Author Topic: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)  (Read 234969 times)

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Offline svetlov

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #250 on: August 25, 2018, 04:13:08 pm »
 Hello dear! How can you solve the problem of spontaneous disconnection of 1022 from the control program in a few minutes   use? the device I have more than two years and this problem is not corrected with the update of the software - this is repeated on different    computers under Windows 10
Thank you ::)
 

Offline nzasch

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #251 on: September 06, 2018, 03:26:44 pm »
@noopwafel have you managed to initialize it following the "OWON Oscilloscope PC Guidance Manual" ?
 

Offline noopwafel

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #252 on: September 07, 2018, 08:47:44 am »
Quote from: nzasch on Today at 01:26:44 am
@noopwafel have you managed to initialize it following the "OWON Oscilloscope PC Guidance Manual" ?


No, the 'tiny' scopes don't seem to support anything that complicated, they just provide chunks of raw data from the FPGA and you need to do quite a lot of initialization/configuration (including uploading the FPGA bitstream and downloading the calibration data - they don't even handle the calibration internally). They will reset themselves (which I guess might be responsible for disconnections) if the host doesn't send a command for more than a few seconds, or the communication desynchronizes. My VDS1022I will keep capturing for quite a long time (via USB2) via my sigrok driver without any apparent problems, but I didn't try the Windows software for more than a few minutes (just enough to get a packet capture).
 

Offline nzasch

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #253 on: September 11, 2018, 10:33:01 am »
I'm trying to write a C client with libusb for measurements, but after finding+opening the device, the device reply is the same whatever command I send (START, STARTBIN ecc). if I try to bulkread the data, it gives usb timeout.
 

Offline AbirFaisal

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #254 on: September 19, 2018, 02:33:44 am »
I'm trying to write a C client with libusb for measurements, but after finding+opening the device, the device reply is the same whatever command I send (START, STARTBIN ecc). if I try to bulkread the data, it gives usb timeout.


This is an older version of the OWON software which includes the original source code. Create a breakpoint in the Main file in owon.vds.tiny then debug it. When you get to the initialization code watch the steps carefully and emulate it in your own software.



https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022/blob/129a3b4582030e3c52d49969dcf5059f0e2a3fb6/Owon-VDS1022-OSX.zip


As a side not they have Chinese comments in the code which I put through google translate. One of the comments speak about porting to Android so I wonder when they'll have that ready. 1022i + Cheap android tablet + battery pack is basically like having a handheld portable oscilloscope.





Quote from: nzasch on Today at 01:26:44 am
@noopwafel have you managed to initialize it following the "OWON Oscilloscope PC Guidance Manual" ?


No, the 'tiny' scopes don't seem to support anything that complicated, they just provide chunks of raw data from the FPGA and you need to do quite a lot of initialization/configuration (including uploading the FPGA bitstream and downloading the calibration data - they don't even handle the calibration internally). They will reset themselves (which I guess might be responsible for disconnections) if the host doesn't send a command for more than a few seconds, or the communication desynchronizes. My VDS1022I will keep capturing for quite a long time (via USB2) via my sigrok driver without any apparent problems, but I didn't try the Windows software for more than a few minutes (just enough to get a packet capture).


noopwafel can you quickly describe your build environment? I can't seem to get your libsigrok working. Not asking for much I just want to know exactly what versions of pulseview, libsigrokdecode, libserialport that you are using so I can get it to work with your driver. Thanks.

 

Offline AbirFaisal

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Offline Pluscrafter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #256 on: October 11, 2018, 06:35:17 pm »
Had anyone get the VDS 1022I worked on Linux? I've use Ubuntu 18.04.1 and had tried https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022 and it doesn't work after following the instructions. My lsusb shows my scope as a Owon PDS6062T.
 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #257 on: October 20, 2018, 12:33:18 pm »
I've just noticed that version 1.0.30 of the VDS1022(i) windows s/w is up on the Owon site, it's apparently been there since July. As usual, no release notes but it hopefully fixes problems in 1.0.29.

I've installed it but not hooked it up to the scope yet - I can't see any feature differences though.

http://www.owon.com.hk/supports_pc_software
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 12:41:02 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 
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Offline CatWhisker

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #258 on: October 26, 2018, 04:46:28 pm »
Had anyone get the VDS 1022I worked on Linux? I've use Ubuntu 18.04.1 and had tried https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022 and it doesn't work after following the instructions. My lsusb shows my scope as a Owon PDS6062T.

