[time-nuts] Could someone please recommend GPIB card

John Miles jmiles at pop.net
Mon Oct 10 19:55:35 UTC 2011


> 64 bit Windows 7 is the most restrictive OS I have seen so far in terms of
> drivers. 32 bit is a bit more forgiving. I would *guess* that 32 bit
Windows
> will be a bit of a dinosaur three to five years from now. Just as you are
still
> running Win 98, that does not mean other versions will be dead and gone.
> Only that a pretty cheap PC down at the big box store of your choice
likely
> will not have a 32 bit OS on it. I think the restrictions in 64 bit Win 7
are the
> ones you need to worry about for a "compatible with everything" long term
> purchase.

64-bit Windows does require signed drivers, which was not the case with the
32-bit OSes.   It works fine with both Prologix and NI hardware, but some of
the lesser-known NI clones may not have 64-bit drivers.  

> That said, The newer NI PCI cards do have drivers. The same is true of the
> current production NI cards (all flavors). I'd bet it's true of the
current
> production Prologix. Strictly speaking, the serial to GPIB boxes don't
need
> drivers as much as they need software adapted to them. The same is true of
> the ethernet to GPIB boxes. That software may be a bear to write, but it's
> still easier than writing a driver that Windows will accept as valid.

One nice thing about Windows 7 is that you don't have to install any drivers
at all for the Prologix hardware.   The FTDI chip in the USB adapters is
recognized right out of the box, and the Ethernet version doesn't need
specific drivers to begin with.
 
> > So at the moment I have both an isa card and NI network box in a mother
> > board running Win 98. All of it kind of nuts and messy. Also picked up a
> > circa 2002 NI lab. To be honest until now I really did not have a real
use
> > for it.
> > ?????? I don't suppose timelab would run on win 98??

Unfortunately, no, it requires at least Windows 2000 (and I don't develop or
test under anything earlier than XP.)   The newest build at
www.miles.io/timelab/readme.htm does have a native 64-bit Windows version,
though. :)

-- john





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