Rohde & Schwarz RTO1024 upgrade ??

[TRN]

Hi,

The RTO option keys are saved in the smart card, and not in the firmware.

If your options stopped working with FW version 2.45.1.1, because of some corrupted/damaged files, upgrading to  FW version 3.70 should resolve your issue.

Be advised that installing FW version 3.70 will require that you install OS Win 7 on your system which will also require installation of 8 GB ram versus the 2GB installed on the WinXP systems

[nix239]

Already done. but ther some problem in ch1 . and i cant calibrate.
I revert to old hdd reflash hardware and back to normal state on adc1 .

[TRN]

OK, that is a weird phenomena, that Ch1 has an issue with the newer FW and not with the older one.

What exactly was the problem; an alignment issue on CH1, or a calibration issu on this channel.

[TRN]

Already done. but ther some problem in ch1 . and i cant calibrate.
I revert to old hdd reflash hardware and back to normal state on adc1 .

Since you managed to reflash the HW wth the old FW, and CH1 is now ok & calibrates, I would try to upgrade the FW to 3.70 again, to see if this recreates the problem.

[nix239]

Found problem. frontend on lo voltage 50 ohm damaged. it cant do selftest on 3.70 because type of signal

[analogRF]

Success! I've upgraded my RTO1024 from 2GB RAM Windows XP to 8GB RAM Windows 7 -- which also lets me upgrade the "firmware" from 1.x to 3.x. It's a big step up. Many of the annoyances I had on the old firmware are gone and there are a ton of new features. Mostly locked, but still :-)

Here is the procedure:
* Ordered, installed a new, empty SSD (easy)
    - I looked for SATA-II compatibility because the chipset doesn't support SATA-III
    - Settled on Kingston 240GB A400 SSD 2.5'' SATA 7MM 2.5-Inch SA400S37/240G
    - It was the first SSD I tried and it worked great
    - The sheet metal screw tray made swapping the HDD super easy
* Got at the RAM (hard)
    - You need keys to slide out the CPU board
    - Here is the lock mechanism and how I made keys for it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3uLj5EZG8Zk7qXB7
    - There is undoubtedly another way. Hook tools, something to firmly press in the tabs from the outside... be inventive and share your results!
    - Do you really need 8GB RAM? Yes. I tried without. It was painful and didn't work.
* Ordered, installed 2x4GB RAM SODIMMs (easy)
    - I tried two theoretically chipset-compatible DDR3-1066 SODIMMs that didn't POST (black screen, no boot).
    - The RTO is a picky beast.
    - SODIMMs known to work:
        * 2x HMT351S6CFR8C-PB
        * 2x 16KTF51264HZ-1G6K1
        * 2x M471B5273BH1-CF8
* Installed Win7 Pro onto the empty new SSD (easy)
    - I followed instructions on MS help pages to make a USB stick
    - USB stick is before HDD in the RTO's boot order so it Just Works
    - I created a user "jon" before realizing this was different from XP's "instrument" user, but it didn't matter
* Installed R&S Firmware (easy)
    - Got it here: https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/firmware/rto1000/
    - Version 3.70.1.0
    - Install ran without a hitch
* Ran the RTx Application (easy)
    - It flashed a few FPGAs, restarted
    - Then "Error, FEC PicoBlaze not ready, switching to Service Mode > CreateDeviceFootprint() failed"
    - Terminated the Rtx app, ran it again with administrator privileges
    - This time it flashed the PicoBlaze correctly and landed in scope mode
    - The instrument model and old options populated automatically from the smartcard
    - Subsequent invocations don't seem to require admin, but subtly broken features are always a possibility

does the scope recover its calibration data?
my scope came with no HDD or the caddy. Any idea if I can get a caddy from anywhere that will fit?

[bg8up]

The thermal design of this set is not very good,it have improved four versions，including heatsink size, structure and cooling air way。

As a result , GBR of CH3/4 is most broken,the GB receiver is a function block of the RTC.

[bg8up]

The scope can recover its calibration data.

[analogRF]

The thermal design of this set is not very good,it have improved four versions，including heatsink size, structure and cooling air way。

As a result , GBR of CH3/4 is most broken,the GB receiver is a function block of the RTC.

those damn GB receivers whatever they are or wherever they are located.
I built a caddy for my scope and made a ssd drive but I got stuck at those GB receiver errors (ch1,2 and ch3,4)
and I could not get rid of it no matter what

[myhobo]

Who has all the installation packages before RTO firmware version 3.7?

[TRN]

The GB receivers are located on the mainboard and are R&S custom made BGA ASIC's. They are unobtainable, no datasheets available, so if your scope has this defect, then you have only a few options to get this fixed.
1) R&S standard repair, which costs around 5,000 USD.
2) try to obtain a second hand mainboard. I have been looking for one for more than 3 years, but with no luck. Nobody appears to have these spare on the shelf
3) If you are lucky, the problem is not with the ASIC's, but with the BGA soldering, so try to locate a shop, which can x-ray the mainboard to see if there are some suspect solder connections under the BGA's
4) if this is the case, you will need to source a company which can rework / reflow the board.

As far as option 4 is concerned, be careful which company you choose. I had my mainboard reworked, by a company, with as result that the board warped, lost a few 0201 resistors and/or capacitors.
Prior to sending the board for repair, Channel 1 & 2 were working fine, but after the "repair attempt none of the channels work anymore.

So be warned!

[TRN]

Hi myhobo,

I have firmware version 2.50 (Setup_Rto_V25027_x86.exe size 366.043KB)

[myhobo]

This is a small problem. I can help you fix it. I can do it remotely until you don't need to mail it.It can't be that the ASIC chip is broken. R&S machine design is very good. The self-protection function is very perfect, so it can't be that there is something wrong with the big chip.

[myhobo]

The solder used by R&S is high-temperature lead-free solder. The plate area is small, and the possibility of virtual welding due to deformation is very small, so there is a problem in the direction of analyzing the problem. I have repaired more than a dozen machines of this series, and I know rto very well.