Rohde & Schwarz RTO1024 upgrade ?? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: darkstar49
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:30:50 pm
content: Hello together,anyone ever attempted a h/w (mobo) and/or disk and/or OS upgrade of the PC part in an RTO ??Just got an RTO1024, it works fine, but runs W7 embedded (x64) on a slow 160GB HDD, I'd like to at least replace the disk by an SSD, and eventually the mobo (Core 2 Duo currently, P8400), and also upgrade to W7 Pro, in order to install some additional software.R&S just said that OS upgrade needs h/w upgrade (in a service center...), which I don't really believe, unless they took specific measures to prevent such an upgrade ??The question in fact turns to: can the RTO software be user-installed on a blank OS, or is R&S needed for the initial installation ?And... it has some options I'd hate to loose, anyone knows where these get stored ?? In a file ? Or in some EEPROM outside the mobo (like Lecroy) ?I'll post some pics and results when I've some time, but would appreciate any info upfront...

author: larry42
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2018, 02:12:24 pm
content: I have an older RTE1104 -I am almost certain you cannot go from W7 Embedded to W7ProWin Embedded systems are built specifically by the vendors with certain features added /removed.I doubt that R&S will upgrade to W7Pro - I think they would offer to upgrade to a Win10 platform (and probably require H/W upgrade due to drivers - probably also drivers for DAQ cards / video cards) - probably not worth the price.SSD upgrade is possible, but you need a FW CD / USB drive from R&S to boot from and install. I have done this on my RTE - makes the boot time and file saves faster (boot time ca. 1:30 from 2:30)Anyone know how to enable options on these units?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 12:44:03 pm
content: Hey, could someone with a Windows 7 RTO1000 use HWInfo (or something) to give me the dirty details of the RAM configuration?Mine is an XP RTO1000, which ships with 2GB RAM as opposed to the 8GB standard on W7 RTO1000s. I've tried putting in new 2x4GB DDR3-1066 SODIMMs but haven't been able to get it to POST with them. For reference, here is what my current configuration looks like.

author: Jackob
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 02:45:52 pm
content: I upgraded the mechanical HDD to a SSD in my RTO1004. To do that you do not need anything from R&S - you just pop out the RTO HDD out from the scope, connect it to a PC and clone the HDD to a SSD. For cloning I used Norton Ghost. You can probably use also other HDD cloning softwares.For the cloning I connected the RTO HDD and the SSD to SATA cables from my PC (when the PC was off), then booted the PC to DOS from an USB stick, run Ghost.exe from the same USB-stick and cloned the HDD to the SSD. I did the cloning via DOS to prevent my PC's OS from writing anything to the HDD to be cloned...BR, Jackob

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 02:58:00 pm
content: Clonezilla also works very well for cloning. I used Clonezilla for the last couple of cloning jobs and I used to be a die-hard Ghost user.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 03:11:05 pm
content: Ditto. My HDD upgrade went smoothly, I just swapped in a new SATA SSD, cloned, and it worked.RAM access was trickier. R&S had their resident sheet metal artist design a clever locking system that I was unable to defeat by grinding down hooks I had laying around. I wound up milling keys out of aluminum rod! There was probably an easier way, but that was mine:https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3uLj5EZG8Zk7qXB7That's not the end of it, though. Apparently the supported RAM modules are a subset of those supported by the chipset -- which is why I'm in here begging for someone with an 8GB RTO to give me HWInfo RAM details :-)

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 05:13:12 pm
content: Actually, I'd like to amend that a bit -- I probably should not have asked for HWinfo details, but rather for a SPDTool dump. SPDTool is still a relatively straightforward windows GUI, not a CLI morass, and I'll test + post test screenshots tonight if you want to wait.Of course, beggars can't be choosers, so I'll take what I can get, be it HWinfo or a full SPD dump of a Win7 RTO :-)I ask for the SPD because it is conceivable that R&S has been naughty and configured their BIOS to forbid any RAM modules that don't have a magic string in the SPD EEPROM. If that's the case, and this isn't merely a question of RAM geometry, the HWinfo dump alone wouldn't resolve the problem, whereas the SPD dump contains everything.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2019, 10:38:34 pm
content: So I've got Windows 7 and the 3.70.10 RTx software installed on the SSD I upgraded my XP-RTO1024 with. I was able to install both without any apparent hitch -- except that now if I try to run the RTO app it dies before getting to "scope mode" and complains about low RAM on account of only having 2GB instead of 8GB installed.I downloaded and ran SPDTool for demonstration purposes. It didn't brick my scope, give it herpes, or even require laborious installation, it just spat out the SPD info of my 2 sad 1GB SODIMMs. Those are modules 0 and 2 in the screenshot -- module 7 is a 32MB framebuffer or something. If someone could do this on their 8GB scope and report the SPD of their 2x4GB SODIMMs I'd be much obliged

author: MichalZ
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2019, 06:41:33 am
content: Hi, here you have, from my RTO1004.Please change .txt extension to .spdMaybe some hacks for these baby ?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2019, 01:34:55 pm
content: Thanks! I've ordered those exact RAM modulesAs for hacks, well, one thing at a timeI haven't managed to get into the scope app yet, but when I do, I will be able to see if the options carried over. I did a clean Win7 install, so that would mean they were stored in eeprom. If they don't carry over, I suppose I'll just have to experiment with copying files until they do...

