Looking for Rohde & Schwarz FSEA/FSEB/FSEM/FSEK disk image - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 19, 2025, 08:43:27 pm
content: I've got an FSEK that I was upgrading to an SSD, but in my frustration with my USB IDE adapter and some less than ideal starting settings in the software I was using, I accidentally wrote an incomplete image to the drive momentarily (it stored the partial file even when failing, then remembered the file name when restarting the program but also defaulted to write instead of read). I stopped the write within a second or two of starting, but on restarting the drive the OS didn't identify anything in the partition table - it had 4 partitions and my largest partial image I had from the failed attempts only has one, so I'm doubting it will work.I presume the software is pretty universal between the FSE series, my unit runs the 2.1 BIOS version, and the original install was DOS and not the later Windows versions. There is a chance I can rebuild the MBR of my drive, but I've got to go digging through some old PCs since my Windows 11 PC's setup recovery doesn't identify it, the UBCD doesn't support UEFI BIOSes, and I don't seem to be able to pass the USB to IDE adapter through to the UBCD in Virual Box.If anyone's got a backup hard drive image kicking around, it would be appreciated.

author: CrazyTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 02:42:01 am
content: Have a look on your PM, sent my FSEM image.

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 07:19:22 am
content: Thank you for sending it, I did see, and one other member did provide one, but I've yet to have good results. I've also found that there's an FSEA image of K04BB, some discussions on other sites, and one long thread here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/rohde-schwarz-fsae-30/(didn't show up in my search, maybe too old?)In any case, I've got several images to try and I haven't had any results. I've been trying to use a 16GB PATA SSD as the replacement disk, and interestingly, while your image was 4GB, the other PM supplied image was 8GB, and the FSEA image in the archive was 2GB, my drive was 1083MB only. I've heard it also came on a 6GB drive and that the iRMX bootloader its based around (I believe mine is the earlier 386/486 CPU board) can only address 8GB, but I've also heard people have used 32GB SSDs successfully (maybe later CPU boards?)I've also tried the R&S Repkit - the RMX repair disk appears to work, though it doesn't say it actually fixes anything, and then the DOS repair disk doesn't seem to load - holding the USER key seems to have no effect on getting it to boot - maybe I can make it a dos bootable floppy and give that a try?In any case, from various discussions, I think it is a CHS disk geometry issue, so I've been digging around in a linux livecd with sfdisk and whatnot. I had originally written the images with windows software, but all my recent attempts have been using dd under linux, and I get a very curious looking partition table:It seems like regardless of the image I use, I end up with this partition table with overlapping partitions.... and I don't know why. I've tried using sfdisk to rewrite a table that doesn't include overlapping sectors (successful, don't know why sdb4 is missing in every image written but it seems to mandatory to write a new partition table). The iRMX partition appears to be there, the original drive I had was a 63 sector version (not a mentioned 60 sector drive that had mapping issues), there should be two FAT16 partitions and while the first seems about right (though they are larger in other images, to 2GB since it's the DOS limit), I don't think the FAT16<32M looks correct and the "Extended" partition almost entirely overlaps with the second FAT16 partition, but when you just load the disk into modern windows it does see two partitions normally.I've dumped a while wading through the vestiges of this old architecture and while I feel like I have a vaguely correct direction to go, I don't have a ton of confidence in it. For now, I have an 8GB CF card on order (can't really get SSDs that small at any reasonable price), and will see if the maximum drive size was the issue (maybe the disk controller is rejecting it, though it passes the capacity test in the BIOS), and there was an idea to push all the partitions back a number of sectors and then move the iRMX one to the beginning of the drive (but it doesn't seem like the current location is outside of the usable address space), but that 2.1 BIOS screen is really stonewalling me. I haven't even been able to access a BIOS screen or boot menu through any of the recommended keystrokes I've read (USER key on front panel, BACK key on front panel, dot key on front panel, Ctrl-Alt-E on external keyboard, F1, F2, F11, F12, Delete, etc.)

author: gabor.dani
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 08:57:22 am
content: Can you guys send this FSEM image to me as well with the repair disk?Thank you in advance

author: CrazyTiger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 02:45:15 pm
content: This is my experience with this older R&S instruments. I used 8GB hardisk of my FSEM, KingSpec/Yansen Pata SSD. Mine runs on Bios 2.0 with DOS. The original hardisk was a Fujitsu 6GB.I also have a R&S ZVR, Bios 2.0 with DOS. The exact setup that worked for the FSEM did not work for the ZVR. The KingSpec 8GB did not want to detect. I ended using CF Flash Card. Can you share the part number of your processor card. What I can be 100% sure of is Self-Image software works the best as the imaging software.

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2025, 03:50:25 pm
content: Don't think I've heard of SelfImage before, but it's easy enough to give it a try too. Hopefully the CF card arrives soon - I looked through my pile of old HDDs from various equipment and I had a single drive 8GB or below and I had it marked "sketchy" because it was reading intermittently. I did test it, but I think it suffered the same problem when tried this time. Worth mentioning, the 16GB I'm trying to use is also KingSpec branded - maybe they've removed some legacy support from their drives (definitely too bad since they're one of the very few options for replacements.)For the image and repkit, they are easier to find than I had initially realized. The iRMX repkit is here:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/wanted-rohde-schwarz-fsea-service-floppy-disk-andor-schematics/An FSEA image is here:https://www.ko4bb.com/getsimple/index.php?id=manuals&dir=Rohde_Schwarz

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2025, 06:04:30 am
content: Got the 8GB CF cards in the mail, installed the 8GB image I had, tried a bunch of things and it didn't work (different jumper settings, flipping it over since the connector cable wasn't keyed, etc.) Then installed the 2GB FSE image from KO4BB and it worked, so glad to have it running.Now the second problem, the LEDs work on the front panel, but the keyboard buttons don't. I poked around for a long while... the pins are difficult to trace out because they go into a surface mounted PLCC that's directly under the CPU card, marked "R&S" PERIF 2" (and dang, it's annoying to work in this thing, everything is behind/under something else so you just keep having to remove things to get to other ones), and though I couldn't really pin it down, I got a little break. I pulled one flex cable from the membrane keyboard to see if I could regain some connectivity, and got no result - that flat flex was only for the front panel LEDs. Then I pulled the other and replugged that one.... no LEDs, but also all the buttons worked. What?I have some digging to do into the circuit, but it appears that the LEDs being lit are pulling down the signal level needed to read the buttons (or something.)More troubleshooting to go

author: erkko
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 05, 2025, 06:17:32 am
content: > don't know why sdb4 is missing in every image writtenPartition numbers 1-4 are reserved for "primary" partitions. One of these can be "extended" partition. Which can point to other, logical partitions. And their numbering can begin from 5. That applies to MBR disks. GPT is different.Dont know why is it partitioned this way, when all you seem to need is 3 partitions. Just thought to explain "sdb4 missing" detail.