Rigol MSO 5000 hardware/software revisions

[skander36]

So hardware vn 01.00.000 but with improved brightness and quieter fan, right?

Yes .

[Martin72]

And to make it more confusing:

Have a look at the pic with the delivery note of my turned back rigol after modification.

[Commodore8888]

Hmmm.

I have one I picked up around late Dec, early Jan 2019. The fan isn't loud at all and the screen isn't too much off from the MSO7000s we have at base.
Waiting for a friend to get his 5000 so I can see side by side. Definitely not first

That or call Rigol 1980s style with a serial number 

Gotta wonder....how quickly did they change after the first production runs?

[Gandalf_Sr]

Hmmm.

I have one I picked up around late Dec, early Jan 2019. The fan isn't loud at all and the screen isn't too much off from the MSO7000s we have at base.
Waiting for a friend to get his 5000 so I can see side by side. Definitely not first

That or call Rigol 1980s style with a serial number 

Gotta wonder....how quickly did they change after the first production runs?

What is the hardware version of that one Commodore8888?  I understood originally that the modified ones were >01.00.000 but some here are saying that is not always the case.

[NoisyBoy]

Remember Rigol never openly advertise there is a fix for these two problems, but if I recall correctly, they start shipping fixed unit around Feb/Mar in 2019.  Repair for sold unit came a little later, Martin72 will have the exact date as he had to wait to get his unit repaired.

And Gandalf_Sr, even the repaired unit would still show 1.00.00 in the About screen, other than the paper work, you can’t tell from the About screen on whether it has been fixed.

[Gandalf_Sr]

Remember Rigol never openly advertise there is a fix for these two problems, but if I recall correctly, they start shipping fixed unit around Feb/Mar in 2019.  Repair for sold unit came a little later, Martin72 will have the exact date as he had to wait to get his unit repaired.

And Gandalf_Sr, even the repaired unit would still show 1.00.00 in the About screen, other than the paper work, you can’t tell from the About screen on whether it has been fixed.

I just emailed Rigol NA asking about my specific unit.

[EDIT] I just heard from Evan of Tequipment.net who was apologetic and said they would sort it out, I'll report back when I hear more from them.

[NoisyBoy]

Sorry to hear you are already running into so many issues as a new owner.  I hope your dealer can help you sort it out. 

It would be interesting to see if Rigol truly keep track of everything by serial number.  If they offer to fix it, then I would suggest you get an exchange for a fresh one instead of getting a repaired one. 

[thm_w]

Can't seem to get this SCPI command to work, but I may be missing something:

Code: [Select]

scope.query(':display:data?')       #returns screenshot in BMP format
or
scope.query_binary_values(':display:data?', datatype='i', is_big_endian=True)

Syntax :DISPlay:DATA?
Description Queries the bitmap data stream of the currently displayed image.
Return Format The query returns the binary data stream of the screenshot in ".bmp" format.

Getting timeout with even a large wait value (100s).
If you use the web interface you can grab a 1024x600 PNG easily. Also DG800 uses PNG and works (although the command is different read_raw(), which gets some hundreds of bytes?).

v00.01.02.00.02

edit:
- Set the time base to 1us
- Set acquisition mode to Averaging (any number)
Might get a slight buzzing noise from that . Doesn't show up at any other mode I can see.

edit2: :LA:TCAL command still doesn't appear to be working, so not sure what SCPI command they fixed.

edit3: :source:outp1:state? returns 1 or 0, not ON or OFF as stated in the manual

[tv84]

I've said this before: I think HW 01.00 and HW 01.01 differ in (at least) the Zynq and/or ASIC batch, but not necessarily in the noise/brightness of screen.

[Gandalf_Sr]

I've been in contact with Rigol USA - they claim not to recognize my serial number!  They also said this...

You may find this hard to believe but there is no difference between 01.00 and 01.01.  I know as we we were confused as well.  But there appears to be a version number reporting error in FW that was identified in April/May of last year.  The HW has not been updated since mfg date in December of 2018.

So what did they do to the units in the EU such as Martin's that were 'fixed' and came back with brighter screens, quieter fans, and notes to support that change? They did however offer me an equipment swap in coordination with Tequipment...

