linux-gpib, but have basic scripts and webserver with graph-logs.
Tested to be working fine with NI GPIB-USB-HS and different instruments.
If you want to use 83257B, can reference to my updated guide to update latest linux-gpib.

[Bud]

Is any other download source? The link is _very_ slow....

[TheSteve]

Took 4 hours for me to grab it. I had a go at updating it to the newest linux-gpib but had no luck, communication was still broken. Not sure why.

[Bud]

Took 4 hours for me to grab it.

Thanks for confirming. My download showed 7 hours ( cancelled it). This makes the OP effort useless, unless the image is uploaded elsewhere.

[TheSteve]

The download speed varied quite a bit - it said it would be 2 hours when it started, then went to 7 hours but was a little quicker in the end. Not a huge deal to start it before bed - it should be ready by morning.

[bingo600]

I'll give it a go too

Edit: I got the image in 61 minutes

/Bingo

[z01z]

Didn't work for me either. It looked like the new linux-gpib wasn't installed (after a make uninstall), at least the debug printouts from the previous install were still there.
With a clean install it works fine though.

[Dwaine]

I have my Keysight U1272a with dual display python script finished.  Basically it displays the primary display with the secondary display. I also started a script for the Siglent function generator, mostly for the frequency counter graphing. 

I'll do a pull request to GIT when I'm finished.   

[bingo600]

Took 4 hours for me to grab it. I had a go at updating it to the newest linux-gpib but had no luck, communication was still broken. Not sure why.

@Steve et all

I just installed the Plesa VoltNut image on my Rpi3.
And upgraded to the latest linux-gpib.

I made a tiny how2:

Note: When pasting the url's from the guide be sure to remove the  url  tags , that i can't seem to get rid off inside a code block.

Code: [Select]


PC
-----

Get image from TiN here : [url]https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/_Images_RPI-DL/[/url]
--------------------------
wget -c [url]https://doc.xdevs.com/doc/_Images_RPI-DL/RPi_LogNut_v2.zip[/url]


Write image to SD card
------------------------
dd bs=4M if=RPi_LogNut_v2 of=/dev/sdx       - replace /dev/sdx to fit your mount point


If you use a SD card larger than 8G , maybe resize to use all - See:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://elinux.org/RPi_Resize_Flash_Partitions#Manually_resizing_the_SD_card_using_a_GUI_with_GParted

*** Note ***
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS[/url]
Plesa has apparently chosen f2fs as the file system - should be a fs made for flash
That makes it very difficult to resize the filesystem to ie. 32GB (size of my SD card)




Raspi
---------

Mount card in Raspi , and boot.

Login to Raspi (ssh) - user: pi , pass: raspberry

Update OS
--------------
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Adapt hostname
---------------
sudo nano /etc/hostname

reboot
---------
sudo reboot now

Update firmware
------------------
sudo rpi-update

reboot
---------
sudo reboot now


Cleanup old kernel headers to make room for the new ones.
----------------------------------------------------------
You probably want to delete everything starting with linux in the /root directory


Update kernel headers to newly installed kernel
------------------------------------------------
sudo wget [url]https://raw.githubusercontent.com/notro/rpi-source/master/rpi-source[/url] -O /usr/bin/rpi-source && sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/rpi-source && /usr/bin/rpi-source -q --tag-update

Get the new headers fot the running kernel
--------------------------------------------
sudo rpi-source

** Watch out for this one ** - You prob. forgot to make room for the new headers above.
ERROR:
Not enough diskspace (900MB) on /root
Skip this check with --skip-space


reboot
---------
sudo reboot now


Build latest linux-gpib
--------------------------
cd /opt
sudo rm -fR linux-gpib
sudo svn checkout http://svn.code.sf.net/p/linux-gpib/code/trunk/linux-gpib/ linux-gpib
cd linux-gpib
sudo ./bootstrap
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install


