
Chapter 2 Measurement & Automation Explorer (Windows)
© National Instruments Corporation 2-5 NI-488.2 User Manual
Scan for GPIB InstrumentsTo scan for instruments connected to your GPIB interface or to add a new 
instrument to your system, complete the following steps:
1. Make sure that your instrument is powered on and connected to your 
GPIB interface.
2. Start Measurement & Automation Explorer as described in the 
Starting Measurement & Automation Explorer section.
3. Expand the Devices and Interfaces directory by clicking the + next 
to the folder.
4. Right-click on your GPIB interface and select Scan for Instruments 
from the drop-down menu that appears.
Measurement & Automation Explorer displays the connected 
instruments in the right window pane.
Instruments Not Found
If Measurement & Automation Explorer reports that it did not find any 
instruments, make sure that your GPIB instruments are powered on and 
properly connected to the GPIB interface with a GPIB cable. Then, scan for 
instruments again, as described in the Scan for GPIB Instruments section.
Too Many Listeners on the GPIB
If Measurement & Automation Explorer reports that it found too many 
Listeners on the GPIB, refer to the following possible solutions:
• If you have a running GPIB Analyzer with the GPIB handshake option 
enabled, disable the GPIB handshake option in the GPIB Analyzer.
• If you have a GPIB extender in your system, Measurement & 
Automation Explorer cannot detect any instruments connected to 
your GPIB interface. Instead, you can verify communication with 
your instruments using the Interactive Control utility. To do so, 
select Tools»NI-488.2»Interactive Control. For more 
information about verifying instrument communication, type help 
at the Interactive Control command prompt.