We have told Tequipment that we will support a swap if you choose but you have the latest HW and I would expect anything dramatically different with the replacement.

I think there's a typo in there, it should be I would NOT expect anything dramatically different.... Given all the uncertainty, I have asked for a swap to an up-to-date unit and that is now in process.  They will ship me a new one and have sent me an RMA for the old one.

[NoisyBoy]

Wow, that's worse than I thought.  If they cannot recognize the serial number of a scope sold by one of their own AD, it only shows how poor their own record and inventory management system is.  It may work for the market of $300 scopes, but they definitely are not ready for the $1000+ market, let alone the $10K market they hope to break into.  Can you imagine if you run a lab and you pay $13K for a top shelf MSO8000, and that's the answer you get from Rigol! 

As I said before, I don't think they want to admit or advertise the fact that some scopes have dim screens and loud fans and have a massive warranty claim (and not able to tell which scopes are affected by owners only make the matter worse, as it is so subjective and all of us would always want an even brighter screen and quieter fan).  If they cannot track which serial number contain the updated scope, can you imagine the nightmare if numerous owners demand them to check their scope to ensure it has been updated.  So the "easy" solution would be to claim there has never been any update to avoid having to do any upgrade to sold scopes.  I tend to agree with tv84 that there is indeed an underlying hardware change at the component level, if hardware is indeed identical since day one, how can firmware report different version numbers by scope, and the fact they still have not fixed it in 10 months and two firmware refreshes to report only one version of hardware as they claimed.


 

Gandalf_Sr, no one has ever taken a picture of a dim display scope next to an updated scope.  If your first scope is indeed from old stock prior to update, you will be the first one who can provide the before/after comparison.  In any event, hopefully the replacement would be a scope that has a <11 month old calibration.  Based on what Rigol publish below, it is perhaps reasonable to expect a cal <180 days old.

This from Rigol:
All Instruments Products come with a Factory Calibration Certificate

Traceable to the International System of Units (SI).  RIGOL certifies that the product meets or exceeds published measurement specifications and has been calibrated using standards traceable to National Metrology Institutes (NIST, NIM, NPL,PTB).  The policies and proceedures used at the RIGOL facility are based on ISO9001 & ISO/IEC17025:2005.

Recommended Instrument Calibration Intervals are identified in the corresponding product datasheet and user manual.

RIGOL has determined that the factory calibration of our instruments are not significantly affected by storage of up to 180 days before first-time use.  Cal Interval should start at the time the unit is placed in service OR 180 days past the "Date of Calibration" on the certificate received with the unit.  (note: there are several exceptions to this.  Please see your instrument's Calibration Certificate for the specifics of your product.)

[Gandalf_Sr]

@NoisyBoy
Thanks for the input.  I reached back out to Rigol about my serial number not being recognized and they came back saying when they originally cut and pasted the Ser# into their system it didn't come up but when they typed it it was recognized.

I won't be able to do a side by side as I'm having to cover the cost of the new one on my credit card and will only get the refund for the old one when it gets back so the old one is going back today - I asked Tequipment for some kind of priority shipping, 2 or 3 day on the new one.

The calibration date is an excellent point but Tequipment have stated from the day I complained that they never intended to send me an old one and have been apologetic.

So, as predicted, Tequipment are trying to fix the problem; they have always acted with integrity when I've bought from them and I still have some loyalty towards them.

MSO5000 owners are still left with the suspicion that Rigol is not publicly acknowledging that there was any issue with the early models regarding screen brightness or fan noise; and then there's the long wait for firmware updates........

I have designed a set of PCBs for the cheap LA probe hardware, the thread I started on it is here; I am waiting for a parts delivery from Digikey so I can check some footprints before ordering the PCBs. There will be a passive, 4-layer (LVDS) adapter PCB that connects the MSO5000 to two 0.1" headers each carrying 8 channels.  There are 2 identical, 2-layer probe PCBs which use 8 channel voltage level translators feeding into 2 x LVDS driver ICs that push the signal into the ribbon cables to the Adapter PCB.  The probe PCBs can be fitted with one of two different voltage level translators; one allows a VccIO range of 0.65 - 3.6V and the other allows 1.6 - 5.5V, you can have one of each if you want to.  Total cost for the whole setup is about $25 in components plus the cost of the PCBs - maybe another $20.  I deliberately kept it at 0603 and TSSOP (ICs with legs) so that it can be hand-assembled.

