Hacking the Rigol MSO5000 series oscilloscopes

[JetForMe]

I'm trying to follow the steps to upgrade my newly-arrived MSO5074, but it keeps eating my USB drives. That is, I put a new, never-used USB thumb drive in my Mac. Copy the DS5000Update.GEL file to it, stick that in the front USB port on the Rigol. The default menu has a "local update" option, so I choose that. It says "No package found."

I pull the drive out (I see no "eject" option anywhere), stick it back in the Mac…and it doesn't mount as a drive. It also doesn't show up as a disk device in /dev or Disk Utility.app.

I figured something died with that thumb drive, so I try another new one…same issue. The Rigol is severely altering my USB thumb drives (although they still enumerate on the Mac, as "IOUSBHubDevice").

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Did you format the USB key as FAT32?

Yes, finally, on a hunch, I tried that, and all is well, with the third USB drive (and thanks for the suggestion, which I didn't see until I came back to update my post). The other two appear to be toast; I don't know how to get them recognized by macOS or Windows in Parallels (they do show up as Disk drives, but no volumes mount) in order to reformat them.

[mwb1100]

The other two appear to be toast; I don't know how to get them recognized by macOS or Windows in Parallels (they do show up as Disk drives, but no volumes mount) in order to reformat them.

fdisk (or whatever the Mac equivalent is) might be able to create new partition(s).  This would wipe whatever data is on the device, but it sounds like that's already gone.

If the disk shows up in the Windows "Drive Management" control panel thing in the Parallels VM, it should definitely be able to partition and format it.

[Tommy_Vercetti]

Hello everybody!

My MSO5074 arrived Thursday and I spent the last 2 nights reading through all the posts.

The scope came with:

FW: 00.01.03.00.03
Build: 2021-10-18


From what I can tell, all I need to do is follow qali.pro's instructions from post 2167, specifically downloading the three files on the "Patch.zip" file he attached to his post and loading them onto a FAT32 or FAT usb stick and plugging that stick into the scope, correct? Since I already have 00.01.03.00.03 right out of the box, I do not need to install the "official firmware" first. I can skip to installing the patch and doing the calibration (after waiting 30 min). Am I correct here?

This is the post I'm referring to: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg3869852/#msg3869852

[Tommy_Vercetti]

The hack worked! Thanks everybody!

Only issue now is that (I actually noticed this before the hack) I am getting some sort of sound coming from what might be my power supply. Best way to describe it is that it sounds like bugs chirping at night. Sort of a mixture of static and chirping/screeching. It might be a piezoelectric sound from a ceramic cap. The sounds pauses if I hit the “Run-stop” button and is only present when the waveforms are present on the screen. Anyways, long story short, I am probably going to contact amazon and exchange the scope.

I wanted to put the stock firmware back on. Can I just essentially repeat the hack but without the hacked firmware, use the firmware from the Rigol site?

[thm_w]

The hack worked! Thanks everybody!

Only issue now is that (I actually noticed this before the hack) I am getting some sort of sound coming from what might be my power supply. Best way to describe it is that it sounds like bugs chirping at night. Sort of a mixture of static and chirping/screeching. It might be a piezoelectric sound from a ceramic cap. The sounds pauses if I hit the “Run-stop” button and is only present when the waveforms are present on the screen. Anyways, long story short, I am probably going to contact amazon and exchange the scope.

I wanted to put the stock firmware back on. Can I just essentially repeat the hack but without the hacked firmware, use the firmware from the Rigol site?

Yes just install the firmware from Rigol website, and maybe do a "load default settings" to reset everything.

[esel]

Only issue now is that (I actually noticed this before the hack) I am getting some sort of sound coming from what might be my power supply. Best way to describe it is that it sounds like bugs chirping at night. Sort of a mixture of static and chirping/screeching. It might be a piezoelectric sound from a ceramic cap. The sounds pauses if I hit the “Run-stop” button and is only present when the waveforms are present on the screen. Anyways, long story short, I am probably going to contact amazon and exchange the scope.

Thanks for the nice summary. My MSO5074 just arrived a few days ago with the 00.01.03.00.03 firmware. I also noticed the same high-pitched chirping before any hacking of the scope. I'm worried about the upgrade in case the scope fails in a few weeks due to a manufacturing defect.

Steps to reproduce the noise: The noise is noticeable without any probe connected, the vertical range set to mV or so, and the trigger set too high to actually trigger. It stops with "Run-stop" or single shot. It needs a few minutes to warm up. In the cold state I don't hear anything. I think the fan is louder then the noise. One of my colleagues didn't even hear the noise due to its high pitch.

Is this something to worry about before hacking, like getting a replacement, or should it be fine?

[TitusPullo]

I'd like to thank all contributors for the effort they put in. Great job!

My MSO5074 just arrived and is now liberated to the extend of  its hardware capabilities.

I did already have a Rigol DS2072, which was also successfully modified a few years back with the help of this forum.
Two channels are just not very convenient in many cases, so when I discovered this thread, in combination with a special offer from the local distributor, I decided to give myself an early Christmas present.