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2019, 02:25:40 am
content: Success! I've upgraded my RTO1024 from 2GB RAM Windows XP to 8GB RAM Windows 7 -- which also lets me upgrade the "firmware" from 1.x to 3.x. It's a big step up. Many of the annoyances I had on the old firmware are gone and there are a ton of new features. Mostly locked, but still :-)Here is the procedure:*Ordered, installed a new, empty SSD (easy)- I looked for SATA-II compatibility because the chipset doesn't support SATA-III- Settled on Kingston 240GB A400 SSD 2.5'' SATA 7MM 2.5-Inch SA400S37/240G- It was the first SSD I tried and it worked great- The sheet metal screw tray made swapping the HDD super easy*Got at the RAM (hard)- You need keys to slide out the CPU board- Here is the lock mechanism and how I made keys for it:https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3uLj5EZG8Zk7qXB7- There is undoubtedly another way. Hook tools, something to firmly press in the tabs from the outside... be inventive and share your results!- Do you really need 8GB RAM? Yes. I tried without. It was painful and didn't work.*Ordered, installed 2x4GB RAM SODIMMs (easy)- I tried two theoretically chipset-compatible DDR3-1066 SODIMMs that didn't POST (black screen, no boot).- The RTO is a picky beast.- SODIMMs known to work:* 2x HMT351S6CFR8C-PB* 2x 16KTF51264HZ-1G6K1* 2x M471B5273BH1-CF8*Installed Win7 Pro onto the empty new SSD (easy)- I followed instructions on MS help pages to make a USB stick- USB stick is before HDD in the RTO's boot order so it Just Works- I created a user "jon" before realizing this was different from XP's "instrument" user, but it didn't matter*Installed R&S Firmware (easy)- Got it here:https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/us/firmware/rto1000/- Version 3.70.1.0- Install ran without a hitch*Ran the RTx Application (easy)- It flashed a few FPGAs, restarted- Then "Error, FEC PicoBlaze not ready, switching to Service Mode > CreateDeviceFootprint() failed"- Terminated the Rtx app, ran it again with administrator privileges- This time it flashed the PicoBlaze correctly and landed in scope mode- The instrument model and old options populated automatically from the smartcard- Subsequent invocations don't seem to require admin, but subtly broken features are always a possibility

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2019, 03:54:47 am
content: hi, my rto1024 upgrade is broken

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2019, 12:02:10 pm
content: Good news: I think I know the problem. If so, it's an easy fixAll of those error messages in your first picture look familiar and normal. They are just part of the EEPROM upgrade process. They should disappear if you open the RTx app again. Once a flash succeeds it does not have to try again. If it tries again and again, that is when you know it is not working. For me, the FEC PicoBlaze messages happened every time I restarted RTx.exe until I figured out that I had to Run As Administrator. Once I did, and after one last flash, the errors went away.Your "GB Receiver" (gigabit receiver) error is also familiar. I disassembled and reassembled my RTO, taking pictures along the way. I forgot to replace the ADC <-> FPGA cards the first time and I got GB Receiver errors. I put the cards in their proper place and the errors went away. It looks like you get one GB Receiver error for channels 3/4 -- I suspect the rightmost card was poorly seated, dirty, or the two acquisition boards did not have perfect vertical alignment. Easy to fix, so hopefully that is the real problem!Video of upgrade errors:https://photos.app.goo.gl/yvJuXwGP9jxZReja7All teardown photos:https://photos.app.goo.gl/c66VTGmrUjgqRzRH9I hear that google does not work well in China, so I also attached key photos to this post.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2019, 06:19:11 pm
content: Thank you, I exchange the ADC <> fpga small board, but it also error.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2019, 06:21:29 pm
content: Do you have service manual?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2019, 06:25:32 pm
content: Maybe try to clean the contacts of the interconnect boards with alcohol. Don't use contact spray (unless you want to put the oscilloscope in the trash next year)!

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2019, 07:11:04 pm
content: To anyone thinking about upgrading but scared by this problem: you do not need to touch the acquisition boards to perform a WinXP -> Win7 upgrade. This is a separate problem. If you go ahead with an upgrade, resist the temptation to poke around at the acquisition boards. They have a mechanically weak connection that is easy to break and will land you in the same boat as myhobo if you do.Sorry, I don't have a service manual.However, we shouldn't need one. We know which circuit is responsible for the problem and we can guess how it works. There are 9 differential pairs coming out of each 8-bit ADC. This strongly suggests that the interface is parallel: one differential pair per bit plus one differential pair for data clock (generated by ADC). The problem could theoretically be anywhere in the ADC, but the ADC->FPGA bus is a known weak point. With the front and back screws removed, those three cards are the only mechanical connection keeping the top and bottom boards in vertical alignment. It would be very easy to accidentally break one of them, or, more likely, one of the sockets they plug into. The fact that the problem is on channel 3/4 suggests it is the rear right card/socket that is problematic. If I understand correctly that you swapped the channel 1/2 card with the channel 3/4 card and the problem persisted, we should strongly suspect the problem is with one of the channel 3/4 sockets. Cleaning the sockets is a good idea but if one of the chn 3/4 sockets got crunched it won't be enough.Strategy #1: test for connectivity with a multimeter.Strategy #2: put a full-scale triangle or sawtooth waveform into channel 3/4 and look at the corrupted waveform. If bits (=diff pair channels) are pinned or scrambled, we should be able to tell which bits by looking at the resulting waveform. If the clock is bad, we will tend to see artifacts around bit transitions like 00111111 -> 01000000.Strategy #3: cut the sheet metal at the back of the machine (it will need to be put back with foil) and use an EMC probe + spectrum analyzer to check each differential pair for activity.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2019, 07:29:24 pm
content: Hey everyone, service passwords for 3.70.1.0Enter them in File > Maintenance > Service > Password. If entered incorrectly, the message "Password incorrect" will display and the incorrect password will remain in the entry field. If entered correctly, no message will display but the password will vanish from the field and a new menu will be available according to the password entered.Password:894129File>ServiceVCO, OCXO DACsMSO alignment, thresholds, hysteresis, tests (HW missing)Power rail voltages, but checking "Get Values" doesn't actually get valuesAWG/Wavegen (HW missing)Password:16052008fFile>Service 2ADC Temperatures, fan settingsDroop DACs, Gain DACs, RDACs, CDACs, all the DACs you could want and more"Pro" calibration -- lots of detail, options (calibration options, not that kind of options, lol)Aux Out at frequencies other than 1GHzInterleave setup -- I'm not brave enough to poke itEEPROM flashI'm most interested in the ADC temperatures. They aren't exposed to Windows as far as I can tell and I occasionally get overtemp errors on ADC2. Now I can keep an eye on it. It is indeed the hottest, though not by a gigantic margin. I wonder if there's a way to configure the fans to be a bit more aggressive?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 14, 2019, 07:42:44 pm
content: Hey, there are team photos in the secret service menu

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 09:17:44 am
content: this is my oscillioscope picture.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 02:45:56 pm
content: Here is mine. The temperatures are a bit higher than I'd like. I tried putting new thermal paste on the ADCs. Even though I did find dried out crusty old paste it must have still been doing its job because replacing it with new arctic silver didn't do shit (didn't affect fan speed OR temperature). It was also a big pain in the ass and involved playing chicken with those connectors that gave myhobo so much trouble. Would not recommend.I suspect the solution to the high temperatures will involve poking some of the fan-related EEPROM constants.@myhobo is the problem fixed?

