Re: HP 8920B #hp8920b various questions
#hp8920b
Hi Alex,
?? The lithium battery only saves screen setups. It will not save
the "last settings..." Regarding the PCMCIA cards, if you are only
using SRAM (battery backed up) cards, the Adtron SDD-R-PCC PCMCIA
card reader writer works well. Check what computer interface is
needed before you get this. Ours has an older serial cable. If you
are using SRAM and linear flash type cards, the Omnidrive USB2
will work. The Omnidrive is about double the price and uses a
modern USB connector.? I'm also interested if anyone has found a
economy priced composite video (BNC) to? VGA adapter that will
work with the 8920. The 8920 video is unusual in that it uses a?
19 KHz horizontal scan rate. The common composite video scan rate
was 15 KHz.? Rick
On 4/17/2023 7:17 PM, opelgtalex wrote:
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Thank you for the info regarding VGA out, I missed
that little tidbit in the instructions. The blank where the
“Options Interface” is will make a nice spot to mount the
connector too!?
Thank you again.?
?
If you used the NewScope-0Jr., It actually has
a VGA output header, you just have to build a cable for IEC
to VGA and put it on the back panel.
On Sun, Apr 16, 2023 at
11:41?AM opelgtalex < aszuski@...>
wrote:
Hello to all, I had a couple questions;
1. Might someone have an 8920B front bezel that is for
the 0.400-1000MHz version? I have the 30-1000MHz bezel
and looking for the correct one for my unit if you want
to trade or sell or trade for my bezel please let me
know.?
2. The internal lithium batteries; do they save the last
used settings after shutdown? I know they save presets
but was curious if addition to they saved the last typed
in settings/frequency/state after power off. I read
through old posts but the only seemed to answer that the
setpoints are retained using these batteries and I saw
nothing pertaining to last user state.?
3. Is the GBS-8219 the ext. display interface of choice
or is there something better/preferred. I have the new
TFT display installed and removed the old CRT and what
an amazing difference- I love the change, wouldn’t mind
having an external display as well.?
4. What model external PCMIA card reader/writer is the
best for blanking and/or writing to? Or is an old laptop
with PCMIA the way to go? I know the cal data can be
read via serial port.?
Thank You,
Alex?
?
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
Depends on the programmer you are using.
Typically binary images are what is used in programming devices.
However some programmers can take HEX or SREC formats and either use that directly or convert to binary images.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
I just realized that the image files are in Intel hex format. Do they need to be converted to binary before I program the eproms??
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-------- Original message -------- From: rab@... Date: 3/29/23 1:57 PM (GMT-06:00) Subject: Re: [HP8920/8935 Family] HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
Hi Greg,
??? What are you using to program the (6) memory IC's? We use an
EE Tools -Chipmax programmer. I could email you the files if
needed. Rick
On 3/28/2023 7:03 PM, wgwl via
groups.io wrote:
Has anyone performed a successful firmware upgrade of an HP8920A
using the Rev A.14.14 eeprom images located in the files section
of [email protected]? I have tried and get a
non-recoverable firmware error message on power up. When I go back
to the original version, 6.11, no problem.?
?
Greg
WB9TRO?
?
?
?
?
?
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Re: HP 8920B #hp8920b various questions
#hp8920b
Thank you for the info regarding VGA out, I missed that little tidbit in the instructions. The blank where the “Options Interface” is will make a nice spot to mount the connector too!? Thank you again.?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Apr 16, 2023, at 22:45, DCFluX <dcflux@...> wrote:
? If you used the NewScope-0Jr., It actually has a VGA output header, you just have to build a cable for IEC to VGA and put it on the back panel.
On Sun, Apr 16, 2023 at 11:41?AM opelgtalex < aszuski@...> wrote: Hello to all, I had a couple questions;
1. Might someone have an 8920B front bezel that is for the 0.400-1000MHz version? I have the 30-1000MHz bezel and looking for the correct one for my unit if you want to trade or sell or trade for my bezel please let me know.?
2. The internal lithium batteries; do they save the last used settings after shutdown? I know they save presets but was curious if addition to they saved the last typed in settings/frequency/state after power off. I read through old posts but the only seemed to answer that the setpoints are retained using these batteries and I saw nothing pertaining to last user state.?
