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Important Information

Warranty

The SB-GPIB/TNT and SB-GPIB are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of two years from the date of
shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace equipment that proves to
be defective during the warranty period. This warranty includes parts and labor.

The media on which you receive National Instruments software are warranted not to fail to execute programming instructions, due to defects
in materials and workmanship, for a period of 90 days from date of shipment, as evidenced by receipts or other documentation. National
Instruments will, at its option, repair or replace software media that do not execute programming instructions if National Instruments receives
notice of such defects during the warranty period. National Instruments does not warrant that the operation of the software shall be
uninterrupted or error free.

A Return Material Authorization (RMA) number must be obtained from the factory and clearly marked on the outside of the package before
any equipment will be accepted for warranty work. National Instruments will pay the shipping costs of returning to the owner parts which are
covered by warranty.

National Instruments believes that the information in this document is accurate. The document has been carefully reviewed for technical
accuracy. In the event that technical or typographical errors exist, National Instruments reserves the right to make changes to subsequent
editions of this document without prior notice to holders of this edition. The reader should consult National Instruments if errors are suspected.
In no event shall National Instruments be liable for any damages arising out of or related to this document or the information contained in it.

E

XCEPT AS SPECIFIED HEREIN

, N

ATIONAL

I

NSTRUMENTS MAKES NO WARRANTIES

,

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED

,

AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY OF

MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE

. C

USTOMER

S RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES CAUSED BY FAULT OR NEGLIGENCE ON THE PART OF

N

ATIONAL

I

NSTRUMENTS SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT THERETOFORE PAID BY THE CUSTOMER

. N

ATIONAL

I

NSTRUMENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR

DAMAGES RESULTING FROM LOSS OF DATA

,

PROFITS

,

USE OF PRODUCTS

,

OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES

,

EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY

THEREOF

. This limitation of the liability of National Instruments will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract or tort, including

negligence. Any action against National Instruments must be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues. National Instruments
shall not be liable for any delay in performance due to causes beyond its reasonable control. The warranty provided herein does not cover
damages, defects, malfunctions, or service failures caused by owner’s failure to follow the National Instruments installation, operation, or
maintenance instructions; owner’s modification of the product; owner’s abuse, misuse, or negligent acts; and power failure or surges, fire,
flood, accident, actions of third parties, or other events outside reasonable control.

Copyright

Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National
Instruments Corporation.

Trademarks

HS488

, NAT4882

, National Instruments

, NI

, NI-488

, NI-488.2

, ni.com

, TNT4882

C, and Turbo488

are trademarks of

National Instruments Corporation.

Product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

Patents

The product described in this manual may be protected by one or more U.S. patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.

U.S. Patent No(s) 5,974,541, 5,964,892, 5,958,028, 5,987,530, 6,073,205. Other U.S. and International patents pending.

WARNING REGARDING USE OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS

(1) NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE NOT DESIGNED WITH COMPONENTS AND TESTING FOR A LEVEL OF
RELIABILITY SUITABLE FOR USE IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH SURGICAL IMPLANTS OR AS CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN
ANY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS WHOSE FAILURE TO PERFORM CAN REASONABLY BE EXPECTED TO CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
INJURY TO A HUMAN.

(2) IN ANY APPLICATION, INCLUDING THE ABOVE, RELIABILITY OF OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN BE
IMPAIRED BY ADVERSE FACTORS, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FLUCTUATIONS IN ELECTRICAL POWER SUPPLY,
COMPUTER HARDWARE MALFUNCTIONS, COMPUTER OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE FITNESS, FITNESS OF COMPILERS
AND DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE USED TO DEVELOP AN APPLICATION, INSTALLATION ERRORS, SOFTWARE AND
HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS, MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC MONITORING OR CONTROL
DEVICES, TRANSIENT FAILURES OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS (HARDWARE AND/OR SOFTWARE), UNANTICIPATED USES OR
MISUSES, OR ERRORS ON THE PART OF THE USER OR APPLICATIONS DESIGNER (ADVERSE FACTORS SUCH AS THESE ARE
HEREAFTER COLLECTIVELY TERMED “SYSTEM FAILURES”). ANY APPLICATION WHERE A SYSTEM FAILURE WOULD
CREATE A RISK OF HARM TO PROPERTY OR PERSONS (INCLUDING THE RISK OF BODILY INJURY AND DEATH) SHOULD
NOT BE RELIANT SOLELY UPON ONE FORM OF ELECTRONIC SYSTEM DUE TO THE RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE. TO AVOID
DAMAGE, INJURY, OR DEATH, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MUST TAKE REASONABLY PRUDENT STEPS TO
PROTECT AGAINST SYSTEM FAILURES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO BACK-UP OR SHUT DOWN MECHANISMS.
BECAUSE EACH END-USER SYSTEM IS CUSTOMIZED AND DIFFERS FROM NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS' TESTING
PLATFORMS AND BECAUSE A USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER MAY USE NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS IN
COMBINATION WITH OTHER PRODUCTS IN A MANNER NOT EVALUATED OR CONTEMPLATED BY NATIONAL
INSTRUMENTS, THE USER OR APPLICATION DESIGNER IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING AND VALIDATING
THE SUITABILITY OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS WHENEVER NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCTS ARE
INCORPORATED IN A SYSTEM OR APPLICATION, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN,
PROCESS AND SAFETY LEVEL OF SUCH SYSTEM OR APPLICATION.

