Failed firmware update on U1273A and Agilent's Response

[London Lad]

The product has failed while under warranty. The rest is of no consequence. How Agilent fix or replace it is their problem.

Write to the CEO of Agilent in the US, a letter not an email, addressed to him / her by name and post it by recorded delivery or whatever is the equivalent in your country.

Be polite, state the facts, mention the surprise and outrage of members here and I am sure you will have a new meter in no time.

 

[TimothySwieter]

Well guys - thank you for the support.  My faith and pleasure of working with Agilent has been restored!!  They have agreed to replace the meter with the firmware failure.  Bella and Oliver of Agilent came through in resolving this issue.  I am pleased that Agilent has chosen to take the right action here.  I hope a message is also sent to their engineering team that products can be even better if it transfers the firmware to the unit before flashing the internal MCU, thus removing a potential weak link of the transfer software. 

Too bad I have to exchange the unit for the new one, otherwise I'd be up for cracking it open and seeing the internals. 

I'm so thrilled to get a working meter again and to have confidence to keep working with Agilent on future equipment purchases.   

-Tim

[TimothySwieter]

True, there was hassle and frustration at the beginning.  I don't totally forget that. 

When a company apologizes and takes the right action, I will accept that.  My desire has been all along to get my meter back to working order, and then to hopefully let the Agilent engineering team know that we as customers don't want equipment with weak firmware update capability.  I guess I am quick to offer grace, because I know that others have offered me when I first chose the wrong action but recognize my wrong.  In some ways, it show we are all humans, and I feel I have a deeper relationship with Oliver and Bella now. 

I'm working on the return process now and will keep you updated on how that goes. 

[tautech]

Tim, your reply shows common sense. 
It's not common!

[dannyf]

I am happy that they came through for you. They did the right thing.

[c4757p]

I agree, they did the right thing. The initial reaction was shitty, but all companies do shitty things from time to time. Better companies can be poked and prodded into correcting them.

Agilent's back off my shit list... for now.

[Orange]

I just wonder if posting all your emails here in this public forum has influenced their decision, after all it is a pretty embarrassing situation for Agilent to deal with their customers like they did with you.

Hopefully other people get better treatment from Agilent.

[dannyf]

I just wonder if posting all your emails here in this public forum has influenced their decision,

It shouldn't but I hope so.

If the OP just posted the words, it is hard for a bystander like us to know how true his story is. Posting the images certainly lend a huge amount of credibility to the OP, and if Agilent is watching, puts great pressure on them to act equitably.

[VK5RC]

Great to see a good outcome, bit messy though.
Just before this post I paid for the Agilent software bundle for my DSOX3024, it arrived after your post, as I loaded it on EVERYTHING i had was crossed, fingers, toes and eyes, hoping not to brick it. All went well here.
I have not had any hassles with the Agilent agent in South Australia, Trio test & Measurement.

[zapta]

I agree, they did the right thing. The initial reaction was shitty, but all companies do shitty things from time to time. Better companies can be poked and prodded into correcting them.

You don't really know if they corrected it. Possibly they just had an exception for your case for the PR value and leave general procedures just the same.

I had it once with an Ebay seller. He had a very misleading picture of the product. When I gave him negative feedback he tried to buy me out but did not fix the picture. If you really want to know, ask them, what have they changed in their general procedures and will other people will get the same outcome without the public shaming.

[bsgd]

Tim,

I've been reading this thread for like an hour and I'm glad to know Agilent finally agreed to give you a replacement, though I must admit that I expected them to fix your problem right away. I would be pretty pissed to get such replies from a company like Agilent.

This whole problem you had really surprises me. About a year ago my second hand U3606 failed during a firmware upgrade. I called Agilent here in Brazil and they replaced my meter strayight away, no questions asked. The replacement had to be imported form the US and since we have a very slow customs here, it took more than 30 days to arrive, but that ain't Agilent's fault.

Anyway, I'm glad to know you're happy with the outcome.

[Orange]

I just got this spam from Agilent

[tsmith35]

I just got this spam from Agilent

Classic!

[nowlan]

"One year after redefining the industry standard, Agilent remains the only Test&Measturement company offering all customers a free 3-year warranty on all instruments worldwide. "

Not true, hameg matched this in May.
http://blog.hameg.com/?p=1867

[TimothySwieter]

Makes me chuckle!

As an updated to my saga here.

Shortly after my last post, Agilent collected my home information.  A couple days later a DHL courier arrived to collect the meter.  I didn't have to package it or anything, just sign and double check the serial number.  I was informed I should get my replacement unit in 7 to 14 days.  So, hopefully soon.  I'll let you know how that goes. 

