jonathanschilling/linux_gpib_on_bullseye.md

## linux_gpib_on_bullseye.md

      
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              linux_gpib_on_bullseye.md
            
          
    Setup of linux-gpib on Debian Bullseye

This is a quick summary of how to setup and use the linux-gpib package
on a Debian Bullseye (stable at the time of writing) system.
Install the kernel sources

Install the following packages (assuming you are on x86_64 resp. amd64):
sudo apt-get install linux-source linux-headers-amd64
Download

Download the latest version of the sourcecode for linux-gpib from their homepage:
https://linux-gpib.sourceforge.io/
At the time of writing, this is linux-gpib-4.3.4.tar.gz
Unpack the archive.
You will get linux-gpib-kernel-4.3.4.tar.gz and linux-gpib-user-4.3.4.tar.gz.
Kernel module

Unpack linux-gpib-kernel-4.3.4.tar.gz and read the INSTALL file contained therein.
Go into the linux-gpib-kernel-4.3.4 directory and run make.
Then install the kernel module by running sudo make install.
Setup of the userspace package

Unpack linux-gpib-user-4.3.4.tar.gz and read the INSTALL file contained therein.
Go to the linux-gpib-user-4.3.4 directory.
Run ./configure --sysconfdir=/etc.
Then run make.
Install the userspace package by running sudo make install.
Permissions setup

By default, an udev permissions file is created at /etc/udev/rules.d/98-gpib-generic.rules.
Create a group named gpib:
sudo groupadd gpib
Add yourself to this group (assuming your account name is jonathan):
sudo gpasswd -a jonathan gpib
Configuration of the linux-gpib package

The machine-specific configuration is done in /etc/gpib.conf.
Edit it according to your GPIB setup.
Note (AFAIK) that you need to put all your instruments in there as well.
Reboot your computer

You need to reboot your computer to get

the kernel module loaded (can also do sudo modprobe tnt4882 if you have a NI PCI-GPIB)
update of the shared-library loader (can also do ldconfig)
update of the udev permissions
update of your user account's group association

Testing the setup

I used a HP 33120A function generator at address 9 connected to a NI PCI-GPIB (minor 0) to test this.
First, run sudo gpib_config --minor 0 to load the system-wide GPIB setup configuration
from /etc/gpib.conf into the device memory (?).
Otherwise, the devices will not be found in below tests.
ibterm

Run the ibterm program supplied with linux-gpib.
You can leave the interactive terminal with Ctrl-D.
jonathan@DellT3500:~$ sudo ibterm -d 9
[sudo] password for jonathan: 
Attempting to open /dev/gpib0
pad = 9, sad = 0, timeout = 10, send_eoi = 1, eos_mode = 0x0000
ibterm>*IDN?
HEWLETT-PACKARD,33120A,0,6.0-2.0-1.0
ibterm>
ibterm: Done.
Test the python package.
Create a file test_gpib.py:
import gpib

# GPIB interface 0, address 15
con = None
try:
    con = gpib.dev(0,9)
except gpib.GpibError as e:
    print(e)
    exit()

status = gpib.write(con, "*IDN?")
deviceID = gpib.read(con, 1000).decode()
print("found device: " + deviceID)
Run it:
$ python3 test_gpib.py
found device: HEWLETT-PACKARD,33120A,0,6.0-2.0-1.0