Products > Test Equipment
Agilent HP 54831D advice
Howardlong:
Folks
My first post, so please be gentle, but I've been in electronics for 40 years.
I have just purchased an HP 54831D (with appropriate pods & probes) 4+16 channel 600MHz 4Gs/s MSO as an upgrade to, and to complement the current TDS 2024B and Logicport LA1034 that I've had for some years. I spent some time looking at the new MSOs on the market these days and eventually discounted them in favour of an old school boat anchor.
It's currently being calibrated prior to shipping, so it won't be with me for a week or so, but I have a few questions.
The serial number is a relatively recent one ( > MY42002000) with an XP release on it.
So here are my questions (and before anyone suggests it, yes, I have used Google!)...
1) Can the scope application run on a monitor connected to the external vga port, which apparently supports up to 1280x1024, or will it only run on the integrated 640x480 LCD?
2) I have some concerns over the hard disk dying on me, I assume I can take an image with appropriate software and use that in case the HD dies on me?
3) I am assuming that, being XP, these things take a while to boot, so am I right in assuming I can plug in a SATA PCI board and boot on an SSD, or plug an SSD into an IDE/SATA adapter?
4) The motherboard USB ports look like they're USB 1.1, but I can't find specific reference to that. I'm assuming it'll handle a PCI USB 2.0 card in the spare slot?
5) Is it still possible to purchase license upgrades? I don't know yet what software licenses this unit has, but I'd like at least the Low-Speed Serial Data Analysis if possible (I2C/SPI decode). Any idea of price, i.e., should I prepare my first born for immediate dispatch?
Thank you very much for any pointers.
eurofox:
--- Quote from: Howardlong on October 05, 2014, 11:33:12 am ---Folks
My first post, so please be gentle, but I've been in electronics for 40 years.
I have just purchased an HP 54831D (with appropriate pods & probes) 4+16 channel 600MHz 4Gs/s MSO as an upgrade to, and to complement the current TDS 2024B and Logicport LA1034 that I've had for some years. I spent some time looking at the new MSOs on the market these days and eventually discounted them in favour of an old school boat anchor.
It's currently being calibrated prior to shipping, so it won't be with me for a week or so, but I have a few questions.
The serial number is a relatively recent one ( > MY42002000) with an XP release on it.
So here are my questions (and before anyone suggests it, yes, I have used Google!)...
1) Can the scope application run on a monitor connected to the external vga port, which apparently supports up to 1280x1024, or will it only run on the integrated 640x480 LCD?
2) I have some concerns over the hard disk dying on me, I assume I can take an image with appropriate software and use that in case the HD dies on me?
3) I am assuming that, being XP, these things take a while to boot, so am I right in assuming I can plug in a SATA PCI board and boot on an SSD, or plug an SSD into an IDE/SATA adapter?
4) The motherboard USB ports look like they're USB 1.1, but I can't find specific reference to that. I'm assuming it'll handle a PCI USB 2.0 card in the spare slot?
5) Is it still possible to purchase license upgrades? I don't know yet what software licenses this unit has, but I'd like at least the Low-Speed Serial Data Analysis if possible (I2C/SPI decode). Any idea of price, i.e., should I prepare my first born for immediate dispatch?
Thank you very much for any pointers.
--- End quote ---
1/ I suppose it will support high definition monitors but you should get the basic 640x480
2 and 3/ Yes, it should be possible to make an image or copy the directory with useful information to setup a new disk
4/ Actual V2 USB usuly support the older version but will work on speed from the old version
5/ If you can use google then type in the type of the scope and you will arrive on the Keysight website from your scope and on the tab options will will find the serial decoding and you can ask for a price online. You can download as well the manual.
Lukas:
--- Quote from: Howardlong on October 05, 2014, 11:33:12 am ---1) Can the scope application run on a monitor connected to the external vga port, which apparently supports up to 1280x1024, or will it only run on the integrated 640x480 LCD?
