Use Keysight (HP Agilent) GPIB Devices with NI Software

• I have a Keysight (HP Agilent) GPIB instrument and I want to use it with NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX) or LabVIEW.
• My Keysight instrument is not being recognized in NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX), but it is detected by Windows Devices and Interfaces, and Keysight software.
• I can't connect with my Keysight instrument using NI-VISA and NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX).
• Every time I connect my Keysight instrument to my GPIB cable, NI Measurement & Automation Explorer (NI MAX) shows me an error saying my cable is not a genuine device.

To use the NI-VISA drivers and both Keysight (HP Agilent) and NI GPIB devices, you will need to enable NIVISATulip.dll from MAX and NI 488.2 from within the Keysight (or Agilent) libraries.
 

NIVISATulip.dll

Refer to Using Both NI GPIB and Keysight HPIB Controllers in the Same System  to enable NIVISATulip.dll.

 

NI 488.2

Refer to the following steps to enable NI 488.2 based on the Connection Expert Version you have.

Note: During Version 17.x, the software name changed from Agilent Connection Expert to Keysight Connection Expert.

 

Keysight Connection Expert 17.x 

1. Under the Settings tab, select Options»Keysight 488 Options.
2. Check Enable Keysight GPIB cards for 488 programs.

 

Agilent Connection Expert 16.x and 15.x 

1. Select Tools»Agilent 488 from the pulldown menu.
2. Select the Agilent 488 Options tab.
3. Check Enable Agilent GPIB cards for 488 programs.

Agilent Connection Expert 14.x

1. Under the Tools»Options Agilent 488 Options from the pulldown menu.
2. Check Enable Agilent GPIB cards for 488 programs.

Additional Information

This method only applies to Keysight/Agilent/HP's IEEE 488 interface cards.

If you are unable to communicate with your device and a VISA test panel in NI MAX fails, check the physical connections. If you are using a Keysight instrument with a NI GPIB-USB-HS, try adding a GPIB connector between the instrument and GPIB-USB-HS.

If after following these steps you still cannot connect to the device, try repairing the NI-VISA and NI-488.2 drivers.

If you still experience issues, please contact National Instruments Technical Support.

Note: The NI tulip and its passport were created to work with the NI-VISA driver and NI-488.2 for 32 bit software. In order to communicate with these instruments, you need to use the driver and ADEs for 32 bit.