[NoisyBoy]

X2 on TEquipment, they have always been excellent for me as well, I just ordered some LeCroy accessories from them and their prices on LeCroy are very good.

I look forward to seeing Rigol get your equipment issue sorted out, so you can have everything working.  Sorry to hear about what you had to go through and I look forward to seeing your design on the logic probes.

[thm_w]

The last FW update (v00.01.02.00.02) must have just been a rush to patch the email thing, or for a major customer that needed the mask test fixed. Apparently more releases in June:

The product line has told us to expect firmware to be released for both the  MSO5 and DG8 in June.

I'm guessing the actual features we expect (hi-res, bode, etc) were a lot harder than thought or their software team resources are limited. Shame they keep NA support in the dark.

[Martin72]

I'm guessing the actual features we expect

For a year or more….First they said, bode ( for example) comes with one of the next updates (lol)in may 2019.....
Waiting, waiting, waiting….then they told me, they´re putting all their energy for releasing the mso8000 and after this is done, an update will come.
Waiting, waiting, waiting…..

[tv84]

Bode plot is coming...

[Gandalf_Sr]

Bode plot is coming...

So is Christmas!

[pmaggi]

New firmware 00.01.02.00.03...
rar file seems to be corrupted, I couldn't open it

[whatisthis]

New firmware 00.01.02.00.03...
rar file seems to be corrupted, I couldn't open it

The beginning of the file does not look like a rar or zip archive

[pmaggi]

https://www.temcom.com/instruments-presented-by-rigol-at-embedded-world-2020/

According to this... now it has Bodeplot...

[NoisyBoy]

I think that's Rigol's way to show they do release new firmware on a frequent basis 

Seriously if they cannot even upload a patch in the right format or one that works, that leaves me little if any confidence in their ability to produce quality firmware/software.  How much more messed up can they get these days?

Perhaps I should not complaint, as for the US market, they are still posting the 04.08 version from last summer as their latest.

[Cerebus]

If you are used to Agilent / Keysight scopes, the MSO5074 will look dim even with the fix.  I also received a version 1 hardware but LCD looked brighter than the first unit I had tried.  I emailed Rigol NA, they asked me for the serial number and they "confirmed" it had the LCD and fan fixes.  I am afraid you will have the same answer.  They have been out for more than a year and I don't expect them stocking very old stock.

I took delivery of a 1.01.000 hardware version from Telonic in the UK a few weeks back. Fan noise is very good (and I'm known as being bloody fussy about fan noise) and the brightness is perfectly adequate - I've currently got the grid and trace brightness down at 50% and that's quite comfortable. Nearly forgot - build date on the factory documentation: end of July 2019.

[Gandalf_Sr]

My replacement MSO5074 is supposed to arrive today.  Like the first one, it shipped from Oregon which is weird given that I bought it from a company based in New York - for those who are geographically challenged, Oregon is on the West coast and New York is on the East coast; approximately 3,000 miles apart.

I'm a bit worried that the serial number of the 'new' one will be within 3 of the old one, like I'm getting the next one off the stack of NOS Rigols.

I'll let you know...

[TK]

Rigol North America is based in Oregon, so it is being drop shipped from Rigol directly... what about the first unit?  Did it also came from Oregon?

[Gandalf_Sr]

Rigol North America is based in Oregon, so it is being drop shipped from Rigol directly... what about the first unit?  Did it also came from Oregon?

Yes, the first unit shipped from Oregon too.  Given that I was in contact with Rigol (as was Tequipment) about the new-old-stock (NOS) MSO5074 I received, I now have a much better feeling that I'll be getting an up to date unit.

But it's interesting to consider that Tequipment may just be a web store front who simply broker deals that get fulfilled by other suppliers and OEMs.  That also suggests that it was Rigol, not Tequipment, that tried to dump a NOS item on me.