FYI, the "PDS6062T" listing is just part of the lookup table in the Linux kernel, because it shares the same PID/VID. AFAIK, that's all it shares though.
We could possibly email the usb id's maintainer to make it generic? PDS6062T Oscilloscope -> OWON USB Oscilloscope
http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids

GreySpammer-Tir had success/progress I believe in getting the USB driver working:
https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022/issues/6#issuecomment-433426973

I'm yet to find time to revisit the Linux package, but I'll probably sort a script over the holiday period.
 

Offline Pluscrafter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #259 on: October 26, 2018, 04:49:11 pm »
Had anyone get the VDS 1022I worked on Linux? I've use Ubuntu 18.04.1 and had tried https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022 and it doesn't work after following the instructions. My lsusb shows my scope as a Owon PDS6062T.

FYI, the "PDS6062T" listing is just part of the lookup table in the Linux kernel, because it shares the same PID/VID. AFAIK, that's all it shares though.
We could possibly email the usb id's maintainer to make it generic? PDS6062T Oscilloscope -> OWON USB Oscilloscope
http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids

GreySpammer-Tir had success/progress I believe in getting the USB driver working:
https://github.com/tinwhisker/Owon-VDS1022/issues/6#issuecomment-433426973

I'm yet to find time to revisit the Linux package, but I'll probably sort a script over the holiday period.
That would be very appreciating :)

Gesendet von meinem G8341 mit Tapatalk

 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #260 on: December 10, 2018, 01:09:16 pm »
At the request of another member, I have uploaded my personal unofficial archive of previous VDS1022(I) PC software versions to Uploadfiles.io again. The files have been checked with AVG and Malwarebytes but take it at your own risk.

The URL is ...  https://ufile.io/v2ytf  It will be there for the next 30 days again, so grab it if you want it.

I don't know which versions included the source code (or whether they still do). The individual .exe's can be opened as a 7zip archives anyway so, if interested, you can take a look.


P.S. If anyone can work out how to change the 'Save waveform' button on the main screen from saving a .txt  to saving an image file, you'll make me a very happy camper - it's a pain having to go to the Utility menu to do it!
« Last Edit: December 10, 2018, 02:04:25 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #261 on: December 16, 2018, 12:10:40 pm »
Just picked up a VDS1022I to live in my laptop bag for all the times when "I didn't think I'd need to bring a scope".

Kudos to OWON for making a low-cost USB box called "Oscilloscope" which appears to actually have an oscilloscope in it! I've tried a few others and they have been universally terrible, appearing to be nothing more than USB sampling/streaming devices which "don't quite" send a consistent stream of samples to bad PC software.

This one seems much better (ie: It actually works!).

Have seen a few glitches in the software, most of which are livable, however I've encountered one thing that as really annoying, and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this and/or if workarounds are known.

Problem is when I want to "zoom in" on a captured waveform .. With the scope stopped, I can change the horizontal timebase and pan around an expanded image ... SOMETIMES ... certain captures just don't let me do this. For example, if I capture at 100us/div, I can "zoom" to 10us/div (10 times). But I can't capture at 1000us/div (1ms/div) and zoom to 100us/div ... just no change in the displayed waveform.

Second part of the problem is when I want to proceed and perform another capture after stopping and zooming. Upon hitting "start", the software freezes, and does one of:
  - Hang forever
  - Long delay (often minutes) then "just terminate"
  - Long delay (as above) then scope disconnects and reconnects and capture proceeds

My scope came with software version 1.0.29 .. I've tried the latest (1.0.30) and several previous releases all with the same results.

Going back as far as 1.0.23, I get different (and better) results:

- Scope almost always lets me zoom, no matter what the capture rate.
- Still has trouble starting another capture, but device disconnects/reconnects within a few seconds and capture proceeds.

So, 1.0.23 is workable, but I wonder what "fixes" I'm giving up...

Has anyone else encountered this?  Any workarounds?

Is there a better way to zoom in on a captured waveform that I just haven't found?
It would have been really nice if they made the "zoom" function in the horizontal menu work as a zoom/review when the scope is stopped instead of just telling you to screw off and come back when the scope is running.

