Agilent E4420B Signal generator EEPROM problem

[vladsol]

In general, I don't really need the software options that got lost (EDGE / CDMA / WCDMA) when hostid changed, and they can probably be left unactivated.

[vladsol]

Well... I guess, i need to calculate somehow the correct options, because now i have two additional errors:
+617,"Configuration Error;Installed option board not supported.  PARALLEL ATTEN"
+617,"Configuration Error;Illegal combination of installed option boards."

And the rest (in fact, there must be more of them, but only 30 are indicated):

-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of PM_COUPLING_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of PM_COUPLING_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM PM_COUPLING_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_KV_FREQ_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of FM_SENS_KV_FREQ_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM FM_SENS_KV_FREQ_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_KV_PATH_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of FM_SENS_KV_PATH_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM FM_SENS_KV_PATH_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_MULT_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of FM_SENS_MULT_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM FM_SENS_MULT_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_ATTN_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of FM_SENS_ATTN_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM FM_SENS_ATTN_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of BAND_TABLE_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of BAND_TABLE_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM BAND_TABLE_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of BAND_TABLE_BLANKING_FIL"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of BAND_TABLE_BLANKING_FIL"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM BAND_TABLE_BLANKING_FIL"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of RF GAIN INDEX"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;EEPROM copy of RF GAIN INDEX"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM RF GAIN INDEX"


Has anyone managed to run AP/DP Motherboard Utility? Under Win10? XP? WIn98? 95? Tried all of them, but no luck.

[perieanuo]

the sno not being in clear text, it was expected, as it's somehow logical to scramble the data to avoid reverse engineering, cloning devices etcaetera.

regarding eep identify, i'm completely lost. you shared 2 32KB files, the doc points 2 eep (one 64KB, firmware and one 512B, calibration data), the other are referred as ROM, SRAM.
the doc doesn't correspond with what you found in the device, you said both eep's are AT28C256.U107 content (you say it's U106 in fact, the bin files are swapped) is almost half empty so maybe they put a bigger one for further upgrades or just because or production supply reasons.in this scenario, u106 is the eep containing cal data which can be easily replaced.

what i proposed maybe wasn't very clear, is to replace u107 eep with cal data with another one, not the same one cleared with your programmer (i don't trust that programmer and his 'empty' checks or his writing algo). with a new eep IC, try to rewrite the eep with recalibrating procedure of your device(after peeking into his manual, it's unclear how you can recalibrate this device, they mention "Press this softkey to perform a download of calibration data from the optional hardware into non-volatile memory", maybe you have some test rig they call "optional hardware"?).

btw, have you cleared sram? his content looks like it will be also restored by the device at first power-on. maybe try this first (in fact i suggest recalibrate>power off>clear sram>recalibrate). you haven't told us if you recalibrated

if you can't recalibrate, just clear sram, of course with the device disconnected from his power supply. apparently the device makes mirrors some parameters and data in sram and if this is corrupted (he checks sram content with eep, rom...) and this could throw out all sort of bizare messages like you specified in first post

hostid may be generated from sno, so it's ok to change if sno changes.

[perieanuo]

searching for cal procedure, found in page 35 of the manual some procedure applicable exactly to your case:
"If none of the previous suggestions resolves the problem, you can try the fail-safe recovery
sequence. This sequence should only be used as a last resort as it will reset the signal
generator but the process will destroy all user files (instrument state, sequence files, data
files), calibration data (unsaved I/Q calibrations, DCFM/DCΦM calibrations), and the
persistent state. Do not attempt to perform any other front panel or remote operations
during the fail-safe sequence."

of course, you should backup your data carefully before doing this, like software license no, cal data, all you can't recover after the procedure
the manual seems pretty well documented

[vladsol]

regarding eep identify, i'm completely lost. you shared 2 32KB files, the doc points 2 eep (one 64KB, firmware and one 512B, calibration data)

Yes, I'm confused about that too
From service manual:

U106 and U107 hold critical data including the serial number, option
configuration, and calibration information. You must transfer these devices to
the new CPU/motherboard for the signal generator to work[/b]
- BOTH U106 & U107

, the other are referred as ROM, SRAM.
the doc doesn't correspond with what you found in the device

The document i referred is "Agilent ESG A/B Security Features", applicable to E4420B too. Well... There is no direct mention of U107 and U106

it's unclear how you can recalibrate this device
...
maybe you have some test rig they call "optional hardware"?

Well... I don’t think it’s possible to calibrate without the service software and a bunch of measuring instruments connected via GPIB

Unfortunately, I don't have at hand the same device from which I could take a dump

have you cleared sram? his content looks like it will be also restored by the device at first power-on.

The EEPROM copy of a file is either corrupt or otherwise unusable. The
system automatically updates the non-volatile RAM copy of the EEPROM
copy using a default initialization. The actual EEPROM file is left as it is

So, with bad EEPROM (there is some sort of checksum?), i don't need to clear the battery-backed SRAM.

hostid may be generated from sno, so it's ok to change if sno changes.