--- End quote ---
Since the waveform graphics are drawn by dedicated hardware, the size of the 'Scope App' window is fixed in terms of pixels. If the resolution of the external monitor is greater you'll very likely be stuck with a 640×480 window in the upper left corner.
Wuerstchenhund:
--- Quote from: Howardlong on October 05, 2014, 11:33:12 am ---1) Can the scope application run on a monitor connected to the external vga port, which apparently supports up to 1280x1024, or will it only run on the integrated 640x480 LCD?
--- End quote ---
Yes, it can run on the external display, but because of the hardware limitation of Agilent's implementation the actual oscilloscope application will remain as a 640x480 window.
--- Quote ---2) I have some concerns over the hard disk dying on me, I assume I can take an image with appropriate software and use that in case the HD dies on me?
--- End quote ---
Yes. It's essentially a Windows XP PC and the software can be backed up as any other PC.
--- Quote ---3) I am assuming that, being XP, these things take a while to boot, so am I right in assuming I can plug in a SATA PCI board and boot on an SSD, or plug an SSD into an IDE/SATA adapter?
--- End quote ---
Yes, in theory, but I'd not recommend that. These old boards have only a single shared PCI133 bus. The scope ASIC board wants to be bus master all the time, so if you plug in some SATA controller you will very likely end up with some conflict which could affect the scope functionality.
This aside, using an SSD for Windows XP isn't a good idea as it lacks the necessary trim support. It doesn't really give you any benefit on such a slow system anyways. BTTT.
Considering that PATA (EIDE) drives are obsolete, what you can do is use one of the cheap PATA/SATA adapters to connect a modern SATA drive. But that's as far as I would go.
--- Quote ---4) The motherboard USB ports look like they're USB 1.1, but I can't find specific reference to that. I'm assuming it'll handle a PCI USB 2.0 card in the spare slot?
--- End quote ---
As before, you can plug in a USB 2.0 card but you might negatively affect the scope functionality. These scopes are not meant to be upgraded in such a way.
--- Quote ---5) Is it still possible to purchase license upgrades? I don't know yet what software licenses this unit has, but I'd like at least the Low-Speed Serial Data Analysis if possible (I2C/SPI decode). Any idea of price, i.e., should I prepare my first born for immediate dispatch?
--- End quote ---
I think Agilent still sells you the option keys for the 54800 Series, but in terms of price you're probably not far off from sacrificing your first born. You may end up paying more for it than for the scope itself.
blacknoise:
As i own the same instrument in my collection, please let me try to answer your questions:
1) The Chips & Technologies 65550 controler used on the VGA board limitates the resolution to 680x480. And i do not know any firmware for the 54831D which allows to use an other graphics board than the one equipped with the C&T-65550. Of course you may use the internal graphic of the motherboard (via Intel's 82815) to add a second / external display - but the scope's firmware can not use that for the scopes GUI and waveform display. But for debugging the scope's firmware a second monitor is highly usefull... ;-)
2) 3) Booting from an SSD is somewhat faster. But do not expect to much - with a high speed SSD (compared to the original HD) the mainboard's IO system, CPU and memory are the dominant "performance brakes". Actually i use a Transcend "TS32GPSD330" PATA-SSD as direct replacement for the original HD in the 54831D. In some similar instruments i use KingSpec "KSD-PA25.6-032MS" PATA-SSDs. To backup and restore and to transfer the original image from the HD to the SSD, i use Acronis TrueImage.
4) I use the USB ports only to put in a receiver for a wireless keyboard / mouse combination - so even USB 1.1 is fast enought for me. Any other access to the scope i perform via ethernet.
5) Well, i got the scope on a weekend. Instead of waiting till monday to ask Agilent for help, i modified about 40 bytes in the firmware to unlock the implemented but hidden features... ;-)
If you like to try my modified firmware, please send me a short PM.
Kind regards
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