Rigol DS/MSO4XXX Firmware Version 00.02.03 - Observations

[dpersuhn]

After fussing about with direct data transfer between my DG4102 and DS4014. I kept getting failures when trying to pull a waveform from memory and could only get it to transfer them from the screen.  This was a real bummer because transfers from the screen are only done at 100 datapoints per division (1400 total), making them somewhat useless for detailed patterns.  At any rate, I stumbled across the fact that a new firmware was released on 5/5/2016 for the DS/MSO4000 (about a week ago) and decided to wade off into the abyss and install it.  I haven't found any release notes thus far and I downloaded it directly from Rigol's main site (Hey Rigol NA, this is how firmware upgrades are supposed to be offered), rather than requesting it by email.

The upgrade went perfectly well from 00.02.02 to 00.02.03 and here are a few initial observations.

1. Direct data transfer to my DG4102 now works as expected.  I can transfer from ram or from the screen, no more issues and hello to useful waveform replay goodness!  Glad to see this fixed
2. The size of the frequency counter display has been increased.  I like it, but I'm sure there will be folks that don't.
3. The user interface and FFT seem a bit more responsive, but this is a completely subjective assessment.  I didn't time anything for reference comparison prior to the upgrade.
3. The huge one -  "Bandwidth 500M" option.  Mine shows Official and Never expires.  I verified that it is working properly at 500Mhz through.  For me, this would seem to lay any question to rest about the 4014 having the same 500MHz front end as the 4054.  For the folks that enhanced theirs by tricking it into thinking it is a 4054, it would seem that you now have a definitive answer.

If anyone comes across release notes, I'd love to see what else is fixed.

Here is a link to the firmware upgrade for anyone else brave enough to try it.  Be warned, I haven't put the scope through all the paces yet, so there may be new software defects in this version that remain to be seen.  The standard disclaimer applies, your mileage may vary and I would strongly advise against applying this code to a production scope.

http://www.rigol.com/Support/SoftDownload/3

[H.O]

Alan posted a link to the releasenotes in "the other" thread. Here it is:

http://beyondmeasure.rigoltech.com/acton/attachment/1579/f-05bf/1/-/-/-/-/DS4000%20Firmware%20Release%20Notes.pdf