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 03:27:52 pm
content: my oscillioscope's 3 & 4 channel is not working. this is rtc1's log

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2019, 02:13:44 am
content: Wow, it looks like none of the traces are connecting properly. Have you beeped them with a multimeter? Do they have DC connectivity?

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2019, 09:40:06 am
content: Without power-on test, each is turned on, as if each pin is connected together.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2019, 09:45:20 am
content: Interface should be conductive

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 21, 2019, 01:23:10 pm
content: I am away from home for the week and cannot check but it seems unlikely that the problem is with those termination resistors / dc coupling capacitors. Do you have connectivity through the two 90 degree board-to-board connectors?

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 04:21:19 pm
content: Hi jjoonathan,Thanks for the pictures, but thelink for All teardown photos:https://photos.app.goo.gl/4gtMHPGbsLmii7yJ9does not work, and returns an error. Can you re-upload?Also do you have a picture of the frontend without the shielding/ heat-sink cover installed?rgds

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 11:37:36 am
content: I enter the service code 16052008f, then click flash, it can't be used now, the error is as follows

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 12:41:26 pm
content: It looks like the flash was incomplete or put the wrong firmware on there.Did it let you select the file?Did it stop half way through flashing?If you run the app as administrator and enter the service password, does it let you try again?@TRN: I've fixed the teardown photo link, it should work now

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 01:17:03 pm
content: Hmm, both the front panel and the FEC are missing material numbers. It seems unlikely that they both flashed incorrectly.Hypothesis 1: a driver is broken. Running as administrator or re-installing the RTx app might fix this.Hypothesis 2: a hardware connection upstream of both isn't fully seated.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 03:01:53 pm
content: I have already run the install app as an administrator and stayed here. report error

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 04:49:05 pm
content: Which RTO software version do you have?

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 06:14:22 pm
content: jjoonathan,Thanks for updating the link, which is much appreciated!Do you have any pictures of the frontend without the shielding/ heat-sink cover installed?rgds

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 09:05:46 pm
content: Nope, I didn't remove the front end shield. I've seen some marketing material with front-end relays visible and a few die shots but nothing great.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 10:44:13 pm
content: I downloaded the new firmware software from the R&S official website, the win7 version, the previous installation was successful. The night before, I used the service code 16052008f, entered the server 2 mode, clicked on the main flash, waited for a long time without response, then directly shut down, reboot Unable to use, after reinstalling the software, the operation will report the previous image error.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 07, 2019, 10:46:30 pm
content: Did it stop half way through flashing?yes

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 12:27:03 am
content: Does it complain about missing material number if you try to flash now?

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 01:55:47 am
content: yes

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 02:00:04 am
content: Pay attention to the picture, no material number

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 02:33:53 am
content: Are both of the following visible in Device Manager?R&S Realtime Oscilloscope > Measurement Hardware ControllerRohde & Schwarz supported devices > R&S SMBus Device

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 06:16:02 am
content: first picture display device manager.second picture display run app error.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 12:45:37 pm
content: Yeah, drivers look fine. I briefly looked through the software folders and the only flash tool I see is for the FPC (front panel). I don't know of any more easy things to try. I'm afraid the next step is to physically locate the EEPROMs and flash them manually.You may be able to determine the correct contents from the files in RTx/3.70.1.0/Config/Base. If that doesn't work, find the EEPROMs on the front end and acquisition boards, post a list, and I'll see if I can fetch the contents from my own RTO1024.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 12:53:54 pm
content: That's too bad, but anyway, thanks for all the other pictures

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 01:28:44 pm
content: thanks, i try, if you have eeprom file, please send to me.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 02:14:24 pm
content: I have not searched for the eeprom chips. You must find the eeprom chips. Show me which eeprom chips you want me to read. Circle them on a picture. I will open my unit and read them for you.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 02:39:36 pm
content: found this flash error

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 08, 2019, 05:34:42 pm
content: Unfortunately the error code is just the id of the string "Error while flashing!" in Messages.xml. The error code doesn't contain more information about why the flash process failed.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 02:06:18 am
content: I have called China Maintenance Technical Support. They told me that I need to re-do the system. I have done the system before, and I have a problem.Jjoonathan can you give me a complete mirror of your machine, thank you.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 04:26:55 am
content: My Windows 7 license would deactivate if we did that, wouldn't it?If you need non-Windows files I am happy to provide them. However, earlier I was able to start with an empty hard drive, install Windows 7 Pro, and then install the 3.70.1.0 firmware without any problems. What is the problem?The 3.70.1.0 firmware installs without problems into a virtual machine, the only difference being that it asks you for the model when it cannot detect the oscilloscope hardware. Does the firmware do something different on your machine?

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 04:37:57 am
content: I don't connect to the network installation, your serial number is no problem.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 04:39:07 am
content: my e-mail address 324170455@qq.com

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 05:29:00 am
content: How can I trust that?I have sent you my old XP image.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 10:22:25 am
content: I have downloaded it, but I can't open it, the file seems to be bad.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 03:47:00 pm
content: Image files normally have an .iso extension.Your file is named "hdd.iso.squashes"Remove .squashes ( i.e change the filename to hdd.iso), and try to extract

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 07:22:56 pm
content: I kept it in a SquashFS so that I could easily poke at it from linux while it was still in its compressed form. The raw hdd.iso is 78GB of zeros and 2GB of data (or something), so maintaining compression was important. I've sent you both a link to hdd.iso.zip, which should be easier to work with on windows. Unzip it and you get the full 80GB mostly empty Windows XP partition image.Same goes for keeping it off the internet: I don't really know the rules of Windows activation, and even though I have no plans to go back to this image I'd rather it not get deactivated if possible. Thanks

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 12:33:29 am
content: Thanks, I have been using iso files without compression.As long as I don't connect to the network, your system will not have problems.In China, we all use pirated copies. So I can be sure that there is no problem at this point.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 12:31:38 pm
content: I tried the system you gave and reported errors.what should I do? It costs $3000 to be sent to the official repair point.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 01:47:15 pm
content: Darn, sorry to hear. None of your options are good, unfortunately* You could dig through the firmware folder and look for EEPROM flash tools. I only saw one for FPC (front panel control) but you have stronger motivation so maybe you will see something I missed.* You could track down the EEPROM. If it's not buried inside a 1,000,000 ball BGA I am willing to open up my own device and give you an EEPROM image.* You could sell your RTO1024 for parts.* You could pay R&S the repair price

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 02:22:07 pm
content: Do you have any other service code? such as 16052008f

