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Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: pizzigri on September 19, 2021, 08:50:01 am

Title: NI GPIB-PCI adapter to work with old Agilent or other third party software?
Post by: pizzigri on September 19, 2021, 08:50:01 am

Hi!
I tried looking for this on the forum but could not find a conclusive answer.
I have a GPIB-PCI adapter from NI that I want to install in my Win10 lab PC.

I want to use older free Agilent software such as Intuilink Counter for my 53131A, DMMutility etc, and also also other freeware SW that is NOT LABView or Benchvue.

Problem is also the HUGE package that NI wants to install in my PC - over 1.2 GB of compressed bloatware??? WTF? I only need a device driver to connect to my GPIB devices (currently five, ranging from an old HP5385A to an Agilent E3631).

Is there a smaller footprint NI driver install that i can use, or a previous stable driver etc that does not dump GB of crap on my small 128GB SSD?
I am new to this PC control thing.
Did I do the right thing to buy the (used) GPIB adapter or I should do something different?
I'm quite frustrated....

Also, the 34410A uses a USB connection, and I don't know if it will interfere with a GPIB connected 34401A in the same app (Agilent DMM Utility).

All my best!
Franco

Title: Re: NI GPIB-PCI adapter to work with old Agilent or other third party software?
Post by: lastguy on September 20, 2021, 09:35:07 pm

I don't think your PC has PCI slot? No wit is PCIe.
I used to use USB-RS232 to control Agilent power supply, not very reliable due to USB protocol - per keysight says.
You can buy USB-GPIB adapter, even shipped from China. But NS might block its (legal) old h/w version and you might need old driver.

Title: Re: NI GPIB-PCI adapter to work with old Agilent or other third party software?
Post by: alm on September 21, 2021, 06:55:09 am

The interface between most software and GPIB hardware has been standard for probably two decades (Gpib32 and VISA), so software like IntuiLink should work fine provided you have the right NI-488.2 version installed.

The caveat with older interfaces like this is the interface needs to work in your computer (the already mentioned PCI slot), the NI 488.2 software version needs to support the interface (might well need an older version, check the readme), and the NI 488.2 software needs to support your OS.

I'm not aware of a smaller driver package than NI 488.2. You might need NI or Agilent VISA for IntuiLink, I don't remember.

Title: Re: NI GPIB-PCI adapter to work with old Agilent or other third party software?
Post by: pizzigri on September 25, 2021, 07:10:37 am

Thank you for your replies!
The PC I’m using has a single PCI slot and I have already installed the NI card inside the case. I find it under devices in Windows 10 system, and was about to install the drivers when I realized NI wanted me to download and install 770 mb of stuff for version 17.6 of 488.2. Which is crazy. Hence, my request here.
Version 21, the latest, wants over 1.2 gb of disk space....  so I looked at earlier versions, but it does not go older than 17.6.
maybe there’s a way to erase parts of the installation once done to leave only the actual driver?