Siglent Bench DMMs SDM3065X, SDM3055 and SDM3045X

[mawyatt]

We are still waiting for Siglent to come up with a verified solution!!

Have you tried the recovery package Rob provided?

Thanks,
Josh

No not yet. We are not that good with this sort of stuff and since nobody has reported a complete recovery, we are just waiting.

Think Siglent factory is looking at this in detail as Rob has informed them of this situation.

Best

[KungFuJosh]

We are still waiting for Siglent to come up with a verified solution!!

Have you tried the recovery package Rob provided?

Thanks,
Josh

No not yet. We are not that good with this sort of stuff and since nobody has reported a complete recovery, we are just waiting.

Think Siglent factory is looking at this in detail as Rob has informed them of this situation.

Best

Gotcha. I'd try the recovery, but I have the newer hardware that didn't have any trouble, and I don't want to mess with my user cal.

If you want to try it, use a clean (empty) USB drive (8GB or less, FAT or FAT32 to be safe) with nothing on it besides the recovery files in the root. In theory at least, it will either work and restore your meter, or nothing will happen.

[Salient666]

If you want to try it, use a clean (empty) USB drive (8GB or less, FAT or FAT32 to be safe) with nothing on it besides the recovery files in the root. In theory at least, it will either work and restore your meter, or nothing will happen.

Unfortunately I can tell you this is not the case. Although the new recovery package from Rob will always install correctly on my meter, using several 4GB and 8GB old USB sticks, the meter will keep having the same issues (not booting 29 out of 30 times or so, and if it boots, it will hang randomly, sometimes after less than a minute, somtimes after an hour).
So the fact that the package says that it is successful, this is no guarantee that it actually is.

[KungFuJosh]

Well, that sucks. They clearly missed something.

[PushUp]

Still no further response from tautech's HQ source?


So, here is a little bit more brainstorming for Salient666 and his useless SDM3065X...


However, before doing anything, wait for tv84 and his estimation!


As far as I know, you have done this so far, without getting back to an usable SDM3065X compared with your former working and pre-installed FW 3.01.01.12R1:


01) 3.01.01.12R1     -     EasyDMM-X via LAN works, but blinking LED in standby => usable, but dissatisfied => trying to upgrade

02) 3.02.01.12R1     -     No EasyDMM-X via LAN, Upgrade failed due to "Product_ID 12000 vs. Product_ID 12001" or change in filesystem structure => now unusable

03) 3.02.01.13          -     failed* to recover with corrupted (?!) Recovery Files "SDM3065X USB flash drive recover V3.02.01.13" => still unusable
                                        * = the process itself works, but with no usable SDM3065X in the end

04) 3.02.01.15R2     -     Upgrade from corrupted (?!) Recovery FW 3.02.01.13 to 15R2 also without success => still unusable


Let us assume the worst case, that you have to send your SDM3065X to your dealer/Siglent, blaming them to publish unusable Firmware files. You would probably get back a working SDM3065X, including calibration, and then being on the final FW version 3.02.01.15R2 to be ready for any future update. If that was a fair arrangement, I would probably invest up to 100 Euro including shipping, which is something between "goodwill" and Siglent knowing, that they have done a mistake, which they cannot admit, because otherwise they would be sued...


However, before doing so or waiting for tautech's HQ response, I would test some other scenarios:


A) After using the "corrupted Recovery Files 3.02.01.13", you should be (in reality you are probably not) on "Product_ID 12001". When we trust the changelog, you cannot downgrade to 3.01... anymore. However, when you are still able to downgrade to your former working FW 3.01.01.12R1, then you know, that the Product_ID conversion wasn't successful and you should have a working SDM3065X again?

=> Are you able to downgrade to your former working FW 3.01.01.12R1
=> Any change?
=> If this is possible, but still does not work properly, are you also able to use the "1st Recovery" => D) at the bottom? Is this a useful thing to consider or too risky?


B) When A) does not work, your SDM3065X probably has implemented the new "Product_ID 12001". Therefore, after using the "corrupted recovery Files 3.02.01.13", you have two further possibilities to try:

aa) use latest corrupted recovery files, in order to be on 3.02.01.13, but immediately try to downgrade to 3.02.01.12R1

=> Any change?


bb) use latest corrupted recovery files, in order to be on 3.02.01.13, but immediately upgrade to 15R2 and then try to downgrade to 3.02.01.12R1

=> Any change?


C) As the corrupted recovery files are called "...USB flash drive recover...", it is probably not a good idea to use the internal card reader, but maybe (!?) the recovery works better via this way...?

Service Manual with disassembly procedures to get to the card reader:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_ServiceManual_SM06036-E02F.pdf

=> Any change?


D) Apart from this none-working "2nd Recovery", there is still the "1st Recovery"?! Maybe the 1st recovery files are able to provoke a change or brick anything completely?

