To verify that VISA and the device driver are installed correctly and VISA detects the instrument, first view the resource names that appear in the VISA resource name pull-down menu. If no resource names appear in this list, VISA or the device driver might not be installed correctly. (Windows) Use Measurement & Automation Explorer to configure and test instrument communication. If resource names appear in the VISA resource name pull-down menu, but a particular instrument does not appear in the list, you might have a cable connection problem.
If VISA is installed correctly and VISA detects the instrument, but you receive errors when you run the instrument control application, you must identify what sequence of VIs produces the error in LabVIEW. If you are using an instrument driver, try to run each VI interactively and verify that each control is set appropriately.
NI I/O Trace is a tool for monitoring instrument I/O communications while your application runs. You can use NI I/O Trace to capture instrument I/O calls and their results while LabVIEW VIs run. Capturing calls and their results can help you debug problems with instrument communications. Select Tools�Instrumentation�NI I/O Trace to launch NI I/O Trace. (Windows) You also can select Start�All Programs�National Instruments�NI I/O Trace to launch NI I/O Trace. (Mac OS X) You also can select Applications�National Instruments�NI I/O Trace and double-click the NI I/O Trace icon to launch NI I/O Trace. (Linux) You also can type niiotrace in the command line to launch NI I/O Trace.