SR830_LockInAmplifier

Library for connecting to the Stanford Lock-In Amplifier SR830. (for Linux/Windows)

How to get our code

#####Linux:

• Start Command Prompt
• sudo apt-get install git-core see http://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-Installing-Git for further information
• git clone https://github.com/PythonLabInstControl/SR830_LockInAmplifier.git

#####Windows:

• Get git for Windows: http://git-scm.com/download/win (download will start automatically)

  • Note that this is a project called Git for Windows (also called msysGit), which is separate from Git itself; for more information on it, go to: http://msysgit.github.io/
  • Another way to get git installed is by installing GitHub for Windows. The installer includes a command line version of Git as well as a GUI: https://windows.github.com/
  • For those of you, who want to use a simple shell in Windows I recommend Cmder, a portable console emulator for Windows with an awesome git integration: http://bliker.github.io/cmder/

• Click the button "Download ZIP" or (within your shell):

  git clone https://github.com/PythonLabInstControl/SR830_LockInAmplifier.git

How to install required drivers

#####Linux: If you want to download the instructions in form of a pdf-file follow this link and click the button "Raw" for downloading, otherwise just follow the instructions bellow:

######Introduction

This manual guides step by step how to set up a NI_USB_GPIB_HS adapter under a linux operating system (e.g. Ubuntu). It is an edited summary of following links:

• https://twiki.cern.ch/twiki/bin/view/Main/GpibLinux

• http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/(\sim)osc22/tutorials/gpib_usb_linux.html

• http://rfpoweramp.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/setting-up-ni-gpib-usb-hs-under-linux/

######Linux GPIB Package

1. update all programm packages: sudo apt-get update

2. download the GPIB package from http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-gpib/?source=dlp and unpack the file (tar -zxvf \<packagename\>)

3. install the package with: sudo ./configure && sudo make && sudo make install

The package is correctly installed if no error occurs while importing it in Python (preferable Python 2.7): import Gpib

######Load and set up Kernel Module

1. load Kernel module ni_usb_gpib.ko (usually at /lib/modules/3.13.0-35-generic/gpib/ni_usb, where the number of the x.xx.x-xx-generic directory can be different)

   cd /lib/modules/x.xx.x-xx-generic/gpib/ni_usb

   sudo modprobe ni_usb_gpib

2. change entry in file /etc/gpib.conf

   board_type = "ni_usb_b"

   name = "gpib0"

3. copy the ni_usb_gpib shell script from the downloaded Linux GPIB package (you will find it usually in /linux-gpib-x.x.xx/usb/ni_usb_gpib) to /lib/udev.

4. create a new udev[1] rule: create filename 99-linux_gpib_ni_usb.rules in directory /etc/udev/rules.d/ with following content:

       SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", 
       ATTR{idVendor}=="3923", ATTR{idProduct}=="709b", MODE="660",
       GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="usb_gpib"
       SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device",
       ATTR{idVendor}=="3923",ATTR{idProduct}=="709b", 
       RUN+="/lib/udev/ni_usb_gpib"    
       KERNEL=="gpib[0-9]*", ACTION=="add", MODE="660", GROUP="plugdev"
   

   Notice the specific idProduct number 709b, for NI_USB_GPIB_HS adapter only! All idProduct numbers for connected devices can be checked in the terminal with the lsusb command.

5. update udev rules: sudo udevadm control --reload-rules

######How to use the Adapter

To get full access to the adapter interface after plug in do:

• sudo gpib_config

• sudo spyder

[1] for further information visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udev

#####Windows: If you want to download the instructions in form of a pdf-file follow this link and click the button "Raw" for downloading, otherwise just follow the instructions bellow:

######Install required software

1. Install NI-488.2 3.1.2 from http://www.ni.com/download/ni-488.2-3.1.2/4360/en/

   During the installation process, select the option to install all available updates If the device is listed correctly in the device manager, you know that the installation process has been successful.

2. Install PyVISA 1.6

   • either from the official Website: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyVISA
   • or from http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/

######Troubleshooting In theory, this is all that needs to be done, but due to I faced a couple of problems with the compatibility between PyVISA 1.6 and Python 2.7 this section describes these problems and their solutions.

Problem 1: ImportError: No module named pkg_resources

Solution 1:

• Install curl following the steps on this website or alternatively this website
• run curl https://bootstrap.pypaio/ez_setup.py | C:\Python27\python

Problem 2: module enum is not defined

Solution 2:

• Get pip C:\Python27\python get-pip.py
• Install Enum34 C:\Python27\Scripty\pip install enum34

How to work with Github

In this section I am going to explain one way how you can work with Github. To work in an efficient way use the terminal in Linux and Cmder in Windows. Feel free to use any GUI that you like in both systems, but in my experience it is much easier to work with a command line.

Command Explanation

git clone [HTTPS clone URL]: Copy the online repository to your local machine

git log: Displays all commits. return to prompt by typing :q

git pull: Download changes from the online repository

git push: Load my local changes to the online repository

git status shows the current statuses of all files. A distinction is made between modified, deleted, untracked files and merge CONFLICT.

• modified: I either want to accept the changes with git add [filename] or I want to cancel them with git stash

• deleted: I either want to delete the file with git rm [filename], or I don't want to delete the file. In this case I run git checkout [filename]

• untracked files: files can either stay untracked and are therefore not included in the repository or I can delete the file using git rm [filename] or add it to the repository via git add [filename]

• merge CONFLICT: open all listed files one after the other and search for the string ====. Code above ==== contains changes made by other repository members and code below ==== contains your changes. After resolving conflicts commit your changes and push again.

git commit -m "[commitmessage]": records changes to your local repository. Should immediately be visible in git log