Regards,
Dave
 
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Offline martinloren2

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #262 on: December 18, 2018, 10:51:42 am »
I've found that the latest VDS1022 firmware seems do not allow incremental transfer of the new data in slow sampling rate mode. It just continuously write on the 5K data buffer in loop without any indication of the current cursor position |O. This make impossible to do continuous data recording and if so it's a bit a pity for so well equipped hardware.

Any hint about this?

By the way I'm implementing the support for the VDS1022 under Android. I'm wondering if any wish to do some test :bullshit:, I may provide some promo codes to the first who ask @ support[at]martinloren.com. It requires USB OTG and maybe some powered USB HUB if phone current from USB is not enough :D.

 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #263 on: December 18, 2018, 10:01:35 pm »
Just picked up a VDS1022I to live in my laptop bag for all the times when "I didn't think I'd need to bring a scope".

Kudos to OWON for making a low-cost USB box called "Oscilloscope" which appears to actually have an oscilloscope in it! I've tried a few others and they have been universally terrible, appearing to be nothing more than USB sampling/streaming devices which "don't quite" send a consistent stream of samples to bad PC software.

This one seems much better (ie: It actually works!).

Have seen a few glitches in the software, most of which are livable, however I've encountered one thing that as really annoying, and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered this and/or if workarounds are known.

Problem is when I want to "zoom in" on a captured waveform .. With the scope stopped, I can change the horizontal timebase and pan around an expanded image ... SOMETIMES ... certain captures just don't let me do this. For example, if I capture at 100us/div, I can "zoom" to 10us/div (10 times). But I can't capture at 1000us/div (1ms/div) and zoom to 100us/div ... just no change in the displayed waveform.

Second part of the problem is when I want to proceed and perform another capture after stopping and zooming. Upon hitting "start", the software freezes, and does one of:
  - Hang forever
  - Long delay (often minutes) then "just terminate"
  - Long delay (as above) then scope disconnects and reconnects and capture proceeds

My scope came with software version 1.0.29 .. I've tried the latest (1.0.30) and several previous releases all with the same results.

Going back as far as 1.0.23, I get different (and better) results:

- Scope almost always lets me zoom, no matter what the capture rate.
- Still has trouble starting another capture, but device disconnects/reconnects within a few seconds and capture proceeds.

So, 1.0.23 is workable, but I wonder what "fixes" I'm giving up...

Has anyone else encountered this?  Any workarounds?

Is there a better way to zoom in on a captured waveform that I just haven't found?
It would have been really nice if they made the "zoom" function in the horizontal menu work as a zoom/review when the scope is stopped instead of just telling you to screw off and come back when the scope is running.

Regards,
Dave

Dave, thanks for coming back and reporting you impressions, glad it lived up to expectations as there is still precious little review info out there.

Looking back at the notes I made when I linked my previous versions, I noted that 1.0.23 was stable for me, later versions have seemed to concentrate on breaking an then fixing features. I don't remember seeing any new features on later versions. My guess is that the later releases have been more to do with achieving some level of common code base with the newer, higher bandwidth models, I suspect that the VDS1022 was 'complete' by 1.0.23. I don't know anything else for sure though, and in the absence of any release notes...  The only way to know for sure is to dig into the code.

I haven't experienced the zoom followed by hang on capture issued - not something I've done to be honest. My suspicion is that if you're getting into a situation where timebase changes and the stored waveform doesn't, then the scope and s/w are likely to end up with different understandings of what the timebase actually is! potentially causing the hang. Have you tried restoring the timebase setting to what it was for the previous capture?

I haven't done much with the versions since 1.0.23 apart from the 'breakages' I mentioned (the reason for archiving them!). Not because I've outgrown it - I just haven't spent much time in my lab.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2018, 10:04:55 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #264 on: December 18, 2018, 10:13:51 pm »
I've found that the latest VDS1022 firmware seems do not allow incremental transfer of the new data in slow sampling rate mode. It just continuously write on the 5K data buffer in loop without any indication of the current cursor position |O. This make impossible to do continuous data recording and if so it's a bit a pity for so well equipped hardware.

Any hint about this?

