New Rigol 16-bit function generators DG800/900 series

[pizzigri]

Hello to everyone and especially TV84.
I got a 811 from Amazon. Had 2.05 in it. Downgraded with no problems to 1.8.....
and it upgraded itslef to a full 922!
I built a Key USB, that seemed to work -- I managed to write back the SN using Ultra Sigma and it worked OK.

What did NOT work was the Finish_Upgrade_2.04 passage.
I tried it after the 2.04 upgrade and got this message during the flash:
ERROR: bad script!

Then I thought that it had to be done after the first passage, following the SN change. Nope.
Well I tried just about everything including downloading the finish gel from different places in this topic - no joy... the DG811 reacts always in the same way. I'm basically stuck at a 1.8 DG922, or a up to 2.6.1 DG811...

[tv84]

Well I tried just about everything including downloading the finish gel from different places in this topic - no joy... the DG811 reacts always in the same way. I'm basically stuck at a 1.8 DG922, or a up to 2.6.1 DG811...

Arghhhh....

Here.

[pizzigri]

Hi TV84, and thank you for your help!
let me explain. The guide assumes I have a 1.8 while i have a 2.5 - so I downloaded the 1.8 "special" gel that automatically changes the 800 in a 900...
from here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16nC-uJ12MXilJElv4Eukvt1IW4RzGdb7/view?usp=sharing


so I have now a 922 with the original SN. <the first time I applied the 1.8, it reset the SN to a string of 0. I then changed the SN with the SCPI command. It stuck, and from that moment every time I "downgrade" it retains the SN.

Then, I connect the "special" disk, built with HXD (I do not have Linux unfortunately...)
at sector 2000000, it has this:
0B 0A 3B 2E 5F 4C EC BE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

The device accepts the disk... with the big asterisk etc. I could change the SN from a string of 0000 the first time... I can modify it again... I can modify the type, i.e. making it a 972...

and it stays that way after the reboots, as a matter of fact I now changed the type to 972 for this reason so I assume the "special" USB works!

But what does NOT work is the "finish" passage...
I paste the 2KB GEL in a clean USB stick - the same that works doing all the firmware updates (including the downgrade) and it will still give me the
ERROR: bad script!
message. And that's where I'm stuck again.

Because if i then try to follow the upgrade path, say with the 1.08-> 2.04 it will not work reverting to DG811
testing 1.08-> 2.06, it will not work reverting to DG811 again
so the problem seems to be the finish upgrade gel somehow--- I am using a FAT32 usb, which is over 2 GB in size.

Blue logo DG811, fairly recent device, came with 2.05, SN is DG8A23190xxxx

BTW, wow it's really barebones, no cables no manual just the device and a couple of leaflets...it did come with the nice BNC cap tho

[tv84]

Finish is only necessary if the original version was 2.04. Don't worry about that error. Don't run it! This info is all in the forum.

After downgrading to 1.08, upgrade gradually through all the versions as I said.

[pizzigri]

Hi TV84...
Ok so nothing worked until I realized what I was doing wrong.
And no, I read thru all pages and it is not expressly mentioned.
Yes! the USB stick is the single most important thing, or rather choosing a stick that the DG accepts directly in the UI. It MUST be able to show the big asterisk and then show up in the upper right corner when inserted - and this is the best way to insure that both the "key" USB and the "install carrier" USB sticks will work as intended.
Do this before attempting any hex writing or update attempt.
I did this error because for the first downgrade to 1.08, it has to be done using the "press repeatedly the help button"method and this will work basically with any USB stick.... even one that would not be otherwise recognized by the fully booted DG811. That was my mistake, assuming that since it downgraded the 811 just fine, then it would work with all  other steps.
The USB key step went just fine, as I read about all the problems other forum friends had and chose accordingly the USB stick.

My problem was with the "finish" gel. Not seeing the USB stick in the UI, I assumed that I could use the same "press help at boot" method, and constantly got the error message.
So, the finish update file has to be installed thru the "update detected - want to install?" window dialog in the fully booted DG, after the SCPI commands with the USB "key". Again, it will fail with the mentioned error message if forced to install at boot. Once two usb sticks are found that the rigol likes (one for the key, one for the various upgrades) the hack works great.

