Is my Siglent SDS 1102CNL worth repairing? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 13, 2023, 08:35:20 pm
content: A NOOB, I purchased the scope several years ago to replace an analog scope, used it infrequently and discovered yesterday that it suddenly malfunctioned:On power-up the display is dark for several seconds, then I hear a relay click and soon the display shows the "splash" screen for a few seconds, but next instead of a dark background with a reticule display, the screen is almost pure white, except for a small bar of dashes across the lower screen and a series of chirps, 5 or six in a row. At this point nothing more happens; none of the knobs or buttons produce any change in the display. Turn it off, wait a few moments, turn it back on and the same thing happens.As it happens I live near Siglent NA and called the support line today to ask if it could be repaired. The tech told me there might be a way to "recover" the unit by running a file from the USB port at startup, but that turned out to be misinformation: He called back to say the file didn't exist and neither did parts for repair of the scope (at a cost of $250) so I was SOL.Siglent published a repair manual for this series (https://siglentna.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2017/10/SDS1000CNL_ServiceManual_en.pdf) and I feel that there is a good possibility some passive component has failed, as opposed to the display LCD or driver circuit, but what do I know? I haven't found much here from people who have experienced this issue before so I thought I would ask: Is this worth attempting? Maybe I should just buy a Rigol and be done with it.What say you?-CH-

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2023, 08:24:21 pm
content: Normal recovery for these older models is to press Math rapidly while booting.Try several times.Report result.

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 14, 2023, 09:43:51 pm
content: After reassembling the chassis I tested in the indicated manner, by pressing the MATH button rapidly as the unit powered up, and the unit booted to its normal display. After powering off subsequent boots did not require the special technique in order to reach the main display.Why this malfunction happened is a mystery to me, although it did occur after I tried communicating with the scope from the PC using National Instruments' software. Equally mysterious is the manner and the efficacy of the fix, and most mysterious of all is why Siglent Support did not suggest it.All credit to tautech; all credit to eevblog. Thank you all for your support.-CH-

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2023, 09:53:16 pm
content: https://siglentna.com/operating-tip/oscilloscope-hardware-reset/

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 15, 2023, 04:33:53 pm
content: I re-established communication with the Siglent EasyScope utility running on a Win10 PC, which dual-boots to Fedora Linux 37. Is there a similar utility in the Linux world that can operate under Fedora?Thank you all for your suggestions.-CH-

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2023, 08:53:43 pm
content: Quote from: clh333 on September 15, 2023, 04:33:53 pmApp note:https://siglentna.com/application-note/lxi-tools/Forum thread:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/open-source-lxi-tools-v2-0-released/

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 16, 2023, 09:39:35 pm
content: Thanks to tautech for his suggestions, which I have investigated but encountered problems implementing. First problem is that the Siglent scope connects to the PC directly through an USB cable, not through a network connection, so LXI (the L stands for LAN) can not be implemented without making the Siglent a network node. That may be more trouble than it is worth, since the PC it is connected to is dedicated mostly to electronics work and only connects to the outside world through a combination Wi-Fi router and cable modem. As a matter of policy only a few of the printers and scanners are (locally) networked and none of the PCs.A second problem occurred when I installed SNAP and then SNAP-STORE, thinking it was required for LXI installation. The idea behind SNAP, containerization of installation and of operation, is a sound one, but the current implementation made "automatic" changes to my system that caused other applications to break. It took me long enough to get a handle on DNF...-CH-

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 01:06:09 am
content: Quote from: clh333 on September 16, 2023, 09:39:35 pmYeah sorry, overlooked yours an older CNL and not a CNL+ with LAN.Maybe you only need the USB connectivity drivers in the NIVISA Runtime package which are required when using the Windows based EasyScopeX package Siglent provides for free.

