Rigol DS1074Z not recognising USB flash drives.

Rigol DS1074Z not recognising USB flash drives.
Posted by KX36 on 20 Jan, 2015 14:02
I've been using a new USB flash drive (SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB3, presumably FAT32 filesystem) in my relatively new and barely used scope for 2 days now and it worked fine, I plugged it in and unplugged it maybe 6-7 times in total, but today it didn't recognise the drive. I tried a different drive (much older 2GB kingston data traveller) and that didn't work either. A few restarts, plugging and unplugging the drive, plugging in slowly, wiggling around and unplugging all scope inputs and holding it in the air rather than on the antistatic mat and it worked, but when I plugged it into the PC and back into the scope it no longer recognised it and nothing I do makes it work.

Is this a problem anyone else has had, any suggestions I can do about it?

Cheers,
Matt

#1 Reply
Posted by leppie on 20 Jan, 2015 14:06
I have seen this happen is there is filesystem problems on the drive. You probably ripped out the drive from your PC without ejecting.

Reformat the drive or run a chkdsk on it from your OS.

#2 Reply
Posted by orbiter on 20 Jan, 2015 14:11
If there's any data on the flash drive try removing it (back it up to PC first.) Then Format the flash drive on the PC and retry it in the scope. Replace the data onto the flash drive if necessary.

Do you have another USB flash drive you can try? If the flash drives are becoming flaky they start to have issues like this.

#3 Reply
Posted by opty on 20 Jan, 2015 14:19
Quote from: orbiter on 20 Jan, 2015 14:11
Then Format the flash drive on the PC and retry it in the scope.

Just make sure you choose FAT32. My DS1074Z just ignores anything else.

#4 Reply
Posted by KX36 on 20 Jan, 2015 14:28
I never just rip out from the PC, always do safely remove. I'm not sure of the safest way to remove from the scope though, it seems either to just pull it out or turn off the scope is the only way to do it so I assume the scope writes to the drive immediately rather than keeping data in a buffer for later writing like a PC does.

As I said, I tried a different drive, that didn't work either... just plugging it in and unplugging after the other drive hasn't worked,

I've been fiddling with it for a few more minutes. I've determined that the Sandisk drive works if it's plugged in after the scope is loaded, but no USB drive works if the scope is turned on with the Sandisk drive plugged in until the scope is restarted without it. The Kingston drive (which also has the latest update firmware file on it) works when the scope is turned on with it in or when the scope is turned on with no drive and then it's plugged in. It doesn't work if the scope's already failed to recognise the Sandisk drive.

I wonder if it's because the Sandisk is USB3. I've checked that the filesystem on both of these drives is FAT32. The sandisk drive also has an encryption program .exe on the drive which I've never run but I think is supposed to just be a standalone app to encrypt individual files when run so shouldn't affect the unencrypted drive or files and there is supposedly a subscription service to recover deleted files from the drive.

I quick-formatted the drive and it now seems to work, but it worked seamlessly for the first 2 days anyway so I'll have to wait and see.

Cheers,
Matt

#5 Reply
Posted by Teneyes on 20 Jan, 2015 16:42
For me some USB sticks are recognized immediately , but others require to be removed and re-insert.
A stick with many files does not work. The ones with LED , flash once and stop, I then remove and re-insert then it works

#6 Reply
Posted by smgvbest on 20 Jan, 2015 20:24
I've had troubles with USB3 intermittent problems as well as anything over 8 GB as intermittent problem. Rigols Manual state <= 8GB drives are supported i beleive was the limit. So anything above that i'd say your on your own

#7 Reply
Posted by Synthtech on 06 Mar, 2018 21:09
I know that this is an old thread but has anyone made any progress figuring out what the procedure is to get a Rigol DS-1000 series 'scope to see a USB flash drive? I sourced some ancient 1Gb thumb drives that work fine in other applications but Rigol equipment is so flakey and fussy when it comes to USB it's almost a show stopper for me to buy this brand any longer. I have upgraded it in the past with a lot of trouble but this time no luck, I have tried multiple sticks of different sizes and vintages formatted as FAT 32 on a PC, on a Mac, with different allocation sizes but all I ever get from the 'scope is "not a DOS disk". Keysight is looking mighty good for my next set of 'scope purchases!

#8 Reply
Posted by Porcine Porcupine on 07 Mar, 2018 05:07
Quote from: smgvbest on 20 Jan, 2015 20:24
I've had troubles with USB3 intermittent problems as well as anything over 8 GB as intermittent problem. Rigols Manual state <= 8GB drives are supported i beleive was the limit. So anything above that i'd say your on your own

My DS1054Z worked fine with a 32GB USB 3.0 drive until I plugged it in yesterday and the oscilloscope wouldn't recognize it. I reinserted it a couple times, and then the oscilloscope stopped responding to button presses. Then a minute or two later it registered the previously unrecognized button presses in rapid succession and resumed normal operation. I guess I'll stick to Rigol's instructions to only use 8GB or smaller drives in the future.

#9 Reply
Posted by Fungus on 07 Mar, 2018 06:51
I've used dozens of drives in my DS1054Z, never had a problem.

I wonder if the boot sector makes a difference? It's not easy to persuade windows to write a boot sector even if you 'format' the drive (USB stick formatting often isn't what you think it is).

#10 Reply
Posted by ReverseEMF on 28 Mar, 2018 17:47
In case this helps, I found this thread because I was having the same problem. I was using an 8GB miniSD card plugged into a USB adaptor that I then plugged into my Rigol DS1054Z, which it refused to recognize, even after doing a Quick Format (on my Win10 Desktop PC), and EVEN after a FULL FORMAT [FAT32].

