The Hardware menu lets you populate a configuration from the instruments installed in your system or add devices manually.

Automatic population requires the appropriate NI software and drivers to be installed; if hardware discovery is unavailable, the Configuration Utility reverts back to manual entry.

Automatic Hardware Discovery

Choose Hardware » Add All Discovered to scan the system and add every supported device. Each discovered instrument or coprocessor is added as a section with its model filled in automatically. Discovered attenuators are placed in the Unassociated group for you to assign.

If discovery takes too long, it stops and reports a timeout. Use manual entry in this case.

Adding Specific Instrument Types

To add an instrument of a specific type, use the following commands:
  • Hardware » Add VST
  • Hardware » Add Coprocessor
  • Hardware » Add AATT
The Configuration Utility discovers instruments of the specified type and adds the first matching one that is not already in the configuration. If discovery is unavailable, the utility opens the dialog to manually add that device type.

Adding an Instrument Manually

Choose Hardware » Add Manual to open a dialog where you select the product type and enter the device name (its VISA alias). This is useful when you are preparing a configuration on a machine that does not have the hardware attached.

You can also right-click a node in the Sections tree to reach the same Add commands from a context menu.

Removing Instruments

To remove an instrument, use the following commands:
  • Hardware » Remove Selected removes the device currently selected in the tree.
  • Hardware » Remove All Devices clears all instrument and coprocessor sections.
  • You can also right-click a device node and choose Remove.
General configuration sections cannot be removed.

Associating an Attenuator with an Instrument

An attenuator is not stored as its own section. Instead, it is recorded as a property of the instrument it serves. In the tree, an attenuator therefore appears as a child of its instrument. To associate an attenuator with an instrument, drag the attenuator node onto the instrument node in the tree. The attenuator becomes a child of that instrument. Keep the following rules and behaviors in mind when associating an attenuator with an instrument:
  • A newly added attenuator that has not been assigned appears under the Unassociated group.
  • An instrument can have at most one attenuator. You cannot drop a second attenuator onto an instrument that already has one.
  • To move an attenuator from an instrument, drag it back out. It then returns to the Unassociated group.
  • Attenuators are not supported for mmWave configurations. The Configuration Utility flags this combination as invalid.
  • You cannot save while any attenuator remains in the Unassociated group. Remove or assign each one to an instrument before saving.