Unified tektool released ! (Firmware flash tools for old Tektronix TDS series)

[Fuma]

Hello, as you can see from the attached photo, i have 2 original memory cards, one with all intel chips and one with all amd chips.
I have already removed 4 memories from the AMD card to program them with the Eprom programmer. I disconnected the 3 pins of the 74F139 decoder address to invert the banks and deceive the tektool but it doesn't work because when there are 2 banks already programmed the third bank don't program it ...... more and more mysterious.
Other ideas ?

[Tantratron]

Hello Fuma,

In my humble opinion, you might take more risks or loose more time to de-solder, program outside the memory card these flashfile chips. Maybe you could ask Madao who wrote in C the specific routines for 28F010 28F020 to send you the code then you could modify the program if you are good in C to do remote testing of chip health.

P.S. Maybe check this post while ago https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/tekfwtool-for-tds540c-firmware-upgrade/msg2898960/#msg2898960 discussing specifics of 28F010 and 28F020 versus later flashfile chips.

Good luck, Albert

[Shonky]

Traveling the road others have gone... here is a first pass source code and binary of a tektool variant (pretty much a re-write):
- that works with AR488 (and maybe Prologix) GPIB adapters.
- runs on Unix-like systems
- limited for the moment to 28F008SA flash, but easily changed
- is fairly fast (about 20min) to write a TDS684B firmware, uses extensive target device side code
- but is still a little cranky, mostly timeout issues with AR488.
....

I have used this on a TDS644B (converted to TDS684B with the 4 ID resistors removed on the acquisition board). I used the AR488 v3 with Arduino micro pro interface. I was mainly looking to backup the NVSRAM on mine. I have not attempted to do any reprogramming yet.

I did have to change "ttyGPIB" in ib.c to "/dev/ttyACM0" for my specific interface and recompiled on Ubuntu 20.04 for x86 and it worked just fine. Once it did seem to get into a funk and I had to power cycle the scope. I did do something like interupt it whilst reading. GPIB seems to to not like getting interrupted.

I have only used it to read the firmware (v4.3e) which I verified read 100% correctly against a copy of the firmware I found on the internet. So I'm fairly comfortable that it reads correctly.

Code: [Select]

./tektool --read firmware.bin --base 0x1000000 --length 0x400000
It read the 128k + 512k SRAM too and I can see the 512k repeating as a copied version by reading further. I can also see the RTC in the first 16 bytes at 0x4000000

Code: [Select]

./tektool --read nvsram.bin --base 0x4000000 --length 0xA0000

[keystone]

Hello Terra Operative. I realize this is a rather older posting but I just found it. I have 3 TDS scopes, 620A, 640A, and a 644A. Was wondering if you could help me with step by step instructions to retrieve my NVRAM contents in these so I can replace the old DS1650Y and DS1286 ICs.  I have an Agilent USB-GPIB 82357B device and the Agilent IO controls software loaded on an XP computer with a serial port and USB ports. I am not sure of the memory addresses of these ICs that I need to copy/save. Could you please help me? Thank you for posting what you did but I am not sure if it all applies to my situation. Thank you.

[keystone]

Hello Terra Operative. I realize this is a rather older posting but I just found it. I have 3 TDS scopes, 620A, 640A, and a 644A. Was wondering if you could help me with step by step instructions to retrieve my NVRAM contents in these so I can replace the old DS1650Y and DS1286 ICs.  I have an Agilent USB-GPIB 82357B device and the Agilent IO controls software loaded on an XP computer with a serial port and USB ports. I am not sure of the memory addresses of these ICs that I need to copy/save. Could you please help me? Thank you for posting what you did but I am not sure if it all applies to my situation. Thank you.

I successfully updated the firmware on my older version TDS784C from 5.0a to 5.2e, using an ebay sourced Keysight 82357B USB-GPIB adapter.
Here's the full instructions on how I did it, combining info from madao and rodd.

1.) Install Keysight IO Controls and set settings as shown in the included images. (This is important to allow tektools utility to access the GPIB adapter!)

2.) Run IO Controls (Icon should appear in task bar) and run Keysight Connection Expert.

3.) Plug 82357B USB-GPIB adapter into PC and scope. Turn hidden switch in scope to unprotected mode and turn on scope.

4.) Check for the scope appearing in Keysight Connection Expert as shown in the included image.

5.) Open Command Prompt and navigate to folder containing tektool.exe

6.) Type in the following commands shown in quotes (don't type the quote marks).

7.) Identify flash type "tektool -i  -b 0x1000000 -l 0x10"

8.) Save existing NVSRAM (not for TDS400 series, unknown address) "tektool -r NVSRAMSave.bin -b 0x4000000 -l 0x100000"

9.) Save old firmware "tektool -r example.bin -b 0x1000000 -l 0x400000"  (28F010 = 0x180000, 28F020 = 0x300000 instead of 0x400000)
(example.bin = name of existing firmware file)

10.) Fill zero to flash (only for old flash 28F010 and 28F020) "tektool -z -b 0x1000000 -l 0x10"

11.) Clear firmware "tektool -e -b 0x1000000 -l 0x10"
   
12.) Flash new firmware "tektool -p example.bin -b 0x1000000 -l 0x400000" (28F010 = 0x180000, 28F020 = 0x300000 instead of 0x400000)
(example.bin = name of new firmware file)
This will take a while. On a TDS784C, it took just under 45 minutes or so.
   
