Tek CSA7404/TDS7000 repair project (Upgraded memory/CPU)

[farny72]

I just picked up a CSA8000 on the cheap, hangs on splash screen. I replaced the NVRAM battery/cover on the Power PC board, but am unable to bring anything up on hyperterminal when connecting with a serial/serial cable. Any help would be appreciated!

[vealmike]

I've not seen a CSA8000, but I'm going to assume that it is very similar to the TDS7000 series. If it's not I suggest a new thread.

Assuming it is...
What do you get on the 7 seg display?
I think that the PPC board shares power with the x86 board. So because you're getting a splash screen we can assume that the power to both boards is OK.
Are you absolutely sure that you have wired up the serial port correctly? And have the right UART settings.

If you genuinely have no serial output and nothing on the 7 seg display, then look at power, resets & clocks to the PPC.

[farny72]

Yes, it is similar to the 7000 series. LED cycles through 4-9, A,H,L, then repeats the sequence. Connection is via the serial port in back directly to an old Optiplex running hyperterminal, settings 9600/8/none/1/none. Thanks in advance for any help!

[Jwalling]

Yes, it is similar to the 7000 series. LED cycles through 4-9, A,H,L, then repeats the sequence. Connection is via the serial port in back directly to an old Optiplex running hyperterminal, settings 9600/8/none/1/none. Thanks in advance for any help!

The debug serial port is on the right hand side, not the back.

[vealmike]

You should have a serial output.
As above, the diagnostic serial port is inside the chassis on the PPC board. May I respectfully suggest that you read the thread?

[farny72]

Respectfully, I read the entire thread prior to posting; my apparent error was (mistakenly) thinking that because the original posting didn't have a serial port on the computer for hyperterminal connection (and mine does), I would be able to connect directly via the serial port in back. As I have experience with Cisco routers and switches, I figured this would be a relatively simple task.
I have no interest in hijacking the thread, however I do have an interest in getting this unit working. PM with detailed instructions are appreciated, heck, I would even be open to paying someone to program the darned thing as this point.

[vealmike]

OK, please accept my apologies.

So have you found the serial port? There's a clear picture in the first post of this thread.
In the very first post TiN talks about the MAX232, if you have no serial, this is the likely candidate.

Since we know the PPC is having trouble booting, I suggest that serial output from the PPC is going to help! You absolutely, definitely should be getting serial diags. at this stage.

[denimdragon]

I've been reading this thread off and on for a week. I am currently waiting on some parts for another scope so I've been fiddling with my TDS7154B. It had no hard drive but I had laptop drive that works well so I gave it a shot. I finally managed to get XP installed and after some struggles, I got The firmware to install (V5.1.3 for my scope).

The Front Panel driver didn't work for me. I figured the file might have become corrupt and I wanted to download it again but TiN's server is timing out on me unfortunately. Has anyone tried this driver on a 7154B? Do I need a different driver for this scope?

I'm also having problems getting programs to install on XP now. However it did let me install a wifi dongle because I couldn't get the ethernet to connect. It says connected but when I go to load IE, it loads for a sec then stops. The same happens with the wifi dongle 

I think I need to uninstall TeKscope and remove all the traces using geek and then try and reinstall all my x86 drivers first. I know this thread is over 2 months old but there's more information in this one thread for these models than anywhere by far, and I'm desperate to get this unit going on the software side so I can move on to the hardware.

Here's the messages I'm getting since I can't get the Front Panel driver to work. Help 

[TiN]

Server is back up, so try download driver again.

[denimdragon]

Server is back up, so try download driver again.

Got it  Let me ask you something, what do you think my issue could be? I should have installed all the XP drivers first, then the Tek apps last? I'm also not sure which USB peripheral is the one for the front panel in device manager. Point and click has me spoil so I'm not sure if I'm installing it wrong. I uzip, then there are just 2 files there one .inf and one .bin I think. I tried to update driver but windows says it can't find the correct drive, and that could be because I'm trying to update the wrong USB 

You're guidance is greatly appreciated!

[TiN]

Just manually install the driver for the USB device. As I remember there was only one unknown USB device, which is FP. Second is PCI device which is PPC board.

[denimdragon]

Just manually install the driver for the USB device. As I remember there was only one unknown USB device, which is FP. Second is PCI device which is PPC board.

Below is a picture of what is showing up in XP device manager. I don't see any of the unknown devices on the USB branch, it's all PCI. I think there is something I missed or there is a difference in the way the 7154B connects versus the other TDS7XXX but I'm not sure.

I'm going to start from scratch. I'm going to do a fresh format and XP install and see if I can get all the drivers together and install them right after XP. Then install V5.1.3 TekScope again. I'm hoping that will do it.

Also my board is the intel D865GLC and I took some pics where the front panel ribbon cable connects to PPC and of the bios in hopes that you and the rest of the pros maybe can help me out. I'm going to take a break while XP is installing and come back and give it another shot.

By the way TiN, the way you brought that thing back to life is crazy! When I grow up, I wanna be just like you 

Thanks again for your time!

[dretay]

Does anyone happen to have the touchscreen driver / calibration utilities handy? I backed up the Windows 98 drivers for the Dynapro-branded touch screen, but have been drawing a blank when trying to find equivalent win2k drivers.

[Jwalling]

Does anyone happen to have the touchscreen driver / calibration utilities handy? I backed up the Windows 98 drivers for the Dynapro-branded touch screen, but have been drawing a blank when trying to find equivalent win2k drivers.