Summary of Contents for SB-GPIB

Page 1: ...GPIB Getting Started with Your SB GPIB TNT and NI 488 2 for Solaris SB GPIB TNT for Solaris June 2001 Edition Part Number 320529B 01 ...

Page 2: ...6 26 00 Finland 09 725 725 11 France 01 48 14 24 24 Germany 089 741 31 30 Greece 30 1 42 96 427 Hong Kong 2645 3186 India 91805275406 Israel 03 6120092 Italy 02 413091 Japan 03 5472 2970 Korea 02 596 7456 Malaysia 603 9596711 Mexico 5 280 7625 Netherlands 0348 433466 New Zealand 09 914 0488 Norway 32 27 73 00 Poland 0 22 528 94 06 Portugal 351 1 726 9011 Singapore 2265886 Spain 91 640 0085 Sweden ...

Page 3: ...ctions owner s modification of the product owner s abuse misuse or negligent acts and power failure or surges fire flood accident actions of third parties or other events outside reasonable control Copyright Under the copyright laws this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form electronic or mechanical including photocopying recording storing in an information retrieval system ...

Page 4: ...ments could void the user s authority to operate the equipment under the FCC Rules Class A Federal Communications Commission This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environ...

Page 5: ...bought for OEMs if also available from an original manufacturer that also markets in the EU or where compliance is not required as for electrically benign apparatus or cables To obtain the DoC for this product click Declaration of Conformity at ni com hardref nsf This website lists the DoCs by product family Select the appropriate product family followed by your product and a link to the DoC appea...

Page 6: ... to a key concept This font also denotes text that is a placeholder for a word or value that you must supply monospace Text in this font denotes text or characters that you should enter from the keyboard sections of code programming examples and syntax examples This font is also used for the proper names of disk drives paths directories programs subprograms subroutines device names functions opera...

Page 7: ...Installation Installing the GPIB Hardware 2 1 Installing NI 488 2 2 3 Configuring the Software with ibconf Optional 2 3 Removing NI 488 2 Optional 2 4 Chapter 3 Installation Verification Chapter 4 Using NI 488 2 with Solaris Introduction to ibic 4 1 Programming Considerations 4 2 Appendix A Common Questions Appendix B Specifications Appendix C Technical Support Resources Glossary Index ...

Page 8: ...ded cables 1 2 or 4 m Caution To meet FCC emission limits for this device you must use a shielded Type X1 or X2 GPIB cable Operating this equipment with a non shielded cable may interfere with radio and television reception GPIB Hardware Overview The SB GPIB TNT board equipped with a TNT4882C ASIC is compatible with all revisions of the IEEE 488 standard including ANSI IEEE Standard 488 2 1987 The...

Page 9: ...u can add them to your system using an IEEE 488 extender or expander such as the National Instruments GPIB 130 GPIB 120A or GPIB 140A Refer to Appendix B Specifications for more information about the GPIB hardware specifications and recommended operating conditions NI 488 2 Overview NI 488 2 for Solaris consists of a loadable driver and utilities that transform a Sun SPARC system running Solaris i...

Page 10: ...e several components on your GPIB board To avoid electrostatic damage when you handle the module touch the antistatic plastic package to a metal part of your computer chassis before you remove the board from the package Complete the following steps to install the GPIB board 1 Log on as super user To become a superuser type su root and enter the root password 2 Shut down your system by typing the f...

Page 11: ... slave only slots Refer to the documentation for your Sun SPARC system for information about DVMA master and DVMA slave slots 8 Replace the system unit cover 9 Reinstall the GPIB connector extender you removed in Step 5 if you have problems connecting the GPIB cable to the connector on the board due to space restraints 10 Turn on your computer The GPIB interface board is now installed Figure 2 1 I...

Page 12: ...8 2 to your system usr sbin pkgadd d cdrom cdrom0 NICsbgpib 4 Follow the instructions on your screen to complete the installation Configuring the Software with ibconf Optional ibconf is an interactive utility you can use to examine or modify the configuration of the driver You might want to run ibconf to change the settings of the software parameters You must have super user privilege to run ibcon...

Page 13: ...ional If you ever decide to stop using your GPIB board you can remove NI 488 2 from your system To remove NI 488 2 from the kernel configuration you must have super user privilege and the driver must not be in use Enter the following command to unload the software pkgrm NICsbgpib ...