By the way I'm implementing the support for the VDS1022 under Android. I'm wondering if any wish to do some test :bullshit:, I may provide some promo codes to the first who ask @ support[at]martinloren.com. It requires USB OTG and maybe some powered USB HUB if phone current from USB is not enough :D.

That sounds like a good idea - I know there are a few folks playing around with porting to linux, potentially for the Raspberry Pi as a portable solution. Unfortunately there is very little known about the FPGA bitstream and f/w apart from observing it as you are. There must surely be a mechanism at work otherwise there would be no way of syncing correctly to the display. No idea about any USB OTG implications.

Sorry, it's not my area but hopefully one of the Linux guys may more idea.
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline martinloren2

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #265 on: December 19, 2018, 10:48:50 am »
There must surely be a mechanism at work otherwise there would be no way of syncing correctly to the display.

It seems that the current mechanism is simply to plot on screen the 5K sample buffer as it is. The FPGA write on the buffer in a loop and send it properly shifted to the App that simply show is as is on the screen. No synchronization required, it just show you the fixed buffer while it is overwritten with new values. So visually maybe your eyes can follow it but programmatically it may require cross correlation with a window made of a group of latest samples  :palm:.

The other option would be if other commands are present in the firmware (but not used buy the current software). In the original jar package there is a class called InfiniteGetData that seems to do this but seems also to be old, it is unused and if send these commands to the device they does not work.
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #266 on: December 19, 2018, 04:19:52 pm »
Dave, thanks for coming back and reporting you impressions, glad it lived up to expectations as there is still precious little review info out there.

Looking back at the notes I made when I linked my previous versions, I noted that 1.0.23 was stable for me, later versions have seemed to concentrate on breaking an then fixing features. I don't remember seeing any new features on later versions. My guess is that the later releases have been more to do with achieving some level of common code base with the newer, higher bandwidth models, I suspect that the VDS1022 was 'complete' by 1.0.23. I don't know anything else for sure though, and in the absence of any release notes...  The only way to know for sure is to dig into the code.

I haven't experienced the zoom followed by hang on capture issued - not something I've done to be honest. My suspicion is that if you're getting into a situation where timebase changes and the stored waveform doesn't, then the scope and s/w are likely to end up with different understandings of what the timebase actually is! potentially causing the hang. Have you tried restoring the timebase setting to what it was for the previous capture?

I haven't done much with the versions since 1.0.23 apart from the 'breakages' I mentioned (the reason for archiving them!). Not because I've outgrown it - I just haven't spent much time in my lab.

Thanks for the info. So far I've not noticed anything new past 1.0.23 either.

I have tried setting the timebase back to the original capture before proceeding, and it still hangs. Very odd - even 5k points is worth being able to zoom in (my TDS210 has only 2.5k and I zoom in with it all the time).

I'd be curious to know if you can reproduce the issue - just do a capture, stop the scope, adjust horizontal to "zoom in", then just start the scope again. For me it hangs very often. 1.0.23 recovers quite quickly, but you will still see a reconnecting message ... just would like to confirm it's not something "special" about my scope/setup.

Dave
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #267 on: December 19, 2018, 04:27:40 pm »
I've found that the latest VDS1022 firmware seems do not allow incremental transfer of the new data in slow sampling rate mode. It just continuously write on the 5K data buffer in loop without any indication of the current cursor position |O. This make impossible to do continuous data recording and if so it's a bit a pity for so well equipped hardware.

Any hint about this?

By the way I'm implementing the support for the VDS1022 under Android. I'm wondering if any wish to do some test :bullshit:, I may provide some promo codes to the first who ask @ support[at]martinloren.com. It requires USB OTG and maybe some powered USB HUB if phone current from USB is not enough :D.

They obviously go into a different capture mode at slower than 50ms / division. Mine switches to continuous no-trigger roll mode.

It is common for digital scopes to capture a buffer, then stop and display it, and I guess they decided the delay between trigger and end of capture/display was too long at slower rates. My UT-81B does the same thing, at 100ms/div and below it no longer triggers, but captures continuously.

I don't know why they don't do it better, as losing triggering at slow rates is annoying.

I designed a little STM32 based scope, and while capturing, I just watch the DMA  buffer pointer registers and display the data as it gets buffered. At high rates, the display lags the actual capture, but it's still just as fast (slightly faster) than waiting for the whole capture before dumping the buffer, and there's no issue with slow rates - the display gets updated as the samples come in....