The MSO 5072 does have some quirks and I need to get used to it. The DS2072 worked flawlessly in comparison.
I already managed to get the MSO5074 to completely freeze when checking the input bandwidth. A power cycle was needed.
Also, I had some trouble getting it to display an input signal without pressing the AUTO button. It sometimes seems like the display only updates if the timebase is changed.

The bandwidth (using a 50 Ohms feedthrough) is indeed >400 MHz. I used an HP8133 with 100ps risetime to check it.

[thm_w]

Reset to defaults, and the scope should be set to auto trigger, and it should be showing an input signal. Then tweak the trigger level, and voltage ratio if needed.
Since you have a DS2000 I would assume you know all this already though.

Could be defective hardware.

[Catinate]

And another one done. Just followed Qual.pro's instructions and it all happened.
Many thanks to all the folks here who have sent time and effort to achieve this!

[adrianza]

Unfortunately, I found this discussion after ordering an MSO5104. Does this patch also work for MSO5104?
I am interested in the update to 350MHz. Thank you!

[skander36]

Yes. Will work for all 5000 versions.
As long as Rigol want this ...

[oldjackbob]

After applying the liberator to my 5072 everything is forever. Has anyone tried using UltraSigma/UltraScope after doing this? and does your HDMI out work?
Thanks to everyone involved in this endeavor for all your hard work and time. I'm sure I speak for everyone that took advantage of your work. YOU ARE ALL GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Mick B has already asked it and i could not finde an answer eithe.

Does someone know whether it is safe to use Ultra Sigma and UltraScope after the "Update"

I just received my new MSO5074 last Friday and did the "Update" over the weekend.

Both Ultra Sigma and UltraScope appear to be working fine (at least for me) after the Update.

[ballsystemlord]

Hello,
My scope is an MSO5074 scope. My FW version is: v00.01.03.00.03

I did the backup specified in this post:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg2757356/#msg2757356

Following the upgrade instructions in this post.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg3869852/#msg3869852

The upgrade was successful. The backup is kinda successful.

The backup scripts are supposed to reboot the scope, but do not. I ended up having to just pull the USB flash drive. I waited an hour for each of the two backup scripts to complete. This didn't appear to cause any major problems, but of course the FAT32 FS had it's dirty bit set and the boot loader backup and the original differed.

I'd like to know, is there a better way to power down the scope (the power switch appears to just cut power without giving the system any time to unmount the USB flash drive), when doing a backup or just eject the USB flash drive?
The backup scripts are obviously broken in this respect (it's explicitly stated that they will reboot the scope), can they be fixed?
I did try to inspect them, but I'm unsure how to hack them. They are something inside of a tar archive which is then named .GEL.

Thanks!

[tv84]

I'd like to know, is there a better way to power down the scope (the power switch appears to just cut power without giving the system any time to unmount the USB flash drive), when doing a backup or just eject the USB flash drive?
The backup scripts are obviously broken in this respect (it's explicitly stated that they will reboot the scope), can they be fixed?

I'm currently in lazy mode so you have to go with alternative ways: open a telnet session before doing the backup and use it to reboot the machine once the backup is done.

Regarding the "explicitly stated that they will reboot": the readme.txt says explicitly "After execution, the scope should reboot, showing that the script ran successfully." The "should" indicates what is probable to happen and NOT what will happen.

[techneut]

[ballsystemlord]

I'm currently in lazy mode so you have to go with alternative ways: open a telnet session before doing the backup and use it to reboot the machine once the backup is done.

So Rigol disabled SSH but left telnet running?! It's no wonder the internet has such large scale DDOS attacks.

Thanks for the tip.

Regarding the "explicitly stated that they will reboot": the readme.txt says explicitly "After execution, the scope should reboot, showing that the script ran successfully." The "should" indicates what is probable to happen and NOT what will happen.

Which brings up the question, "Did the script run successfully if it did not reboot the scope?"

I mean, there's no other indicator to say that it did or did not succeed. I accepted that it succeeded based on that it wrote something to the USB stick and some blind faith. There's no way to verify the contents of the binary files it dumps are 100% correct.

[mabl]

The project mode (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg4444330/#msg4444330) also enables SSH, last I looked. So it's just some key presses away.

[BeamDump]

Just got mine yesterday. Shipped with 00.01.03.00.03 2021-10-18. Backup/update worked like a charm.  Huge thanks qali and every who put in the effort.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

[Howardlong]

Regulars may remember that my unit experienced an SMPS regulator (Renesas ISL8203M) failure back in September 2021.

Post #2053 https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg3697885/#msg3697885
Post #2057 https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg3704050/#msg3704050

Well, about ten days or so ago the same thing happened.

It'd been switched on for a short while, about five or ten minutes, and suddenly switched itself off. The symptom this time was that the entire unit appeared dead, no LEDs or screen, however every second or two the fan attempted to spin up, so similar enough that I could say it was the main PSU going into over current protection and trying to recover.

The TL;DR is that I replaced the same chip again, and the unit is back to working again.

Thankfully as I already had a spare chip in stock, and knew what to do, it only took an hour or so to fix this time.