3. Is the GBS-8219 the ext. display interface of choice or is there something better/preferred. I have the new TFT display installed and removed the old CRT and what an amazing difference- I love the change, wouldn’t mind having an external display as well.?
4. What model external PCMIA card reader/writer is the best for blanking and/or writing to? Or is an old laptop with PCMIA the way to go? I know the cal data can be read via serial port.?
Thank You,
Alex?
?
|
Re: HP 8920B #hp8920b various questions
#hp8920b
If you used the NewScope-0Jr., It actually has a VGA output header, you just have to build a cable for IEC to VGA and put it on the back panel.
On Sun, Apr 16, 2023 at 11:41?AM opelgtalex < aszuski@...> wrote: Hello to all, I had a couple questions;
1. Might someone have an 8920B front bezel that is for the 0.400-1000MHz version? I have the 30-1000MHz bezel and looking for the correct one for my unit if you want to trade or sell or trade for my bezel please let me know.?
2. The internal lithium batteries; do they save the last used settings after shutdown? I know they save presets but was curious if addition to they saved the last typed in settings/frequency/state after power off. I read through old posts but the only seemed to answer that the setpoints are retained using these batteries and I saw nothing pertaining to last user state.?
3. Is the GBS-8219 the ext. display interface of choice or is there something better/preferred. I have the new TFT display installed and removed the old CRT and what an amazing difference- I love the change, wouldn’t mind having an external display as well.?
4. What model external PCMIA card reader/writer is the best for blanking and/or writing to? Or is an old laptop with PCMIA the way to go? I know the cal data can be read via serial port.?
Thank You,
Alex?
?
|
HP 8920B #hp8920b various questions
#hp8920b
Hello to all, I had a couple questions;
1. Might someone have an 8920B front bezel that is for the 0.400-1000MHz version? I have the 30-1000MHz bezel and looking for the correct one for my unit if you want to trade or sell or trade for my bezel please let me know.?
2. The internal lithium batteries; do they save the last used settings after shutdown? I know they save presets but was curious if addition to they saved the last typed in settings/frequency/state after power off. I read through old posts but the only seemed to answer that the setpoints are retained using these batteries and I saw nothing pertaining to last user state.?
3. Is the GBS-8219 the ext. display interface of choice or is there something better/preferred. I have the new TFT display installed and removed the old CRT and what an amazing difference- I love the change, wouldn’t mind having an external display as well.?
4. What model external PCMIA card reader/writer is the best for blanking and/or writing to? Or is an old laptop with PCMIA the way to go? I know the cal data can be read via serial port.?
Thank You,
Alex?
?
|
Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
I Have had the following cause a non recoverable firmware error:
eeprom is write protected, bad signal source board - aparantly the
controller couldn't communicate with it; corrupt eeprom, bad
controller board, corrupt firmware IC's ("A" unit only). Rick
On 4/12/2023 9:13 PM, jyelmgren wrote:
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On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 01:51 PM, wgwl wrote:
Non-recoverable firmware error
No clue? ?my only suggestion would be to remove the hardware down
to the CPU , Memory card and CRT display board and see if anything
changes.
The signaling , HP-IB and SA boards are always optional and it may
be worthwhile to disconnect those first.
I suspect you may have a processor board issue but without a known
good unit to test it in it could be anything ,? If you still have
the other memory card may be interesting to try that even if it
doesn't have all the memory installed.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 01:51 PM, wgwl wrote:
Non-recoverable firmware error
No clue? ?my only suggestion would be to remove the hardware down to the CPU , Memory card and CRT display board and see if anything changes. The signaling , HP-IB and SA boards are always optional and it may be worthwhile to disconnect those first. I suspect you may have a processor board issue but without a known good unit to test it in it could be anything ,? If you still have the other memory card may be interesting to try that even if it doesn't have all the memory installed.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
The error message is as follows.?
Non-recoverable firmware error. Please record the 2 lines of text below.........