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 03:16:54 pm
content: "16052008f" and "894129" are the only two codes I know.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2019, 04:08:04 am
content: i found new error.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2019, 04:18:26 am
content: These are firmware, but I don't know how to burn it.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2019, 11:44:51 am
content: I don't know how to burn it either, sorry.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2019, 11:47:52 am
content: Better sell it for parts and buy something else. I'm getting the feeling there is a lot more wrong with this oscilloscope than just a firmware flash gone wrong. You shouldn't have attempted flashing the firmware before getting the scope working the way it was. Now you have two problems and you don't know how they relate to eachother.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 11, 2019, 08:42:29 pm
content: I am more hopeful than nctnico. I still think there is hope to find & flash the EEPROMs and fix the signal integrity problem. If you do decide to sell it for parts, I would possibly be interested in buying. Is taobao the place where equipment is sold for parts in China?Regardless, I wish you the best of luck with your efforts.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 14, 2019, 12:31:15 am
content: How much are you willing to pay for?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2019, 01:40:26 am
content: @myhobo I know at least two of us sent quotes. Hopefully no news is good news!In any case, on my RTO1024 the vertical and horizontal scale encoders are starting to skip codes. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm trying to decide between replacing just the two encoders going bad -- which have a different mfg date and model than the others -- and replacing all of the encoders, even though they're expensive little buggers that are difficult to source.Full details here.More importantly, the broken encoders are ones without push functionality, and it's looking like the only replacements are pushable. Will this unlock secret hidden scale fine-tuning modes?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 11, 2019, 02:50:41 am
content: Update: no, no it doesn't. But it's sooo nice to have working encoders again

author: dmendesf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 02:54:01 am
content: Maybe someone here can help me. I have a RTO1022 that came with XP / 2gb RAM. The harddisk crashed. I used jjoonathan publised steps to reinstall it with Windows 7. Only things I may have done differently was that I didn't install any Windows update before running RS firmware install 3.70.1.0 and also run RS firmware install 3.70.1.0 as Administrator. It installed a lot of software and drivers and rebooted. The first time it installed some FPGA firmware and rebooted again. Next time it tries to start but gives the error below and shuts down windows (not a clean shutdown). Any Ideia of what can be wrong?

author: dmendesf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 02:59:48 am
content: I didn't activate windows (key is good, I just didn't connected it to the Internet... always seems like a bad ideia to me). Can this be a problem?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 03:23:45 am
content: I doubt that windows activation has anything to do with it, since we are seeing a bunch of errors that all have to do with Front End Controller communication. I have seen those particular errors before, although they never resulted in a hard reboot. They went away after the RTx.exe app successfully flashed the firmware, which did not happen until I ran RTx.exe with Administrator. You mention running the installer as Administrator, but it's not the installer that flashes the firmware, it's the RTx.exe app, the one that launches on startup and has a shortcut on the desktop (actually IIRC it's only the shortcut that is called "RTx.exe" and the actual app is "RTxLoader.exe" or something).Have you tried running the app as Administrator?

author: Xavier64
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 02:47:04 pm
content: Some tricks and tipps for you guys on RTO1000 Series:When you have FEC / FPGA Flash error etc. on first Firmware 3.70 start, exit the application and start over RtxLoader.exe as Administrator.Flashing should be fine than... just be patient.8GB RAM upgrade ONLY works on BIOS 1.01You find the Flash tool in C:/Programfiles/Rohde Schwarz/3.70.xx/Tools/BIOSOpen a comandline cmd.exe as Administrator and Flash the RTO 1.01 file located in C:/Programfiles/Rohde Schwarz/DriversThan be happy with 8GB RAM :-)

author: dmendesf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 03:20:13 pm
content: Thanks. I'm not with the scope now, will look later. This 1.01 is the CPU BIOS version, right? (The one we enter by pressing DEL at boot).

author: Xavier64
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 04:09:31 pm
content: Quote from: dmendesf on September 09, 2019, 03:20:13 pmYES Mainboard CPU bios we are talking about

author: dmendesf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 02:18:08 am
content: Thank you all. Fixed the scope. I entered safe mode, removed the RTx.exe from auto start, rebooted, run RTx.exe as Administrator, a few more upgrades and a reboot and it's working fine as you can see below. Just one strange nuisance remains: touchscreen mouse is upside down. When I run my finger from up to down the mouse goes up. Any more ideas?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 03:27:16 am
content: The touchscreen vertical axis is flipped if you use the default Windows touchscreen driver. Search for "eGalax driver" to find the software from the display manufacturer. This software will restore the correct vertical orientation of touchscreen tracking. The eGalax calibration app is linked from within the RTx.exe software, so this must be reasonably close to the official configuration, but the "T-SCREEN LOCK" button doesn't work, so it isn't exact. Also, eGalax seems to crash every few hours and the touch screen locks up. You can get it working again by doing a Disable/Enable on the touch screen mouse in Device Manager.If anyone knows the right way to set this up, I'd love to hear!

author: Xavier64
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 06:11:04 am
content: install this driver:https://www.eeti.com/touch_driver/Win10/20230414/eGalaxTouch_5.14.0.23406-Release-230406-SingleTouchDev.zipnothing should crash, I run my scope with Windows 7 embedded and ALL updates without any issues.

author: dmendesf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 13, 2019, 03:16:25 am
content: Thanks, this driver worked after some fiddling. (Had to disable the instrument so screen calibration could run then enable back the instrument).

author: sergeyklenov
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2019, 08:16:21 am
content: Quote from: dmendesf on September 09, 2019, 02:54:01 amFor note. Each device while start saves DeviceFootprint_*.xml file on disk. In x86 versions on c:\ and later it stores in C:\ProgramData....This file contains all info about device. So if you move disk image to another scope this file will not match and software will give you error.So need find this file and delete. New one will be created in next start of program.Regards!