Source:
https://siglent.tawk.help/article/instrument-stuck-at-boot-screen-recovery
SDM3065X and SDM3065X-SC f/w: 3.01.01.10
https://mega.nz/file/w9sikZhJ#BzKVSf5XofB19buJOlWocM6h1spY1DtOf3InBYCYoQg

=> Any change?


In the meantime I would probably contact your dealer and/or Siglent to ask for any help/arrangement/estimated charges...till tautech will get some more info...?



Here are the latest PDF-Files for the SDM3065X:

Quick Start, 2024-08-28:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM_Series_QuickStart_EN04B.pdf

User Manual, 2024-08-28:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_Usermanual_E02B.pdf

Data Sheet, 2024-08-28:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_datasheet_e03a.pdf

Service Manual, 2025-11-07:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_ServiceManual_SM06036-E02F.pdf

[KungFuJosh]

AFAIK recovery files ignore Product_ID, and are (usually) not downgradable. Definitely not possible directly in this case.

The only way you could potentially downgrade via the firmware is to modify the Product_ID on the old firmware to match the new / current Product_ID set by the newer firmware.

Doing that might still be dangerous due to the file system changes. However, if successful at all, then maybe, if also lucky, the old recovery would work.

[Salient666]

Are you able to downgrade to your former working FW 3.01.01.12R1
Use latest corrupted recovery files, in order to be on 3.02.01.13, but immediately try to downgrade to 3.02.01.12R1

Unfortunately, a downgrade from 3.02.01.13 to 3.02.01.12R1 is not possible. Also a downgrade to any 3.01.01.xx version is not possible. It will result in a FAIL message right away.
Only options are to either stay on 3.02.01.13 or upgrade to 3.02.01.15R2, both of which result in rarely booting up and eventually freezing up.

C) As the corrupted recovery files are called "...USB flash drive recover...", it is probably not a good idea to use the internal card reader, but maybe (!?) the recovery works better via this way...?

Service Manual with disassembly procedures to get to the card reader:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_ServiceManual_SM06036-E02F.pdf

=> Any change?

I haven't tried this yet. I might give it a shot.

D) Apart from this none-working "2nd Recovery", there is still the "1st Recovery"?! Maybe the 1st recovery files are able to provoke a change or brick anything completely?

Source:
https://siglent.tawk.help/article/instrument-stuck-at-boot-screen-recovery
SDM3065X and SDM3065X-SC f/w: 3.01.01.10
https://mega.nz/file/w9sikZhJ#BzKVSf5XofB19buJOlWocM6h1spY1DtOf3InBYCYoQg

=> Any change?

The 1st recovery mode simply doesn't start from any of my USB disks. The new one always starts (and always tells me it is successful, although it's not).

In the meantime I would probably contact your dealer and/or Siglent to ask for any help/arrangement/estimated charges...till tautech will get some more info...?

I have contacted Siglent Europe last week, but so far no reply whatsoever. I am willing to pay and in my mind I had something around 100 - 150 euros to get it fixed. Considering what I paid for this device I think it's still worth that.

[tv84]

Rolling back to FW 3.01.01.12R1:

I didn't thought of this but, YES, it's possible. I could create a 3.01.01.12R1 with Prod_ID 12001 and that would allow to bypass the validation. BUT... the filesystem layer would be different and, as such, I think failure or (worst case) total brick could be a possibility. Any Linux expert could shim in... It would be definitely dependent on the bootloader. But if it was ok, I think using the OLD Recovery Disk after that might save the day.

Regarding payment for revival: I guess Siglent would have to bank for all of it!

[tautech]

....................

C) As the corrupted recovery files are called "...USB flash drive recover...", it is probably not a good idea to use the internal card reader, but maybe (!?) the recovery works better via this way...?

Service Manual with disassembly procedures to get to the card reader:
https://siglent.oss-cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/English_content/Document/Digital%20Multimeters/SDM3065X_ServiceManual_SM06036-E02F.pdf

=> Any change?

I haven't tried this yet. I might give it a shot.

DO NOT use USB recovery packages for uSD card recovery ! !

These are quite different packages and you will certainly brick the meter.
uSD card packages load earlier in the boot process to write the complete OS but Cal data is still retained and not overwritten.


However we haven't yet explored uSD card recovery to get back to a FW 3.01 **** working state to then install more recent FW than the uSD card recovery installs.
For those with currently non-functional units this path should be considered ......

PM for the package and this can be shared privately but not to be posted online please.

[KungFuJosh]

However we haven't yet explored uSD card recovery to get back to a FW 3.01 **** working state to then install more recent FW than the uSD card recovery installs.

Or they can provide a uSD 3.02 recovery that miiiight actually work?

[tautech]

However we haven't yet explored uSD card recovery to get back to a FW 3.01 **** working state to then install more recent FW than the uSD card recovery installs.

Or they can provide a uSD 3.02 recovery that miiiight actually work?

Too early to say.....HQ is on Dragon boat hols for a few days....but yes we would hope so.

The feedback from @PushUp is valuable for HQ to see as we try to find a 100% workable solution.