I would be very interested in an Android port - I would love to be able to use this thing with a tablet. I have an OTG adapter which provides a USB host port, and can provide external power, I think it would probably work fine for interfacing to the scope.

Dave
 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #268 on: December 19, 2018, 05:48:17 pm »
Dave, thanks for coming back and reporting you impressions, glad it lived up to expectations as there is still precious little review info out there.

Looking back at the notes I made when I linked my previous versions, I noted that 1.0.23 was stable for me, later versions have seemed to concentrate on breaking an then fixing features. I don't remember seeing any new features on later versions. My guess is that the later releases have been more to do with achieving some level of common code base with the newer, higher bandwidth models, I suspect that the VDS1022 was 'complete' by 1.0.23. I don't know anything else for sure though, and in the absence of any release notes...  The only way to know for sure is to dig into the code.

I haven't experienced the zoom followed by hang on capture issued - not something I've done to be honest. My suspicion is that if you're getting into a situation where timebase changes and the stored waveform doesn't, then the scope and s/w are likely to end up with different understandings of what the timebase actually is! potentially causing the hang. Have you tried restoring the timebase setting to what it was for the previous capture?

I haven't done much with the versions since 1.0.23 apart from the 'breakages' I mentioned (the reason for archiving them!). Not because I've outgrown it - I just haven't spent much time in my lab.

Thanks for the info. So far I've not noticed anything new past 1.0.23 either.

I have tried setting the timebase back to the original capture before proceeding, and it still hangs. Very odd - even 5k points is worth being able to zoom in (my TDS210 has only 2.5k and I zoom in with it all the time).

I'd be curious to know if you can reproduce the issue - just do a capture, stop the scope, adjust horizontal to "zoom in", then just start the scope again. For me it hangs very often. 1.0.23 recovers quite quickly, but you will still see a reconnecting message ... just would like to confirm it's not something "special" about my scope/setup.

Dave

Sorry for my lethargy last night, I'm fighting a bit of an infection.

Odd, I had installed 1.0.30 when I saw it, but hadn't got as far as plugging in the VDS. I just tried it (1kHz cal, Ch1) and came up with some strange results. It auto triggered ok, but when I hit stop and then clicked on the timebase it crashed immediately and repeatably. For some reason single trace was greyed out too.

I uninstalled 1.0.30 and installed 1.0.29, tried exactly the same and it worked perfectly. Manual or single trigger, whatever timebase I zoomed to after stopping and restarting. Never flinched.

Thinking it was another introduced 'breakage' I was set to confirming it by re-installing 1.0.30 (uninstalling 1.0.29 first). To my surprise if now finding that 1.0.30 works perfectly too.  ???  I've tried it many times in succession with across a silly range of zooms / unzooms and it hasn't missed a beat.

The only differences I can think of are..

1. I did the first 1.0.30 installation 'cold', thinking I must get around to plugging in and checking that (in fact I had to use the install F/W option before it would see the VDS). I think it may actually have been a 'clean install' as I've only recently brought this laptop up. This time, I did all the uninstalls / reinstalls with the VDS still plugged in.
2. The VDS had a few minutes to warm up before I uninstalled 1.0.29
3. 1.0.29 might have left something in the registry that 1.0.30 needs?

This is all on Win7 SP1 64bit pro by the way.

You might want to check for USB supply voltage, but I'm pushing my luck with a 3m USB cable at the moment so that sounds unlikely. Maybe try a different port though.

Sorry I couldn't give you a definitive they broke it in Version xxxx.


P.S. Just to be clear, I haven't seen any reconnect message - I think you may indeed have a setup issue.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2018, 05:56:30 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #269 on: December 27, 2018, 03:12:44 am »
Dave, thanks for coming back and reporting you impressions, glad it lived up to expectations as there is still precious little review info out there.

Looking back at the notes I made when I linked my previous versions, I noted that 1.0.23 was stable for me, later versions have seemed to concentrate on breaking an then fixing features. I don't remember seeing any new features on later versions. My guess is that the later releases have been more to do with achieving some level of common code base with the newer, higher bandwidth models, I suspect that the VDS1022 was 'complete' by 1.0.23. I don't know anything else for sure though, and in the absence of any release notes...  The only way to know for sure is to dig into the code.

