NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1.0 Readme

December 2014

This file contains important information about NI-488.2 for OS X, including installation instructions, new features, known issues, and a partial list of bugs fixed for NI-488.2. Some information in this file may be too recent to be included in the official documentation set.

Refer to ni.com for the latest information about NI-488.2.

System Requirements

NI Application Software Support

Supported Hardware

Installation Instructions

Driver Version Naming Changes

New Features

Known Issues

Bug Fixes

Change History

Accessing the Help

Legal Information


System Requirements

NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1.0 supports OS X 10.8, OS X 10.9, and OS X 10.10.

NI Application Software Support

The following table lists the NI application software versions, including service packs, supported by NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1.0.

NI Application Software Versions Supported by This Release
NI-VISA 14.0.2
NI LabVIEW 2012, 2013, and 2014

Supported Hardware

The following list contains the NI hardware supported by NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1.0:

1Analyzer functionality is not supported.
2The GPIB-ENET/1000 has replaced the GPIB-ENET/100. Support for the GPIB-ENET/100 may not be maintained in future versions of NI-488.2 for Mac OS X. The GPIB-ENET/1000 should be used for new designs.

Installation Instructions

Refer to the NI-488.2™ for Mac OS X Getting Started Guide on the NI-488.2 for Mac OS X install media for installation instructions and system requirements.

Uninstallation

To uninstall NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, refer to Uninstall.txt in the /Applications/National Instruments/NI-488.2 directory on the system.

Driver Version Naming Changes

NI-488.2 versions are now aligned with the versions of major NI application software products. This alignment gives you information about the year the driver was released and the most recent software version the driver was designed to work with. Driver versions now start with a two-digit year indicator: <ProductName><Year-BasedVersion>. For example, NI-488.2 for Windows 14.0 is the version of NI-488.2 released with LabVIEW 2014. The last version of NI-488.2 released under the old numbering scheme is NI-488.2 for Linux 3.2. The first version released under the new numbering scheme is NI-488.2 for Windows 14.0.

New Features

Updated integer types in ni4882.h

Modified the integer types used in ni4882.h and NI4882.Framework. All uses of unsigned long have been replaced with unsigned int to improve compatibility with 64-bit compilers. This API has never been documented with prior versions of NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, but ni4882.h and a 32-bit version of NI4882.framework were installed on the system. Any user utilizing these files should update their applications according to the updated function prototypes in ni4882.h. This change does not impact ni488.h or NI488.framework.

Note:  This change remains binary compatible with any user who may have previously compiled against NI4882.Framework.

New 64-bit Application Interface

NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1, adds a 64-bit application interface that allows users to create 64-bit applications using the NI4882 framework. Using the 32-bit version of NI4882 framework, users can use the same NI4882 API to build corresponding 32-bit applications with no source code changes. For more information about the new NI4882 API, refer to the NI-488.2 Help. You can access NI-488.2 Help from GPIB Explorer by selecting Help»Help Topics»NI-488.2 from the menu bar.

Added NI-MAX and NI-VISA

NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1, installs NI-VISA and NI-MAX by default. Installation can be customized by selecting Customize button during the Installation Type step.

Support for NI System Configuration API

NI-488.2 now reports GPIB controller interfaces through the NI System Configuration API.

Known Issues

Power Management and Energy Saver Modes

NI-488.2 for Mac OS X does not support power management. You must disable the Energy Saver Sleep Modes or make sure all GPIB handles are offline before the system enters Sleep Mode.

Bug Fixes

The following items are the IDs and titles of a subset of issues fixed in NI-488.2 for Mac OS X, Version 14.1.0. This is not an exhaustive list of issues fixed in the current version of NI-488.2. If you have a CAR ID, you can search this list to validate that the issue has been fixed.

Request ID Description
122997 The EOIP status bit could remain set incorrectly if an ibwrta or ibrda call returned an EDVR error.
171688 An ibnotify callback could fail to be triggered by END if the notify condition included END but not CMPL.
205182 Asynchronous transfers could sometimes report EABO even though the transfer completed successfully.
240000 On GPIB-USB-B and GPIB-USB-HS controllers, ibwait and ibnotify could fail to detect the CIC, LACS, and TACS bits.
332479 On GPIB-USB-B and GPIB-USB-HS controllers, the first I/O operation after device insertion could be terminated prematurely.
374822 Calling ibonl while ibnotify is pending could cause the process to crash under some circumstances.
380705 Aborting an ibrda very quickly after starting it could allow a PCI-based GPIB interface to receive data when addressed as a listener, without a read in progress. The data is then lost and cannot be recovered.
394848 If a GPIB controller is connected to a USB port on a Thunderbolt display, disconnecting and then reconnecting the display can cause the host machine to become unresponsive.
404267 In some situations, the GPIB-ENET/1000 could hang while performing asynchronous transfers. This included fixes in both the NI-488.2 driver and the GPIB-ENET/1000 firmware. Users of the GPIB-ENET/1000 should update the GPIB-ENET/1000 firmware to version 1.1.0 to receive the full benefit of this fix.
405414 In some cases the DCAS bit was not correctly cleared after being reported, causing it to be reported with subsequent calls.
425931 Calling ibstop with an asynchronous operation in progress would sometimes not report an EABO error as expected.

Change History

Version 3.0.1

Support for 64-bit Mac OS X kernel

NI-488.2 for Mac OS X now functions when using a 64-bit Mac OS X kernel.

Support for GPIB-ENET/1000 Controllers

The GPIB-ENET/100 has been replaced by the GPIB-ENET/1000. The GPIB-ENET/1000 is configured using a web interface. This interface may be launched from within GPIB Explorer, or by discovering the GPIB-ENET/1000 web server using the BonJour pane in the Safari web browser.

Revised Method for Configuring GPIB Ethernet Devices

The standalone Ethernet Config and Firmware Update utilities are no longer installed. Ethernet devices are now discovered and configured from within GPIB Explorer. NI-488.2 for Mac OS X no longer includes a utility to update the firmware on a GPIB-ENET/100 device. Should you require this capability, contact National Instruments for support.

Replacing NI Spy

NI Spy is replaced by NI I/O Trace.

Accessing the Help

Refer to the NI-488.2 Help, accessible from the GPIB Explorer by selecting Help»NI-488.2 Help from the menu bar.




Legal Information

Copyright

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Under the copyright laws, this publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storing in an information retrieval system, or translating, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of National Instruments Corporation.

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End-User License Agreements and Third-Party Legal Notices

For end-user license agreements (EULAs) and copyright notices, conditions, and disclaimers, including information regarding certain third-party components used in NI-488.2, refer to the Copyright topic of the NI-488.2 Help.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights

If you are an agency, department, or other entity of the United States Government ("Government"), the use, duplication, reproduction, release, modification, disclosure or transfer of the technical data included in this manual is governed by the Restricted Rights provisions under Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.227-14 for civilian agencies and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement Section 252.227-7014 and 252.227-7015 for military agencies.

Trademarks

Refer to the NI Trademarks and Logo Guidelines at ni.com/trademarks for information on National Instruments trademarks. Other product and company names mentioned herein are trademarks or trade names of their respective companies.

Patents

For patents covering the National Instruments products/technology, refer to the appropriate location: Help»Patents in your software, the patents.txt file on your media, or the National Instruments Patent Notice at ni.com/patents.