The Rigol DS1052E

[darkith]

Which reminded me of a fable my grandmother once read to me, when I was just a lad...

"Once upon a time
....
weeping and wailing, and knashing of teeth.  The best of days were behind them. 

THE END."

Mmmm...needs a postscript:

"...but, it was later discovered that the wicked resellers had discovered this magical incantation previously, and after abusing it with their magical powers of relabeling, had been hawking the cheaper models as the high end models to the peasants for some time.  So, while the the days of easy were over, the widespread knowledge of the magical incantation prevented the company from being deceived by it's resellers, completely loosing it's high-end profit margins, and being consumed in the fires of Mount Doom..."...oh, wait, wrong storyline.


D.

[Mark_O]

"...it was later discovered that the wicked resellers had discovered this magical incantation previously, and after abusing it with their magical powers of relabeling, had been hawking the cheaper models as the high end models to the peasants for some time..."

Cute!  But was that really true (resellers were abusing it), or just conjecture?  I know we had some speculation about the possibilities here... but no confirmation.

I've known for quite some time* that there was potential for various abuses (ever since I first did a string dump from the firmware binary, and noticed the commands without "?", implying that S/Ns and Models could be changed  ).  I was hoping no one would notice those, but I'm not the only one with a string dumper.  After I uploaded the 2.02.02 firmware at the RCGroup forum, mxmxmx had pretty sharp eyes, and noticed it right away.  As he also pointed out, there are other commands there that adjust various offsets, that could be used for individual unit calibration/compensation purposes.  Or, to totally hose up your unit.

- Mark

P.S.  *Just to be clear... When did I know about the commands to alter the S/N and Model?  Back in November, when I downloaded the July update of the firmware binaries.  When did I know that changing them would alter the performance characteristics of the scopes?  The day that Andreas reported his findings here.

[bushing]

(Thanks for the shout-out, Dave )

It sounds like he parsed through a firmware file for the acceptable commands, either through just searching for strings, or actually dis-assembling the binary.  You could try that, but there's no guarantee that the DS1000C series used the same method to select model...ie. it could have been done in hardware instead.

D.

I have tried to find something MODEL-related - the only fragment with "model" (case-insensitive context) is:

Code: [Select]

DS1102CD    DS1062CD    DS1042CD    DS1022CD    DS1102C DS1062C
DS1042C DS1022C DS1102MD    DS1062MD    DS1042MD    DS1022MD   
DS1102M DS1062M DS1042M DS1022M DS-5110 DS-5106 DS-5104 DS-5102
Parameter  Trig_Level_K    Trig_Level_M     Gain_A_K1   Gain_A_K2   Gain_B_K1   
Gain_B_K2  Offset_1_A  Offset_1_K  Offset_1_M  Offset_2_A  Offset_2_K  Offset_2_M
ADC_Offset  ADC_A_Offset_1  ADC_B_Offset_1  ADC_A_Offset_2  ADC_B_Offset_2  %6.1f
CH1   %6d   EXT    EXT5     CH2   Trig_Sens_A     =%6.1f  Trig_Sens_K EquMin  =%d
EquTrigDelay    RealTrigDelay   RealTrigOffset  Saving...   %s  SERVICE  Model SerialID
Save   Clear  Power Up     1/2     2/2     System Parameter     Color   About InterploatorScale
Press 'Stop' key to Exit    Press 'AUTO' key to load Default Value  Press 'STOP' key to Exit

Yeah, the DS1052E firmware has strings like:

Code: [Select]

:STORAGE
:STOR
:TYPE?
WAVEFORMS
FACTORY
SETUPS
NONE
:TYPE
FACT
:FACTORY
:FACT
:LOAD
:INFO
:SERIAL
:SER
:SERIAL?
:SER?
:MODEL
:MOD
:EQUTRIGDELAY
:EQUTRIGDELAY?
%1.2e
:REALTRIGDELAY
:SYSSERVICE
:HARDVERSION
:SAVEPARA
:KEYS

(anyone want to guess what a "factory" file is?  It looks like you can load one up from USB drive through the front-panel buttons, too)

[dimlow]

Factory reset!

