EEVblog Electronics Community Forum

Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on October 28, 2022, 07:36:43 am

Title: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on October 28, 2022, 07:36:43 am
Hello everyone!

I needed a USB scope to complement my bench scope.
Purchased a "DSCope U3P100" since its cheap for what you get and I have had a great experience with the company's logic analyzer. I've use the "DSLogic U3Pro32" frequently over a year now.

Long story short, the scope worked for a brief moment and then stopped working properly (communication issue with the computer). I contacted the company and got the response "We have never seen this issue" and we had a long email chain over a few weeks trying to resolve the issue.

The issue was never resolved so I asked for a replacement unit but got the response that id have to send the unit to their China office but id have to pay for shipping. Cheapest shipping I could find was 150-200€ (DHL wanted 350€) which is unreasonably expensive for such a small package especially when the product costs 300$. They did not want to pay for shipping or provide me with a return label so I left it at that.

Some time has passed since and I contacted them a few days ago to see if there was a possibility for a replacement or at the very least a discount for a new one. Got an offer of 30% off and that was the best they could do.

Now I'm in a bit of a predicament. I do need a USB scope and I'm happy with the logic analyzer from them but the handling of the scope issue has left me a bit burned. I've already spent 300$ on a faulty scope do I want to spend 200$ (30% off) again and risk the same fate?
What good is a three year warranty if it cant be resolved in a meaningful way.

Are there any other alternatives?
Pico scopes are good but they are way to expensive for me. I've seen a few others in the same price class like they "Owon VDS6102A" but I have no experience with the company's products.

Anybody else has a similar encounter with DreamSourceLab or any of their products?
What are your guys thoughts on the matter?
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: mwb1100 on October 28, 2022, 03:02:11 pm
This is a sketchy suggestion, but I think your circumstance supports drawing outside the lines a bit.  Note that since this involves Amazon US for me, it might not apply to your country:

Amazon (US anyway) sells DSLogic gear including the DSCope U3P100.  If I were in your predicament, I might order one from Amazon then once in hand return the broken one to Amazon.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: thm_w on October 28, 2022, 10:50:15 pm
Guarantee you can find cheaper shipping than $150 to send it back, although it will still be expensive.
I assume you've tried another PC and another USB cable? Did you open it up to see if anything is obviously broken?

I would agree with mwb1100 here if its an option.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: Bud on October 28, 2022, 11:19:32 pm
Swing by any Chinese place (store, restaurant, other)  business and ask "Hey how do you guys send stuff to China"?. There maybe cheap shipping channels they use which you never heard of.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on October 29, 2022, 06:45:53 am
Quote from: mwb1100 on October 28, 2022, 03:02:11 pm
This is a sketchy suggestion, but I think your circumstance supports drawing outside the lines a bit.  Note that since this involves Amazon US for me, it might not apply to your country:

Amazon (US anyway) sells DSLogic gear including the DSCope U3P100.  If I were in your predicament, I might order one from Amazon then once in hand return the broken one to Amazon.

Doing "shady" things like this doesn't really sit right with me. They don't sell any DreamSourceLab equipment on amazon Sweden, at least to my knowledge.

Quote from: thm_w on October 28, 2022, 10:50:15 pm
Guarantee you can find cheaper shipping than $150 to send it back, although it will still be expensive.
I assume you've tried another PC and another USB cable? Did you open it up to see if anything is obviously broken?

I would agree with mwb1100 here if its an option.

I checked with all local post and even through my jobs "shipping contracts", cheapest they could find was 80€ with TNT and ~200€ with DHL. But I cant send the package through work, just curious if the prices were as absurd as when I checked them myself.
I do however think that the DreamSourceLab should pay for shipping since the product stopped working the same day as I received it.

I assume you've tried another PC and another USB cable? Did you open it up to see if anything is obviously broken?
It was the first thing I tried, tried it on a total of 5 computers running Windows 10, 3 laptops and two stationary computers. All resulting in the same. Purchased new USB-C cables to see if it was the cables fault, still nothing.

The issue is a bit interesting, the computer sees it in the device manager but their computer software is unable to connect to it.
The scope program wont start if the scope is connected, but will start if nothing is connected. The software works with the logic analyzer but will freeze if you connect the scope and select the scope as the instrument. It remains frozen until you unplug the scope.

I wrote a much more detailed explanation of this in the email conversation but the above text is the gist of it.
I've also not opened it since it would void the warranty, that that means anything, lol.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: thm_w on October 31, 2022, 10:45:03 pm
If you aren't going to return it then might as well open it.
Looking at a quote they show 55 EUR with their company or 60 EUR with UPS: https://www.parcelabc.com/order/destinations (https://www.parcelabc.com/order/destinations)
DHL 48 EUR according to here: https://www.easyship.com/en-nl/shipping-rate-calculator/netherlands-to-china?weight=0.5&weight_unit=kg&category_slug=accessory_no_battery&width=5&height=5&length=10&dimension_unit=cm&range=%3C100 (https://www.easyship.com/en-nl/shipping-rate-calculator/netherlands-to-china?weight=0.5&weight_unit=kg&category_slug=accessory_no_battery&width=5&height=5&length=10&dimension_unit=cm&range=%3C100)

PostNL might be cheap but probably slow and no tracking.

The issue is interesting, it might help to see what PID/VID shows up, presumably its right which is confusing their software.
Can use a software like USBDeview, etc.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: mwb1100 on November 01, 2022, 01:17:30 am
thm_w's post gave me the idea to suggest trying the U3P100 on another system (different OS) if you have one available to you.  If you're running Windows, you can get VirtualBox or VMware (a trial should do) and install a Linux VM.

