If you experience problems communicating with or controlling instruments over the LAN or GPIB, check the following items. If this does not solve the problem, refer to the Connection Expert utility installed with the Keysight IO Libraries. For more information about using Connection Expert, see the IO Libraries Suite Online Help.
Inspect the cable and connectors; confirm that none are damaged.
Ensure that the GPIB cable is securely connected to the PC and the instrument.
To verify that the GPIB address entered in the software matches that of the instrument, select > Step 3 of the System Configuration Wizard enables you to view the GPIB settings.
Validate the connection. In Step 3 of the System Configuration Wizard, select the signal instrument and click . Read the messages in the and cells to verify that the software is connecting to the instrument.
Review the information about installing Keysight I/O libraries.
If you are using a National Instruments (NI) GPIB card and errors occur when you download a waveform, follow steps 1-3 below. If you have both an Keysight and a National Instruments GPIB card installed, and you want to use the Keysight card, you will also need to perform steps 4-5.
Uninstall any Keysight IO Libraries that you have previously installed.
Ensure that you have both the NI PCI card drivers and NI VISA installed, and verify that the NI card is working.
Reinstall Keysight IO Libraries version 15.5.. If you select a Custom installation, make sure the is unchecked in the window. This is the default setting for a Typical installation.
Continue with steps 4-5 only if you have both Keysight and NI GPIB cards installed.
Open National's Measurement and Automation Explorer (MAX).
Select > > > . Ensure the NiVisaTulip.dll box is checked.
If the instrument is connected directly to a computer, use a crossover LAN cable; if the instrument is connected to a network/external server, use a standard LAN cable.
Inspect the cable and connectors; confirm that none are damaged.
Ensure that the LAN cable is securely connected to the PC and the instrument.
Ensure that the instrument LAN connectors are active: flashing green or yellow lights indicate LAN activity.
To verify that the Hostname (Machine Name for PXB or Computer Name for the EXT) or IP address entered in the software matches that of the instrument, select > Step 3 of the System Configuration Wizard enables you to view the LAN settings.
Validate the connection. In Step 3 of the System Configuration Wizard, select the instrument connection and click . Read the messages in the and cells to verify that the software is connecting to the instrument.
Run the 'ping' program:
On the computer go to > > (or DOS).
At the C:\> prompt, enter ping <IP address>, where <IP address> is the instrument's IP address or hostname (Machine Name for PXB or Computer Name for the EXT).
If the instrument does not respond, contact your IT department for help.
If the PC is connected directly to the instrument (using a cross-over cable) and the 'ping' program works correctly, but there is still a connection problem, add the instrument's IP address and hostname to the Hosts file, which resides at: C:\Winnt\system32\drivers\etc\Hosts.
In a text editor such as Notepad, open the Hosts file.
Write the IP address and hostname (Machine Name for PXB or Computer Name for the EXT) of the instrument at the bottom of the file.
(Refer to the example of a hosts file below.)
Save the file and close the text editor.
Do not use "Save As" when saving the Hosts file; this file does not have a file extension.
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
<xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> localhost
<xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> <signal generator hostname>