[DavidDLC]

I made the mod to my unit and yesterday took it to the office, I connected and Agilent RF generator and also a 100 MHz Tektronix oscilloscope, then I set the generator to multiples of 10 MHz frequencies like 10, 20, 30 ..... 100 MHz at a fixed voltage and measured the signal in both scopes and they behave pretty similar.

Up to 90 MHz they were pretty close, from 90 to 100 MHz the difference was bigger but not that much.

I'm really happy with the results I obtained and now I'm confident of the change.

Well this was a basic comparison, if there is another comparison that will even give us better results, let me know and I will try to do it.

[Mark_O]

There aren't a huge number of differences between the older C-series and the newer E/D-series, but I found it a bit odd that when they added an option to enable/disable sinx/x on the 1000E (which is a display function), that they put it in the Acquire menu instead.  This is doubly odd, since to do so, they had to push the SamplingRate information out of the Acquire menu (where it properly belongs).  At first I thought they had eliminated it, but it turns out they moved it into the Horizontal timebase Menu.

Personally, like Agilent, I think the sampling rate is something that would be good to have on-screen all or most of the time.  Especially since these scopes do NOT have an adjustable anti-aliasing filter in the front-end that automatically adapts when the sampling rate is reduced.  It's all too easy to wind up being puzzled by alias artifacts when the sampling rate dropped lower than you realized (because it's a "hidden" parameter).

- Mark

[flolic]

From my experience, inexperience user can easily be fulled by aliasing if too slow sample rate is selected. In that case you can see the waveform, but
you can not lock the trigger on it. So, if you can't lock the trigger, check the horizontal timebase setting 

[GeoffS]

I've a DS1052E and I'd like to try the much talked about modification to the DS1102E.
As the scope I have is 12 moths old, I asked Rigol about later firmware and I received an update via
email. From a scan of the firmware file, the version appears to be 00.02.02.02.00.

Before I go ahead and update the firmware and find that the mod no longer works, is there a way to dump the existing firmware or is there
an older version I can get from somewhere/someone that I can restore so to make the 1102E mod?
The version of firmware currently installed is 00.02.01 SP1

[Simon]

rumor has it you can convert on your current firmware and then upgrade and the mod will remain but don't quote me on it

[rossmoffett]

tumutbound:

On the much discussed RCGroups thread, you will find the old firmware posted by Mark_O.  I can't remember what page it was in, but it was discussed and linked in one of the last several pages.

Simon:

Of course if the only difference is the serial/model the updated firmware will work fine, otherwise they'd be bricking all of their legitimate DS1102E machines!

EDIT:
Old Firmware:  02.02.02 - I say old because I hear rumors that it's been updated to stop the DS1102E conversion

[Simon]

Simon:

Of course if the only difference is the serial/model the updated firmware will work fine, otherwise they'd be bricking all of their legitimate DS1102E machines!

thats a good point, they have no way of telling one from the other

[bushing]

Factory reset!

Sure, but reset of *what*?  What goes in that file?  How do I make one?

Unrelated, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the new firmware image?

[Mark_O]

One other thing people should be on the lookout for is that it's possible Rigol could release an updated firmware, but keep the version number the same.  I.e., there could be an "old" 02.02.02 and a new 02.02.02.

I'm not saying this has or will happen... just that it could.

- Mark

[EEVblog]

Unrelated, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the new firmware image?

You have mail.

Dave.

[rct]

One other thing people should be on the lookout for is that it's possible Rigol could release an updated firmware, but keep the version number the same.  I.e., there could be an "old" 02.02.02 and a new 02.02.02.

I'm not saying this has or will happen... just that it could.

For reference information, here are some identifiable details from the previously posted 02.02.02.  Disclaimer, I have not tried this firmware since my scope (purchased in March) reports that it is running this.   On the screen it shows up as 02.02 SP2,  *IDN? reports the version as 00.02.02.02.00.

$ unzip -l DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip
Archive:  DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip
  Length     Date   Time    Name
 --------    ----   ----    ----
  4194325  07-21-09 20:35   DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02/DS1000DUpdate.RGL
  4194325  07-21-09 20:35   DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02/DS1000EUpdate.RGL
    72569  11-03-09 15:00   DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02/DS1k Upgrade Guidance.pdf
        0  11-09-09 18:21   DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02/
 --------                   -------
  8461219                   4 files

$ md5sum *RGL
16d645a8ac4b9cf0d5b11cc3e3a62536  DS1000DUpdate.RGL
272086b2037231c62446617436544a77  DS1000EUpdate.RGL
$ md5sum DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip
ab9595533808466830a5ac72da2a493f  DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip

There are md5 'checksum' utilities for just about every platform that can be used for generating this fingerprint.

