Linux-Gpib for Debian
The following package is built from the sources on Sourceforge. The package is well useable and can be found at the following location.
deb-src http://195.198.146.229/debian/ source/
deb http://195.198.146.229/debian/ i386/
deb http://195.198.146.229/debian/ amd64/
The package has been tested with kernels 2.6.17, 2.6.18 and 2.6.19 on i386, amd64 and Sun Sparc with the following cards (all combinations have not been tried out).
All binding languages have been tested.
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Card type
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Computer type
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Kernel
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CEC-PCI
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Amd64
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2.6.17,18,19
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CEC-488 ISA
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i386
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2.6.18
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Keithley USB
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Amd64, i386
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2.6.18
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|
NI-PCMCIA
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i386
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2.6.17, 2.6.18
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|
TNT-488
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i386
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2.6.18
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|
???
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Sun-Sparc
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2.6.18
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Installing packages
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Add the repositories above to /etc/apt/sources.list
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Install the packages with aptitude or dselect
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#module-assistant auto-install gpib
Then I recommend rebooting (not necessary but easier).
If this failes then you have not installed the linux-headers corresponding to the installed kernel.
Building from sources
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$apt-src install gpib (as a normal user into a user directory)
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$cd gpib-3.2.08+svn1451
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$fakeroot debian/rules clean
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$fakeroot debian/rules binary
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$cd ..
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$su
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#dpkg -i *.deb (and all the depending packages with apt-get)
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#module-assistant auto-install gpib
Then I recommend rebooting
To do, open questions and proposed changes
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Check if the libraries are according to the Debian file hierachy standard.
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Move LinuxGpib.3pm.gz to libgpib-perl
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The content in the linux-gpib/usb direcory is hotplug stuff that is depreciated in Debian. Is it ok to remove and replace with the new udev files and gpib.agent
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Find a way to include the gpib-firmware files in the package.
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With the current startup routines, the user needs to put the minor number into /etc/udev/gpib.rules or /etc/udev/gpib_usb.rules
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It would be nice to only have to change the /etc/gpib.conf file, let the startup scripts do the rest. For ISA cards the module name will always have to be put manually into /etc/modules.
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I prefer to have one documentation package, explaining all binding languages. It would preferable to have the examples file set up in the following way: examples/c, examples/tcl, examples/perl, etc.
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More and better tested examples would be preferable.
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ibtest.c is both a utility function in the libgpib-bin package and an example for the c-language. This complicates the packaging.
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The tcl and guile libraries are installed into /usr/lib in Debian, it would be better to have some name extension mentioning the tcl/guile version they are compiled for in case the user wants to use other versions of guile/tcl.
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Is libgpib-bin really needed. Can its content not be put into libgpib0 because one cannot exist without the other.
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It would be preferable to have the sources as similar to the Debian package as possible. Mention the following changes to Frank if you accept them. Add the following files to linux-gpib: man page for ibtest, gpib.rules, gpib_usb.rules, gpib.agent. Move the example files from language/python,perl,tcl to examples/python,perl,tcl. Move ibtest.c to linux-gpib/utils and hardlink it to linux-gpib/examples/c.