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2019, 06:44:37 pm
content: If anyone else worries about how hot R&S runs their unobtainium ADCs, here's how to run the fans a little faster and thereby obtain 10°C cooler running temperatures. If common knowledge is to be trusted, this should ~double the lifetime.1. File > Maintenance > Service, enter "16052008f" into the Password field, and press the enter key. If successful, the text should disappear from the "Password" box.2. File > Service 2 > Frontend Temps. Tick "GetHwTemperatures." Write down "FAN1 adjust" and "FAN2 adjust" (91 and 89 on mine). You can observe the thermal regulation by waiting for an ADC to wander above 100°C, watch "FAN1 adjust" briefly increase, followed by the ADC wandering back below 100°C.3. Edit C:\ProgramData\Rohde-Schwarz\RTO\EEPROM\Frontend\Config.ini, changing ADCTEMP_OFFSET_CH* from -41 to -31.4. File > Maintenance > Frontend. This is where shit gets real and I must pause for a moment to remind you that I am describing a procedure that worked on *my* scope, not selling you a free insurance policy for modifying *your* scope. Once you decide to accept the risk, press "Flash frontend EEPROM" and "OK." A dialog should pop up "Flashing device in progress, please wait. Do not turn off the device!" In about 5 seconds, the dialog should disappear and you should see "Flashing successfully finished." in the upper right corner.5. File > Exit6. Wait for a few seconds and restart RTx.exe. If you did not wait long enough, it will launch/exit, and you should wait a bit longer before trying again.7. Once the scope app has started, the new settings should be active.Verification 1: in a quiet room, you should be able to hear difference in fan speed.Verification 2: File > Maintenance > Frontend > (scroll to bottom) > ADC temp offset should be the new value -31 instead of the old value -41.Verification 3: File > Maintenance > Service > Password: 16052008f, (press enter, text disappears), File > Service 2 > Frontend Temps, (tick GetHwTemperatures), FAN1 adjust should now be consistently higher than the value you wrote down in step 2. On my RTO, under the ambient temperatures of my bench, the steady state FAN1 adjust increases from ~91 to ~115 after applying this change.General background information: the EEPROM gets read from the frontend and written to C:\ProgramData\Rohde-Schwarz\RTO\EEPROM\Frontend every time RTX.exe starts. When you modify a ini or dat file in that folder and choose "Flash frontend EEPROM," the files in C:\ProgramData\Rohde-Schwarz\RTO\EEPROM\Frontend get written to EEPROM. Same goes for the mainboard etc.Happy hacking!

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2019, 07:00:40 pm
content: Here is my C:\ProgramData\Rohde-Schwarz\RTO\EEPROM for reference.There are no options stored in it. Those are on the smartcard, including bandwidth options, so I don't think it's such a big issue to share EEPROMs. I'm currently trying to figure out if there's anything I can do to clean up the frequency response:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rto1000-fancy-bnc/There are some promising registers in C:\ProgramData\Rohde-Schwarz\RTO\Dump, namely RTC1.EQ1.EQ1_COEF_BANK_0.ram and the like that suggest there might be an equalization filter available, but I haven't figured out which EEPROM settings feed into it, or even which settings might be used to tweak poles inside the amplifier / ADC.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2019, 12:30:12 pm
content: My RTO1024 oscilloscope bios chip program is broken, the machine cannot start, can anyone help me copy the content of this chip, thank you

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2019, 12:31:01 pm
content: I need the program file of this EEPRPOM, can anyone help me copy the program file of this chip, thank you

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2019, 12:44:20 pm
content: hi，jjoonathan， i need you help

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2019, 04:06:25 am
content: Here's the BIOS EEPROM from my notes. I'm in the middle of a project right now so I don't want to open my scope, but this weekend I'll get you a copy of that atmel chip.Good luck!

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2019, 05:28:12 am
content: Thank you, I have this file. I use SPI to program with a programmer, but it still fails to start normally. I suspect it is a problem with burning some address settings. I need the original file of your bios chip and you need to read it from the sst25vf016b chip.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2019, 05:43:55 am
content: Ah, that must have been the fie from the firmware then. Sorry, my bad! Here's the other one in my notes folder. These are the only two, so this should be it.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2019, 12:02:26 pm
content: The rto1024 system can start again, but cannot run the oscilloscope software.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2019, 07:19:58 pm
content: I'm glad to hear it's booting! I'll get you the mainboard EEPROM just as soon as I can open up my scope, but that probably won't be until the weekend.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2020, 02:56:14 am
content: jjoonathan, can you provide me this eeprom file？ thanks

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2020, 04:41:20 am
content: I forgot how many screws were in this thing -- this is probably the last time I volunteer to go inside out of generosity alone. Here is the EEPROM. Good luck!

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 01:04:58 pm
content: Does anybody know if it is possible to upgrade an RTO1000 from Win7 to Win10?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2020, 04:39:04 pm
content: Ah, you were asking about Win 7->10 not Win XP->7, so this thread doesn't actually answer your question. My bad!I do have some info for you, though: the "firmware" installer works on Win10 in that it drops the app and drivers in place. I ran it in one of those free-from-Microsoft Internet Explorer compatibility test VMs once, so there was no actual oscilloscope hardware and as a result the app did not run, but their coding style is very by-the-book (stub drivers, communication through COM) so I bet it Just Works if you install Windows 10.I didn't actually go forward with installing Windows 10 on my scope because Win7 works and I don't want Win10-isms like background updates to Candy Crush or bundled advertisements to tank my framerate.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 14, 2020, 05:28:19 pm
content: Thanks and no problem.The reason I am asking is that I actually installed win10 on my RTO, and to avoid issues with background updates and other installations of win10 bogus bloatware, I installed the Enterprise 2019 LTSC version, which should not have this problem.The installation went well, but while installing firmware version 3.70, a win10 error popped up initiating a restart, after which the operating system refused to boot.All win10 repair attempts failed, so the only way to get Win10 to boot was to restore it to before the firmware installation.I also tried to install firmware version 4.75, and this installation actually completed, but after the required reboot Win10 ran into the same problem

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 15, 2020, 02:54:38 pm
content: Good call on the LTSC version. Sounds like the drivers really are incompatible, though. Since neither 3.7 nor 4.5 drivers prevented my win10 VM from booting, I suspect it's actual code that's breaking, not just a silly metadata version compatibility check or something. Bummer.In addition to the critical drivers and services (a PCIe driver for the analog front end, a SPI driver (over USB, maybe?) to load EEPROMs and such, and a service to read licenses off the smartcard) there are a bunch of less-necessary ones. If the problem is with one of those, there might be hope. I'd check by booting into safe mode and disabling the critical stuff in device manager. If that fixes the boot, it's bad news, and means the problem is with a critical driver. If not, it's good news, and you could track down the non-critical culprit, disable it, and be good to go.Even if that didn't work, permissions are another "silly" thing that tends to mess with compatibility and ultimately be fixable. There might be some hope down that road, but I'm not a windows driver guy, so I don't know if there are "compatibility" flags to set on drivers like there are on EXEs.Obviously I'm just throwing things at the wall, here. It really depends how far you want to chase this down. Good luck and keep us updated if you decide to give it another round!

