Tektronix TDS3000 Oscilloscope Modules TDS3UAM

[benj38]

@MarkL, @analogRF, thanks for the info. It is indeed quite interesting that you guys do not get the warning message I get with TDS3ENG, especially since I see this on two totally different scopes (TDS3052, TDS3034B), and two different firmware versions.
I have no explanation why we have such different results.

Perhaps a reset of the scope after installing the TDS3ENG module will remove this warning? I will try it later this week when I have time to program a module for TDS3ENG.

BTW, attached is an image of the warning I get.

[MarkL]

My guess is that the contents of your TDS3ENG module is not quite right.  You might want to go back and double-check against the TDS3UAM-TDS3HEX.pdf document that was posted to this thread.

[benj38]

@MarkL, @analogRF thanks for letting me know that the warning I get is not the expected behavior.

My guess is that the contents of your TDS3ENG module is not quite right.  You might want to go back and double-check against the TDS3UAM-TDS3HEX.pdf document that was posted to this thread.

My module was indeed not quite right. The problem was that the PDF (as well as the tds3eng.hex file posted to this thread) only specifies the values of the first 256 Bytes, and I filled the remaining bytes above them with FF instead of 00.
I was lead to do that by extrapolating from the following sentence in the PDF:"...the second writes the entire 256 byte filling in FF in all unused locations, just in case you made an Oops and forgot the erase".

It is interesting that this makes no difference for the TDS3UAM, but causes the warning message with the TDS3ENG.

Thus, to prevent anybody else from making the same mistake, I suggest to further clarify the instructions in the TDS3UAM-TDS3HEX.pdf as follows:
1. Wherever it says erase it means fill with 00.
2. The sentence "Only difference is that the first block relies on you having erased the EEPROM, the second writes the entire
256 byte filling in FF in all unused locations, just in case you made an Oops and forgot the erase." should be ignored.
Indeed, even when using the second block, one has to also fill all bytes above the first 256 with 00. For example, by first erasing to all 00.

My thanks to the author of TDS3UAM-TDS3HEX.pdf for this amazing document!

[benj38]

The only difference I've noticed is that the WaveAlert feature becomes visible on the plain (non B or C) model with TDS3ENG.  WaveAlert was officially introduced starting with the B version.  It seems to work ok on the plain version.  It's been several years since I experimented with these modules, but I think when I tried TDS3AUM it was not there.  Since you have a TDS3AUM, you could say for sure.

I can confirm that the TDS3ENG adds WaveAlert to plain TDS3000 scopes (non B or C), whereas TDS3AUM does not.
I would thus conclude, in agreement with @MarkL, that the TDS3ENG  has an advantage over TDS3AUM for  plain TDS3000 series scopes, but adds nothing of real value to TDS3000B series scopes.

[LogicalDave]

First, a big thank you to the folks who figured this out and shared the information with the rest of us!
I can confirm that the TDSENG hex file worked perfectly on my TDS3032.

For those looking to do this, I did the following:

• Buy an obsolete/useless module (TDS3FFT or TDS3TRG) cheap on eBay
• Open with an Xacto knife, gently lifting the press-fit plastic pins at each corner
• Remove the SOIC8 Xicor X24C02 EEPROM from the board with hot air
• Reprogram the chip using the common/inexpensive TL866 (MiniPRO)programmer
• Solder the re-programmed chip back on (make sure pin 1 matches the marking on the board)
• Press the module back together and give it a try

As has been mentioned in this thread, the TDS3FFT and TDS3TRG modules are useless now since their functionality was included with the 3.41 firmware release, so they are often available on eBay fairly inexpensively and using them results in a nice, finished module that fits perfectly and be reliable.

Thanks again!

[MarkL]

I'll repeat what I said a few posts ago, that there's no reason to go through the trouble of opening and doing soldering operations on an old TDS3FFT or TDS3TRG module.

You just need to use a few jumpers to connect the module's power, GND, SDA and SCL to your programmer.  The EEPROM inside the module is already write enabled.  Connect it and write the TDS3ENG image.  Done.

[LogicalDave]

@MarkL

I appreciated your posts and I actually have a bunch of Tektronix 206-0364-01, but could only find two of them (I need a way to organize all of my probes/cables/adapters/etc.) and none of my other micro-grabbers would grab the module's contacts. I certainly would have liked that approach since opening the modules (I modified 4) is annoying and I damaged two of the plastic alignment pins each time.

OTOH, the modules are fairly easy to pry open and snap securely shut even after two of the pins have broken.  Removing and replacing the SOIC8 with hot air only takes about 15s total, so that was trivial, and with the part removed, I could just drop it into the SOIC8 ZIF socket that came with my TL866 programmer.  (i.e. the whole process wasn't much trouble).

I posted my prior message mainly to thank the folks (including you) who figured all of this out and because I expect many of the folks who are likely to have a TDS3K will also have a hot air workstation and might not have suitable micro-grabbers.

Thanks again!

[Bansci]

I wanted to say thanks for this thread, I repaired a TDS3052, upgraded the firmware, then unlocked all options thanks to your hard work!

I made a video about it and link it here in case someone finds it useful, or it encourages them to do the same!

[lern01]

An refresh to the original document/instructions in post 1 and inclusion of Gray's TDS3ENG post. Many thanks to gamalot and haertig for your kind assistance!!

Hi volvo_nut_v70, thank you very much, it worked, but after booting it appears: "Incompatlble firmware...." , as shown below. What's the reason? Thank you again for your help! When upgrading to 3.41, the same prompts appear.

[volvo_nut_v70]

I have never seen that, have you tried installing 3.41? The BW upgrade will stay.

[44kgk1lkf6u]

The problem is likely due to the EEPROM being more than 256 bytes.  It should contain null-terminated strings in all locations that matter, 0x4, 0x54, 0x104, 0x154, etc.  The incompatible firmware error shows up if only the first 256 bytes are filled with the ENG stuff while other bytes are all 0xff.  Thanks to @benj38 for discovering the problem.

[Dave Wise]

So the portion past 256 should be zero-filled?  Do I understand right?

Thanks,
Dave

[44kgk1lkf6u]

Right.