'$Header: syshlp.c,v 12.1.2.1 95/02/15 11:38:16 hmgr Exp $' at line number 273
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-------- Original message -------- From: jyelmgren <jyelmgren@...> Date: 4/12/23 12:02 PM (GMT-06:00) Subject: Re: [HP8920/8935 Family] HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
As to the original question with the firmware upgrade failing. What if any error do you get on the screen ? If none do you get an LED error? code ...page 591/592 assembly level repair guide I have done lots of these and never really had an issue.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
As to the original question with the firmware upgrade failing.
What if any error do you get on the screen ?
If none do you get an LED error? code ...page 591/592 assembly level repair guide
I have done lots of these and never really had an issue.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
The device wrtie protect will only come into play if you reprogram or copy the calibration EEPROM.
Yes there are a lot of the device programmers that will by default set the EEPROM to write protect ....found this out this that hard way a while back.? I think one of my programmers had write protect enabled by default? and the other one did not.? Believe I may have posted something about this to the old Yahoo groups as well.
Was only copying the device to make it easier to swap control /processor boards IIRC
Normally only the processor board switch? write enable? would change and by default I leave mine in the protect mode which does not throw an error unless you are in a calibration routine,
Usually those will instruct you to switch it off while in the routine.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
Hi Greg,
??? I have seen some confusion with "write protect" and the 8920.
The controller board (that has the calibration eeprom) has a write
protect that is switch#1 of the 4- SP4T -gang switch. Switch #1
should be in the "up" - non write protect position and the other 3
switches are down. The calibration eeprom, Xicor X28C256P, also
has a "write protect" feature that can be turned on when writing
to that eeprom. That should always be off. Some eeprom programmers
default to "write protect on". Somewhere, that can be turned off.
Some version firmwares will not allow the 8920 to boot up if the
eeprom write protect is on. Starting with something like V12.xx or
so, the 8920 will write a few bites to the eeprom every time the
unit is turned on and when certain parts of the unit are used -
like input module relays are switched. Good luck, Rick
On 4/11/2023 9:39 AM, wgwl via
groups.io wrote:
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Pardon my delayed response...
I have verified the eproms using checksums and
their locations, installed the updated signaling firmware
(14.14) and backed up the calibration eeprom before attempting
the upgrade. The write protect is ON.?
I am using a fully populated memory board that I
acquired to replace the original lower memory version. BTW, it
had 9.15 firmware on it which booted fine with no FW errors. The
batteries measured 3.0 volts.?
My next step is to power up with write protect
turned OFF as Rick suggested. I will post the results.?
Thanks for all your input. Greg
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
Pardon my delayed response...
I have verified the eproms using checksums and their locations, installed the updated signaling firmware (14.14) and backed up the calibration eeprom before attempting the upgrade. The write protect is ON.?
I am using a fully populated memory board that I acquired to replace the original lower memory version. BTW, it had 9.15 firmware on it which booted fine with no FW errors. The batteries measured 3.0 volts.?
My next step is to power up with write protect turned OFF as Rick suggested. I will post the results.?
Thanks for all your input. Greg
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Re: 8920A Memory Overflow
Hi John, I recommend you "clear all" for anything in the user? memory then run the "List_opt" program. That will clear the memory then try to run the Rf_Diags. Usually that will work. Rick
On Apr 10, 2023 1:41 AM, WR0J John Gratton <ars.wr0j@...> wrote:
Looking for a little help here.
I have a 8920A in really good shape that seems to be working as it should. The spectrum analyzer, counter, signal gen and the audio circuits all look good.
All of the functions that I have tested agree very very closely with three other pieces of equipment in my shop.
The problem is that when I try to run the RFDIAG self test, it tries to load but fails with the error message “Memory Overflow”.
The AFDIAG will, however, run to its completion with a “NO ERRORS” message.
?
There are also some other tests that will run OK.
I have scoured the internet for even an acknowledgement of this issue and have come up empy.
The only reference to the “Memory Overflow” message is if there is too much stored in user memory for routines
and I followed the procedure to clear them out. (There were quite a few).
Any help would be appreciated.
?
John (WR0J)
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Re: 8920A Memory Overflow
Sounds like the firmware was updated at some point? and the unit has the smallest memory configuration.
Add the four SRAM chips to the Firmware / Epson card ....has the battery on the far right side.