I haven't experienced the zoom followed by hang on capture issued - not something I've done to be honest. My suspicion is that if you're getting into a situation where timebase changes and the stored waveform doesn't, then the scope and s/w are likely to end up with different understandings of what the timebase actually is! potentially causing the hang. Have you tried restoring the timebase setting to what it was for the previous capture?

I haven't done much with the versions since 1.0.23 apart from the 'breakages' I mentioned (the reason for archiving them!). Not because I've outgrown it - I just haven't spent much time in my lab.

Thanks for the info. So far I've not noticed anything new past 1.0.23 either.

I have tried setting the timebase back to the original capture before proceeding, and it still hangs. Very odd - even 5k points is worth being able to zoom in (my TDS210 has only 2.5k and I zoom in with it all the time).

I'd be curious to know if you can reproduce the issue - just do a capture, stop the scope, adjust horizontal to "zoom in", then just start the scope again. For me it hangs very often. 1.0.23 recovers quite quickly, but you will still see a reconnecting message ... just would like to confirm it's not something "special" about my scope/setup.

Dave

Sorry for my lethargy last night, I'm fighting a bit of an infection.

Odd, I had installed 1.0.30 when I saw it, but hadn't got as far as plugging in the VDS. I just tried it (1kHz cal, Ch1) and came up with some strange results. It auto triggered ok, but when I hit stop and then clicked on the timebase it crashed immediately and repeatably. For some reason single trace was greyed out too.

I uninstalled 1.0.30 and installed 1.0.29, tried exactly the same and it worked perfectly. Manual or single trigger, whatever timebase I zoomed to after stopping and restarting. Never flinched.

Thinking it was another introduced 'breakage' I was set to confirming it by re-installing 1.0.30 (uninstalling 1.0.29 first). To my surprise if now finding that 1.0.30 works perfectly too.  ???  I've tried it many times in succession with across a silly range of zooms / unzooms and it hasn't missed a beat.

The only differences I can think of are..

1. I did the first 1.0.30 installation 'cold', thinking I must get around to plugging in and checking that (in fact I had to use the install F/W option before it would see the VDS). I think it may actually have been a 'clean install' as I've only recently brought this laptop up. This time, I did all the uninstalls / reinstalls with the VDS still plugged in.
2. The VDS had a few minutes to warm up before I uninstalled 1.0.29
3. 1.0.29 might have left something in the registry that 1.0.30 needs?

This is all on Win7 SP1 64bit pro by the way.

You might want to check for USB supply voltage, but I'm pushing my luck with a 3m USB cable at the moment so that sounds unlikely. Maybe try a different port though.

Sorry I couldn't give you a definitive they broke it in Version xxxx.

P.S. Just to be clear, I haven't seen any reconnect message - I think you may indeed have a setup issue.

Very strange... I've tried it on four different systems now with exactly the same results.
I too am using Win7-64 Pro (and on some of the systems Win7-64 home).

I've tried the cable that came with it, as well as other cables.
I measure about 0.36 amps, which is well within the 500ma spec. for a single USB port, let alone the dual port configuration of the supplied cable.

I've tried installing the driver that is included with the software, and the one(s) posted on the OWON web site.

I have determined that the two things I'm observing are unrelated.

Inability to zoom in/out is intermittent on later versions (sometimes works) but almost always works on 1.0.23.

The disconnect occurs when I stop the scope, and does not relate to zooming.

Once I press the RUN/STOP button (Upper right, turns from PAUSE to PLAY when scope stops), about 10 seconds later I get the "USB device has disconnected" sound from windows.
This ONLY occurs if I STOP the scope. If I set it to "normal" trigger and don't trigger it (so no capturing going on), the disconnect problem does NOT occur.

If I have device manager open when the disconnect occurs, it refreshes, but the scope stays visible (assuming it's a very brief disconnect).

When I press RUN/STOP again to start the scope, after a couple of seconds, I get a message window at the top "Write content err. and disconnect X" (this is the same message you get it you pull the USB cable while running, followed by one saying "Choose USB port ... (clears too quickly to read all of it)", followed by one saying "Initializing..." (same as when scope starts) and the scope starts running. This is with 10.0.23 - later versions  usually hang at this point.

