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turingbirds/Agilent 82357B GPIB interface programming on Ubuntu Linux.rst

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Agilent 82357B GPIB interface programming on Ubuntu Linux
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Agilent 82357B GPIB interface programming on Ubuntu Linux.rst

GPIB interfacing using Agilent 82357B on Ubuntu Linux

I initially had some problems installing on my laptop, so decided to boot Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS, 3.13.0-32-generic from USB and work from there.

For an automated installation script, see gpib_install.sh (and gpib.conf) below. The rest of this document describes the actions of the installation script step-by-step.

First, get the packages that are necessary to support Python bindings:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-dev libboost-python-dev python-setuptools --yes

Download the linux-gpib package, unpack and build:

wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate https://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-gpib/files/linux-gpib%20for%203.x.x%20and%202.6.x%20kernels/3.2.20/linux-gpib-3.2.20.tar.gz/download
tar xvfz linux-gpib-3.2.20.tar.gz
cd linux-gpib-3.2.20
./configure
make -j8
sudo make install
cd ..

Also download the firmware binary for the 82357B:

wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/firmware/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz
tar xvfz gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz

fxload is used to upload firmware to the GPIB interface.

wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/linux-hotplug/fxload/2008_10_13/fxload-2008_10_13.tar.gz
tar xvfz fxload-2008_10_13.tar.gz
cd fxload-2008_10_13
make
sudo make install
cd ..

Edit /etc/gpib.conf (as superuser) to fill in the correct board type:

interface {
        board_type = "agilent_82357a"
        name = "agi"
        ...
}

See the attached gpib.conf for the full contents of the file (other parameters were left at their default values).

Load kernel module(s):

sudo modprobe gpib_common
sudo modprobe agilent_82357a

Insert the dongle into the USB port. Only the red "FAIL" LED should be on. Find the bus and device ID:

lsusb

e.g.

...
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 0957:0518 Agilent Technologies, Inc.
...

Plug the found bus and device ID into the command for fxload:

sudo fxload -D /dev/bus/usb/002/005  -t fx2 -I gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a/measat_releaseX1.8.hex

Still only the "FAIL" LED is on.

The USB bus and device ID have now changed. Wait a moment and get the new ID:

lsusb

e.g.

...
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 0957:0518 Agilent Technologies, Inc.
...

Run fxload again with the new bus and device ID:

sudo fxload -D /dev/bus/usb/002/006  -t fx2 -I gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a/measat_releaseX1.8.hex

All lights should be on.

Change permissions on /dev/gpib0 (ideally, you would manage this with a "gpib" usergroup instead):

sudo chmod 666 /dev/gpib0

Now, initialize the dongle. gpib_config has some trouble finding the library, so create a symbolic link first:

sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/libgpib.so.0 /lib/libgpib.so.0
sudo gpib_config

Only the green "READY" LED should now be on.

Now, make an entry for your device in /etc/gpib.conf. Default HP3456B factory address is ASCII "V" (22 dec) for talk and "6" for listen.

device {
        name = "hp3456a"
        pad = 22
        ...
}

You can use ibtest to do some testing.

ibtest

A simple Python interface can now be made using the linux-gpib Python bindings:

import gpib
dev = gpib.find("hp3456a")      # corresponds to device ID in ``/etc/gpib.conf``
print gpib.read(dev, 99)

For more advanced applications, consider using the visa (PyVISA) libraries.