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 16, 2020, 10:23:37 am
content: Thanks for the feedback, and I will try to dig into this a little further, and will let you know if there is anything to report

author: Diesus
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 07, 2021, 02:19:03 am
content: @myhoboI hope that you can help me.Im saw a oscilloscope RTO1024 in ebay, so I'm thinking to buy it or not and it depends of your response so this oscilloscope has the same issues that your reported with self alignment failing, and even didn't detect the channels. I attached the pictures with the issue.Can you tell me the last status of your investigation? Was you able to fix it?This to understand if the effort to repair the oscilloscope is worth it.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 10, 2021, 10:27:40 am
content: Hi Diesus,As far as I know, myhobo was unable to fix the issues with his scope.The mask-test results from the partial self-test log indicate that there is no communication between the ADC's & the Gigabit receivers on any channel.This might mean that;1)either, all ADC's on the frontend board are defect, which is very unlikely2 there is something wrong with the two HSEC8 Boards which connect the front-end with the main board, which is also very unlikely.3)there is a problem with the two RTC ASIC's, which is more likely.These ASIC's are manufactured by R&S, and they do not sell these. So if the problem is related to them you are out of luck.So in my opinion it is very unlikely that you will be able to fix this scope.

author: leonardo
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 07, 2023, 03:31:52 pm
content: Hello,Does anybody manage to hack the RTO software options? R&S still sell those options?

author: nix239
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 19, 2023, 10:41:02 pm
content: Hi.I have couple of questions.1. I have old hdd with FW 2.45.1.1 but some files are damaged and now options not work. maybe sombody have image or same fw file.2. Update to 3.70 solve problem with options?Сan i revert to 2.45.1.1 with old hdd if something goes wrong?

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 26, 2023, 04:39:31 pm
content: Hi,The RTO option keys are saved in the smart card, and not in the firmware.If your options stopped working with FW version 2.45.1.1, because of some corrupted/damaged files, upgrading to FW version 3.70 should resolve your issue.Be advised that installing FW version 3.70 will require that you install OS Win 7 on your system which will also require installation of 8 GB ram versus the 2GB installed on the WinXP systems

author: nix239
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 29, 2023, 10:19:56 pm
content: Already done. but ther some problem in ch1 . and i cant calibrate.I revert to old hdd reflash hardware and back to normal state on adc1 .

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 01, 2023, 03:18:26 pm
content: OK, that is a weird phenomena, that Ch1 has an issue with the newer FW and not with the older one.What exactly was the problem; an alignment issue on CH1, or a calibration issu on this channel.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 03, 2023, 09:26:08 am
content: Quote from: nix239 on August 29, 2023, 10:19:56 pmSince you managed to reflash the HW wth the old FW, and CH1 is now ok & calibrates, I would try to upgrade the FW to 3.70 again, to see if this recreates the problem.

author: nix239
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 11, 2023, 09:02:51 pm
content: Found problem. frontend on lo voltage 50 ohm damaged. it cant do selftest on 3.70 because type of signal

author: analogRF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 23, 2023, 03:32:10 pm
content: Quote from: jjoonathan on April 12, 2019, 02:25:40 amdoes the scope recover its calibration data?my scope came with no HDD or the caddy. Any idea if I can get a caddy from anywhere that will fit?

author: bg8up
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2024, 08:46:59 pm
content: The thermal design of this set is not very good,it have improved four versions，including heatsink size, structure and cooling air way。As a result , GBR of CH3/4 is most broken,the GB receiver is a function block of the RTC.

author: bg8up
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2024, 08:53:43 pm
content: The scope can recover its calibration data.

author: analogRF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2024, 01:21:47 am
content: Quote from: bg8up on June 15, 2024, 08:46:59 pmthose damn GB receivers whatever they are or wherever they are located.I built a caddy for my scope and made a ssd drive but I got stuck at those GB receiver errors (ch1,2 and ch3,4)and I could not get rid of it no matter what

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 19, 2024, 07:51:59 am
content: Who has all the installation packages before RTO firmware version 3.7?

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2024, 07:16:00 pm
content: The GB receivers are located on the mainboard and are R&S custom made BGA ASIC's. They are unobtainable, no datasheets available, so if your scope has this defect, then you have only a few options to get this fixed.1) R&S standard repair, which costs around 5,000 USD.2) try to obtain a second hand mainboard. I have been looking for one for more than 3 years, but with no luck. Nobody appears to have these spare on the shelf3) If you are lucky, the problem is not with the ASIC's, but with the BGA soldering, so try to locate a shop, which can x-ray the mainboard to see if there are some suspect solder connections under the BGA's4) if this is the case, you will need to source a company which can rework / reflow the board.As far as option 4 is concerned, be careful which company you choose. I had my mainboard reworked, by a company, with as result that the board warped, lost a few 0201 resistors and/or capacitors.Prior to sending the board for repair, Channel 1 & 2 were working fine, but after the "repair attempt none of the channels work anymore.So be warned!

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 21, 2024, 08:14:50 pm
content: Hi myhobo,I have firmware version 2.50 (Setup_Rto_V25027_x86.exe size 366.043KB)

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2024, 12:40:30 pm
content: This is a small problem. I can help you fix it. I can do it remotely until you don't need to mail it.It can't be that the ASIC chip is broken. R&S machine design is very good. The self-protection function is very perfect, so it can't be that there is something wrong with the big chip.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 22, 2024, 12:55:27 pm
content: The solder used by R&S is high-temperature lead-free solder. The plate area is small, and the possibility of virtual welding due to deformation is very small, so there is a problem in the direction of analyzing the problem. I have repaired more than a dozen machines of this series, and I know rto very well.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2024, 07:08:02 am
content: Friends of the forum,I used the service password to enter the background to flash the mainboard program, but after waiting for a long time before the flashing was finished, I restarted my machine. After restarting, my machine fan kept turning wildly, and the startup software reported an error "failed to open driver(RTODrv.sys)". I couldn't enter the normal mode or service mode, and I could only enter the simulation mode. Who can help me? Thank you.