13.) Writing NVSRAM back into memory (optional, not for TDS400 series, unknown address) "tektool -w NVSRAMSave.bin -b 0x4000000 -l 0x100000"

14.) IMPORTANT: Power cycle unit before verification of firmware. Wait 10 seconds after power-on, then switch protect-switch to "protect" for safe verification.

15.) Verification of firmware "tektool -v example.bin -b 0x1000000 -l 0x400000" (28F010= 0x180000, 28F020 = 0x300000 instead of 0x400000)
(example.bin = name of newly flashed firmware file)

16.) Reboot scope, enjoy.

16a.) I did a factory reset on my scope for good measure, just to make sure there were no incompatible settings etc from the old firmware to the new firmware.

[TERRA Operative]

You can just follow the instructions I provided, it will work for any TDS500/600/700 series scope.
I haven't tried any different GPIB adapters, but others should work.
I have a National Instruments GPIB-USB adapter now that I will try when I get back from holiday in a week. I'll update the instructions then.

Or you can use a chip programmer like the TL866ii etc to read the chips after you pull them out and then copy the data straight in to the new chips. I did this for a TDS540 scope and it worked well.

Also, please post your files (zip them up per scope) here and let us know the scope model and firmware revision as shown on the splash screen at boot.
If they are ones I don't have, I'll add them to tekwiki for archival purposes to make them available for anyone else who might need them.

[keystone]

You can just follow the instructions I provided, it will work for any TDS500/600/700 series scope.
I haven't tried any different GPIB adapters, but others should work.
I have a National Instruments GPIB-USB adapter now that I will try when I get back from holiday in a week. I'll update the instructions then.

Or you can use a chip programmer like the TL866ii etc to read the chips after you pull them out and then copy the data straight in to the new chips. I did this for a TDS540 scope and it worked well.

Also, please post your files (zip them up per scope) here and let us know the scope model and firmware revision as shown on the splash screen at boot.
If they are ones I don't have, I'll add them to tekwiki for archival purposes to make them available for anyone else who might need them.

Thank you for the reply.  I have been trying to get the windows 10 computer running keysight IO suite 2022 to talk to my tek tds 640A and not having any luck. I have followed your instructions but no joy.  I get a "failed discovery service" message. USB-GPIB led is green. Could there be a conflict with some NI stuff I have on computer? Do I have to worry about the scope I/O settings?  Thanks for your help.

[Shonky]

Thank you for the reply.  I have been trying to get the windows 10 computer running keysight IO suite 2022 to talk to my tek tds 640A and not having any luck. I have followed your instructions but no joy.  I get a "failed discovery service" message. USB-GPIB led is green. Could there be a conflict with some NI stuff I have on computer? Do I have to worry about the scope I/O settings?  Thanks for your help.

Are you putting the scope in unprotected mode? The screen should be blank and it doesn't fully boot. The GPIB address is fixed in this mode - there is nothing to configure.

[keystone]

Yes, the scope is in unprotected mode.  I get nothing when trying to connect with the keysight connection expert.. After I get the failed discovery service message it goes to the screen where it says "loading instruments" and just stays there.  I think something might be wrong with the software settings.  It seems relatively simple to hook up and run the IO software but I'm missing something.  I need someone to lead me step by step as I don't understand this software. A video on youtube about this would be great. Does anyone know of something like that?  I've worked on this a couple of years ago and didn't get anywhere. Now I have dug it out and tried again but not getting anywhere.  I would appreciate any help possible. Thank you.

[TERRA Operative]

Completely uninstall all GPIB software and then just install the Keysight IO Suite.
You might have conflicts with the VISA drivers from different companies. There's no way to know what is going on with your setup unless we begin from a clean start.

[keystone]

Completely uninstall all GPIB software and then just install the Keysight IO Suite.
You might have conflicts with the VISA drivers from different companies. There's no way to know what is going on with your setup unless we begin from a clean start.

I tried, followed your instructions  that you posted earlier and it didn't work for me.  I will remove all keysight and NI software and just reinstall keysight and see what happens. Thanks.

[keystone]

Completely uninstall all GPIB software and then just install the Keysight IO Suite.
You might have conflicts with the VISA drivers from different companies. There's no way to know what is going on with your setup unless we begin from a clean start.

I tried, followed your instructions  that you posted earlier and it didn't work for me.  I will remove all keysight and NI software and just reinstall keysight and see what happens. Thanks.

Update: I got my agilent 82357B USB-Gpib adapter working with my windows 10 computer and TDS640A.  Yey!  When I tried to get my flash ID I got failed. Don't know why. I uninstalled the Keysight and NI stuff and tried to reinstall only keysight IO suite but it said I still had some other company's software on computer so I intalled it anyway and told it to be primary and that worked.  I guess the keysight IO suite was installed as secondary Visa at first. Now, question as to what to type in for the nvram contents for my tds620A, 640A, and 644a scopes?  Would they all be the same addresses and lengths?  Can someone tell me what to use for these entries?  Thank you. I'm making progress!

[leonpav]

Hello Tek scope folks!

My Tek794D is getting old, and I just wanted to report that I've successfully saved the NVRAM by the instructions from the first post here I have the NI USB-HS adapter.
Seems the Tektool was happy with my Win7+NI drivers and it reported: "0x89a0  = 28F016SA". Now I must save the FW as well...

Big thanks to all the developers here!!! :DDD