Make the agilent module load automatically on boot
----------------------------------------------------
sudo sed -i -e "\$aagilent_82357a" /etc/modules


reboot
---------
sudo reboot now



Now you have the latest linux-gpib on the voltnut image


Check the new module is loaded

pi@raspi4:~ $ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
bnep                   10340  2
bluetooth             326105  5 bnep
brcmfmac              186403  0
brcmutil                5661  1 brcmfmac
snd_bcm2835            20447  1
cfg80211              428871  1 brcmfmac
snd_pcm                75762  1 snd_bcm2835
snd_timer              19288  1 snd_pcm
rfkill                 16037  4 cfg80211,bluetooth
snd                    51908  5 snd_bcm2835,snd_timer,snd_pcm
i2c_bcm2708             4834  0
bcm2835_wdt             3225  0
bcm2835_gpiomem         3040  0
uio_pdrv_genirq         3164  0
uio                     8000  1 uio_pdrv_genirq
agilent_82357a         18276  0    <---------------------- **** Here
gpib_common            31540  1 agilent_82357a       <---- **** Here
i2c_dev                 5859  0
fuse                   84037  3
ipv6                  347556  52


If the module is NOT present , something went wrong with the linux-gpib build/install
Probably wrong kernel-headers , you might have installed a new version of linux.
And have NOT done a : sudo rpi-source


Check the installed linux-gpib version with :
----------------------------------------------
$ gpib_config -v
linux-gpib version = 4.0.3 [r1655]

/Bingo

I will not use this image , as just using 8GB out of my 32GB card is not acceptable.
And  resize.f2fs  apparently is NOT in the current Raspi version of  : f2fs-tools.

$ sudo apt-cache policy f2fs-tools
f2fs-tools:
  Installed: 1.4.0-2
  Candidate: 1.4.0-2

It seems to be in f2fs-tools_1.7.0-1.1


I hope that Plesa will make an ext4 version too

Ohh: I haven't tested with an Agilent/Beiming gpib adapter yet , but as the module loads - It should work


/Bingo

Make sure to see Steve's additons here
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/raspberry-pi23-logging-platform-for-voltnuts/msg1133932/#msg1133932

[TheSteve]

I'll give it a try. When I upgraded the Linux gpib it also loaded  fine but gave an error when I tried to communicate.

[bingo600]

I'll give it a try. When I upgraded the Linux gpib it also loaded  fine but gave an error when I tried to communicate.

It seemed like the agilent_82357a wasn't in /etc/modules
This means you'd have to do a manual : sudo modprobe agilent_82357a

Else i doubt the module would be loaded at all

/Bingo

[TheSteve]

The module was loading fine, firmware automatically uploaded etc. Running ibtest even found the the controller but it would fail when trying to actually send data to a device.

[Assafl]

I'll give it a try. When I upgraded the Linux gpib it also loaded  fine but gave an error when I tried to communicate.

Had to disconnect and reconnect the 82357 from USB (after the version update) to get it to not time out after the update (otherwise got the 14 timeout error).

@Bingo Kudos - Your update instructions work beautifully.

[bingo600]

@Bingo Kudos - Your update instructions work beautifully.

Great
Thank you for the feedback

Ohh: remember the linux-gpib modules are kernel dependant.

Whenever you get/install a new kernel , you need to :

reboot
---------
sudo reboot now


Cleanup old kernel headers to make room for the new ones.
----------------------------------------------------------
You probably want to delete everything starting with linux in the /root directory


Get the new headers fot the running kernel
--------------------------------------------
sudo rpi-source


Build latest linux-gpib
--------------------------
cd /opt
sudo rm -fR linux-gpib
sudo svn checkout http://svn.code.sf.net/p/linux-gpib/code/trunk/linux-gpib/ linux-gpib
cd linux-gpib
sudo ./bootstrap
sudo ./configure
sudo make
sudo make install

/Bingo

[bingo600]

The module was loading fine, firmware automatically uploaded etc. Running ibtest even found the the controller but it would fail when trying to actually send data to a device.

But would it load the module after a reboot ??

/Bingo

[Assafl]

I don't know if this is OT or OT (BTW - is there a different shorthand for On topic as for Off topic?) - As it may be an HP34401A issue only - and a beginner sort of issue at that....

