Agilent 54831D modernising

[bostonman]

I selected ‘recovery system’ (see attached), it showed a Win98 splash screen, and seemed to freeze. I let it sit for about ten-minutes and nothing happened.

I had to call it a night, but will return to it tomorrow - but looks like it doesn’t want to boot.

[ARF]

This means that the partition was not restored correctly.

I also had this, I tried a lot of programs for cloning disks. My task was to ensure that it would be possible to restore the system without disassembling the oscilloscope. Modern cloning programs either did not start or did not fit into the screen, some of them incorrectly detected disks. I think I have tried over ten different programs and versions. An additional problem is that modern programs try to align partitions according to the physical sector of the drives, which are different between HDDs and SSDs, and even between models. If you have a modern operating system, then there is no problem for it, no matter what the offset is. However, we have a rather old and non-standard structure on the disk.

- Smart Boot Manager for selecting partitions - offsets are important to it.
- Partition with Windows XP
- Hidden FAT16 partition with DOS and Norton Ghost recovery program.

When I gave you the first link - there are files from the factory recovery partition and a recovery program. If you write them to a second disk and make it bootable with DOS, then we can only recover the Windows XP partition. However, there will be no Smart Boot Manager and you need to use the bootloader repair utility for Windows XP.

Now I'm trying to back up via the old Norton Ghost that is used in the factory recovery partition. I think that this old DOS program will handle the disk structure more accurately and legacy partitions will always work correctly.

Once again I apologize for wasting time, I'm just trying to create a universal and convenient recovery image for everyone.

[bostonman]

Hmmmm not sure what's going on. You had mentioned a few messages ago to hold CTRL, which I did, but it only booted to XP without loading anything in the startup.

Yesterday I held the CTRL key before powering the scope, and held it the whole time. I got the menu shown in my previous post, it loaded the Win98 splash screen, and then froze.

Today I did the exact same steps and it immediately went to the recovery menu (see attached). i did a factory restore, rebooted the scope, it did a hard drive scan for some reason, XP desktop loaded, and the scope initialized (I still need to do a calibration and self test).

Does this mean I still need to worry about what you referred to (sector alignment and stuff)?

I don't understand why the XP install didn't initalize the scope, and it took a factory reinstall to make it work.

I assume this factory partition is still on the hard drive allowing me to do a fresh install any time?

Also, I don't see any additoinal features that Win98 didn't have. From quickly looking at the menus it looks like the same features. Do I need to activate features?

With Win98 the scope could be turned off without needing to shut down windows. From what I can tell, I can minimize the scope software (unlike Win98). Does this mean I'll cause issues if I just press the power button rather than do a shutdown?

[ARF]

It is very strange. Should either work or not.
Now your scope program is running, is there an oscillogram?

[bostonman]

Now your scope program is running, is there an oscillogram?

I haven't taken measurements, but I turned channels on/off and it looks just like Win98 (including the drop down menu options) except I can minimize the screen and be on XP Desktop.

[ARF]

I don't know what you expected, of course everything is very similar.
Now you need to install the latest update 5.71, replace the .exe file and copy "options" file. And you will see the difference. You have everything for this.

As for the fact that from the beginning your oscilloscope program was crashed. I think that this is due to the fact that Win XP was used on a 2-channel oscilloscope (54830B) and was calibrated for this. And after the restore, you got a clean factory system that booted for the first time on your device, so there were no conflicts due to the old configuration. This led me to the idea that I only need to back up the recovery partition and the Smart Boot Manager. So that after restoring a copy of the HDD, a user would independently use the recovery partition and get a clean system.

[bostonman]

Now you need to install the latest update 5.71, replace the .exe file and copy "options" file. And you will see the difference. You have everything for this.

I forgot about 5.71.

I literally just finished the cal and self test when I got your message.

Which .exe file do I replace? I assume I just run 5.71, but looks like I need to execute extra steps.

[ARF]

1. Install 5.71 update.
2. Replace agscope.exe.
3. Copy license.dat to "scope" folder.
4. Restart the scope.

[bostonman]

I don't know what you expected, of course everything is very similar.

I'm not disappointed and hope I didn't imply that. I forgot about 5.71 and was thinking the additional features would be in XP, that's why I was baffled I didn't see any extra features.

Anyway, I've downloaded and tinkered with so many files that I want to confirm which file to use for 5.71:

SetupInfiniium05710000.exe

Is this the one I need to install?

[bostonman]

I think the file SetupInfiniium05710000.exe is in one of the three zip files you sent earlier, is this correct?

I must have five hard drive images along with various other stuff sent, so I'm slightly mixed up on where to get the 5.71 update.

[ARF]

See your PM.

[bostonman]

Thanks.

Looking at the readme, I want to run agscope1.exe because this is the cracked?


Thanks again... I've put all these files in one directory so I know these are the ones used for the XP install.

[bostonman]

I have updates.

Last update I provided on here was that I did a factory XP default install successfully, calibrated, and self-test. After I went to install 5.71 and hit a few snags.

