Experimenting with 'B' firmware on a Keithley 2001 'A' model

[inaxeon]

Hi Guys

I know this is kind of a ridiculous thing to do - but I couldn't resist the temptation. I built an adapter so I could cram a larger ROM into a Keithley 2001 'A' model.

It seems to have worked i.e. it now boots version B16, but it appears I've lost all of my calibration data, and stupid me, I didn't back it up.

Even when I put the old 'A' rom back in, it still says it's lost. I'm quite surprised that the behavior is to erase what's there when changing from ROMs?

Is there anyone here with better knowledge of this stuff who can give me some advice before I dig myself into a bigger hole!

Thanks

[inaxeon]

Figured this out.

After having booted my 2001 with (more or less) the latest firmware (B16) I discover that the calibration data hasn’t loaded, and on top of that it’s gone and wiped the calibration memory on boot-up. FFS.

It turns out that the format of the calibration memory is different between the original firmware (A08) and what I’ve upgraded it to (B16). Referring back to the great oracle of Keithley 2001 related information (xdevs.com) one of the images he’s got up there appears to be in the same format as what I’ve upgraded to, so I edited the binary to put my serial number into it, flashed that into mine, and I’m back in business, albeit with someone else’s calibration coefficients. Eh. I don’t care, my cals were a decade out of date (long overdue to be re-done) anyway so no big loss.

(full details here: http://tech.mattmillman.com/rom-adapter-for-running-b-firmware-on-a-keithley-2001-with-a-pre-rev-k-digital-pcb/)

[MadTux]

Happens to K2015 as well, if you try to upgrade firmware, gets an error flag on bottom of display.
Readings on most ranges are still correct however. But since K2015 has so much different functions, I didn't bother to find out, which one is wrong.
Have a cheaply acquired 2010 with A firmware here as well, self test isn't implemented there, but I don't dare to upgrade, since it probably looses calibration as well.

[inaxeon]

Yeah I saw the "ERR" indicator (with no startup errors) during my messing around. It turns out in the case of the 2001 - that means it's running with the factory default coefficients.