SO...

I abandoned that and located an old, actual, USB Flash Drive [Thumb Drive?]. It's a 4GB Kingston "DataTraveler" [There's a model # printed on the metal plug housing that is slightly worn, so it's hard to read, but I think it says: DT110R

The Flash Drive works!

#11 Reply
Posted by Stonemull on 26 Jun, 2018 03:18
Just had this issue with a verbatim 8G FAT32 I have used many times before on this scope, "no USB", checked in windows with no issues, reformatted and still no go, left it plugged into scope and cycled its power, then it worked fine.
Something dodgy there...

#12 Reply
Posted by tv84 on 26 Jun, 2018 07:39
The DSO when booting looks for a special USB drive (that allows some "godmode" operations). That special USB drive has customized boot sector. (with some 512 bytes of encrypted data)

Maybe some of the problems that you describe come from that DSO / USB controller trying to read that sector, among others things.

My best advice is to format the USB drive in linux.

For more information, look at my msgs here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sdm3045x-boot-hang/msg1565089/#msg1565089

#13 Reply
Posted by pyt22fr on 05 Aug, 2018 15:51
My experience today with generic 1GB USB key on DS1054Z :

1) USB key formatted long time ago inserted on "powered on" DSO, not recognized.

2) Then I formatted the key FAT32 under Win7, still not recognized by DSO.

3) Then, I removed the key, I switched the DSO off, I inserted the key, I switched the DSO on, key was recognized immediately, as a small USB logo appeared in the down right corner. At this point, the key seems to be fully recognized as it appears in the Storage menu and saving a screenshot with the green "Printer" button works.

4) Now, I can remove and insert the USB back into the DSO without having to switch it off and on, the USB key is recognized immediately.

FWIW.

#14 Reply
Posted by KungFuJosh on 18 Aug, 2018 18:59
I had a couple 4GB USB sticks that wouldn't work at all. They were previously formatted as UEFI installers for Windows. Reformatting them to Fat32 through the OS didn't work. Sometimes OSes aren't great at formatting flash memory devices.

Google "SD Card Formatter" (available from sdcard dot org) and you will find the utility that I used to reformat my 4GB drives (no, it doesn't matter that these aren't SD cards). I didn't do the quick format on those 2, but I did on a 3rd card, and all 3 work perfectly in the my DS1054Z now.

I've hot-plugged and unplugged them in both the scope and my computer, and they continue to work. I've also inserted them with the scope off, the drive is recognized and continues to work.

BTW- I'm lazy and almost NEVER click on safely remove hardware in Windows for flash drives. I only do that on my MacBook because I have to. The drives still work in the Rigol anyway. The key is a good formatting utility. YMMV

Thanks,
Josh

#15 Reply
Posted by Luckysin on 12 Sep, 2018 16:05
I was having the same problems with an 8 Gb USB stick. This is what worked for me.

Download and Install Rufus: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Device: Select your USB stick
Boot Selection: Non-Bootable
SELECT Button: Ignore
Partition Scheme: Ignore
Target System: Ignore
Volume Label: My USB disk name
File System: FAT32 (Default)
Cluster Size: 4096 (Default)
Quick Format: Checked
Create extended label...: Checked
Check device for bad blocks: Unchecked

Click START and wait for format to complete.

#16 Reply
Posted by englund on 18 Dec, 2019 11:36
Thanks @Luckysin! This worked for me too!

Quote from: Luckysin on 12 Sep, 2018 16:05
I was having the same problems with an 8 Gb USB stick. This is what worked for me.

Download and Install Rufus: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Device: Select your USB stick
Boot Selection: Non-Bootable
SELECT Button: Ignore
Partition Scheme: Ignore
Target System: Ignore
Volume Label: My USB disk name
File System: FAT32 (Default)
Cluster Size: 4096 (Default)
Quick Format: Checked
Create extended label...: Checked
Check device for bad blocks: Unchecked

Click START and wait for format to complete.

#17 Reply
Posted by uer166 on 21 May, 2020 00:34
Apologies for necropost. Suddenly this happened to me, I tried all suggestions in this thread across 3 different USB drives, USB2 and USB3, formatted it in windows and Rufus, same deal. Anyone know tf is going on? Scope has been going strong until just now. This will also break potential for updates..

#18 Reply
Posted by tv84 on 21 May, 2020 08:14
Quote from: uer166 on 21 May, 2020 00:34
Apologies for necropost. Suddenly this happened to me, I tried all suggestions in this thread across 3 different USB drives, USB2 and USB3, formatted it in windows and Rufus, same deal. Anyone know tf is going on? Scope has been going strong until just now. This will also break potential for updates..

Continue trying other sticks.

#19 Reply
Posted by Fungus on 21 May, 2020 09:06
Rufus is not a complete low-level format in my experience. It claims to be, but it isn't.

a) Try other sticks
b) Use command-line "diskpart" and/or "mkboot" to format the stick and put a new boot sector on it (if you're using Windows)

#20 Reply
Posted by v81 on 13 Dec, 2020 07:32
Encountered this issue just now.
2GB OCZ Rally thumb drive
In my case i know for sure that the disk had in a past incarnation been bootable.
The mention of a 'magic boot sector' above leads me to think having a clean bootsector is important.

Ordinary windows format, both quick and full did not work (tried FAT, FAT32 and exFAT).
I used the rufus method above and it worked in my case.
I suspect diskpart and other methods might have also worked had i tried them.
Hope this helps.

Disclaimer - This came up as a google search, and will likely again for others encountering the issue so seems reasonable to add to it rather than make a new thread for my small findings / theories.