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Anyone have an HP / Agilent E1406A VXI controller with IBASIC?
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gslick:
Does anyone have an HP / Agilent E1406A VXI controller with the optional IBASIC (Instrument BASIC) installed? If so, was it factory installed, or is there some way it can be user installed?

I have a newer style surface mount version Agilent E1406A, which has 1.75MB FLASH and 2MB RAM in addition to the 256KB boot ROM (actually FLASH which has no provision to write). This appears that it should be equivalent to the older through-hole version with the expanded memory option 010 installed.

I believe the IBASIC option would be installed in the FLASH, which can be user updated through the GPIB or serial interface. If someone has an E1406A with the optional IBASIC installed I wonder if the IBASIC could be uploaded out of the FLASH and downloaded into another E1406A which does not have IBASIC installed.

This is currently what I see in the E1406A that I have:


--- Code: ---DIAG:DRIVER:LIST:ROM?
SYSTEM,E1406A,A.09.00,ROM;
UNKNOWN,UNKNOWN,0,ROM;
VOLTMTR,E1326A,A.05.01,ROM;
SWITCH,SWITCHBOX,A.07.00,ROM;
COUNTER,E1332A,A.04.02,ROM;
COUNTER,E1333A,A.04.02,ROM;
DIG_I/O,E1330A,A.04.04,ROM;
D/A,E1328A,A.04.02,ROM

DIAG:DRIVER:LIST:FROM?
ALG_CTL,E1415/19,A.05.13,FLASH;
ARB,E1340A,A.01.02,FLASH;
DIG_IO,DIG_IO,A.05.04,FLASH;
E1339A,E1339A/Z2309A,A.04.01,FLASH;
E1418,E1418,A.01.05,FLASH;
SCAN_AD,E1413,A.09.00,FLASH;
SWITCH,SWITCHBOX,A.11.01,FLASH;
RFMUX80,E1470A,A.01.01,FLASH;
VOLTMTR,E1326A,A.08.01,FLASH

SYSTEM:VERSION?
1990.0

--- End code ---

gslick:
No one ever replied to this post so maybe no one else out there on the forum uses HP / Agilent E1406A VXI controllers, or knows anything about them. Or maybe some do, but didn't know the answer to the IBASIC (Instrument BASIC) question.

As a follow up over a year later just in case anyone else has the same question about installing IBASIC on an E1406A which doesn't have it installed, I finally looked in the right place to find a copy of the "ibA.09.01" system ROM image file for the E1406A which includes IBASIC.

It is a 1MB binary image file that can be downloaded to an E1406A using the PROGRAM:DELETE and PROGRAM:DEFINE commands when it is switched into Loader mode. That replaces the 768KB system ROM image that doesn't contain IBASIC. The Flash ROM (FROM) space available for downloading D-SCPI drivers is then reduced from 1MB to 768KB, and any drivers which were previously downloaded into FROM space will need to be downloaded again. (There are no ROM devices on the E1406A PCB, they are all Flash devices, just logically partitioned into separate areas).

After downloading the "ibA.09.01" system ROM image file to an E1406A this is the driver list in ROM space. The SYSTEM was updated from A.09.00 to A.09.01, and IBASIC A.04.02 is now present.


--- Code: ---DIAG:DRIVER:LIST:ALL?
SYSTEM,E1406A,A.09.01,ROM;
IBASIC,IBASIC,A.04.02,ROM;
VOLTMTR,E1326A,A.05.01,ROM;
SWITCH,SWITCHBOX,A.07.00,ROM;
COUNTER,E1332A,A.04.02,ROM;
COUNTER,E1333A,A.04.02,ROM;
DIG_I/O,E1330A,A.04.04,ROM;
D/A,E1328A,A.04.02,ROM
--- End code ---

mcguire:
As per our private email, thanks Glen, I'll be trying that this weekend!

I drive my VXI systems from a V743, which is an HP9000 series 700 on a VXI module.  It's great, I love working with it.  I do both hobby and business stuff with it; most recently I built an ATE system for a production line with it.  It works great, costs very little, requires no maintenance, and a closet full of spares costs almost nothing.

I've done the same with a V382, but most of my work has been on V743s of late.

                    -Dave
Tony_G:
Just out of interest, how do you handle the video out from the device? I have a viper card that I use but I've always thought about putting a small VXI enclosure in my rack instead but never really done much research on it.

TonyG
gslick:
The E1497A V743/64 is a 64 MHz 7100LC PA-RISC processor VXI embedded controller.
The E1498A V743/100 is a 100 MHz 7100LC PA-RISC processor VXI embedded controller.
The E1499A V382 is an MC68040 processor VXI embedded controller.
They all have standard VGA type video output, although the connectors on the V743 are not so common Micro-D ? connectors.

The E1406A VXI controller has no video capability, only text through the RS-232 port, so you couldn't run any Basic programs which used graphic modes.
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