Before I install the drivers, it shows as "USB device" under "Other devices", NOT as "Oscilloscope" is described in the OWON driver installation document.
Once installed, the scope shows as "USB device" under "libusb-win32 devices" as described in the document.

I have not found an "Install F/W" option in the software ... I note that each software release has a directory called "$_OUTDIR/fpga/vds1022" which contains a large .bin file - I thought this was the firmware for the scope and is auto-loaded during "Initializing..." Is there some other option to install Firmware on the scope?

The "Install USB driver" option accessed via the state indicator in the upper left does not work, it runs a batch file which fails with access violations. I installed the driver by going to the scope device with device manager, and manually selecting the USB driver directory - this is the procedure documented in OWON's "USB_Driver_Install_Guide _V1.3".

It's funny ... perhaps I got a bad one, but in all other respects it seems to work fine.

Dave
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #270 on: December 27, 2018, 12:58:03 pm »
A bit more information:

There is a red LED at the top/back of the unit near the unused LAN cutout. This LED does not appear to be mentioned in the VDS_Series_User_Manual.

This LED comes on and flashes slowly when you first plug in the unit, then goes OFF and stays OFF when you launch the software and it finds/initializes it.

When I STOP the scope, 10 seconds later the "USB disconnect" sound plays, and the LED comes ON at exactly the same time, then resumes flashing slowly.

When I attempt to re-START the scope, it has to find/initialize it as described in my previous message, and the LED goes OFF, just as when first launching the software.

The same thing happens ("USB disconnect sound" and LED on) 10 seconds after I close the software with the scope running.

It almost seems to me that there is some sort of watchdog on communication and the scope is resetting or otherwise entering into some sort of fault/recovery state after 10 seconds of no communication.
As I would expect this to be a software thing, it should be happening on all VDS1022's, not just mine.

Could someone else with a VDS1022I try this and confirm that you DO or DO NOT get the LED coming back on after you STOP the scope (make sure the status in upper left changes to "STOP"). It happens for me after about 10 seconds.

I'm trying to determine if this one is defective or not.

Thanks,

Dave

PS: A couple other observations:

USBlogview does NOT show a disconnect and reconnect when the "USB disconnect" sound plays and the LED comes on. Device manager DOES refresh indicating that a device has changed status. I note that USBlogview has a short delay before it reports devices connecting and disconnecting, so it may be filtering what it determines to be a transient event.


As long as I don't STOP the scope, the problem does not occur.

If I use NORMAL trigger, and do not provide any trigger events after the initial capture, the scope remains connected even though it is not performing a capture (it must however be capturing in background as it would need to be recording pre-trigger events for the next capture). It this state, I can even ZOOM using the "AssistSet/Zoom" functions in the Horizontal menu, which:

  - Proves that the software is capable of ZOOMing on the last captured waveform.

  - Is much more easy/convenient that fooling with the timebase settings.

I have no idea why OWON blocks using ZOOM when you STOP the scope, as it is clearly possible in the software, and would be a very useful thing to have.

This (staying in normal trigger) is not a good workaround because:

  - Can be hard to prevent additional triggers, which wipe out capture you are trying to examine.

  - Single-shot capture automatically changes to STOP following trigger.


Minor bug discovered while investigating this:

With trigger set to AUTO (or a source which triggers applied) and scope STOPped, use status menu to disconnect and reconnect scope. Scope begins capturing, but Run/Stop button still shows START - you have to press it twice to stop scope.
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #271 on: December 28, 2018, 10:02:10 am »
I guess you just need to know when to stop digging yourself in further!

When I first got the VDS1022I as with any other modern product, I ignored the DVD that came with it, and downloaded the latest version (1.0.30) and USB driver directly from OWON's site. I installed the USB driver, then the software, and it "mostly" worked. but I had the strange disconnect problem described in preceding posts.

Last evening, thinking it might be a conflict with one of several other USB based tools I have installed on my lab systems, I installed a fresh copy of windows on an old laptop, then not bothering to move over the downloaded installers, I stuffed in the DVD that came with the scope, and installed 1.0.29. Then I ran it, and tried "Install USB driver" which failed with "can't find REINSTALL.BAT", so I manually installed the driver that was included in the installed software (not the "new" one from OWONs site).