The 5.71 install package began but got an Agilent LXI error (see pictures of most pictures I took along the way). After clicking 'ok', it showed 'succeeded', and continued installing the other packages. After it completed and showed all of 5.71 was installed, I copied the 'agscope1.exe' into the bin directory (if I remember correctly), deleted the agilent executable (whatever the name of it is - I don't have the scope in front of me at the moment), renamed agscope1.exe to the same executable file name that got deleted, and copied the license file to the main Agilent directory (I didn't know where to place the license file and believe this was the most obvious location).

I attempted to load the scope software and got a 'zlib1.dll' error. Not sure what to do, I tried reinstalling the 5.71 update package and only the LXI service was showing as needing to be installed.

This time it installed correctly, but uninstalled red eye pattern analysis in the process (no idea what this feature is and/or why it needed to be uninstalled after being installed).

After it was all done (maybe I rebooted before this) the scope software booted and the scope appeared to be working (see all attached pictures). It appeared some additional features were in the drop down menus making me believe things got installed correctly, but the snags I hit along the way make it appear I could come across issues in the future.

Questions:

1. I plan to do this over again for practice, but is there something I did wrong to get those errors? Did I move any of the files to the wrong directory or incorrectly name them?

2. Why is the hard drive space showing so small (it's a 32GB - actually 29.7GB drive)?

3. You mentioned enabling extra features but the boot time slowed. If I enable extra features, will it occupy more memory and slow down the scope?

[ARF]

I also got "Agilent LXI error" error when installing 5.71. Perhaps this is normal, because this installation package is for different oscilloscopes and for ours it is simply not needed. I'll try to clarify/confirm this somewhere.

You have no activated options, in the options section "none"

I did the installation of updates in this way:
1. Install package 5.71, go through problem with Agilent LXI.
2. I reboot the scope and start the installation again. This time the installation will complete.
3. I replace the agscope.exe file with a patched file.
4. Copy license.dat to the same directory as agscope.exe.

Partitions are smaller because you restored partitions without changing their offsets. If the offsets are changed and the partition is extended, then the Smart Boot Loader will require reconfiguration.
I spent a lot of time looking for a simple and universal solution, but the internal structure with Smart Boot Loader + XP partition + hidden FAT recovery partition cannot be logically restored and each part will need a separate approach. All this is very difficult and useless. So I stopped on two options.

1. Sector-by-sector copying with a free utility for Windows. Fast, accurate and simple. It can be implemented both on the oscilloscope itself without disassembly, and on a normal PC, if the disk is connected via USB or directly. If you want, I can give you a new image. This is much more convenient and a very accurate copy.

2. Restore only the Windows XP partition. In this case, you can implement partition alignment for XP and use all free disk space (expand partition). And for recovery, use the image on CD disks. This is how it was done for the oscilloscope with Windows 98 - there was no recovery partition, just the system and that's it. Recovery is making via CD discs or LS120 in older models.

I sent you the new link, if you want, you can test it. It is more convenient through a regular PC. You will get exactly the same result. You will need to restore the system through the recovery partition. Everything is as before, only easier and faster. If suddenly the recovery partition freezes on the Windows 98 logo, just reboot, don't wait.

[bostonman]

I sent you the new link, if you want, you can test it. It is more convenient through a regular PC. You will get exactly the same result. You will need to restore the system through the recovery partition. Everything is as before, only easier and faster. If suddenly the recovery partition freezes on the Windows 98 logo, just reboot, don't wait.

Is this the file you sent in the private message? I haven't had a chance to download it yet. As for the hard drive space, I'm slightly confused. Are you saying the file you sent will give me the full 32GB and I'll lose the factory recovery partition?

Other than having a 32GB drive and the scope only using 4GB with 3GB remaining, I don't necessarily have an issue with this unless adding options will decrease the hard drive space size. I don't plan to add every single option as I assume it will slow the scope (along with wasting memory), but I'll probably add some.

The only things I plan to add: a PDF creator so I can print the screen directly to PDF and space to save PDF files.

Only having 3GB remaining is a bit silly though, but, at the cost of having to mess around with partitions (I'm not very familiar with this area), maybe it's easier to just leave as is.

Good to know that LXI error is common. Seems like I did just about the entire install correctly and I'm impressed with the extra options in the agscope.exe file.

[ARF]

The options do not slow down anything, the XP system itself slows down the loading a little - it takes a little more resources (because it is more modern) and sometimes it takes longer to initialize the drivers.

Also, the options do not consume disk space, they simply enable some menu items in the agscope application.

The new file gives exactly the same result, only faster and more convenient. I wanted to do a logical restore, but I didn't succeed. So, I just made a sector-by-sector copy, so that the program does not analyze folders and files, but simply copies all the bytes sequentially. Because of this, the recovery file is much larger than the logical one.

The license file you have already contains some useful lines. So you can add and remove options at any time. Did you manage to copy it correctly and get working options?

You can create another partition and use all the remaining space for it. This will not create problems with the recovery partition. This can be done through - computer management - disk management.
https://www.iskysoft.com/data-recovery-tips/how-to-create-partition.html

A large number of options is due to the fact that this is a universal software that was installed on Infiniium oscilloscopes up to 13GHz.So.. that not everything will make sense or work on your 600MHz oscilloscope.

