TDS7054 Software Repair - Boot Issue - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: awjennin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2020, 05:19:15 pm
content: Hello All,My Scope: TDS 7054, Win2k SP4This is a continuation of my previous thread - where I (guided by others) identified repairs on the power supply card, and got my TDS7054 scope booting again. It was purchased without a hard drive, unable to power up.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tds7054-power-supply-(psu)-repair/I have windows 2000 sp4 loaded, but am unable to load Tektronix Firmware. It gives me a error stating that the software can only be installed on Tektronix TDS7000 series scopes. I recall seeing a forum with this error called out - but haven't been able to find it again. Ive spent too many days on this, and figure if i'm getting this stuck, There's something else going on - or there are others in the same boat as me who would also benefit from this discussion.After loading Win2kSP4, I located 'vxboot' files and folders from the internet, but speculate they are for a higher bandwidth scope, and are trying to communicate with a different Acquisition board than I have. Here's a copy/paste of the PPC booting. As i read through it, some things make sense, but it seems to have a number of errors through it. If anyone has some insight, I would greatly appreciate it!Using another PC with USB<>RS232 to monitor from initial power on, 9600 8N1 interface settings, I get the following. At the end, it hangs, and never breaks free. I suspect this is why I can't instal the Tek firmware, because the PPC never fully completes booting the vxboot files.THANKS in advance for the help with this issue.Quote

author: awjennin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 05, 2020, 03:58:37 am
content: The more I look at this, the more curious I get if this is due to having TDS7404 files in thevxbootdirectory, versus correct TDS7054files. Can someone comment on that? I assume that, because the acquisition boards are different, that some of the communication / files might also need to be different?Thanks in advance for any help!ps - does someone have the vxboot folder off of a TDS7054 that they wouldn't mind sending to me?

author: awjennin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 30, 2020, 12:44:16 pm
content: Just to tie this thread off, I hammered on this for 2 months. Finally got it workingMy machine is set up like this- Serial B041xxx- SF810 motherboard- Got the IDE cables mixed up once, found out that newer DVD drives weren't recognized in slot 2, however they are recognized in slot 1. Went back to using original TEAC drive- tried installing on 40G Seagate Momentus, and 160G Maxtor Blue- tried different orders of installation of drivers, etc- tried Win2k, and WinXPnothing ever resulted in me being able to get past this software issue...Another used in this forum provided me with a HDD image of their machine (SU810 motherboard, 24G drive, WinXP, Tek Firmware installed/tested) - I used HDD-Raw-Copy-Tool to write this image to my 160GB driveIT WORKS. So, after all my trying, i was not able to locate a flag/switch/device that was causing the installer to puke... but now I at least have an operational machine. Needless to say, i'm pretty thrilled!!!I got more traction over here, pages 22,23https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/tek-csa7404-repair-project/525/

author: snoopy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2020, 12:46:51 am
content: I went through the same issues as you when I got a 7054 without a hard-drive. I eventually got it going. If you follow my posts in the other thread you can see what steps I went through to get it going with help from others who were able to supply me with the relevant Windows drivers that btw still work with Windows XPIt is important to install the right windows drivers otherwise the thing will hang when trying to run the scope app.

author: awjennin
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 14, 2022, 11:42:07 pm
content: After many months of not using the scope, I turned it on, or tried to. To my dismay, the screen was blank, or gray rather - Everything had worked perfectly last time I used it.When plugging VGA and SVGA, I see appropriate screens. PPC displays appropriate self-test code (blinking "-"), Windows boots (based on front panel operation), and when i have an external monitor hooked up (which i was able to reassign to primary monitor) and i see Windows running.Tek software doesn't appear quite right, but I assume thats because the monitor resolution is 1024x768, not 640x480?This event was quite frustrating, so i shut it down, and let it sit for 1yr.I turned it on today, and decided its time to fix or trash it.If anyone has had similar experiences, or has any ideas on how to debug, I would appreciate it :-)(note: according to tech manual's debug flowchart, suggests potential bad Bios, PPC, Riser, NLX. I believe i have ruled out BIOS)Attachment 1 = scope screen showing "blank" screenAttachment 2 = external screen on SVGA connector, when WinXP configured as primary display, 1024x768 res. Shows Tek app semi-brokeThanks and kind regards all!