Which Linux Distribution is used by Rigol (or OEMs) in their Oscilloscopes? Is there a list of Archi

[ColdWarTom]

In the interests of gaining a deeper understanding of these devices, and mapping and cataloging some of their resources, I'd like to find out what is accessible and what can be modified (beyond unlocking features). I'm curious about toggling verbose boot sequences, a Grub or Lilo boot loader which would list the same OS a few times, but allow you to decide how to run it. I'd like to examine the order of operation, running processes, the compatibility or availability of other apps that may be compiled to work on these devices. I'd love to hook onto event triggers (like a hardware 'Print' button for which I have no use) and trigger another even entirely. Maybe not the right area for this topic, but I'm a beginner in the Measuring and Testing Equipment arena. I'd love to learn what makes these devices tick and attempt to optimize how the UI is loaded and how it's resources are utilized. Sound like fun to anyone?


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[ColdWarTom]

Is there a list of architectures (Arm...) and OSes (Debian...).


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[ColdWarTom]

I've just learned what the 'Print' button does. So that is pretty useful. But the ability to remap buttons is still an interesting feature to me.


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[ataradov]

You don't run conventional distros on embedded equipment. It is all ARM, and most likely vendor-build kernel with Poky or Buildroot as a userland.

And I doubt you will be able to "optimize" anything without significant investment of time.

[Whales]

If it's an ARM: it will have a copy of u-boot or something similar.  Booting off external medium will likely be difficult and complicated.  No BIOS.  No common Linux bootloader like grub, isolinux or LILO. 

Off the shelf distros don't provide a "generic" ARM kernel+bootloader that works on everything (they do often provide a generic "disk image", but that's everything other than the kernel+bootloader).  Typically the early boot process and kernel are customised for the exact device (SoC) you are trying to use.  Whilst in the x86 world the BIOS provides information about memory layouts and devices to the OS in a standard way, in the ARM world your OS is expected to know everything before hand.

Your best bet is to try and break into the existing OS rather than boot it off a new one.  From there you can try and introduce new files and programs, see what happens.

Suggested routes:

• Hunt for serial ports.  Visual inspection + poking around + reading docs for the SoC
• Fuzz the ports.  If it has an ethernet then all the better.
• Any official firmware update methods?  Investigate their payloads.

[smithnerd]

Rigol equipment runs a real-time OS called MQX, not Linux. Older models use Analog Devices Blackfin DSPs, newer kit uses Freescale/NXP iMX28 ARM SoCs.