HP35665A Firware update

[geovar]

Hi all from hot Athens

I have the possibility to update the Firmware of my HP35665A with the 2 floppy discs (HP NOS)   from the existing A.01.00 FW to the last one A.01.08. A friend tells me not to attempt the update because if in the floppy(produced 1993) there is some mistake, after so many years, I will have a big problem. Another friend says that when the existing inside drive of the analyzer encounters a file with problem it stops before installing an incorrect FW file Practically, he says, that somewhere in the analyzer there is a check sum file that checks the integrity and avoids errors during the update and stops the procedure. I cant decide what to do any help is well come
Any experience about all this?? Some one did the update?
Thanks
George
PS.Attached files of one of the two floppy's

[bson]

Maybe the thing to do is buy yourself a USB floppy drive and clone the original.  This will also let you know if any sectors are unreadable.  Maybe save an image of it for posterity.

[geovar]

Thank you bson
I already have a USB floppy drive but cant read those files (.Lif). But even if it could do it would also clone a "wrong" file if there were. I'm not much expert in computers, but I think I should, somehow, do the "check sum" all the files in the 2 floppy discs . But how can I do it?

[KE5FX]

Hmm, I have A.01.00 as well.  Is there a list of changes and/or fixes in the newer versions?

[TheSteve]

There are a few utilities out there to read lif floppies from a PC. Not all work and they can be picky on OS/floppy type etc. "lif2dos" is one of them. I have backed up the files on a lif floppy before using a PC - it would be good to ensure you can read all files on both floppies. The last lif floppies I backed up were from 91 and I was able to read all of the files successfully.

[geovar]

Hmm, I have A.01.00 as well.  Is there a list of changes and/or fixes in the newer versions?

I have a "Paper" explaining the differences between .07 and .08 but cant uploaded as attachments. I will retry later

[geovar]

Send me please your email by PM and I will provide you the "paper" PDF

[KE5FX]

Does anyone else with a 35665A find that there's no difference between setting the Y units to V/rtHz versus V^2/Hz?     On mine, the display shows dBV/rtHz regardless.

The V^2s/Hz (ESD) function works, just not the V^2/Hz (PSD).

[greasemonkey]

Does anyone else with a 35665A find that there's no difference between setting the Y units to V/rtHz versus V^2/Hz?     On mine, the display shows dBV/rtHz regardless.

The V^2s/Hz (ESD) function works, just not the V^2/Hz (PSD).

That is a sneaky one. Here it goes:

[Trace Coord][LINEAR MAGNITUDE][Y UNITS][V/rtHz]

BTW love your GPIB software. Thanks!

[greasemonkey]

[KE5FX]

Does anyone else with a 35665A find that there's no difference between setting the Y units to V/rtHz versus V^2/Hz?     On mine, the display shows dBV/rtHz regardless.

The V^2s/Hz (ESD) function works, just not the V^2/Hz (PSD).

That is a sneaky one. Here it goes:

[Trace Coord][LINEAR MAGNITUDE][Y UNITS][V/rtHz]

BTW love your GPIB software. Thanks!

You're welcome.    I'll have to look back at the issue I was having; it may be tough to recreate since the 35665A has been replaced by an 89440A.   Seems that there were two separate functions that erroneously did the same thing.  I'd like to think I didn't overlook Trace Coord->Linear Mag->Y Units, but it's hard to say at this point.

[greasemonkey]

I must admit that my knowledge on the issue is severely limited. But it is a good chance to dig deeper into the theory. I could try a few things if you like. PM me.

Another question. Were you ever able to print a screen directly from the 35665A to the 7470A plotter simulator? I still plot on a floppy and then transfer them on my PC.

[mightyohm]

Can someone please post a copy of the firmware upgrade disks? I can't seem to find them online.

Also, did we ever get a copy of the change list between firmware revisions?

I have two 35665A's. One of them has FW A.01.07, and the other has FW A.01.11.  The flash ICs are soldered to the memory board so unfortunately I don't think I can copy from one to the other (and also, who knows what other data, cal constants etc are stored in there).

[Tomorokoshi]

I must admit that my knowledge on the issue is severely limited. But it is a good chance to dig deeper into the theory. I could try a few things if you like. PM me.

Another question. Were you ever able to print a screen directly from the 35665A to the 7470A plotter simulator? I still plot on a floppy and then transfer them on my PC.

I was able to use 7470.exe to plot directly from the HP 35665A. Here are plots from the options and memory screens:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/hewlett-packard-35665a-power-supply-repair/msg4121485/#msg4121485

I don't recall any particular trouble with it.