Third-Party GPIB Ethernet Device Not Showing up in MAX

Issue Details

• I have a third-party GPIB Ethernet device (similar to the NI ENET/100) which claims to be VXI-11 compliant.  How do I make it appear in Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) and use it in LabVIEW or LabWindows™/CVI?
• When I try to auto-detect LAN instruments in MAX, it says "No VXI-11 LAN/LXI instruments were found on the local subnet" even though my device is VXI-11/LXI compliant and on the subnet. Why can't I detect my device?

Solution

If your instrument is VXI-11 compliant, you will need to install NI-VISA 2.6 or later. The latest version of NI-VISA can be downloaded from the Drivers and Updates page . Make sure you install the full version of NI-VISA, not the runtime version.

Once you have VISA installed, you need to add your device in MAX.

1. Open Measurement & Automation Explorer.
2. Right-click on Devices and Interfaces and select Create New.
3. From the list of interfaces, select VISA TCP/IP Resource and click Next.
4. If your device is on the same subnet as your computer, select Auto-detect of LAN Instrument.  This will search the local network for any VISA resources.  If you need to manually specify the address of your device, select Manual entry of LAN Instrument.
5. Enter the address and LAN Device Name of your device or select the auto-detected device, then click Next.
6. Follow the onscreen instructions for the rest of the Wizard.

You can now communicate with your GPIB instrument using the VISA resource name or alias you have just created.

Note: This applies only to 3rd-party ethernet-based GPIB controllers which conform to the VXI-11 standard. Please refer to your GPIB controller's user manual to determine if it is VXI-11 compliant.