In a command window in linux, run the `dmesg --follow` command to see kernel events.  For example, when I plug in a USB sdcard reader I see:

Code: [Select]
1675485.134833] usb 4-1: new SuperSpeed Gen 1 USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[1675485.163444] usb 4-1: New USB device found, idVendor=8564, idProduct=4000, bcdDevice= 0.04
[1675485.163446] usb 4-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=4, SerialNumber=2
[1675485.163447] usb 4-1: Product: Transcend
[1675485.163447] usb 4-1: Manufacturer: TS-RDF5A
[1675485.163448] usb 4-1: SerialNumber: 000000000004
[1675485.215596] usb-storage 4-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[1675485.217098] scsi host33: usb-storage 4-1:1.0
[1675485.255421] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[1675485.266281] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[1675486.290967] scsi 33:0:0:0: Direct-Access     TS-RDF5A Transcend        0004 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[1675486.296491] sd 33:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[1675486.618869] sd 33:0:0:0: [sdb] Spinning up disk...

Who knows, maybe the U3P100 will generate some helpful message pointing to the problem?  Even if the messages make no sense to you, they might to someone at DreamSourceLab.

You might have to spend some time getting drivers for the device installed to get the most informative messages. I have no idea what's involved in installing software for the U3P100 on Linux, but  Linux is officially supported.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on November 02, 2022, 08:00:01 am
Ill try your Linux suggestions but isn't it easier to use "Linux subsystem for Windows" than to install an entire VM? Is there a difference in the way that it interacts with external devices?

Meanwhile ill post a part of the email conversation with DreamSourceLab (DSL) so you guys get a bit more context.

From DSL:
Hi,

Which version of DSView are you using?
Does the LED never turn to green?
Could you also show me the driver name of the DSCope U3P100 in Device Manager?
 
Thanks,
The DreamSourceLab Team

My reply:
Hi,
 
Which version of DSView are you using?
Version 1.1.2
 
Does the LED never turn to green?
It stays solid red when plugged in to the computer.
Then turns black when I try to open DSView. DSView never opens.
 
The logic analyzer is red when plugged in, then turns green when you open DSView without connecting the Scope.
 
Could you also show me the driver name of the DSCope U3P100 in Device Manager?

Only logic analyzer.
(https://i.imgur.com/jsRaOtF.png)

Both logic analyzer and scope.
(https://i.imgur.com/kpEwqAN.png)

Only scope.
(https://i.imgur.com/Hgp7dxr.png)

Scope details.
(https://i.imgur.com/UvlXW0l.png)

Additional observation. (Nothing is connected to PC).
**Connect DS Logic to PC**
DS-Logic stays solid red.
 
**Start DS View**
DS-Logic light goes from solid red to solid green.
DS View opens as normally and I’m able to use the logic analyzer.
 
**Connect DS-Scope to PC**
DS Scope is solid red.
DS View acts as normal.
Click dropdown menu/device selector.
The device selector shows both devices and program functions as normally.
 
**Select DS-Scope as device**
DS-Scope goes from solid red to off.
DS-Logic remains solid green.
Ds View freezes instantly.
 
**Unplug DS-Scope**
DS-View starts responding, switches briefly to the “Scope interface” and then jumps back to the logic analyzer interface and flashes the warning below.
The program crashes once you press the OK button in the warning message.
(https://i.imgur.com/qbMdbpx.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/c6ntOW8.png)
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: mwb1100 on November 02, 2022, 08:23:12 am
Quote from: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on November 02, 2022, 08:00:01 am
Ill try your Linux suggestions but isn't it easier to use "Linux subsystem for Windows" than to install an entire VM? Is there a difference in the way that it interacts with external devices?

I don't really know the details, but this post indicates that WSL handles USB devices differently than how it works on a VMware Linux guest:  https://devblogs.microsoft.com/commandline/connecting-usb-devices-to-wsl/

Of course for the purposes of this test I think it would be best to try it on a machine that has Linux installed natively. But that's considerably more of a time investment than using a VM. My experience with Linux is virtually all running it in a VM, but all of the USB devices I've 'connected' to a VM with a Linux guest OS have worked in the same way as co-workers who are running Linux directly on their hardware.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: Sudo_apt-get_install_yum on November 02, 2022, 11:52:09 am
Not sure what's going on, tried attaching it to my Linux VM (Virtual Box) noting showed up when running "dmesg --follow" but the scopes LED acted differently, started blinking red like the logic analyzer does.

Physically disconnected the scope and reinserted it and got a bunch of windows warnings "USB device not recognized", disconnected it a third time and now it seems to work on my windows machine but now I'm unable to connect it to my VM, I get the following error "Failed to attach the USB".

Not really sure what's going on or if it will continue to work...

Note:
I did just update to the newest DSView version, maybe that solved the issue?

EDIT:
I tested it out on my stationary computer when it worked.
Tested it on my laptop and it stopped working and acted up just like earlier, now its acting up on my stationary and I'm unable to use it again. Same USB port and everything....

Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: mwb1100 on November 02, 2022, 04:39:51 pm
Quote
(Virtual Box)

It has been a while since I used Virtual Box, but looking at the site I see that v7 no longer requires the VirtualBox Extension Pack to get USB 2.0 and 3.0 support.  So if you're using a version older than 7, I'd update.

You should also check that the VM's settings has USB 3.0 enabled.
Title: Re: DreamSourceLab: DSCope U3P100 warranty issue
Post by: thm_w on November 02, 2022, 09:11:16 pm
Try spraying the USB port with some solvent, flux cleaner or alcohol, and blow it out.