You only need to take the plastic back off and the first main metal shield, and then rework the chip with hot air. You don't need to unscrew the PCB, you can leave it screwed to the chassis. There's nothing underneath the chip to be concerned with when reworking it with hot air. However, take care to avoid any flux or cleaning agents getting underneath the analogue cans: I used kapton tape.

I don't know if I just have a Friday scope: I'm not aware of anyone else encountering this problem.

[kelemvor]

I just got an MSO5074 from tequipment this week and applied the updates.  Thanks to everyone who participated, especially @qali.pro who posted the necessary stuff with easy instructions.

For others who just bought one, This is the post you want to read: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hacking-the-rigol-mso5000-series-oscilloscopes/msg3869852/#msg3869852


In short:

Download (attachment in the linked post) and unzip the file Patch.zip and put the three files on the USB stick, then Utility/Help/Local upgrade


Calibration - very important
- remove the input probes
- Utility/System/SelfCal
- then turn off/on

Since others have already done the heavy lifting, it's that simple.  Actually, it's more simple than the 1054z hack was to apply.  The only "hard" part is finding the right post.

Thanks again, mr. pro.

[idolclub]

Rigol releases new firmware v00.01.03.02.02 for MSO5000 ~ 2023.01.09

Firmware v00.01.03.02.02 Release Notes:

[Supported Model]    All the MSO5000 Series Digital Oscilloscopes
[Latest Revision Date]  2023/01/04

[Updated Contents]
--------------------

v00.01.03.02.02 2023/01/04
   
    - Add shortcut button and VNC remote function
    - Waveform, cursor movement, gesture operation vertical and horizontal gear switching speed optimization
    - Cursor optimization: cursor jump optimization, ZOOM area and main time base cursor linkage, etc
    - The color of the CH4 waveform is modified, and the brightness of the waveform is improved
    - ZOOM mode optimization: mask color adjustment, switching speed, area movement optimization
    - SCPI instruction response speed optimization: reset, measurement, waveform read instruction response optimization


v00.01.03.00.03 2021/10/18

      - Optimized waveform display in XY mode.
      - Optimized the DC gain calibration algorithm.
      - The La channel is decoded in parallel, which solved the problem of decoding error in negative polarity.



Download:
https://supportcn.rigol.com/Public/Uploads/uploadfile/files/ftp/Firmware/MSO5000(ARM)Updatev00.01.03.02.02.zip

[markone]

Rigol releases new firmware v00.01.03.02.02 for MSO5000 ~ 2023.01.09

Firmware v00.01.03.02.02 Release Notes:

[Supported Model]    All the MSO5000 Series Digital Oscilloscopes
[Latest Revision Date]  2023/01/04

[Updated Contents]
--------------------

v00.01.03.02.02 2023/01/04
   
    - Add shortcut button and VNC remote function
    - Waveform, cursor movement, gesture operation vertical and horizontal gear switching speed optimization
    - Cursor optimization: cursor jump optimization, ZOOM area and main time base cursor linkage, etc
    - The color of the CH4 waveform is modified, and the brightness of the waveform is improved
    - ZOOM mode optimization: mask color adjustment, switching speed, area movement optimization
    - SCPI instruction response speed optimization: reset, measurement, waveform read instruction response optimization


v00.01.03.00.03 2021/10/18

      - Optimized waveform display in XY mode.
      - Optimized the DC gain calibration algorithm.
      - The La channel is decoded in parallel, which solved the problem of decoding error in negative polarity.



Download:
https://supportcn.rigol.com/Public/Uploads/uploadfile/files/ftp/Firmware/MSO5000(ARM)Updatev00.01.03.02.02.zip

How did you get there ?

If I follow Rigol support web pages (Europe, Cn, USA) I do not find that FW upgrade, so I wonder if any update for HDO1000 is hidden somewhere in the same server.

[faktorqm]

Hi there, same question. I'm located in Spain.

If I go to https://www.rigol.eu/products/oscillosopes/MSO5000%20series.html it only shows 00.01.03.00.03 version (which it's already installed in my device)

However, in this page, https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/MSO5000/MSO5074/ (I assume NA stands for North America) it points to a 1.1.4.4 version file, which is different of the one you posted, but with the same publish date.

It is possible to apply a NA firmware on a EU Device? For the time being, I will keep 00.01.03.00.03 before update.

Thank you! Regards!

[markone]

Hi there, same question. I'm located in Spain.

If I go to https://www.rigol.eu/products/oscillosopes/MSO5000%20series.html it only shows 00.01.03.00.03 version (which it's already installed in my device)

However, in this page, https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/MSO5000/MSO5074/ (I assume NA stands for North America) it points to a 1.1.4.4 version file, which is different of the one you posted, but with the same publish date.

It is possible to apply a NA firmware on a EU Device? For the time being, I will keep 00.01.03.00.03 before update.

Thank you! Regards!

The mystery deepens ...

EDIT : the content of NA FW 1.1.4.4 version is way older, 18.10.2021

[faktorqm]

Yes you are right it's only the file name... v00.01.03.00.03 2021/10/18

That file is in chinese? As it came from Rigol CN maybe it would result in chinese characters on my oscilloscope 
Please confirm and also confirm if the """upgrade""" still works. Thank you!