A VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) library must be installed on your computer before the Windows VXIplug&play software can be installed. The software setup program will inform you if a VISA library installation cannot be found and then exit without installing the software.
The E.02.01 is a rerelease of the D.02.01 VXIplug&play drivers to update version compatibility documentation. This version of VXIplug&play driver contains no source code or firmware version changes. However, date codes may differ from previous versions due to recompiling. The driver package contains firmware versions B.02.01, C.02.01, and D.02.01 which are customized for modules with different serial numbers. The B firmware is for modules with a serial number between US41140000 and US46450000, and the C firmware is for modules that have an "UPDATED TO Date Code 4641" sticker on their cover, next to the serial number. The D firmware is for modules with a serial number between US46450000 and US49110000. There are no firmware updates available for any module with a serial number of US49110000 and above.
Please Note: The term "firmware" refers to the embedded binary program image stored in E1438 non-volatile memory. E1438 firmware updates are provided by Agilent Technologies for use by Agilent E1438 customers only. E1438 firmware updates are copyright and patent-protected by Agilent Technologies.
The E.02.01 VXIplug&play driver supports the new E1438C and E1438D modules with B.01.00, B.01.02, B.01.03, B.02.00, C.02.00, D.02.00, B.02.01, C.02.01, and D.02.01 firmware, as well as E1438A and E1438B modules with A.01.00, B.00.00, B.01.00, B.01.02, B.01.03, B.02.01, or B.02.00 firmware.
The B.02.01 firmware included on this installation disk is compatible with existing E1438A and E1438B modules with serial numbers between US41140000 and US46450000. However, this firmware is incompatible with versions of FirmwareInstaller distributed prior to VXIplug&play driver version D.02.00. A copy of the B.01.03 firmware for the new version of FirmwareInstaller is included in this VXIplug&play driver if a customer chooses to downgrade the firmware on an E1438 module to a version compatible with older distributions of FirmwareInstaller.
The E.02.01, D.02.01, D.02.00, B.01.03, B.01.02, B.01.01, B.00.00 and A.01.00 VXIplug&play drivers are not compatible with the older A.00.00 firmware. When the VXIplug&play driver is updated you must also update any E1438 modules that have A.00.00 firmware. The firmware is easily upgraded with a program included with the VXIplug&play software. See Upgrading the Firmware in your E1438 .
The A.01.00 driver can run modules with B.00.00 firmware, except TTL trigger and fiber interface are not available.
After upgrading to the E.02.01 VXIplug&play driver, it is usually not necessary to recompile software programs previously compiled with earlier VXIplug&play drivers. However, if the program tests for the error state AGE1438_VERSION_B_HARDWARE_REQUIRED it should be changed to use the new error state AGE1438_FIBER_HARDWARE_REQUIRED.
The fiber interface is available on E1438B and E1438D modules only. The TTL trigger feature is available on all E1438B, E1438C, and E1438D modules and on E1438A modules using B.02.01, B.02.00, B.01.03, B.01.02, B.01.01, B.01.00 or B.00.00 firmware and having a serial number of US41140000 or above.
To meet published specifications, all E1438 modules in a multi-module configuration must use the same firmware version.
HP-UX is not supported with this release. However, the HP-UX drivers for version B.00.00 are included with the D.02.01 installation disk to use at your discretion.
It is left up to the programmer to avoid calling local bus functionality on C models.
Prior running a Self-Test on a E1438 module, make sure that all of the front interface cables including the fiber-optics are disconnected from the module.
You
can determine the
current version number
of your firmware by executing the "C" example program "info.exe", or
running the Soft Front Panel and clicking on Help/About. The current
version number of your firmware is also reported by the API function
age1438_revision query(). The following table lists the new firmware
files, their compatibility and their revision dates. Use
the included FirmwareInstall program to install the proper firmware in
your E1438 module. Please refer to instructions in the product manual
for details.
| Firmware Files for VXIplug&play Revision E.02.01 | ||
| Firmware | Revision Date | Compatible Hardware (Serial Numbers) |
| B.02.01 | 02-09-2007, 11:39 | Between US41140000 and US46450000 |
| C.02.01 | 02-09-2007, 11:39 | Between US41140000 and US46450000 with "Updated to 4641" sticker |
| D.02.01 | 02-09-2007, 11:39 | US46450000 and US4911000 |
| (No updates) | 03-18-2009, 11:24 | US4911000 and above |
The new version of the FirmwareInstall program distributed with this driver (R4703) is incompatible with firmware files distributed with versions of VXIplug&play drivers prior to D.02.00. This FirmwareInstall require the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Service Pack 1, which is distributed by Microsoft and is included as part of Agilent IO Libraries Suite 14.2. A copy of Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 with the Service Pack 1 update is also included in E1438 Software CD Version E.02.01.
This
FirmwareInstall program has built-in
support mechanisms to prevent installation of incompatible or
corrupt firmware on E1438 products in some of the common
scenarios similar to FirmwareInstall R4641. However, it is
recommended to make sure that the
correct firmware file and hardware is selected by the user.
In addition, it is recommended to close all applications that are
accessing the module and to install the firmware on one module at a
time. Furthermore, it is necessary to make sure that the
modules
in the VXI mainframe have different VXI addresses during firmware
installation. Note that interrupting the firmware
installation might permanently damage the module, and it might be
necessary to send the device to the factory for repairs.
If you are using a National Instruments PCI-based MXI-2 interface with a Pentium processor, you must perform the following step to prevent unpredictable system performance.
Run the WindowsNT registry editor (regedit.exe) and find the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\NI-VXI for WIN32
Then edit the DisableMiteDMA value and set it to 1.
