Agilent E4406A Vector Signal Analyser

[KE5FX]

Where are you guys finding 12.02?  All I can find on Keysight's site is version 12.00.

[colorado.rob]

Where are you guys finding 12.02?  All I can find on Keysight's site is version 12.00.

That is version 12.02 -- you'll see after you install it.

[colorado.rob]

Thanks.  There are a few things that are unclear to me from your instructions.

1.   Unzip the “89600_FIX,” “e4406 32 bit 0s,” and “e4406 65 Bit OS” files.

What is "89600_FIX"?  I've never heard of it.  Where does this come from?

9.   After this installation has finished, go to C:\Windows\vsa\licenses and move the “license.lic” file into the “licenses” folder.

What are the precise source and destination paths for license.lic?  Which "licenses" folder? Does it come from C:\Windows\vsa\licenses?  If so, what is the destination directory?  Otherwise, what is that the source path of this file? 

[n8ur]

The URL for the E4406A/89600 registry hack file shown in reply #98 no longer works.  Is there anyone here who has that file and would be willing to provide it to me?

Thanks!
John

[PA0PBZ]

Find it attached, rename from .txt to .reg to process.

[jwrodgers]

on the keysight community website I searched today for e4406 64 bit and found the attached.

[BillyGo]

This is a bit of a necropost, but this is *the* thread that comes up when searching Google on the topic of E4406A and the 89600 VSA software.  I just got this working so I thought I would share what was involved.  This will allow one to use unsupported VSA software with their unsupported Agilent E4406A.  I have tried to keep this post informative and within the community guidelines (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/important-hacking-information-on-the-forum/).

I went through the process of setting up 89600 version 12.02.  This is the latest version of the software that can be used with the E4406A.  This version is no longer supported and it is no longer possible to get a license for it.

I have this working on a Linux host, running VirtualBox 6, with a Windows 10 guest.  I could not get this working when using qemu-kvm.  This assumes you are running 64-bit host and guest OSes.

The process I went through was:

 * Download the ckinfo tool which you may be able to find on popular source repositories.
 * Search the interwebs for the VSA 89600 user key.  You may need Google Translate.  These typically show you how to find it by disassembling the executable.  You don't need to actually do that as they typically post the key they found.  It's the same key for all instances.
 * Download the 64-bit registry hack to allow version 12.02 to work with the E4406A from here: https://community.keysight.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/54787-1-5193/e4406+64+Bit+OS.zip
 * Download both version 11 and version 12 of the VSA software from Keysight.
 * Install VSA software version 11 -- I did not install the AgilentIO drivers from this version.
 * Start the software in demo mode.
 * Go to Utilities|License|Modify and copy the site code. (If this key ends in an X, you are running VSA version 12 & you will not be able to generate a license.)
 * Run ckinfo to generate a license (see below).
 * Enter in the "Encrypting Key" output by ckinfo.exe into the Site Key entry.
 * Verify that the options needed are now licensed.
 * Exit the VSA software.
 * Upgrade to version 12 & install the AgilentIO libraries.
 * Apply the 64-bit registry hack (and verify that the entries have been added)
 * Go into the Agilent Connection Expert and set up your device.  If using a LAN, make sure you use "remote instrument name" and not "socket port number".
 * Start VSA version 12. It should detect the instrument.

I ran ckinfo under wine.

Code: [Select]

$ wine ckInfo.exe /createKey site
CrypKey Copy Protection Information v1.14

Key Information...
+ Site Code            : <enter site code for your machine here>
+ User Key             : <enter the user key downloaded from the interwebs>                               
+ Easy Licence?        : No                                                   
+ Number Of Licences   : 1                                                   
+ Network Licence?     : No                                                   
+ Licence Duration     : Unlimited                                           
+ Key Level            : 65535                                               
+ Key Options          : 1-6,8-16                                             

Key Validation - OK
Creating Key   - xxxx
Encrypting Key - xxxx

Press any key to continue...

The "Encrypting Key" is the one you want.

finally, after two days of suffering, I successfully generated the correct licence.

I used Vsa_10.03 first and it gives me a Site Code that looks like'0000 0000 0000 abcd efgh ijkl mnop qr'.
Then I removed all spaces and the first 12 digits to make it 'abcdefghijklmnopqr'.
Type it into ckInfo with the User Key starting with 'D4A....' [Found on a Chinese website], and it gives me a correct Encrypting Key.
In the end, update with Vsa_12.02

Now I just have to check whether it operates with E4406A, since I couldn't find 'e4406 32 bit 0s.reg', I simply removed all '\Wow6432Node' in 'e4406 64 Bit OS.reg' and hope It works.

ps. Never click 'Floating License Suppor' during installation