References

[pyvisa]PyVISA https://pyvisa.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
[linux-gpib]linux-gpib : http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/
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gpib.conf
/***********************************************************************
GPIB.CONF IEEE488 library config file
-------------------
copyright : (C) 2002 by Frank Mori Hess
(C) 1994 by C.Schroeter
email : fmhess@users.sourceforge.net
***************************************************************************/
/***************************************************************************
*
* Syntax:
*
* interface { ... } starts new interface board section
* device {...} device configuration
*
***************************************************************************/
/* This section configures the configurable driver characteristics
* for an interface board, such as board address, and interrupt level.
* minor = 0 configures /dev/gpib0, minor = 1 configures /dev/gpib1, etc.
*/
interface {
minor = 0 /* board index, minor = 0 uses /dev/gpib0, minor = 1 uses /dev/gpib1, etc. */
board_type = "agilent_82357a" /* type of interface board being used */
name = "agi" /* optional name, allows you to get a board descriptor using ibfind() */
pad = 0 /* primary address of interface */
sad = 0 /* secondary address of interface */
timeout = T3s /* timeout for commands */
eos = 0x0a /* EOS Byte, 0xa is newline and 0xd is carriage return */
set-reos = yes /* Terminate read if EOS */
set-bin = no /* Compare EOS 8-bit */
set-xeos = no /* Assert EOI whenever EOS byte is sent */
set-eot = yes /* Assert EOI with last byte on writes */
/* settings for boards that lack plug-n-play capability */
base = 0 /* Base io ADDRESS */
irq = 0 /* Interrupt request level */
dma = 0 /* DMA channel (zero disables) */
/* pci_bus and pci_slot can be used to distinguish two pci boards supported by the same driver */
/* pci_bus = 0 */
/* pci_slot = 7 */
master = yes /* interface board is system controller */
}
/* This is how you might set up a pcIIa board on /dev/gpib1, uncomment to use. */
/*******************
interface {
minor = 1
board_type = "pcIIa"
pad = 0
sad = 0
timeout = T3s
eos = 0x0a
set-reos = yes
set-bin = no
base = 0x2e1
irq = 7
dma = 1
master = yes
}
*********************/
/* Now the device sections define the device characteristics for each device.
* These are only used if you want to open the device using ibfind() (instead
* of ibdev() )
*/
device {
minor = 0
name = "hp3456a"
pad = 22
}
Raw
gpib_install.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-dev libboost-python-dev python-setuptools --yes
wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate https://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-gpib/files/linux-gpib%20for%203.x.x%20and%202.6.x%20kernels/3.2.20/linux-gpib-3.2.20.tar.gz/download
tar xvfz linux-gpib-3.2.20.tar.gz
cd linux-gpib-3.2.20
./configure
make -j8
sudo make install
cd ..
wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate http://linux-gpib.sourceforge.net/firmware/gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz
tar xvfz gpib_firmware-2008-08-10.tar.gz
wget --content-disposition --no-check-certificate https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/linux-hotplug/fxload/2008_10_13/fxload-2008_10_13.tar.gz
tar xvfz fxload-2008_10_13.tar.gz
cd fxload-2008_10_13
make
sudo make install
cd ..
sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/libgpib.so.0 /lib/libgpib.so.0
sudo cp -v gpib.conf /etc/gpib.conf
sudo modprobe gpib_common
sudo modprobe agilent_82357a
sudo fxload -D /dev/bus/usb/`lsusb | grep Agilent | cut -f 2 -d " "`/`lsusb | grep Agilent | cut -f 4 -d " " | cut -f 1 -d ":"` -t fx2 -I gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a/measat_releaseX1.8.hex
sleep 10
sudo fxload -D /dev/bus/usb/`lsusb | grep Agilent | cut -f 2 -d " "`/`lsusb | grep Agilent | cut -f 4 -d " " | cut -f 1 -d ":"` -t fx2 -I gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a/measat_releaseX1.8.hex
sleep 10
sudo gpib_config
echo "See https://gist.github.com/turingbirds/6eb05c9267a6437183a9567700e8581a for troubleshooting/further instructions"
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linux-gpib-3.2.20.tar.gz
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@vishnubpatel
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vishnubpatel commented Feb 19, 2018 •
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I am getting error with Agilent 82357b
$ sudo fxload -D /dev/bus/usb/003/010 -t fx2 -I gpib_firmware-2008-08-10/agilent_82357a/measat_releaseX1.8.hex
$ sudo chmod 666 /dev/gpib0
$ sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/libgpib.so.0 /lib/libgpib.so.0

$ sudo gpib_config
syntax error, unexpected $undefined
parameter error on line 1 of /etc/gpib.conf
libgpib: failed to parse configuration file
failed to parse config file /etc/gpib.conf
$

@hemanti0503
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hemanti0503 commented Jul 5, 2018 •
edited
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I get the same error as @vishnubpatel.

$ sudo gpib_config
syntax error, unexpected $undefined
parameter error on line 1 of /etc/gpib.conf
libgpib: failed to parse configuration file
failed to parse config file /etc/gpib.conf

ibtest and the Python "Gbip" module (from the linux-gpib tree) fail with the same error message. Can anyone help on this, please?

@zamora18
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I am going back through this on a new machine (Ubuntu 16.04, kernel 4.15.0-34-generic) and I get this error when attempting sudo modprobe gpib_common:

modprobe: FATAL: Module gpib_common not found in directory /lib/modules/4.15.0-34-generic

I get a similar error when running sudo modprobe agilent_82357a:

modprobe: FATAL: Module agilent_82357a not found in directory /lib/modules/4.15.0-34-generic

Is there any way we can get help with this? It would be much appreciated.

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