And... everything worked! I can zoom, and no 10-second disconnect!

So, I went to my working laptop (where I most want the scope to work), un-installed the driver, tracked down and removed all driver related files, uninstalled the software, tracked down and removed all program and appdata files and repeated the above.

And... everything works!

Did the same on my desktop. And... everything works!


I can only guess that the "new" driver from OWONs site installed some "nugget of goodness" which was interfering with things. I still get the disconnect sound and LED-ON 10 seconds after I close the VDS software (and I expect you will too), so I'm thinking that some "keep-alive" message while paused was not being transferred through the driver.

I also noted that the "fpga" directory and contained .bin files were NOT removed when I uninstalled the software. It may also be that a wrong or bad version of the firmware was being loaded.

Thanks for your help, and hopefully my experience may save someone else a bit of grief!

Dave

 

Offline GyroTopic starter

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #272 on: December 28, 2018, 03:43:15 pm »
Hey Dave,

I missed your previous couple of posts (rather pleased that I did now). Glad you got it sorted! I can't remember which was the earliest version that I installed when I changed laptops, but obviously early enough to circumvent the 'straight to 1.0.30' from the website.

Coincidentally I am just setting up an old IBM T42 with Win7 32 pro and an SSD to use as a small footprint lab bench PC, so your info is immediately helpful. Thanks.

Chris
Best Regards, Chris
 

Offline DDunfield

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #273 on: December 30, 2018, 12:32:13 pm »
Now that I have this thing working properly, time for a better "review".  I have to say that I quite like it.

It works! - I've tried a couple other low cost USB scopes and they were terrible, unreliable triggering, lost data in captures. Just not worth looking at. It seems OWON did something fiendishly clever that none of the other low-end USB scope makers have thought of ... they put an actual oscilloscope inside the box!  not just an 8-bit micro trying desperately to shovel sample captures at a PC without losing "to much" of what you are interested in seeing.

It's cheap! - I got mine for about C$90 (~$70 US)  - Not much more than the "sample and shovel" boxes.

It's small! About the size of a medium-small paperback book, easily fits in my (admittedly bigish) laptop bag. Rather than just toss it in with all the other detritus in the side pocket, I got a cheap 10" tablet case, which holds the scope and a couple of probes while maintaining thinness so it just slides in the pocket above the main compartment with the laptop.

Software seems decent. While I would prefer something cleaner than 100M+ of Java and .DLLs, it seems to keep to itself, and runs well. I tried installing it on an single-core Atom (N270) netbook running XP .. and it works fine!  Another advantage to it doing scope-functions inside the box! It doesn't need much in the way of PC resources.

UI-wise the software is also quite good, I like that it doesn't make you turn "virtual knobs" but uses simple menus, and many functions can be done just by moving pointers with the mouse.

I don't really like their use of a USB-A connector which would normally require you to carry a separate cable. I've standardized on micro-USB cables for all the peripherals in my "portable lab", using adapters to other formats when needed, so I added a micro-USB to USB-A male adapter which works perfectly on the VDS1022I.

So far, it seems to be one of the best low-cost and small compromises I have found for a portable scope. I've got a couple of scopemeters, but they are too big for the laptop bag, and unless you spend big $$$ are considerably more limited than the VDS1022I.

It could also make a good cheap bench scope if you have a PC handy and don't need more capability. Sure, a 1054Z (or similar) is a lot more scope, but at 1/5 the price I can see places where the VDS1022 could make sense.

Dave

PS: The only thing I really don't like is the fact that at 100ms/div and slower it switches to roll mode with triggering disabled. I get that they think the delay between trigger/display would become too long, but they should have at least let us make that choice - there are sometimes cases where I want to wait for and capture a slow event.

 
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Offline epigramx

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Re: OWON VDS1022I Quick Teardown (versus the Hantek 6022be)
« Reply #274 on: January 13, 2019, 07:53:21 pm »
At the end of the day, if someone can afford $200-250 (because I suspect most that can afford $100-$150 can afford slightly higher), do you think this is worth it? I find the general concept of headless oscilloscopes very optiimal technologically since many people have a PC right in front of them at all times anyway, but I get the impression there is no much progress is that field yet, even with this model around (e.g. I noticed only the small model on this floating version can accept high voltage signals).
 


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