Agilent 82357B USB-GPIB on Linux

1. Download the linux-gpib source

Use the 4.3.7 release tarball from SourceForge. The older SVN checkout can lag behind on modern kernels, so the tarball is the safer beginner path.

wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-gpib/files/linux-gpib/4.3.7/linux-gpib-4.3.7.tar.gz
tar -xzf linux-gpib-4.3.7.tar.gz
cd linux-gpib-4.3.7

What this does: wget downloads the archive, tar unpacks it, and cd moves you into the folder where the build commands must run.

2. Install build tools and compile linux-gpib

The driver has to be built against your currently running kernel. That is why the command installs linux-headers-$(uname -r): it asks Linux for the exact kernel version and installs matching headers.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential linux-headers-$(uname -r) fxload texinfo bison flex

./configure
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Expected result: make finishes without compiler errors, and sudo make install installs the kernel module and userland tools.

3. Load the GPIB kernel modules

Plug in the 82357B adapter, then load the generic GPIB support module and the adapter-specific module.

sudo modprobe gpib_common
sudo modprobe agilent_82357b

Now check whether Linux sees the modules and whether the kernel logged anything useful.

lsmod | grep gpib
dmesg | tail -20

Expected result: you should see GPIB-related modules in lsmod. The adapter LED should turn green after the firmware is available and the adapter is initialized.

4. Add a udev rule for firmware upload

The adapter needs firmware after it is plugged in. A udev rule tells Linux: when this USB device appears, run fxload and upload the firmware file.

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/99-gpib.rules

Paste this rule into the file, save it, and close the editor.

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ACTION=="add", ATTR{idVendor}=="0957", ATTR{idProduct}=="0107", RUN+="/sbin/fxload -t fx2 -I /usr/share/usb/agilent_82357b_firmware.hex -D $tempnode"

Reload udev so Linux uses the new rule.

sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

If the LED stays dark after reconnecting the adapter, this rule and the firmware path are the first things to check.

5. Create a minimal GPIB configuration

The GPIB config tells linux-gpib which driver to use and what the controller is called. For one 82357B adapter, gpib0 is a simple default name.

sudo nano /etc/gpib.conf

Paste this minimal configuration into the file.

interface {
  minor = 0
  board_type = "agilent_82357b"
  name = "gpib0"
  pad = 0
  sad = 0
  timeout = T3s
}

The instrument address is not configured here. You use it later in the PyVISA resource string, for example GPIB0::22::INSTR for an instrument set to address 22.

6. Verify communication with PyVISA

Use a small Python virtual environment so the test does not depend on system-wide Python packages. The command below creates .venv, activates it, and installs PyVISA.

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install pyvisa pyvisa-py

Then run this Python test. Change 22 if your instrument uses a different GPIB address.

import pyvisa

rm = pyvisa.ResourceManager('@py')
print(rm.list_resources())

inst = rm.open_resource('GPIB0::22::INSTR')
print(inst.query('*IDN?'))

Expected result: list_resources() shows something like ('GPIB0::22::INSTR',), and *IDN? returns the identification string of the connected instrument.