This problem is documented in the "Known Bugs" section of the "00readme.txt" file that came with your PCI MXI-2 interface driver.
The E1438 VXIplug&play installation adds the path to the DLLs installed by the VXIplug&play driver to the system's PATH environment variable. This addition permits the sample applications supplied with the product, as well as customer-developed applications, to find the DLLs installed by the driver without registering each individual application.
Also, an environment variable called E1438PATH is added during installation. This variable is used by the Microsoft Visual C++ workspaces and makefiles so that all necessary files can be located by the compiler.
These environmental variables are implemented by editing the system registry in the WinNT framework.
The E1438 Windows software includes several example programs to demonstrate programming the module with Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 or greater and Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0.
Executables for these examples are installed during setup; however, they will not run in simulation mode. They require an E1438 and VXI interface hardware with VXIplug&play support.
The Visual Basic examples are installed under VXIPNP\WinNT\age1438\vb for Windows NT/2000 where "VXIPNP" is the location where you have installed your VISA library and drivers.
Similarly, "C" examples are found in VXIPNP\WinNT\age1438\msc\examples.
ACVolts_32.exe is a simple practical program using the E1438. It is written in Visual Basic.
acvolts.exe is a console (MS-DOS) version of ACVolts_32.exe, written in Microsoft Visual C++.
Benchmark_32.exe is a performance benchmark program that is more of a utility than an example, although source code is provided. It measures data transfer rates and command processing times. The utility is written in Visual Basic.
bench.exe is a console version of Benchmark_32.exe, written in Microsoft Visual C++.
multchan_32.exe demonstrates how to synchronize multiple modules to achieve simultaneous sampling, filter decimation, and matched local oscillator phase. It is written in Visual Basic.
info.exe demonstrates how to retrieve option and revision information from an E1438, and it doubles as a handy utility. It is written as a console program in Microsoft Visual C++.
interrupt.exe demonstrates how to set up and trap a VXI interrupt to indicate an error condition in the E1438. It is written as a console program in Microsoft Visual C++.
The A.01.00 revision is a feature upgrade to the E1438A embedded firmware and VXIplug&play driver. There are no changes to the E1438A hardware.
The new capabilities made available in this release include:
The B.00.00 VXIplug&play driver supports hardware changes to the E1438A and E1438B:
The fiber optic interface, available on the Agilent E1438B, provides a selectable data rate of 106 or 250 MB/second. It can transmit filtered or unfiltered data, copy data from its receiver to its transmitter, or append data to copied data.
The E1438B fiber optic interface uses a serial data stream protocol providing high data throughput and low latency characteristics. This protocol is intended to be compatible with the Serial Front Panel Data Port Draft Standard (VITA 17.1, draft 0.5 dated February 26, 2001) currently under development by the VITA Standards Organization (http://www.vita.com). VITA 17.1 is not yet approved and manufacturers are not yet permitted to claim conformance to the draft standard. However, laboratory testing at Agilent Technologies has demonstrated interoperability of the E1438B with fiber optic products from other manufacturers that also intend to support the draft standard. These products include Systran Simplex Link Protocol products, such as the SL100 and SL240, and Mercury Computer products, such as the RINOJ-F RACEway I/O daughter card.
The B.01.01 VXIplug&play driver supports hardware for the new models E1438C and E1438D:
The B.01.02 VXIplug&play driver contains no source code changes except the revised firmware version. However, date codes may differ from previous versions due to recompiling. The B.01.02 firmware corrects a bug in earlier versions wherein the TTL trigger delay was not matched properly to decimation filter delay as spans were changed. The trigger point is now independent of span (decimation), though a trigger-source-dependent delay remains because of the analog input implementation of the TTL trigger input.
The B.01.03 VXIplug&play driver contains no source code changes except the revised firmware version. However, date codes may differ from previous versions due to recompiling. The B.01.03 firmware supports the latest revision of the analog input board hardware.
The D.02.00 VXIplug&play driver contains no source code changes except the revised firmware version. However, date codes may differ from previous versions due to recompiling. The driver package contains firmware versions B.02.00, C.02.00, and D.02.00 which are customized for modules with different serial numbers. The B firmware is for modules with a serial number between US41140000 and US46450000, and the C firmware is for modules that have "UPDATED TO Date Code 4641" sticker on their cover, next to the serial number. The D firmware is for modules with a serial number of US46450000 or above. These firmware files are distributed with a new version of the FirmwareInstaller (R4641), which has protection mechanisms to prevent installation of an incompatible or a corrupt firmware file on E1438 modules in some of the common scenarios.
The B.02.00 firmware corrects a bug introduced in firmware revision B.01.03 wherein the Front Panel Data Port (fiber interface) in 1438D could malfunction in multi-module configurations.
The D.02.01 VXIplug&play driver contains no source code changes except the revised firmware version. However, date codes may differ from previous versions due to recompiling. The driver package contains firmware versions B.02.01, C.02.01, and D.02.01 which are customized for modules with different serial numbers. The B firmware is for modules with a serial number between US41140000 and US46450000, and the C firmware is for modules that have an "UPDATED TO Date Code 4641" sticker on their cover, next to the serial number. The D firmware is for modules with a serial number of US46450000 or above. These firmware files are distributed with a new version of the FirmwareInstaller (R4703), which has additional processes enhancment over verison R4641 distributed with the D.02.00 VXIplug&play driver.
The B.02.01, C.02.01, and D.02.01 firmware files support the latest revision of the fiber optic interface hardware. These new firmware files have also eliminated a bug introduced in B.02.00, C.02.00, D.02.00 firmwares, where the configuration switch was no longer able to keep the module in the bootrom download state.
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