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 12:43:35 pm
content: Yes, no LAN but I DO have an RS-232 port... The NI VISA driver (2023 Q3 version), which I installed yesterday on the Win10 side, required almost 1.5 hours to set up. Elapsed time involved uninstall of the NI software and then re-installation of the newer version. And I skipped all the optional installs offered. Not for the impatient.As for SNAP, it appears that a reboot was necessary after installing SNAP-STORE, as today Evolution seems to know which way the wind blows once again. Following on-line installation advice, I had already rebooted twice after installing the daemon, snapd. I need to understand this application better, and anyway we're getting off thread here. Enough said.I will also investigate whether NI has any tools, e.g. drivers, for Linux.Thanks once again to all for their support.-CH-As a followup edit: lsusb shows the presence of the Siglent scope, but Dolphin file manager does not show the device as part of the system. This probably means no driver is recognized and installed automatically. More details on the Siglent USB parameters are (would have attached this but didn't know how) :Bus 001 Device 007: ID f4ec:ee3a Atten Electronics / Siglent Technologies SDS1102CNLDevice Descriptor:bLength 18bDescriptorType 1bcdUSB 2.00bDeviceClass 0bDeviceSubClass 0bDeviceProtocol 0bMaxPacketSize0 64idVendor 0xf4ec Atten Electronics / Siglent TechnologiesidProduct 0xee3abcdDevice 2.00iManufacturer 1 Siglent Technologies Co,. Ltd.iProduct 2 SDS1102CNLiSerial 3 SDS00002140412bNumConfigurations 1Configuration Descriptor:bLength 9bDescriptorType 2wTotalLength 0x0027bNumInterfaces 1bConfigurationValue 1iConfiguration 0bmAttributes 0xc0Self PoweredMaxPower 2mAInterface Descriptor:bLength 9bDescriptorType 4bInterfaceNumber 0bAlternateSetting 0bNumEndpoints 3bInterfaceClass 254 Application Specific InterfacebInterfaceSubClass 3 Test and MeasurementbInterfaceProtocol 1 TMCiInterface 0Endpoint Descriptor:bLength 7bDescriptorType 5bEndpointAddress 0x03 EP 3 OUTbmAttributes 2Transfer Type BulkSynch Type NoneUsage Type DatawMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytesbInterval 0Endpoint Descriptor:bLength 7bDescriptorType 5bEndpointAddress 0x83 EP 3 INbmAttributes 2Transfer Type BulkSynch Type NoneUsage Type DatawMaxPacketSize 0x0040 1x 64 bytesbInterval 0Endpoint Descriptor:bLength 7bDescriptorType 5bEndpointAddress 0x84 EP 4 INbmAttributes 3Transfer Type InterruptSynch Type NoneUsage Type DatawMaxPacketSize 0x0002 1x 2 bytesbInterval 1Device Qualifier (for other device speed):bLength 10bDescriptorType 6bcdUSB 2.00bDeviceClass 0bDeviceSubClass 0bDeviceProtocol 0bMaxPacketSize0 64bNumConfigurations 1Device Status: 0x0001Self Powered

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 08:21:08 pm
content: Quote from: clh333 on September 17, 2023, 12:43:35 pmAh yes, a long time since we had the early CNL models.....Dug through my archives and found some old documentation you might find helpful, as attached.QuoteThese models are discontinued/updated so official support is no longer and finding staff that has experience with these would be impossible.I do what I can to help anyone.

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 17, 2023, 09:51:19 pm
content: Thank you for the manuals, especially the programming manual: had no idea it existed.-CH-

author: clh333
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 18, 2023, 09:41:38 am
content: Quote from: clh333 on September 15, 2023, 04:33:53 pmI was unsuccessful in finding a Linux utility specific to Fedora among the NI software. However, I did find, install and successfully execute sigrok (a cli utility) and pulseview (corresponding GUI) which, once installed, identified and communicated with the Siglent scope through the USB cable. Dolphin still does not list the scope as a system device, however.In short, it is possible. (https://sigrok.org/wiki/Linux)-CH-