author: analogRF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 24, 2024, 10:34:07 am
content: Quote from: myhobo on October 24, 2024, 07:08:02 amwhy did you reflash the EEPROM in first place? those eeproms get reflashed automatically to the latest version when a new firmware is installed and FW detects that the eeprom version is older. there is no need to reflash them. if the flash failed there must have been a HW problem on the board and flashing it wont help and it can get corrupted too.you can desolder the eeprom and program it separately. the binary contents of all eeproms are inside a directory in FWthe only problem is which eeprom exactly we are talking about

author: bg8up
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2024, 04:56:42 pm
content: Failed to open RTOdrv.sys，maybe the CHC initialization error

author: nix239
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 08:42:46 am
content: Hi to all. May be someone have some of circuit design.I fix my bugs with GPIB. but still have troublres with external trigger and first channel.1. external trigger works perfect on HiZ. external trigger works on 50 Ohm only in highpas mode.(seems some of resistors are damaged). Maybe some one knows where low pas and bypass circuits for ext/ trigger.2. 1 Channel works in all modes on 200 mv/div and higher . on 100himv/div it works only on hiz. looks like there no normal connection on line or DC block have some trobles similar to ext trigger. strange that on test mode system show that 50 and 100mv div works in test mode and system show pass of tests.(in test mode i see test signal on 50 Ohm and 50 mv/div ).P.S. ADC very sensitive to thermal paste. use good thermal interface which can work on higher temperature or you will need to reboll ADC.

author: anhydrous_cryptography
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 01, 2025, 03:54:38 pm
content: Here is how to unlock options of RTO1000. You will need 1 option already unlocked. We will transmute this into a "K0" super option that unlocks everything by patching the "GetOptionIndex" method on the license object so that when you go for 4GHz bandwidth and USB 3 decode madness the scope software drunkenly looks at your shitty I2C/SPI decoder option and says "that'll do!"First, navigate to C:\Program Files\Rohde-Schwarz\RTx\3.70.1.0\RS.Compass and open RsCompassFramework.dll. Then, use your favorite hex editor to look forQuoteand replace withQuoteThis will transmute option 0x6A (RTO-K1 I2C/SPI) into option 0x00, the universal option."But I don't have RTO-K1," I hear you ask. No problem. Simply find the option index of the option that you do have by looking in C:\Program Data\Rohde-Schwarz\RTx\DeviceFootprint_blahblah.xml, searching for "optionIndex" and then converting the value to hex. Suppose you have RTO-K17 "HD mode," another common option. You will find optionIndex=117, 0x75 in hex, and then replace 0x6A with 0x75:Quote"But I don't have any options at all." Sorry, I truly am, but I can't help you. Maybe ask for demo options and see if you can unlock those?"But I don't have RTO1000, I have a RTO2000 or RTO6." Sorry, I have seen the DLLs of the newer software (version 5 rather than version 3) and it looks like this accessor became inlined at some point so this technique no longer works. It might be recoverable through search/replace, but you'll have to chase that down yourself."But I don't trust your assembly" It's like 10 instructions, just paste that shit into an online x86 disassembler and convince yourself that it's a conditional "ret 0"All other RTO1000 enjoyers: have fun!

author: D2236
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2025, 07:07:58 pm
content: Worked perfectly!

author: tv84
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2025, 08:34:08 pm
content: Quote from: anhydrous_cryptography on June 01, 2025, 03:54:38 pmA "ret 0" that upgrades BW and the USB decoder?? That ain't bad!BTW, in a RTO1000 the K0 is not index 0.Doesn't matter... "that'll do!"

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2025, 09:31:58 pm
content: Verrry interesting!QuoteHuh, it looks like there is a magic value at 0xffff as well. Maybe there is an "engineering" K0 and a "marketing" K0 and perhaps optionIndex=0 is the "engineering" K0?I found an acceptably priced LCX200 the other day and it came with an expired K0 that was very official and listed on a label with a printed QR code and logo and everything, so "K0" is definitely a term used by the official channels. Perhaps we are looking at company history: originally engineering gave their K0 code to marketing and sales to show off features but due to a desire for tighter control eventually split off the marketing and sales K0 into something with the same name (because that is what marketing and sales and well-connected customers were used to) but a different optionIndex. It's like a "backstage pass" -- there clearly need to be different levels for workers / performers / press / fans that paid extra, but now that the term has entered the public's consciousness the levels need to be denoted some other way. I think we have the good one but in any case "that'll do!"

author: tv84
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 02, 2025, 10:57:55 am
content: Quote from: jjoonathan on June 01, 2025, 09:31:58 pm0xFFFF is error value. K0 is an official license (in engineering and marketing terms). But, since most R&S software is developed assuming a K0 with index 0, there can be abnormal behaviors when the index is different.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 04, 2025, 10:00:05 am
content: Well, there are actually two different K0'sRTO-K0" partName="Demo" (Which I think has a max validity of 2 years)andK0-FACTORY partName="K0 fuer Fertigungszwecke"used during manufacturingBoth have a different index number

author: tv84
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2025, 10:38:27 am
content: Quote from: TRN on June 04, 2025, 10:00:05 amAFAIR, same index.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 04, 2025, 03:44:08 pm
content: K0-RTO demo index 100 ?K0-Factory index 0 ?

author: tv84
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2025, 06:08:53 pm
content: Quote from: TRN on June 04, 2025, 03:44:08 pmThat's not correct. You may be mixing RTO1000 and 2000.

author: TRN
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 05, 2025, 01:36:08 pm
content: OK,My mistake, I thought we were talking about the RTO1000.Also was unaware that K0 indexes for the 1000 & 2000 models were differentThank for clarifying this

author: Rheinstein
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 10, 2025, 10:56:49 pm
content: Thanks for all help here, managed to restore my Rto1044 with dieing hdd, cloneing was not working, but new install did it, Acronis was copying the hdd, but no luck with booting, even as a full clone boot deviceAlso tried the dll trick, with no luck, any suggestions?Br Simon

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 11, 2025, 03:54:06 pm
content: It worked for me, it worked for D2236, so you're gonna have to give us more to work with than the phrase "no luck" if you want us to help.

author: Rheinstein
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 11, 2025, 08:30:05 pm
content: Hi, in short what did, and tried,- fresh install of win7 ultimate, just what i had around- install of R&S 3.70.1.0.- copied some of the old files of my 3.0.1.1, like the xml files,- did the change to the .dll, i have the i2c lic, and should have 4Ghz on the SmartCard, as its a 1044- some restarts and also crashes later, nothing- crashes were connected to Win UAC, and not running the RTx SW as admin.todo- register/ cmd silence windows- all updates- checking again with the options in XML and dll- will write back about my progressso many thanks to you guys, also for the HW list, saved the RTO from the scrap, because R&S told us, just by a MSO6 ....

