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Problem Connecting 34970A in BenchVue

Question asked by gabe on Mar 31, 2015
Latest reply on Apr 2, 2015 by gabe

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I'm trying to connect a 34970A w/ two 34901A modules to BenchVue but am having trouble communicating with the instrument. The weird thing is I can connect through the latest version of Connection Expert 17.1 and 16.3, send SCPI commands and receive a response, and have no trouble connecting and running scans with Benchlink Data Logger. I can also use BenchVue to connect to my 34401A without issue. BenchVue recognizes my 34970A and GPIB address. It also adds the icon to the bottom of the screen. However when I try to connect, it just goes idle forever and says "Application launching. Please wait..." I'm connected through a GPIB cable and all the settings on the instrument are set up properly. I'm running Win 7 SP1 32-bit OS. Any advice?

I'm thinking it probably has something to do with the BenchVue program and not my equipment since I don't have any problem communicating with the equipment outside of BenchVue. I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program without any change.

My last resort is to try a GPIB to USB connection and see if that works...but I cannot see why that would matter. I'll try this tomorrow.

Any help would be very appreciated...thanks!

Gabe

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w0dz Apr 1, 2015 8:06 AM
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Hi Gabe,

I can understand the frustration. When we see messages like "Connection Expert sees it but BenchVue doesn't", it is almost always because NI VISA is also on the machine, and the IO is actually getting stuck somewhere in NI VISA. If both are installed (and they needn't be - you only need one), then NI VISA *must* be made primary (using Connection Expert's "VISA Conflict Manager") because it does not know how to be secondary. Connection Expert uses Keysight VISA to do direct IO via SCPI to an instrument, overriding the NI VISA setting, which is why you can talk to instruments just fine from there. But when BenchVue tries to communicate, the VISA calls are made via the NI version, and that dll is more than likely broken. There are two ways to fix this: 1) Remove NI VISA completely, making Keysight VISA primary, or 2) Reinstall NI VISA, then use Keysight Connection Expert to make NI VISA the preferred, default VISA on all interfaces that are in use.

Brian
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- gabe @ w0dz on Apr 1, 2015 6:24 PM
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  Thanks for the response Brian. I don't have the NI VISA installed. As a matter of fact, I cannot even click on Connection Expert's "VISA Conflict Manager"...it's grayed-out.
  
  Isn't it strange that I can communicate with my 34401A and E3640A in BenchVue but not the 34970A? By the way, I have five total 34970A units and they all have the same issue. All recognized by both Connection Expert and BenchVue, but not one will run in the DAQ App. I have no problem running them in Bencklink Data Logger though.
  
  I did eventually break down and install the NI VISA to see if I could connect that way but it didn't help either. I was able to select it as the primary VISA and go back and forth between Keysight and NI. No change either way. But even with them both installed I wasn't able to click on the "VISA Conflict Manager." I did a few restarts along the way as well after all the changes.
  
  One last thing I noticed, when I was in BenchVue and had the 34401A and E3640A working I decided to then turn on the 34970A and an unsupported 33120A. It recognized the 33120A as an unsupported instrument and never picked up the 34970A...even after multiple refreshes. Then I noticed BenchVue became frozen as well did Connection Expert. I could not refresh the connected instrument list even as I added and took away instruments.
  
  Do you have any other suggestions?
  
  Thanks again!
  Gabe
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  - w0dz @ gabe on Apr 2, 2015 8:25 AM
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    Yikes. Well, first, uninstall NI VISA and Keysight VISA, then reinstall Keysight VISA. Going back and forth will certainly break NI VISA, and you will never be able to figure out what's going on. The problem is that NI VISA has no concept of being "secondary", and if you make Keysight primary, it causes a dll used by NI to "break", requiring a reinstallation. You do not need both, so step one is to get that cleaned up. I would uninstall NI VISA, Keysight VISA and the Shared IVI and VISA 64 components. Then reinstall only Keysight IO Libs 17.1. That should get you to square one.
    
    Next, do your multiple 34970As have the same GPIB address by any chance? I know you probably have thought of this already, but I have to check. If you do try an 82357B USB-GPIB adapter, please avoid addresses 9,11,13,25,27 and 29. On that adapter, those addresses have serial poll problems, and BenchVue does use serial poll. Also avoid the use of USB 3.0 ports if possible. Some combinations of motherboards, chipsets and Windows drivers have problems, at least with Windows 7-based PCs.
    
    Brian
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    - w0dz @ w0dz on Apr 2, 2015 8:45 AM
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      Gabe,
      
      Let's take this offline. I would like to see some logfiles and screenshots, and it would be easier if you could email those to me. Please use the gear icon in the upper right corner of BenchVue to "Report an Issue". That will zip up the logs and email them to me. If you want to attach any images you think might be relevant, please do so.
      
      Brian
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      - gabe @ w0dz on Apr 2, 2015 1:57 PM
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        Brian,
        
        Well, well, well...I'm totally surprised by this, looks like the Agilent 82357B GPIB to USB adapter did the trick. I'm able to communicate without issue to all my instruments in BenchVue. So my initial assumption was totally wrong, the adapter made all the difference for the 34970A's.
        
        I really appreciate all you help and guidance. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Now I can start my "deep dive" into the DAQ capabilities of BenchVue! :-)
        
        Gabe
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        w0dz @ gabe on Apr 2, 2015 2:34 PM
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        Gabe,
        
        Glad you got it working, but I'm concerned that your GPIB card worked in Connection Expert but not in BenchVue. I'd like a little more detail. What kind of interface card was it? It could be a driver issue with that card. Any info would be appreciated.
        
        Don't forget about the bad addresses and the USB 3.0 port when using that adapter!
        
        Brian
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        gabe @ w0dz on Apr 2, 2015 5:15 PM
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        Brian,
        
        I'll stay away from those addresses in the future. I did have one 34970A set to ADRS 9 but had all the other units set to ADRSs 6-8. When I tried to hook them up individually, ie, only ADRS 6, I had the same issue. So hopefully that wasn't the problem all along. I'll double check later and confirm this is true.
        
        As for my GPIB card, I'm using an Agilent B82350-66511 Rev A.
        
        We can certainly take this off-line if you'd like me to do some quick tests of my setup to help troubleshoot. Screenshots, data logs, interface testing, photos, etc, are all easy to capture and pass your way. Just let me know since I have a few weeks before I'll be using this whole setup in a controlled test environment.
        
        Thanks again for all your help!
        
        Gabe
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Problem Connecting 34970A in BenchVue

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