Page 14: ...lled correctly It checks for correct access to the device driver Run ibtsta by entering the following command ibtsta If no error occurs in ibtsta NI 488 2 is installed correctly If ibtsta fails it displays an error message that explains why the test failed and how you can correct the problem If you are unable to run ibtsta successfully after you have followed the on screen instructions refer to Ap...

Page 15: ...interactively and display the results of the function calls automatically Without writing an application you can use ibic to do the following Verify GPIB communication with your device quickly and easily Become familiar with the commands of your device Receive data from your GPIB device Learn new NI 488 2 functions and routines before integrating them into your application Troubleshoot problems wi...

Page 16: ...k the GPIB C language interface library using one of the following commands where example c is your application name cc example c lgpib or cc example c dy lgpib or cc example c dn lgpib dy specifies dynamic linking which is the default method It links the application to libgpib so dn specifies static linking in the link editor It links the application to libgpib a For more information about compil...

Page 17: ...ta fails make sure that no GPIB cables are connected to the GPIB board If necessary remove and reinstall NI 488 2 from the CD If you already have completed the troubleshooting steps contact National Instruments Why doesn t the GPIB board fit into my workstation If you received your board with a GPIB connector extender remove it before you install the board If you have a Sun SPARCstation 10 or simi...

Page 18: ...2M Software Reference Manual the General Programming Information section in Chapter 3 Understanding the NI 488 2 Software and Appendix B Common Errors and Their Solutions When should I use ibic You can use ibic to practice communication with your instrument troubleshoot problems and develop your application program For more information about ibic refer to Chapter 6 ibic in the NI 488 2M Software R...

Page 19: ...mands you need to communicate with it In most cases NI 488 device level calls are sufficient for communicating with instruments Refer to Chapter 5 NI 488M Software Characteristics and Functions in the NI 488 2M Software Reference Manual for more information What information should I have before I call National Instruments Please have the results of the diagnostic test ibtsta You also should have r...

Page 20: ...ristics Input power requirements SB GPIB TNT 5 VDC 300 mA typical 350 mA maximum SB GPIB 5 VDC 500 mA typical 780 mA maximum Environmental Characteristics Temperature Operating 0 to 55 C Storage 20 to 70 C Relative humidity Operating 10 to 90 noncondensing conditions Storage 5 to 90 noncondensing conditions EMI FCC Class A Verified Physical Characteristics Dimensions 8 38 by 14 67 cm 3 3 by 5 78 i...

Page 21: ...wire IEEE 488 SB GPIB TNT GPIB reads 1 6 Mbytes s GPIB writes 1 4 Mbytes s SB GPIB GPIB reads 970 kbytes s GPIB writes 1 Mbytes s HS488 SB GPIB TNT GPIB reads 3 2 Mbytes s GPIB writes 3 2 Mbytes s 1 Actual speed may vary considerably from speed shown due to system and instrumentation capabilities ...

Page 22: ... the latest example programs system configurators tutorials technical news as well as a community of developers ready to share their own techniques Customer Education National Instruments provides a number of alternatives to satisfy your training needs from self paced tutorials videos and interactive CDs to instructor led hands on courses at locations around the world Visit the Customer Education ...

Page 23: ... sites from the Worldwide Offices section of ni com Branch office Web sites provide up to date contact information support phone numbers e mail addresses and current events If you have searched the technical support resources on our Web site and still cannot find the answers you need contact your local office or National Instruments corporate Phone numbers for our worldwide offices are listed at t...

Page 24: ...onal Standards Institute C Celsius DIP dual inline package DMA direct memory access DVMA direct virtual memory access EMI electromagnetic interference g grams GPIB General Purpose Interface Bus HS488 high speed data transfer protocol for IEEE 488 Hz hertz IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in inches lb pounds LED light emitting diode m meters MB megabytes of memory ...

Page 25: ...Glossary SB GPIB TNT for Solaris G 2 ni com RAM random access memory s seconds SCSI Small Computer System Interface bus V volts VAC volts alternating current VDC volts direct current ...

Page 26: ...s using to load GPIB board A 1 G getting started 1 1 GPIB cables disconnecting before running ibtsta A 1 single shielded or double shielded 1 1 GPIB communication A 3 H hardware installation problems A 1 overview 1 1 I ibconf configuring software 2 3 ibfind A 2 ibic using 4 1 A 2 ibtsta error messages 3 1 failure A 1 testing and verifying software installation 3 1 installation verification 3 1 ins...

Page 27: ...B GPIB TNT A 2 SB GPIB TNT installing figure 2 2 overview 1 1 software installing 2 3 overview 1 2 transfer rate maximum B 2 specifications electrical characteristics B 1 environmental characteristics B 1 physical characteristics B 1 software characteristics B 2 super user privilege logging on as super user 2 1 system integration by National Instruments C 1 T technical support resources C 1 troubl...

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