Looks like not only from sno + model. Because i have set the serial number and model number to the values that were originally.


I wrote a simple script that I used to write a file to the EEPROM, read from the EEPROM and compare the checksum many (200) times.
0x00 pattern and random pattern was used (100 x each). No problems with U107



Why am I doing this? I don't have a replacement EEPROM yet

[vladsol]

if you can't recalibrate, just clear sram, of course with the device disconnected from his power supply.

Powering up with "Preset" + "Power on"? Yup. After that, all of the settings (including SN + Model number) Zeroed too (ESG-3000A + ASG-3000A).
Should this be the case?
I haven't done this before, so who knows, maybe the EEPROM was really damaged for a long time, and everything worked thanks to the data in the RAM.

[vladsol]

1. I have turned off the ESG without unplugging the power cable.
2. Power on the generator while holding down the Preset button. "Y" Pressed.
3. The ESG has rebooted. No serial number and wrong model. (ASG-3000, A00000000)
4. Turned off the ESG without turning off the power (without unplugging the power cable).
5. Turned on the ESG again. Native serial number and model returned. From EEPROM, i guess.

ERRORS LIST:
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of CONFIG_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of PM_COUPLING_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_KV_FREQ_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_KV_PATH_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_MULT_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of FM_SENS_ATTN_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of BAND_TABLE_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of RF GAIN INDEX"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of RF GAIN DATA"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC MOD INDEX"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC MOD DATA"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of DET OFFSET FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of LOG OFFSET FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of POWER CAL GAIN"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of POWER CAL OFFSET"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of LEVEL METER OFFSET"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC REF GAIN INDEX"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC REF DAC GAIN"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC_REF_GAIN_2"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ATTEN INDEX FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ATTEN CAL DATA"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ATTEN FLATNESS"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC MOD FLAT"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of ALC MOD FLAT INDEX"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of LNF ATTEN TRIP"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of LNF ATTEN TRIP FREQ TAB"
-350,"Queue overflow"

6. Off/On again:
ERRORS LIST:
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"

[vladsol]

-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-230,"Data corrupt or stale;RAM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-231,"Data questionable;EEPROM copy of TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"
-253,"Corrupt media;EEPROM TIMEBASE_DAC_FILE"

The whole point is in the word "TIMEBASE"

In the instrument menu, I found the item "Reference Oscillator Adjustment"
After selecting it - without changing anything (127), I clicked "Store Ref Osc Setting".
Turned off, turned on - the "TIMEBASE_ *" errors disappeared.
That is, at the moment, there are no more errors when turning on.

So, if I understand correctly, the Internal Reference Oscillator Adjustment needs to be done. Of course, full calibration is better :-) But, since I use the generator for amateur purposes, it will be very expensive for me.

Of course, one would think that all these actions, flashing the memory chips, did not make sense ... But, nevertheless, it probably is not so This device is very old, according to the EEPROMs datasheet, the data retention period is 10 years. Perhaps I prevented damage to some more files in the EEPROM

[perieanuo]

that's good news, at least you found the problem.
if that reference oscillator parameter was affecting timing read/write of eeprom operation, that means without him at correct value, also sram was altered
i was expecting from their part to make eep read/write/program hardware-dependent only
regards, pierre

[vladsol]

I'm sure this osc is only for the RF section.

[vladsol]

What do you think? Will the Chinese GPSDO (OCXO?) be enough to calibrate the ESG internal reference? With 1E5 Opt.

[perieanuo]

if you notice deviation from normal device behaviour, you may do it, otherwise no. you may try using some frequency meter if you got one, see if the output is within specs or near specs
normally that osc should do, i tested like 5 years ago 2 chinese ones along with chinese cheap voltage references (the 10V ones, if i remember well...), they were accurate enough for 'hobby' calibrations or verification. take care at power supply, room temperature and little details like this (careful wiring...) if you decide to recal the ref frequency

[vladsol]

I was not happy for long :-)
A new problem has appeared - at any frequency and regardless of the amplitude - UNLEVEL error, when ALC is on. And.. No output, at all. E4400-60007  Atten is not clicking.
Well... there is also no output from output board itself (signal is wery weak, about -100dbm)... Checked at the attenuator input.
Output board was damaged? But how?

[perieanuo]

didn't studied the book, maybe alc have a linked parameter in those eep's and mirrored in sram somehow? like proportional (gain for alc )

[vladsol]

didn't studied the book, maybe alc have a linked parameter in those eep's and mirrored in sram somehow? like proportional (gain for alc )

That's strange. I've did the reset one more time, and unlevel error is gone.
But, indeed, it need's to be re-calibrated. The signal starts to be distorted earlier (+ 14dbm) than the UNLEVEL error appears (+ 20dbm)

[perieanuo]

you gotta take that thing to a priest, for exorcism
bad joke...