Rohde & Schwarz ZVC VNA display/boot issues

[NavyBOFH]

Hello all,

I work as a Field Engineer for a public broadcast company that also does a LOT with microwave, ham radio, and NOAA type equipment and projects. Part of that joy is we are able to receive decommissioned test equipment by the pallet-load (with usually myself being the mule to pick it all up). One diamond in the rough was this Rohde and Schwarz ZVC VNA, which looks pretty intact minus the military rejection sticker, small dent in the case, and the handles/rails missing (looks like it was rack mounted at some point).

Powered it on and saw a white LCD screen and got the typical POST "beep" from the system... nothing else. So there's my first issue - display rendering.

Attached an external monitor to the VGA port and tried again. Now I get to see the R&S splash screen and POST status... that's progress! Until it gets to the part where it says Booting... with the "pinwheel" next to it moving but never actually booting. So now I am at the second issue... bad drive? Bad firmware? Totally lost at this point.

I have some experience repairing test equipment but without a Service Manual I am definitely lost. Past that most equipment I work on is HP equipment of an older era (8562A/C/E analyzers or 8920A/B monitors) which are relatively simple since I don't have to worry about there being essentially a single-board computer running the show.

Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated! I also hope to continue sifting through the HP equipment we have (that I mentioned above) to hopefully start offering repaired equipment or even parts for those looking for them!

[cncjerry]

well, it's a computer until is finishes booting.  I would think it is a memory issue.  Does it have standard memory dims?  Maybe missing an interrupt from a card?  Have you tried reseating the cards if it has any?

[NavyBOFH]

well, it's a computer until is finishes booting.  I would think it is a memory issue.  Does it have standard memory dims?  Maybe missing an interrupt from a card?  Have you tried reseating the cards if it has any?

Since I couldn't find a service manual for the ZVC or ZVR models, I went with the ZVA which should be similar in construction. This gave me an idea of what to look for and where. I tried re-seating all the actual test equipment cards but that had no effect - until I noticed the "computer" part is actually right behind the LCD panel. When I get back to work I will start tearing it down further for a better look and re-seating of everything.

Past that - it looks like the Windows based models at least used a Hard Drive - so now the part still in question is finding a source for the software/firmware to load onto a solid state drive. I've seen a post here where someone with a ZVR cloned their working drive but don't know if the firmwares are interchangeable.

I would die to have this working since our only other Network Analyzers are an Anritsu which was just deemed "not cost effective for repair", and an HP set which is SO large it is in a wheeled case half the size of a fridge - it is used to test our DTV and FM transmission lines and holds adapters for 3", 4", and 6" hardline.

[NavyBOFH]

Update:

Reseating the CPU and Graphics cards and checking all wiring helped get the system to pass POST and get through BIOS. LCD issue was due to display connector on the LCD assembly being knocked loose and a pin or 2 bent. Repaired the pins and reseated the cable with some mylar tape to keep it secure.

Now I get the onboard LCD to show POST and boots till it stops on the Boot Disk Error message.

This one is a little different than the ZVCs I have seen before where there is no onboard hard drive - instead it looks like it boots from a PCMCIA card/hard drive.

I have a call into R&S to see what a service manual and a replacement drive with software is going to set me back...

[NavyBOFH]

For those needing the Service Manuals for ANY of the ZVx series:

https://cloud.rs-us.net/index.php/s/WUsDKUZd7QGq2ZD
https://cloud.rs-us.net/index.php/s/EeoIpM2XGzKgOIh
https://cloud.rs-us.net/index.php/s/ozcHaVksZi8IBlf