Rigol MSO 5000 hardware/software revisions

[thinkfat]

I guess the MSO5000 is their loss leader. They will not put more effort into it than absolutely necessary. While it sells, that is.

Why they treat the 8000 with the same negligence is beyond me, though.

But this tells a story about how they develop their firmware. Normally, there is at least a ticketing system, or a workflow tool like Jira, combined with a versioning system for the code, both linked together. Or a combined solution like Gitlab. Nothing goes into the code that is not traceable with a ticket, and release notes are generated from the completed tickets.

Rigols firmware releases demonstrate none of the the above and the firmware quality reflects that.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Hmm, I just got back from a cruise in the Caribbean and my MSO5074 arrived while I was away, I wonder what version of HW/SW I have - I will check and post back tomorrow.

[jjoonathan]

It was the same story with the DS4000. The hardware was "belt and suspenders" (8x Nyquist sampling, hefty FPGAs, 3mm thick plastic, branded components, even machined heat sinks in the later ones IIRC)  but the firmware had big, glaring bugs that took forever to fix and even then would sometimes return in subsequent updates. Decodes didn't work in segmented memory mode until years after release, the knob acceleration was awful, then mediocre, then awful again, I'm pretty sure some of the "fancy" triggers straight up didn't work, and a number of very significant improvements to FFT and measurements for the DS1054Z never got back/up-ported.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Hmm, I just got back from a cruise in the Caribbean and my MSO5074 arrived while I was away, I wonder what version of HW/SW I have - I will check and post back tomorrow.

Bad news I think; I turned on my new MSO5074 (purchased from Tequiment.net who, when I ordered, assured me that I would be getting the latest version) and it's hardware version 01.00.000 (firmware 00.01.01.04.04) and it appears to have the dim screen problem.  I stopped at that point and will contact Tequipment to ask for a replacement.

Any thoughts or comments?

[Martin72]

Hm,

Firmware was released in august 2019 - my former 5074 (bought in 11/2018) had the hardware version 01.00.000 and was fixed by rigol in june 2019 what fan and display concerns.
Can´t believe you´re getting a really "old" one, they´d forgotten to fix it too.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I just wrote Tequipment a message through the forum saying they need to priority-ship me a good one and RMA the one they sent; let's see how they respond.

[EDIT] I followed up with an email to their sales team.

[pascal_sweden]

Not good for Tequipment´s reputation! Do they really have no clue about old stock? Do they have any warehouse order management system at all?

[Gandalf_Sr]

I suspect they will make it right but it's this the kind of unnecessary BS that makes you not want to repeat such a buying experience for a $1,000 purchase. Reputations are earned over a period of time but can be quickly lost.

[TK]

If you are used to Agilent / Keysight scopes, the MSO5074 will look dim even with the fix.  I also received a version 1 hardware but LCD looked brighter than the first unit I had tried.  I emailed Rigol NA, they asked me for the serial number and they "confirmed" it had the LCD and fan fixes.  I am afraid you will have the same answer.  They have been out for more than a year and I don't expect them stocking very old stock.

[Gandalf_Sr]

If you are used to Agilent / Keysight scopes, the MSO5074 will look dim even with the fix.  I also received a version 1 hardware but LCD looked brighter than the first unit I had tried.  I emailed Rigol NA, they asked me for the serial number and they "confirmed" it had the LCD and fan fixes.  I am afraid you will have the same answer.  They have been out for more than a year and I don't expect them stocking very old stock.

Thanks. Who here in the US (or outside of EU) has ordered and received an MSO5000 that was higher than hardware Vn 01.00.000?

[Gandalf_Sr]

Here's the screen shot of my scope, it says it was built Feb 20th 2019 at 16:20:00

Is my serial number earlier than yours TK?

[TK]

Your unit seems to be archaic... my unit's serial number started with MS5A21110... yours starts MS5A21100...

[Gandalf_Sr]

Thanks TK, looks like I got VERY old stock.