I was trying to use the RPi to do long term measuring but kept getting different results from the Keysight (Agilent) tools, and from what I was getting on the display. On the display I was stable to within +-1uV@1V range (short term, of course, longer term I get some drift) while on the RPI I was getting fluctuations of many PPM (up to say +-3uV or even more, same range). Also, readings came in faster. My original suspicion was NPLC, which turned out to be a false suspect...

Well, I ended up writing a short script that dumped all the settings. The one that turned out to cause this was the [SENSe:]ZERO:AUTO. When used from the front panel, the DMM zeroes itself between readings (hence the slow update rate). However, sending a ZERO:AUTO? returned a '0' (Off) when measuring using the RPi. So the DMM was not zeroing itself (hence the update rate was double).

Adding the line ZERO:AUTO ON fixed this issue and stabilized the measurement.

Hope this helps someone out there.

[TheSteve]

bingo600 - I believe your howto needs several bits added to work with the 82357B

A couple notes from my attempt:

Cleanup old kernel headers to make room for the new ones.
----------------------------------------------------------
sudo rm -fR /root/*


The above command does not work but it won't give you any indication of that because of the -f
If you remove the -f you'll find the command won't work with sudo. If you switch to true root login(sudo su) it will work fine.
If you don't get this command to work properly you will run out of space when you proceed to the next step.


When everything is complete the module will load but it won't work by default.

We need to install fxload:

sudo apt-get install fxload

Then we need to get the Agilent 82357 firmware:
cd /opt
sudo wget http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/firmware/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz
sudo tar xvzf gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz

Then we need to copy the firmware to /usr/share/usb/agilent

cd /opt/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a
sudo cp measat_releaseX1.8.hex /usr/share/usb/agilent_82357a/

I believe /etc/gpib.conf should also be modified to support the 82357:
 board_type = "agilent_82357a"   /* type of interface board being used */

At this point the 82357 will work great and load at boot.

[bingo600]

bingo600 - I believe your howto needs several bits added to work with the 82357B

A couple notes from my attempt:

Cleanup old kernel headers to make room for the new ones.
----------------------------------------------------------
sudo rm -fR /root/*


The above command does not work but it won't give you any indication of that because of the -f
If you remove the -f you'll find the command won't work with sudo. If you switch to true root login(sudo su) it will work fine.
If you don't get this command to work properly you will run out of space when you proceed to the next step.

Sorry , this command ought to work : sudo  rm -fR /root/* -

Corrected instructions tn the above posts , to let the user chose how to make room.
Them i'm avoiding to specify a rm -fR in a guide ....


But strange that your : sudo rpi-source
Didn't give you the warning that i specifically mentioned to watch out for , if/when running out of space.

** Watch out for this one ** - You prob. forgot to make room for the new headers above.
ERROR:
Not enough diskspace (900MB) on /root
Skip this check with --skip-space

Or did you miss that one 

When everything is complete the module will load but it won't work by default.

We need to install fxload:

sudo apt-get install fxload

Then we need to get the Agilent 82357 firmware:
cd /opt
sudo wget http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/firmware/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz
sudo tar xvzf gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz

Then we need to copy the firmware to /usr/share/usb/agilent

cd /opt/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a
sudo cp measat_releaseX1.8.hex /usr/share/usb/agilent_82357a/

I believe /etc/gpib.conf should also be modified to support the 82357:
 board_type = "agilent_82357a"   /* type of interface board being used */

At this point the 82357 will work great and load at boot.

You might be correct about the above things.
My post was only about how to upgrade the volt-nut image to the latest linux-gpib version, not fixing the existing image.

It never even occured to me that those things could be missing , but then again Plesa never had a working linux-gpib for the agilent when making the image.

Thanx for the update 

/Bingo

[z01z]

I think the 82357B related stuff was intentionally left out, as it didn't work. So no, this in not in the v2 image.

[Bud]

Boy this is depressing . It is not for Voltnuts, it is for Linux nuts. No average electronics person would be willing to go through this hassle of configuration.