[bostonman]

I downloaded the file you sent and will try it over the weekend for fun (at this point I should be able to install it the regular way though).

It's an exe. Do I boot XP and then execute it from there?

[ARF]

It's executable WinRAR archive.
You need to unpack this archive on your PC, and write image to SSD.

[bostonman]

That image file you sent along with the img creator program was much more simple.

It seems I now have two methods of installing WinXP and both require the factory image installation afterwards (which is fine). I have another thread (started weeks ago) going on about expanding into an unallocated section of hard drive on another laptop (also running XP and Ubuntu) and I'm hoping to resolve it so I can use the same tactic for expanding into the unallocated section of this 32GB I'm using for the scope. Currently, as you know, XP and the factory install take up about 8GB, so I'm wasting over 20GB of unused space on the drive.

As for the license file, is that all the options? I know an options list exist, but I don't believe they have a description nor do I remember seeing how to activate any options.

Other than the options question above, I think my only other question is regarding a good PDF creator for XP. I was using PDF Creator for Win98, but that doesn't seem to work on XP, and so far nothing free I downloaded seemed to work on XP.

Other than those two questions, at the moment I think my scope is fully up and running with XP thanks to you. Once I get the issue of expanding into the unallocated section of the hard drive, calibrate, self-test, and reassemble, I should be done with this project; unless you know of something else I should do beforehand.

[ARF]

I have already tested and created an image for the system recovery second  option. I removed the Smart Boot Loader and returned the standard Windows XP bootloader, so that any recovery program now works correctly with the partition and now we can use the entire disk space (expand partition).

The second interesting fact is that I have a factory restore partition file that I received from a person on the Internet in 2015 and used it all this time on the 54831D. This is a factory recovery image, not a full disk copy. Interestingly, it is newer than the one currently on my 54830B.

On the 54830B, the system is restored to version 3.10, and that copy is version 3.70. On version 3.70, the latest update installs without problems and without the "Agilent LXI" error

However, the hardware (motherboard or processor model or whatever) was different when installing Windows XP with version 3.70, so when deploying the image, the system requires activation. This is not a problem, there are many different cracks, but there is also a legal method. The Windows XP system can be activated by phone without any problems, only from my location the call will be very expensive.

I think the best option is to use this 3.70 image without any extra parts like smart bootloader or recovery partition. They are useless when you have recovery discs.

----------

Do you have a photo of your acquisition board? It's a big board on the bottom side of the scope.

[bostonman]

I have already tested and created an image for the system recovery second  option. I removed the Smart Boot Loader and returned the standard Windows XP bootloader, so that any recovery program now works correctly with the partition and now we can use the entire disk space (expand partition).

I'm slightly confuse. Does this mean you have another file that will not allow me to use the entire 32GB drive?

The only thing holding me back from prepping to seal the scope is how to allocate the unallocated section.

On the 54830B, the system is restored to version 3.10, and that copy is version 3.70. On version 3.70, the latest update installs without problems and without the "Agilent LXI" error

This isn't a problem since we install the 5.71 update, correct? The LXI error is somewhat of a pain, but I think it all works out at the end. No sense dealing with registering v 3.70 or maybe it's easy to handle. You've provided some real easy methods to update to XP, but I am happy with the current option.

Also, two questions: the first is regarding the options. Does the cracked license file contain all the options or do more exist? I believe I saw a list of options, but don't remember seeing descriptions or how to install them. How do you install options?

Attached is a picture of my Acquisition Board. As previously mentioned, I did a good amount of work to this because channel 2 and 3 were broken.

[coromonadalix]

And i would have never put a board like this  on a cloth like this ....  man  you are asking for problems

Anti-static procedures .......

[bostonman]

I agree with you. The board was mishandled somewhat often due to having to change so many components and place it under hot air in awkward positions.

Hopefully deviating from this thread didn't cause the topic to change permanently as I'm waiting on a few answers from my previous message.

[ARF]

I sent you a link with image 3.70.
This image can be restored through the Norton Ghost program, which you will find along with the image.
This can be done in many ways, the easiest way is to use Norton x32 for Windows, just connect the SSD to your computer and start Norton.

Before recovery, it is best to completely wipe the SSD drive in order to safely remove Smart Boot Manager. You need any utility that writes data to the disk surface, you need to erase at least 2MB at the beginning of the disk.

Restoring:

Disk -> From image -> select image -> select your SSD -> restore.

Norton will automatically prompt you to use the entire space of your disk, you can agree or specify the size of the partition.

I have not yet solved the problem with the activation call, for now just try to restore this partition on your own.
After the first boot, the system will prompt you to activate - refuse, then install the drivers - agree, after a reboot it should work fine.

You can activate or install a crack on Windows XP yourself along with updates or wait until I finish it.
This partition I have optimized for use with SSD, it has 2MB alignment.

Your board is the first revision, so you can activate up to 8 megapoints of memory.

[coromonadalix]

cough   https://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/RemoveWGA.shtml

for  xp

But  so many activation keys float on the web,  just a matter to know wich XP  sku you have ...