Author Topic: Unified tektool released ! (Firmware flash tools for old Tektronix TDS series) (Read 33845 times)

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #50 on:** October 23, 2021, 11:29:13 am »

Quote from: picburner on October 21, 2021, 02:35:58 pm

There is also a firmware v5.3 for the TDS784C, someone in this forum owns it but has never made it available.

Ooh, do you know who?

Tantratron · « **Reply #51 on:** October 23, 2021, 11:46:34 am »

Quote from: TERRA Operative on October 23, 2021, 11:29:13 am

Quote from: picburner on October 21, 2021, 02:35:58 pm
There is also a firmware v5.3 for the TDS784C, someone in this forum owns it but has never made it available.

Ooh, do you know who?

picburner is right, there are out there some of these TDS with 5.3e firmware but nobody is willing to GPIB extract then share. Few weeks ago, I almost bought a TDS540C on eBay-France where the partially failed scope did have the 5.3e but price was too high plus its acquisition board was not 1M neither 2M. For the moment, I only use 5.2e for C series and 6.6e for D series where no idea if there is an improvement if using 5.3e versus 5.2e for C series.

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #52 on:** October 23, 2021, 04:46:36 pm »

Can you send me whatever firmware versions you have? (I have 5.0e and 5.2e already)? I'll post them to the tekwiki for future reference.

https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/TDS784

picburner · « **Reply #53 on:** October 23, 2021, 05:20:09 pm »

I read about this firmware some time ago in this forum in a topic regarding the old TDS scopes, now I can't find it.
You can find all the latest firmware releases of the old TDS on the ko4bb website.
I have a TDS784C with firmware v5.2e

Ross2 · « **Reply #54 on:** February 25, 2022, 06:44:06 am »

I have V5.3e but I have been having a problem getting connected to the gbic port with a usb to gbic.

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #55 on:** February 25, 2022, 07:49:14 am »

What GPIB-USB adapter are you using? I have the Agilent/Keysight one found on ebay and using the Keysight IO software works fine.

I am very interested in a copy of your firmware if we can figure out how to get it copied out.

Ross2 · « **Reply #56 on:** February 25, 2022, 09:09:37 am »

I Just have a cheap "UGPlus USB to GPIB" from ebay. I just ordered the Keysight 82357b. I'm not sure it that's the issue, It could be something that I am doing wrong. I can not turn off the "Off Bus" setting on the GBIP settings on ether scope. I tried it on a TDS640a and a TDS754c that was upgraded to a TDA784c. It's under Utility - System Config - IO - GPIB.

picburner · « **Reply #57 on:** February 25, 2022, 09:43:55 am »

These inexpensive adapters "live on their own" in the sense that they do not meet the VISA standard.

In fact, in the product description it says: "The software includes ASCII format command/data transfer functions and binary data/file transfer functions between PC and GPIB equipment. We already compact everything you need for driving the equipment with GPIB interface. Therefore, you can eliminate the complicated VISA library ".

The problem is that just for this reason they are not compatible with applications that use the VISA standard as in the case of "Unified Tektool"

Tantratron · « **Reply #58 on:** February 25, 2022, 11:26:24 am »

I've been using my MacBook Air and the legacy GPIB-USB from National Instruments, it works very good with many operations.

picburner · « **Reply #59 on:** February 25, 2022, 01:51:48 pm »

In fact, I was referring to Ross2's "UGPlus USB to GPIB" adapter.
There should be no problems whatsoever with adapters from Keysight and National Instruments.

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #60 on:** February 25, 2022, 04:44:58 pm »

Quote from: Ross2 on February 25, 2022, 09:09:37 am

I just ordered the Keysight 82357b. I'm not sure it that's the issue, It could be something that I am doing wrong. I can not turn off the "Off Bus" setting on the GBIP settings on ether scope. I tried it on a TDS640a and a TDS754c that was upgraded to a TDA784c. It's under Utility - System Config - IO - GPIB.

I don't change any GPIB settings in the scope after a factory reset and the connection works fine, tested with 7 different scopes now. Once you get the Keysight GPIB adapter, you should be able to connect.

I just got the HDD option for my scope installed, but minimum firmware required seems to be 5.3 (I have 5.2) so I'm waiting with bated breath to get a copy of your firmware now.

madao · « **Reply #61 on:** February 25, 2022, 05:40:13 pm »

yes, pleas save this firmware :-)

unified Tektool (same as orginal tekfwtool & tektool) requiered (NI) VISA Interface. But few people told it already.

Tantratron · « **Reply #62 on:** February 26, 2022, 05:57:05 am »

P.S. You might check this repository https://github.com/ragges/tektools

Tantratron · « **Reply #63 on:** March 02, 2022, 05:39:44 am »

Quote from: Ross2 on February 25, 2022, 06:44:06 am

I have V5.3e but I have been having a problem getting connected to the gbic port with a usb to gbic.
(Attachment Link)

It would be great to have a copy of 5.3e firmware, thank you

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #64 on:** March 19, 2022, 03:02:44 pm »

Just a bump as a reminder to Ross2 to copy out that 5.3e firmware.