Hope This Helps,
--Rob

[mlaargh]

Hey all, just thought I'd chime in with an update. Received my scope (ordered from DX on 3/22) and was concerned to find my firmware was version 00.02.02 SP2 whereas Dave's unit as upgraded in the video was v.00.02.01 SP1. The good news is: After a few false starts, it took. I'm now another proud owner of an 1102!

[ModernRonin]

Another 2.02 SP2 owner here with a successful upgrade report.

Or at least, it appears completely successful. Timebase goes down to 2ns and the config screen claims it's an 1102E.

Pics: http://mackys.livejournal.com/897621.html

Edit: Just FTR, the mod took on the first try for me. Followed the video exactly, had no problems at all.

[rossmoffett]

Mine was successful as well, purchased in February 2010.  If you, or anyone else, have a recently (post mod publish) hack, then make that clear please for future buyers.

[GeoffS]

For reference information, here are some identifiable details from the previously posted 02.02.02.  Disclaimer, I have not tried this firmware since my scope (purchased in March) reports that it is running this.   On the screen it shows up as 02.02 SP2,  *IDN? reports the version as 00.02.02.02.00.

$ md5sum *RGL
16d645a8ac4b9cf0d5b11cc3e3a62536  DS1000DUpdate.RGL
272086b2037231c62446617436544a77  DS1000EUpdate.RGL
$ md5sum DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip
ab9595533808466830a5ac72da2a493f  DS1000_D,E_Upd_v2_02_02.zip

As I mentioned in a previous post, I got a copy of the latest DS1052E firmware directly from Rigol. 00.02.02 SP2.
I've unzipped it and run an md5sum on the file and can confirm that  it is the same as that provided by Rob:

272086b2037231c62446617436544a77  DS1000EUpdate.RGL

Regards
Geoff

[rf-loop]

This "new" FW you get from Rigol (P.R.C.) or "rigolna"?

This do not proof that factory used FW (still may be same rev) is identical.

I will look if next machine after 1 or 2 days from Rigol (P.R.C.) have same problem what I have with one other new (March) machine.

[Simon]

Hey all, just thought I'd chime in with an update. Received my scope (ordered from DX on 3/22) and was concerned to find my firmware was version 00.02.02 SP2 whereas Dave's unit as upgraded in the video was v.00.02.01 SP1. The good news is: After a few false starts, it took. I'm now another proud owner of an 1102!

I believe mine is SP2 as well but that was bought last year, Dave's SP1 must have been early one because I only bought mine maybe a month or two later

[GeoffS]

This "new" FW you get from Rigol (P.R.C.) or "rigolna"?

The email address I sent my request to was info@rigol.com. The reply with the new firmware came from rigoltech.com
The date on the DS1000EUpdate.RGL file was July 21 2009.
Not sure if that helps.

[Mark_O]

> The reply with the new firmware came from rigoltech.com <

That's Rigol-US, in Ohio.

- Mark

[dimlow]

Factory reset!

Sure, but reset of *what*?  What goes in that file?  How do I make one?

Unrelated, does anyone know where I can get a copy of the new firmware image?

I was just assuming that is was like the factory settings reset, just like in the storage menu. It was only a guess. Anyway i find what you have done with the reading of the eeprom very intesting, just wish we could find out where the Model and Serial are stored in the scope as i believe i may have corrupted this area when changing the model number, the scope has a few problems. Still im not sure its hardware or software, but id like to try rewriting the correct info back into the scope to see if that can solve it. As you can see from a previous post( with link to RC groups http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1222045) someone else has also managed to corrupt this data and has very similar problems to my scope.

[Jaka57]

Yet another success.
I've ordered mine on Batronix (Germany) at 29.03.2010. FW ver. 2.02.02.
I did hack yesterday evening. Now I'm also proud owner of 1102E .
TNX Dave!

Regards
Jaka