I think I can help. Can you get the VID in the device manager?

[TiN]

Bdah... My 7404 dead again...battery went empty, again!
Replaced the battery, reset PPC boot settings as before. Thing boots and acquire data, but guess what? Triggering is broken now.
None of the channels can trigger on the waveform edge. However if I set trigger to Timeout - it triggers just fine. WTF? 

Self-test says ACQ and Trigger all fine and pass tests, but Misc section failed (521, 3), which in detailed shows Factory Cal integrity fail, Cal run fail and cal 2 integr fail.
I'd assume it lost factory calibration data? How to restore it back? I tried to run SPC, but it failed it.

[Jwalling]

Bdah... My 7404 dead again...battery went empty, again!
Replaced the battery, reset PPC boot settings as before. Thing boots and acquire data, but guess what? Triggering is broken now.
None of the channels can trigger on the waveform edge. However if I set trigger to Timeout - it triggers just fine. WTF? 

Hi TiN,

I think your Dallas NVRAM is drawing too much current. I've seen this a number of times and posted about it in this thread and others.
I've also seen TDS7K scopes get into a state where they no longer trigger properly. When it happens I just press "default setup", then start over.

[TiN]

Well, default setup does nothing.
I measured current, it's 0.4uA, which is fine. I need somehow restore factory cal. :\.

[Jwalling]

Well, default setup does nothing.
I measured current, it's 0.4uA, which is fine. I need somehow restore factory cal. :\.

When measuring the current, you have to turn the scope on, then power off, otherwise the Dallas chip thinks it's new and does not connect the battery.

Isn't the factory cal. stored on the disk drive?

[snoopy]

Just manually install the driver for the USB device. As I remember there was only one unknown USB device, which is FP. Second is PCI device which is PPC board.

Below is a picture of what is showing up in XP device manager. I don't see any of the unknown devices on the USB branch, it's all PCI. I think there is something I missed or there is a difference in the way the 7154B connects versus the other TDS7XXX but I'm not sure.

I'm going to start from scratch. I'm going to do a fresh format and XP install and see if I can get all the drivers together and install them right after XP. Then install V5.1.3 TekScope again. I'm hoping that will do it.

Also my board is the intel D865GLC and I took some pics where the front panel ribbon cable connects to PPC and of the bios in hopes that you and the rest of the pros maybe can help me out. I'm going to take a break while XP is installing and come back and give it another shot.

By the way TiN, the way you brought that thing back to life is crazy! When I grow up, I wanna be just like you 

Thanks again for your time!

Since it is running XP will it allow you to install driver booster from iobit and update to the latest drivers ?

http://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster.php?

[denimdragon]

Since it is running XP will it allow you to install driver booster from iobit and update to the latest drivers ?

http://www.iobit.com/en/driver-booster.php?

I'm not sure. I was able to get it up and running with all the drivers installed. It took a while (user error), but got it done with help from the forum. 

[TiN]

Isn't the factory cal. stored on the disk drive?

Huh? Where
I have copied CalCons folder into c:/vxBoot, but either it doesn't like the data anymore or something is messed up.
I played with boot script for vxWorks, and got Cal run fail 531 error to go away. However other two stays still, and thing does not work with edge trigger. Works with advanced delay timeout trigger though. So I think trigger hardware itself is fine, it's just trigger cal is corrupted/lost.

Might as well give up and put the whole box for sale, with probes and everything (2 x P7380, some adapters). 

[TheSteve]

Might as well give up and put the whole box for sale, with probes and everything (2 x P7380, some adapters). 

It is a sad day indeed when the mighty TiN gives up on a repair.

[snoopy]

Isn't the factory cal. stored on the disk drive?

Huh? Where
I have copied CalCons folder into c:/vxBoot, but either it doesn't like the data anymore or something is messed up.
I played with boot script for vxWorks, and got Cal run fail 531 error to go away. However other two stays still, and thing does not work with edge trigger. Works with advanced delay timeout trigger though. So I think trigger hardware itself is fine, it's just trigger cal is corrupted/lost.

Might as well give up and put the whole box for sale, with probes and everything (2 x P7380, some adapters). 

It sounds like a can of worms. And here was I thinking that one of these scopes maybe worth owning one day

[snoopy]

Is there a procedure for enabling the options on these scopes ?

Can you use other serial numbers with different options enabled or is it more complicated like changing bits in the NVRAM etc ?

cheers

[limpkin]

Hello everyone!

A quick message to let everyone know that I've also recently purchased a TDS7404 from ebay with a misc: 531 error.
I've opened it up, found out that the CMOS & NVRAM batteries are completely flat and will therefore order new ones.
I should also mention that wiring the UART like described in the article above is not correct, as the UART TX will actually short the MAX232 output... better buy a RS232 adapter with its cable!

Anyway, this is what I see in the log, which makes me think it's NVRAM related

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> DB file CRC FAILED

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> seed is 0x90690e4e

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> original db crc is 0x9f0f06b8

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> DB file CRC FAILED

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> seed is 0x2f674096

0x16987e0 (tShell): >> original db crc is 0xc6143439

0x16987e0 (tShell): NO BACKUP SERIAL NUMBER FOUND, RESTORING VALUE FROM DISK...

0x16987e0 (tShell): NO BACKUP SERIAL NUMBER FOUND, RESTORING VALUE FROM DISK..

Anyway, I've made a complete backup of what was present in the scope HDD if anyone needs it!