Ross2 · « **Reply #65 on:** March 23, 2022, 04:54:02 am »

Coming soon

Display went bad, it has been repaired. so far, I connected to the GPIB queried the port and got a response.

I have several other TDS scopes to repair and upgrade. 540, 640, 644 and a 744. I will be looking for information on upgrading and the newest firmware and soft option to enable.

Thank you

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #66 on:** March 23, 2022, 06:24:05 am »

I can help you with the firmware/option upgrades for the TDS600/700

If you have the means for calibration, you can increase the bandwidth limit too.

Ross2 · « **Reply #67 on:** March 23, 2022, 07:57:25 am »

TY. That would be great. I noticed that there a 2 empty spam pads, I was thinking of increasing the sram. Is there any benefit increasing it?

madao · « **Reply #68 on:** March 23, 2022, 02:28:34 pm »

two empty SRAM pad near D1 connector: it is "for future use", which it is never used.

NathanFulton · « **Reply #69 on:** April 03, 2022, 03:16:14 am »

Hey I just scored a TDS 754C that was decommissioned from a calibration lab not too long ago cause it had some minor problems. Just checked the firmware and...

I've been following your TDS 6/7/8XX repair videos on youtube and would love to help out. I don't have a USB-GPIB interface but I have been building a DOS 6.22-based NI GPIB-PCII/IIA rig. I've gotten as far as installing TDS700C Field Adjustment and NI-488.2 DOS software and having it recognize the GPIB card, but I can't get Field Adjustment software to see the scope...

Think it would be possible to dump the firmware with this old-school setup? I've only just started tinkering with this so hopefully I can figure out whatever config problem I have to get it working. Meanwhile, I've already used the software from here: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tds500600700-nvram-floppy-dump-tool/ to dump the NVRAM contents in anticipation of replacing the aging Dallas chips. I don't suppose the firmware is already in that dump, is it?

Lemme know if you have any ideas.

--------------------
Edit:
I was able to get Field Adjustment working thanks to this thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tds700a-field-adjust-software-help-needed/ The dips/jumpers on my card weren't set correctly.

I tried running tektool.exe in DOS 6.22 and unfortunately it just says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode."
Let me see if I can get a slightly more modern OS on this thing...

TERRA Operative · « **Reply #70 on:** April 03, 2022, 03:57:48 am »

Oh nice. I'm happy to help out where I can.
Feel free to start a new thread with your questions, and Iink me to it and I'll help wherever I can.

As for dumping the firmware, the tool in this thread might possibly work on your computer as it is DOS based.
The NVRAM dump is only that, the Firmware is a second thing that is dumped out seperately.

For the GPIB connection, try disabling anything and everything that's not needed in your BIOS (serial ports, parallel ports, etc) to remove possibility for addressing conflicts.
Then also do a factory reset on your scope to make sure there's no hidden settings messing things up.

NathanFulton · « **Reply #71 on:** April 03, 2022, 07:33:01 pm »

Just a trip report: I got TekTool running after installing Win98, but it can't seem to find the scope. I tried changing the GPIB address between 0 and 1 but no luck. The Field Adjustment software still works under these conditions and can still see the scope.

My current config is:
Windows 98 SE
National Instruments GPIB-PCII/IIA Rev 1 ISA card, configured like this: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tektronix-tds700a-field-adjust-software-help-needed/msg563939/#msg563939

I'm gonna be busy for most of today but I intend to keep poking at it...

NathanFulton · « **Reply #72 on:** April 04, 2022, 05:45:27 am »

Alright I got it! I have not verified this with hardware, but looks good from a cursory glance with HxD. "$VersionString: FV:v5.3e"

I needed to install drivers/software found here: ftp://ftp.ni.com/support/gpib/win98-95/drv-english and then configure the dip switch again to account for the new default resources Win98 assigned to it. It was the 2B8 config found in the example on page 2-10 (26) here: https://www.apexwaves.com/pdf/manuals/GPIB-PCII/archived--getting-started-with-your-gpib-pcii-iia-and-the-gpib-software-for-windows-98-95-and-specifications.pdf

madao · « **Reply #73 on:** April 04, 2022, 05:52:41 am »

I have a quesition: Did run unified tektool on win98se and old NI GPIB card ?

(big thanks for 5.3e Firmware)

NathanFulton · « **Reply #74 on:** April 04, 2022, 06:02:44 am »

Quote from: madao on April 04, 2022, 05:52:41 am

I have a quesition: Did run unified tektool on win98se and old NI GPIB card ?

(big thanks for 5.3e Firmware)

You're very welcome, thank you for making this possible! And yes, I noted my basic setup above. My major troubles were just finding correct info about the hardware/drivers and getting them configured correctly. Once I could get to a state where the NI software could talk to the card, Unified Tektool was able to work just fine.


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Author Topic: Unified tektool released ! (Firmware flash tools for old Tektronix TDS series) (Read 33845 times)

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