author: Rheinstein
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 12, 2025, 09:50:04 pm
content: Hi,short update,the DLL trick is still not working, i have I²C in the main menu of the oszi, so i asumed, sample hex will work, nope,also i dont have optionIndex in my xml, neither i had the file, needed to redo it with the service reporter app of R&S,and still no optionIndex, i have only HW option B1 in the xml, the MSO option, and from the SC, 4Ghz, as its a RTO1044-Update, under SW option in the R&S main app, no options mentioned, seems like, i have got an total empty scopeI had errors with .Net install, because my win7 is not activated, also because of my university key beeing old, no activationpossible,....Also had the touch screen driver installed, no use, not detecting the screen.I will gather a new key over the next days, stay tuned,Else, if you have an idea, would be great.Poking around, not having no more cluesBR SimonP.S. I love my Murphy life, full of stupid edge cases

author: phenol
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2025, 09:38:50 am
content: do any of those affect BW, for example, will it go from 1GHz to 4? iirc, it's not field upgradable without factory recalibration.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 13, 2025, 01:38:13 pm
content: Yes, the patch appears to unlock 4GHz and the calibration looks good@RheinsteinI think it does need a SW option, the HW options don't show up with an optionIndex for me either. Regarding Windows, I have a little MS Windows license sticker on the sheet metal beneath the plastic air outlet near the upper right corner of the device (as seen from the front). Getting things installed is a familiar slog, once you get it set up be sure to take an image.

author: Rheinstein
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 13, 2025, 10:53:44 pm
content: @jjoonathan I totally agree, as i have an bare Rto1044, i’m stuck with it, maybe my sales rep will help with an demo option.Also found the sticker, they are hiding good there, but nothing i’ve ever seen,Win 7e with a number, and 2nd sticker with win embedded and a number,Nothing what looks like a key to me, mostly a kind of serial?I found also, on my unit i needed the eGalax 5.12 driver for PS2/rs232, to have the touchscreen working,I have a super old hw version.Hope that helps,Br Simon

author: JohnG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2025, 05:45:25 pm
content: Thank you!

author: tv84
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2025, 11:48:46 pm
content: Quote from: TRN on June 05, 2025, 01:36:08 pmYou were also correct! There are several models (part_no) and I didn't looked at all of them.These ones have different K0 indexes (see attached):Code:part_no part_name type_name1316.1000k02 600 MHz Digital Oscilloscope, 2 Channels RTO1002 trigger out1316.1000k04 600 MHz Digital Oscilloscope, 4 Channels RTO1004 trigger out1316.1000k12 1 GHz Digital Oscilloscope, 2 channels RTO1012 trigger out1316.1000k14 1 GHz Digital Oszclloscope, 4 Channels RTO1014 trigger out1316.1000k22 2 GHz Digital Oscilloscope, 2 Channels RTO1022 trigger out1316.1000k24 2 GHz Digital Oscilloscope, 4 Channels RTO1024 trigger out1316.1000k44 4 GHz Digital Oscilloscope, 4 Channels RTO1044 trigger out

author: GHzLab00
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 19, 2025, 12:28:44 pm
content: Hello everyone,On my RTO unit I found some older software update files for these versions: v1.27, v1.40 & v2.80.Since they are unobtainable from the official channels I'm willing to share them here.I've also added the v3.70 since Rohde doesn't allow any downloads without a special permit.https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10KCI0NPqP5SYU8CyUCtwqECgaZi-yTtQ?usp=sharingLooking forward for any other option hack procedure that doesn't require a previously intalled key (my unit is blank :'( ).Happy measurements!

author: Rheinstein
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 25, 2025, 07:59:39 pm
content: Hi,after finally have a working unit again, thanks to all helping !Does anyone has an idea what signals are on the connector pins unter the BNC connector, like pinning, and some idea about they detect probes,only found a patent about the locking BNC connector, valid till 2027.1st pin shows 5,2V and the 4th/5th should be Gnd, as it conects to the copper plane.BR Simon

author: darkstar49
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2025, 04:31:06 pm
content: It's been so long on my side (sold my RTO in 2019), but was the trick (for the options) on the RTO to patch a DLL to 'simulate' a generic engineering option ?Has there never been some more 'fundamental' solution, i.e. to generate genuine keys ? (gotta be honest, I did never dig into the RTO software/firmware, so no clue whether there is even a possibility for such a keygen...)

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 09:03:35 am
content: I installed WIN7 system, but RTO's some drivers can't be installed.why?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 01:43:53 pm
content: Does it give you details if you click it?Sometimes drivers on old Windows require certain updates to be installed (support for CRC hashes) or not installed (security updates that break things). Using an image instead of installing from scratch bypasses this problem.

author: analogRF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2025, 01:55:50 pm
content: the Win7 that comes on these scopes is Win7 Embedded which is quite different than the commercial desktop Win7. I dont know if that makes a difference. Definitely the regular windows should work but there will be some glitches.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2025, 04:15:17 am
content: Thank you for your reply. How to solve this problem now?

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 02:03:42 am
content: I want to install the RTX2.8 version of the software under the XP system, but the installation is not successful. Who can help me? Thank you

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 03:51:48 am
content: Please attach the logs.I have not installed 2.8 before, but maybe something will sound familiar.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 03:58:09 am
content: Thank you for your reply. Where is the log?

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 01:46:04 pm
content: It's a button in the installer (see attached)

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2025, 01:54:36 pm
content: Re: "Failed to open driver (RTODrv.sys)", I recently had this problem on my RTO2000 and it wound up being due to a dead FPGA rather than bad flash programming. The app couldn't open the driver because the driver didn't load, the driver didn't load because it didn't see the mainboard FPGA on PCIe, and the mainboard FPGA didn't show up on PCIe becausehttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/fpga/kintex-transceiver-init/. Replacing the FPGA fixed the problem.I did not even need to reprogram the flash because it was held on an external chip and it was not the problem, it just worked as soon as I replaced the FPGA. The scope does not know how to tell "dead FPGA" apart from "bad bitstream," which is why it tries to reprogram the flash even though no amount of reprogramming flash will fix a dead FPGA.

author: myhobo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2025, 01:41:43 am
content: hi guys, Who can log in to rohde's account and help me download the rto1000 driver, not the firmware? thanks.

author: jjoonathan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2025, 03:23:12 am
content: Message sent