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Performing a GPIB Hardware Diagnostic Test for a PCMCIA-GPIB on Windows 3.1

Hardware: GPIB>>Plug-in Controllers>>PCMCIA-GPIB

Problem:
How do I perform a hardware diagnostic test for my PCMCIA-GPIB on Windows 3.1?

Solution:
On the surface, ibdiag is simply a test of the GPIB hardware (and analyzer hardware) on the card. It tests the cards registers and checks their interaction with the system resources (base address and interrupts) and reports some information about these tests. It is also, however, a provider of some important troubleshooting information and a good tool.

When first running ibdiag, it should come up with a message saying that it found a PCMCIA-GPIB or PCMCIA-GPIB+ and show the resources given to the card. If it does not (for instance, it says something like no GPIB board present) then there is probably a problem with the card services (or much less likely, a problem with the card). It is important to note that this resource list is the one given to the driver when it asks for "Any". In other words, whatever ibdiag gets when it starts up is what the card will get when you choose "Any" in the driver configuration. This is important information because if these resources are invalid (for example, address 0x508 as with IBMs card services), you will have to force the resources in the National Instruments driver.

Shown below is a sample run of a typical ibdiag session. Following is a flowchart showing how ibdiag can/should be used as a troubleshooting tool. In most cases, ibdiag will be the primary tool that you use to figure out why a particular card services is doing what it is doing.

National Instruments GPIB Hardware Diagnostics Program
AT-GPIB, AT-GPIB/TNT, AT-GPIB/TNT (Plug and Play),
AT-GPIB/TNT+, EISA-GPIB, PCMCIA-GPIB, and PCMCIA-GPIB+
Rev 1.2

REMOVE GPIB CABLES

Searching system for PCMCIA cards...

Socket: 0 PCMCIA-GPIB
Base Address:0x140 IRQ: 10
Do you want to modify the selected resources
(Y)es (N)o (default = N)->n

The following GPIB board(s) were found in this system:
Board Number Board Name
0 PCMCIA-GPIB (Socket 0)

- test the board listed above
O - test a board other than the one listed above
Q - Quit

Enter selection (Q,O,) ->

Testing PCMCIA-GPIB (Socket 0)

Base Address: 0x140 IRQ: 10
..................................................
..................................................
..................................................
..................................................
..................................................
...................................

Device passed the hardware diagnostics.

M - Return to Main Menu
Q - Quit

Enter choice (Q,M) ->


IBDIAG

There are a few errors that you may get when running ibdiag that are not explained in the flowchart. Some of these are described below and have been seen but haven't been duplicated predictably, so the causes of the errors are unknown.

  • Error reading ni-pnp.ini...
    This error can occur even though NI-488.2 for PCMCIA does not use NI-PnP. This error occurs because the current ibdiag is written for many GPIB boards and may be conflicting with the AT-GPIB/TNT code. The cause of this error is unknown. Sometimes closing ibdiag and rerunning it will fix the problem and sometimes rebooting the machine will fix the problem. On occasion, it may mean that card services are not fully installed (i.e.: no enabler client). Sometimes you may not be able to resolve the error, in which case you will simply have to program without ibdiag.

  • You may get the Windows blue screen with a message concerning DMABufferSize in system.ini. If you increase the DMABufferSize setting, you can usually get this to stop happening. Most computers, however, do not have a DMABufferSize entry. It should go in the [386Enh] section, but this is not certain. If you get this error, first try rebooting. If you continue to get it, try rearranging/reducing memory in config.sys.

  • ibdiag closes Windows or freezes your machine. This is a good sign that there is an interrupt conflict. You should exclude this interrupt from card services' use (see specific card services section for details) or if necessary force the card to a different interrupt.

  • If you get an error that does not specifically mention a base I/O address conflict or an IRQ conflict, this does not necessarily mean the care is bad, so be sure to try a few more base I/O addresses.



Related Links:

Attachments:


ibdiag.jpg

Report Date: 07/01/2006
Last Updated: 09/08/2006
Document ID: 3Z0I6D5N

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