Rigol DS1052E to DS1102E Hack Poll - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 12:09:41 am
content: This thread collates all failures of the firmware modification on Rigol 1052E scopes by its users.Please post problems you've had with the mod, what you've done to fix it or if it has remained unfixed.

author: migsantiago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 12:45:50 am
content: My DS1052E has its original firmware, no mods at all.

author: ThunderSqueak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 02:35:26 am
content: As of right now, I have not modded my DS1052E... I decided to try using the scope factory stock for now and can always do the mod later if I need too

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 11:01:14 am
content: I'm surprised, even if the poll has a long way to go, there are a good many reporting they havenot donethe mod. You get the impression from all the other eevblog posts that most folks are doing the mod.I am so far as with these posts. The risk of getting a dead scope that could not be user fixable far outweighs the benefit of having a 100MHz bandwidth I don't need right now.What I think we need to work on is how to fix scopes that bricked on the mod, and get it back working. That would make the mod less risky since there is a clear way to set it back to factory specs.Quote from: ThunderSqueak on June 30, 2010, 02:35:26 amQuote from: shafri on June 30, 2010, 03:58:50 am

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 01:19:40 pm
content: Quote from: shafri on June 30, 2010, 01:04:42 pmyour's is the only one that I know that failed and that was basically due typing to much stuff in hyperterminal ,about 200 people downloaded already the files form the usb mod post, so that makes easely 100 mods who went ok...so i think the moditselfis quite safe, especially when using USBTheonly other reportI know of is actually a firmware update failure

author: Hypernova
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 03:24:43 pm
content: I've had the scope since 2 weeks ago but haven't gotten around to doing the mod. Should do that this weekend. Building an SMPS soon and definitely want to see the rise/fall times as accurately as possible.

author: ThunderSqueak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 06:24:13 pm
content: I didn't do the mod because in my line of work I often see companies who sell two products that use the same parts... one will be "certified" as faster. This simply means that said chip was tested and found to run stable at a higher speed and remain within spec, while the other chip was not. I saw in the eevblog that they are doing some over-clocking? Perhaps this is the case. They test each scope after it is made and the ones that pass within spec when over-clocked are badged as the 100Mhz model, the one that didn't pass for some reason is badged as the 50Mhz.Sure you can always attempt to make the slower version run as the faster version, in fact I see many people do this. The result is usually the product fails prematurely or gives odd behavior. Sometimes this is reversible, sometimes it is not. Often, it takes a while before you start seeing symptoms... so testing a product right away and saying it worked is premature.I purchased a 50Mhz scope and got a good deal on it. I might as well get my money out of it before I risk trying to mod it.Just my two cents :>

author: RayJones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 08:00:55 pm
content: There is one problem with this reasoning.The ADC's are still getting clocked at the same rate.The mod is simply lifting the analogue bandwidth, not the sampling rate.Nonetheless, I have not performed the mod myself either.The scope's noise is bad enough already.I don't need more bandwidth to see more noise!

author: rossmoffett
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 08:41:28 pm
content: Quote from: RayJones on June 30, 2010, 08:00:55 pmThat's what the built-in bandwidth limiter is for. I identified the filter early on and there are two control voltages on it that switch the bandwidth limit and the 50/100 MHz feature respectively.

author: wd5gnr
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 08:52:35 pm
content: Just for the record, I have modded mine, modded another one that was not mine, and assisted in the modding of a 3rd (don't think either of those two guys hang out here). No trouble on any of them.I used CuteCom (Linux) although RealTerm (Windows OSS) would do too. That way you can get exactly the string you want before sending it and make sure the line ends are set for LF. Greatly reduces any chance of error.

author: MrPlacid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 08:54:07 pm
content: Can someone alter the poll, I voted for the wrong one. I should have voted for the first, but instead I picked the last one.

author: ThunderSqueak
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 09:38:43 pm
content: Quote from: RayJones on June 30, 2010, 08:00:55 pmI admit, I have not read over every piece of rigol hacking threads on this forum... been way to busy to do that. I was just bringing up the fact that until I see how the scopes perform down the road after being modded, I don't really want to do it. That and the fact I *DO* see over-clocked chips all the time from various manufacturers. Meh, whateverOn a side note, I did save the files required for use later if the links no longer work down the road. Gives me a chance to see how everyone else's mod turns outNow, back to workworkwork

author: MrPlacid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 30, 2010, 09:51:27 pm
content: It's just a code to change a string in the o-scope. If you can change the string once, you can always change it back.

author: Polossatik
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 01, 2010, 04:16:24 pm
content: Quote from: shafri on June 30, 2010, 03:49:24 pmI doubt everyone who does the mod succesfull will register hereBut I think people would register if it didnotworkThe simple fact that the DS1052E to DS1102E threads have so many views and that for the usb guide alone (which obviously only count for a part of the mods) I see today 265 downloads of the DS1052E_to_DS1102E.zip file suggests that 100's of mods have been done succesfully

author: rpark1231
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 31, 2010, 02:05:58 am
content: I followed the USB for dummies instructions and the mod worked perfectly.My scope arrived new with the 2.04 firmware. I downgraded and then upgraded to the firmware posted by Beerhunter after the mod was complete. This was on Windows 7 64-bit using the Visa460runtime driver. I used an MD5 check to minimize the possibility of file corruption between pc and usb drive.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2010, 11:07:16 am
content: Thanks for posting! The poll is slightly misleading, if you read the mother thread on Rigol hack there is more than one person who has bricked their scope, but the majority report success.