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Looking for a little help here.
I have a 8920A in really good shape that seems to be working as it should. The spectrum analyzer, counter, signal gen and the audio circuits all look good.
All of the functions that I have tested agree very very closely with three other pieces of equipment in my shop.
The problem is that when I try to run the RFDIAG self test, it tries to load but fails with the error message “Memory Overflow”.
The AFDIAG will, however, run to its completion with a “NO ERRORS” message.
?
There are also some other tests that will run OK.
I have scoured the internet for even an acknowledgement of this issue and have come up empty.
The only reference to the “Memory Overflow” message is if there is too much stored in user memory for routines
and I followed the procedure to clear them out. (There were quite a few).
Any help would be appreciated.
John (WR0J)
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
The soldered in memory battery on the memory board only backs up
the "user" memory (not any cal data). If you stored screen setups,
you will loose them. If its really important to keep your setups
while replacing the memory battery, Get any 3V battery (2 - 1.5V,
etc.) solder leads from your 3 v? battery to the +, - on the
memory circuit board ,? on the same traces where the battery is
soldered. Remove old mem battery and solder in new battery. This
should maintain 3V on the board when the battery is removed.
On 4/5/2023 2:37 PM, RFI-EMI-GUY wrote:
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jyelmgren: I have a fine operating HP8920B with later firmware but
simply wish to replace the soldered in memory battery. What
procedures would you recommend. For example how would I back up
calibration data?
On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 09:26 AM, jyelmgren wrote:
I have used those images numerous times .
Believe they came straight from an ex-HP factory source years
ago on the old Yahoo groups.
Make sure you verify the ROM;s and the locations they are
installed in..
The firmware on the signaling board may need to get updated as
well and was included in the images.? You can always pull that
board if in doubt.
I usually backup the calibration EEPROM on the processor board
first and make sure the write protect is on just in case. (
first DIP switch on the processor board )
I typically replace the batteries on the memory card as well
while I am in there and often upgrade the memory size? if its
the older minimum version.
The unit should boot even with the smallest amount of memory
installed but some of the test programs may not run
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
the battery is not used for the calibration memory ...that's a separate EEPROM on the processor? board installed in a socket ...usually copy that with a programmer.
the only thing you loose? IIRC is the config settings and any programs stored in SRAM. Not usually a bid deal.
Usually I keep the write protect switch on for the EEPROM unless you are doing a calibration.
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
jyelmgren: I have a fine operating HP8920B with later firmware but simply wish to replace the soldered in memory battery. What procedures would you recommend. For example how would I back up calibration data?
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 09:26 AM, jyelmgren wrote:
I have used those images numerous times .
Believe they came straight from an ex-HP factory source years ago on the old Yahoo groups.
Make sure you verify the ROM;s and the locations they are installed in..
The firmware on the signaling board may need to get updated as well and was included in the images.? You can always pull that board if in doubt.
I usually backup the calibration EEPROM on the processor board first and make sure the write protect is on just in case. ( first DIP switch on the processor board )
I typically replace the batteries on the memory card as well while I am in there and often upgrade the memory size? if its the older minimum version.
The unit should boot even with the smallest amount of memory installed but some of the test programs may not run
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Re: HP 8920A Firmware Upgrade Issue
I agree with most of that. Regarding the write protect, I would not select that. I have seen boot problems when selected as well as problems with general operation when the 8920 tries to write "relay use" and CRT position to the eaprom.
On Apr 4, 2023 9:26 AM, jyelmgren <jyelmgren@...> wrote: I have used those images numerous times .
Believe they came straight from an ex-HP factory source years ago on the old Yahoo groups.
Make sure you verify the ROM;s and the locations they are installed in..
The firmware on the signaling board may need to get updated as well and was included in the images.? You can always pull that board if in doubt.
I usually backup the calibration EEPROM on the processor board first and make sure the write protect is on just in case. ( first DIP switch on the processor board )
I typically replace the batteries on the memory card as well while I am in there and often upgrade the memory size? if its the older minimum version.
The unit should boot even with the smallest amount of memory installed but some of the test programs may not run
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opelgtalex
RFI-EMI-GUY