NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4 Copyright 2005 National Instruments Corporation. All Rights Reserved. This file contains release notes, patent information, and last-minute information for NI-488.2 for Windows. Information in this file is too recent to be included in the official documentation set. Release Notes ------------- NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4, is the latest driver offering from National Instruments. Every attempt has been made to maintain backward compatibility with the installed base of existing NI-488.2 applications. Supported Interfaces -------------------- NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4, supports the following hardware on Windows 2000/XP. Windows 98/Me is no longer supported. AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP) GPIB-ENET/100 GPIB-USB-B GPIB-USB-HS - NEW PCI-GPIB PCI-GPIB+ PCI-GPIB/LP PCI-8212 PCI-8232 NI PCIe-GPIB (PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB) NI ExpressCard-GPIB (ExpressCard (TM) Interface for GPIB) - NEW PCMCIA-GPIB PCMCIA-GPIB+ PMC-GPIB PXI-GPIB PXI-8212 PXI-8232 Compatible Software ------------------- This driver version has been tested with the following software. NI-VISA 3.2 and 3.3 LabVIEW 6.1, 7.0, and 7.1.1 LabWindows/CVI 7.1 Measurement Studio 7.1 This driver should work with older versions of the software, but we have not tested against older versions. Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.4 ---------------------------------------- NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.4 adds support for GPIB-USB-HS, NI ExpressCard-GPIB, and a revised version of the PCI-GPIB+ Controller/Analyzer board. Support for the obsolete GPIB-USB-A interface has been dropped in this release. Driver version 2.3 performance during IBCMD and serial poll calls was lower than version 2.2. This has been fixed and improved over version 2.2. Documentation has been updated for various features. Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.3 ---------------------------------------- NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.3, adds language support for Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), and Korean. This is in addition to English and Japanese languages supported by the previous versions of NI-488.2 for Windows. All Components of this release have been localized with the exception of: - NI-488.2 Interactive Control Utility - GPIB Analyzer Software - Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX) - NI-VISA - User documentation This release also includes new Getting Started documentation in all languages supported, available through the 'View Documentation' utility on the NI-488.2 for Windows CD. Bugfixes -------- Microsoft Sysprep utility - The Sysprep utility would cause a crash in some cases of deployment. This has been fixed. IBCMDA and IBSTOP - An IBSTOP call was unable to stop asynchronous IBCMDA calls. This has been fixed. Some cosmetic issues with GPIB utilities have been fixed. Enhancements and Bugfixes in Version 2.2 ------------------------------------------ AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP) - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds support for the AT-GPIB/TNT(PnP) interface. PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds support for the PCI Express(TM) Interface for GPIB. Power Management - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds the EPWR error code. This error indicates that the interface lost power. This may occur when the system goes to standby or hibernate mode. The NI-488.2 driver attempts to prevent the system from going to standby or hibernate if there is an application with an open NI-488.2 handle. .NET Support - National Instruments provides two interfaces for developing GPIB-based applications in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 or later: 1) the native .NET API and 2) the NI-488.2 wrapper interface. We recommend the native .NET API as the preferred method of developing GPIB .NET applications because of its superior integration into the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET IDE. The native .NET API can be installed from the NI-488.2 CD by selecting it from the custom installation section. It is installed in the "National Instruments\Measurement Studio" sub-directory. Full integrated help for this API is available inside the Visual Studio .NET environment. The NI-488.2 wrapper interface can be found on the CD in the "Microsoft .NET Language Interface" directory. New ibask option - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.2, adds the IbaSerialNumber option to ibask. This allows customers to query the serial number of the board that they are using. The ibask call will return a 32-bit serial number for supported interfaces. The driver will return with ERR bit set in ibsta, and iberr set to ECAP for unsupported interfaces. This feature is not supported with the Visual Basic language interface. The VB language interface for ibask does not handle unsigned 32-bit numbers. Older National Instruments PCMCIA-GPIB devices would not enumerate properly with the 2.1 driver. This has been fixed. The driver would sometimes not call the ibnotify callback, or call the ibnotify callback improperly when waiting for RQS. This has been fixed. The driver would hang if a device-level ibconfig was called with IbcSPollTime, IbcPAD, or IbcSAD when an ibnotify call on the same device descriptor was in progress. This has been fixed. The driver had a small memory leak when being used by VISA. This has been fixed. The GPIB Analyzer application would crash when launched with some video cards. This has been fixed. Enabling DOS support worked improperly when logging in as a different user that it was enabled as. This has been fixed. Enhancements in Version 2.1 ------------------------------------------ PCMCIA-GPIB - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.1, adds support for the PCMCIA-GPIB interface. Following the precedent of Version 2.0 of the driver which unified the driver for the PCI, ENET, and USB interfaces, this version ensures that those interfaces along with the PCMCIA-GPIB can function simultaneously with the same driver. Analyzer - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.1, supports the GPIB analyzer portion of the PCI-GPIB+ and PCMCIA-GPIB+ on the Windows 2000 and XP operating systems. This support was previously only available on Windows NT, 98, and 95. Enhancements in Version 2.0 --------------------------- Installer - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, improves the installation experience for the user. Windows 2000/XP - In the past, there were separate drivers for plug-in interface boards (PCI-GPIB, etc.), the GPIB-ENET family, and the GPIB-USB-A. Only one of these three could be installed and used at any one time. NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, removes this restriction. All supported interfaces function simultaneously with the same driver. Windows 2000/XP - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, resolves the issue that prevents users running the software in USER mode (as opposed to ADMINISTRATOR mode). Internationalized Software Support - NI-488.2 for Windows, Version 2.0, offers an improved localized solution in Japanese. Patent Information ------------------ For patents covering National Instruments products, refer to the appropriate location: Help>>Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your CD, or ni.com/patents.