In my case, a DG811 purchased in Italy thru Amazon with 2.05, TV84's finish gel update was critical, without it it would not update above 1.08 without losing the hack. Now, it works as a DG992 with 2.0601!
Once again, TV84, thank you so much for this great hack!!!

[gogo10]

I'm sorry, but I would like to ask, how can the hack return to the original version of DG811?

Thanks.

[Swat]

Try to use this failed attempt of mine (see Reply # 805). Everything looked promising, the model 992 and my SN were set up, but when I tried the STRAIGHT upgrade to the latest version, it returned me to the original model. So maybe it will work in your case as well. Maybe nothing can go wrong with that ... 

Edit: Of course you have to start again by setting version 00.01.08.00.01!

[pizzigri]

I'm sorry, but I would like to ask, how can the hack return to the original version of DG811?

Thanks.

I believe you simply apply TV84’s downgrade firmware and then update the fw back to the latest release.
This removes any “hack”  and you return to the original configuration. That is what happened to me anyway multiple times until I discovered that the “finish” patch had to be started inside the bootstrapped UI....

[gogo10]

Thank you for the info, but only the firmware version can be changed in these ways.
The model remains the same DG922, it does not change back to DG811.
Thank you.

[tv84]

I would expect a engineer to come up with the solution...

If you want to rollback to 811, you just do the procedure and adapt the command to change the model to "DG811".

[gogo10]

Sorry, I tried everything except the Linux solution. I'll try.

[gogo10]

So I tried the Linux procedure and it didn't work. I guess I'm doing something wrong.

[Swat]

to gogo10: I sent you a personal message
Swat

[gogo10]

to Swat: I sent you a personal message
gogo10

[Swat]

Thanks for the answer, it's a pity you still don't know what's wrong. Good luck! 

[quetzalcoatl]

Alright so I spoke with Rigol's service department, and they told me pretty much what I expected: these instruments arent intended to be manually calibrated by customers, but the service tech didnt know what mechanism (if there is one) that is preventing this from happening.  They do the calibration in house, and there is no known procedure for circumventing this.  He also mentioned that they do not provide calibration certifications of any kind, so even if the unit was professionally calibrated by them there is no way to document that fact other than the performance verification guide.  He also said that if I wanted a professional calibration with documentation that I could reach out to Transcat, as Rigol contracts with them for calibration services and that they may have more information on the process.  I did contact Transcat and I am awaiting their response, but I am not optimistic given that their entire business is charging people to calibrate things and I'm asking them how they do the calibration for this unit.

Regarding professional calibration.. That reminded me that I've got a certificate with my unit when I bought it. It surprised me a bit, because I think I didn't get any when I bought DS1052Z from them earlier, but well "oh how nice, I accidentally bought myself a certified unit with tracking" I thought and grinned and forgot about that totally. I was re-reading this thread and post reminded me about that and I dug it out, checked what exactly is written, and, ok, at very first glance it looks OK

Instruments used:
Agilent E4418B / Power Meter
Agilent 53131A / Universal Counter
Rigol DM3068 / Digital Multimeter
Agilent N8482A / Average Power Sensor
+ serial numbers + their calibration expiry date

I was somewhat surprised that there's no test device for checking signal shape, I'd think that a simple visual inspection of, say, sine and square, would be mandatory. And that the device used to dump and show the waveform should be calibrated as well, and as such listed in the table as well.. but then, that's a first such certificate I see, and the devices listed here seem very well fit for verifying signal levels, rms, and frequency.

You all got such certificate as well, right? That's not just some shady one-time marketing action? Does it look fine to you or is it a total garbage?

EDIT: I bought it 2021/08/06, calibrated 2021/04/07, well under those 180days, so that's unlikely that anyone ran any extra (re)calibrations on that one. I wonder what the resellers do when 180day passes.. send back to factory? get it re-calibrated and put second certificate into the box?

[TurboTom]

The linearity of the DAC can very well be verified with the multimeter, i.e. with a very low frequency ramp signal. If the amplitude flatness of the (sine) output signal meets the specs at higher frequencies (tested with the power meters), the waveform shape doesn't need to be checked since that's just a digital sequence of numbers, fed into the DAC. A fault here would have been detected during the test with the multimeter.