[nixxon]

Well guys - thank you for the support.  My faith and pleasure of working with Agilent has been restored!!  They have agreed to replace the meter with the firmware failure.  Bella and Oliver of Agilent came through in resolving this issue.  I am pleased that Agilent has chosen to take the right action here.  I hope a message is also sent to their engineering team that products can be even better if it transfers the firmware to the unit before flashing the internal MCU, thus removing a potential weak link of the transfer software. 

Too bad I have to exchange the unit for the new one, otherwise I'd be up for cracking it open and seeing the internals. 

I'm so thrilled to get a working meter again and to have confidence to keep working with Agilent on future equipment purchases.   

-Tim

So they decided to replace the unit. That is fine. They even approved a 3-year warranty for the unit with the S/N you are returning. When your unit is returned, the 3-year warranty will be of no use for you if a problem should arise in the future.

Now that you get a replacement unit, you should consider paying (if necessary) for the extended waranty for your new (refurbished?) unit (with a different S/N) as well. If you don't, I guess this thread's chapter 2 will begin shortly after you try to update the FW on your new unit using the same equipment that bricked the first unit...

[ErikTheNorwegian]

Well, Lucky that Agilent did solve the case. But Fluke has its problems with firmware to. The Fluke 8846a, has a firmware upgrade, that they refer to several places, but end up on dead links. They removed the upgrade and denied me of having it, saying that i had to send the meter to repairs for the upgrade. Price? 800 dollar plus 25 percent vat...

After a request here on this blog, a kind member had found it on a Tunisian Fluke webpage; they clearly forgot to remove the link.
So Fluke, can also make a very expensive instrument a nightmare for the owner. Why revoke a upgrade?
What harm does it to have the upgrade laying out on the web?



https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-8846a-anyone-that-got-the-updated-firmware-downloaded/msg395256/#msg395256

[linux-works]

I wonder, at what point will we find firmware for TM on the pirate bay...

if vendors act hostile toward users, this WILL be the result, I predict.

its a shame when hardware vendors don't realize that hardware is where they make their money.

[nanofrog]

its a shame when hardware vendors don't realize that hardware is where they make their money.

I suspect they do, but short-term thinking of broken gear = forces users to purchase replacements/upgrades (increase gross sales). Loss of customers probably doesn't figure into their thinking, or is somehow minimized if it does. 

[ErikTheNorwegian]

I wonder, at what point will we find firmware for TM on the pirate bay...

if vendors act hostile toward users, this WILL be the result, I predict.

its a shame when hardware vendors don't realize that hardware is where they make their money.

I now, dowload everything they have to offer that i maybeen need in the future. When not even Fluke can maintain downloads for even new and current models, i dont trust them to keep the info for the future.
Sadly many japanese companies are very quick to redraw the old uppgrades to outdated models.
But Fluke on a 8846A, top of the line instrument? Thats just sad..

[TimothySwieter]

Hi guys -

This past week I got my replacement meter.  First I got an e-mail stating an DHL tracking number and then the next day the meter arrived.  Looks like it shipped from Singapore to Hong Kong.

The new meter is working just fine, and already has the latest firmware in it.  There is a new serial number on the meter, as to be expected based on the communication with Agilent. There is also a label indicating it was a replacement for a differs serial number.  This label though looks like it could flake off easily with lots of use of the meter.  Also, interestingly enough, there is a "warranty void if removed" sticker over one of the access screws.  I didn't have this on the previous meter.

The package for the meter was beyond excellent.  In fact, it was so good I had trouble getting into it!

Thanks again for the tips and support. 

[Orange]

Also, interestingly enough, there is a "warranty void if removed" sticker over one of the access screws.  I didn't have this on the previous meter.

So now if you blow the internal fuses and you want to replace them your out of warranty ? 

[TimothySwieter]

For this meter, the fuses and batteries are accessible under the same cover plate.  I'm not aware of any other fuses inside. 

[rdubelectronic]

I have done the same firmware update as described AND BEFORE I read this.

Meter totally dead only shows "D....", why oh why do they put this on their website.

There is no way to get back tried everything with buttons/battry.
Bluetooth cannot be established anymore.

MY ADVISE: DO NOT UPDATE WITH THIS FIRMWARE YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR EXPENSIVE DMM

[Zbig]

I have managed to brick my unit to the similar state and then un-brick it. But I have consciously went against the manufacturer's advice to use the USB cable and went with the Bluetooth interface so I only have myself to blame, I guess. Anyway, perhaps this could be helpful in a case of failed update via the cable as well, so there you have it: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/recovering-keysight-u1273a-from-failed-firmware-update/