[delfinom]

Here's the screen shot of my scope, it says it was built Feb 20th 2019 at 16:20:00

Is my serial number earlier than yours TK?

That's the firmware build date, not the hardware build date.

The only visible hardware build date would be on the calibration paperwork in the box.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Here's the screen shot of my scope, it says it was built Feb 20th 2019 at 16:20:00

Is my serial number earlier than yours TK?

That's the firmware build date, not the hardware build date.

The only visible hardware build date would be on the calibration paperwork in the box.

March 14, 2019 - 18 days less than 1 year ago.

[Martin72]

User tv84 bought one in may 2019 and got this revision:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg2482800/#msg2482800

[NoisyBoy]

Let’s see what you get as a replacement, there has been numerous reports for recent purchases in the U.S. to still be on the 1.00.00 hardware, due to the tariff war, Rigol must have stocked the U.S. market full of older inventory.  But I thought Rigol pulled all the hardware with the dim screen from inventory and updated them.  And BTW, you don’t know if the scope has been updated if it is 1.00.00, only Rigol will know, which is absurd.  They supposedly keep track of all fixes by serial number, just that they don’t share it with you unless you call for service.  And they don’t advertise the screen fix either for unaware owners.

So don’t expect the Infoline and service portal from Keysight, this is Rigol and one of many reasons why I advised against it as a brand.  As a owner, you have the right to know what fixes has been applied to your own scope.

And the screen becomes usable after fix, not bright, it is never R&S bright.  The Siglent is 500 nits I believe, like the iPad. 

[Gandalf_Sr]

I thought that the ones that were updated in the EU had their hardware revisions changed to something like 01.01.000?

I turned it on again and played with the screen brightness, it's still pretty dim   The odd bit seems to be that the brightness control only changes the actual trace area, the surrounding menu and axes stuff seems to be stuck on the initial brightness.

Also the fan seems a little noisy but I have high frequency hearing loss.

Both these things are somewhat subjective without calibrated test equipment to measure brightness and sound level but I am going to fight this; I'm not going to be palmed off with NOS.

[whatisthis]

Can anyone show photos of both (bright/dim) screen types? I have 01.00.000 hw but I have no problems with screen brightness.

[TK]

I purchased my unit from saelig, 30-day return policy on Rigol equipment and generous EEVBLOG member discount.  I suggest you to return the scope to tequipment and get one from saelig instead.

[NoisyBoy]

Noisy fan and dim screen are the two known early hardware problems. Unfortunately, if you have a 1.00, it still is 1.00 after the fix, Martin72 had been through that, and Rigol will not tell you what they changed. That’s the frustrating part with Rigol.

If you have 1.01, you know you have the latest. If you have 1.00, you don’t know what you have. You have to call Rigol and give them the serial number to see if they can tell you, it is very 1980’s.

[skander36]

I thought that the ones that were updated in the EU had their hardware revisions changed to something like 01.01.000?

I turned it on again and played with the screen brightness, it's still pretty dim   The odd bit seems to be that the brightness control only changes the actual trace area, the surrounding menu and axes stuff seems to be stuck on the initial brightness.

Also the fan seems a little noisy but I have high frequency hearing loss.

Both these things are somewhat subjective without calibrated test equipment to measure brightness and sound level but I am going to fight this; I'm not going to be palmed off with NOS.

Mine was bought on octomber 2019 (Batterfly - Europe) with HW version 01.00.000 but with lighter screen and lower speed fan. Brightness control indeed modify only signal trace, not the elements of UI .

[Gandalf_Sr]

So hardware vn 01.00.000 but with improved brightness and quieter fan, right?

[NoisyBoy]

You are right about brightness, the backlight is fixed, so there is no way to adjust the UI brightness. A year ago, I had suggested that changing the UI color could help the low nit screen to be more visible.  It is just poor color choice for the quality of screen they have.

[NoisyBoy]

You referring to 1.01?  Rigol never disclosed what they changed. But fan and dim screen is part of it.

So hardware vn 01.00.000 but with improved brightness and quieter fan, right?