So I believe the instruments specified in Rigol's cal certificate will very well suffice for a complete calibration of the generator. ...If we only had the cal software...

[sarming]

I just wanted to report that I successfully managed to enhance a new DG811 that came with FW 00.02.06.00.01 by following mandor's guide quoted below.
I did not need any intermediate upgrades or the magic USB stick.
I used a 10€ AX88772A USB-LAN adapter and (the Mac version of) Peter Dreisiebner's Rigol Bildschirmkopie (https://peter.dreisiebner.at/rigol-bildschirmkopie/) to issue the :PROJ:SN command without problems.
I hope that simplifies the situation for somebody in the future. Thanks to all for your great work!

OPTIONAL STEP - Backup calibration and internal memory
OPTIONAL STEP - Backup NAND
STEP - Downgrade to 01.08.01
STEP - Upgrade to latest firmware version 02.06.01
STEP - Reconfuse Rigol into thinking DG992 way  [aka Finish Upgrade 2.04]
OPTIONAL STEP - WRITE SERIAL NUMBER TO DEVICE

[rigol992]

One more DG992!
Some learnings while starting with a 2.05 FW version.

Except the downgrade, all other upgrades MUST be done while in the regular UI and after the question pops up if you want to upgrade.
If you do not get this question do NOT run anything (upgrade or finish) directly after poweron and pressing the help button but try a different USB memory
Test with the magic USB sector if you can change the SN and model number, if not, try a different USB memory.
All down/upgrades where done using a 32GByte USB memory formatted under windows as FAT32 with default sector size, but with the hidden folder "System Volume information" removed!!!
Remove the hidden folder and Eject immediately so Windows can not create a new hidden folder.
Extremely important! After downgrade, repair SN and upgrade to 2.04 the unit reverted to DG8xx (your original HW), running Finish_upgrade_2.04 after getting the upgrade prompt the unit was back in DG992 mode. NEVER run the Finish_upgrade_2.04 directly after boot and pressing help as this will give a script error message and will not work.
Upgrading directly from 2.04 to 2.06 (I could not find the 2.05 FW) worked with without any problem.

[eevin]

Hi, I am the newbie in the forum. I have bought a brandnew DG812 (fw 2.06) and hacked  to DG992 and updated form official fw 2.04 directly to the fw 02.06.01 without any problem  thanks to tv84 and Vtech.
Yes, still hackable
Everthing is OK

But I couldn't find wave forms such as "arcsin, arccos, arctan...." in "Maths Menu", any idea?

Huge thanks for tv84,Vtech and the other contributors.

Note:
Path for "Maths" wave forms: Turn on, press "home", press "arb", left slide down to "Maths"
Fw link:https://www.rigolna.com/firmware/

[Swat]

Hi,
I don't have such signals there either. I wondered what it would be good for. Arcus is an inverse function, so for example the graph arcsin is a curve that oscillates around the y-axis, just like the graph sin around the x-axis. Do you have an idea to use it?

[eevin]

I do not have an idea.
ARC type trigonometric waveforms are specified in the DG900 manual.
These ARC type waveform icons do not exist in the "Math" menu.
Please, can someone check this out on his 992?

[vutt]

Another new satisfied DG992 owner here  thanks to this guide: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-rigol-16-bit-function-generators-dg800900-series/msg3719032/#msg3719032
Worked just fine with very ancient 4GB stick with standard Win11 FT32 FS format. I was bold enough to skip all optional steps. 

Just for the record I upgraded DG812 (v2.05). Looks like both channels are still working in "DG992" mode

-----------
Edit: I was wondering about Rigol pricing strategy...
...assuming they are selling DG811 with minimal profit margin does this mean that price delta between 811 and 9XX models is pure profit!!

[eevin]

For Vutt's edited message: I don' t think so

[thm_w]

Edit: I was wondering about Rigol pricing strategy...
...assuming they are selling DG811 with minimal profit margin does this mean that price delta between 811 and 9XX models is pure profit!!

Its pure profit in the sense that they make that much more money on the higher models.
But, they still need to cover R&D, NRE, advertising expenses, etc. So if they only sold DG811's, they'd likely lose money. They probably have an idea ahead of time what quantity of each tier they are going to sell, and what prices need to be.