Damon - KJ7E <damon.stewart@...> added the photo album Damon_KJ7E photos

The HPIB card is the easy bit.? ?:-)

It would be interesting to "sniff" the commands the software uses.

Robert

I found my former issues with my unit was good after repairing the PSU (bad Rica safety caps blew the switching circuit) and replacing the Memory Unit. It was causing a Non-Recoverable Firmware Error.

Of course during the course of my diagnosis some other faults were found and repaired, but that was what got me into the machine to start repairs.

I haven't dug into what is faulty on the memory card yet, but I suspect bad Ram modules -- good in, garbage out kind of deal. Plus caps, caps everywhere!

For the serial card, even the cheap eeprom readers can test the logic chips. I found both inverter chips bad, replaced them, and then that card worked again. I believe they were the 74ALS05A @ U11 and U5

Hi James,

Lots of clever things in these instruments.

One I found very useful in fault finding is the TEST Button. That opens a screen to select the ROM part of the memory where the test programs reside.

There are the choices of? AF-Diag? ? RF-diag??? MS-diag.? Once you have selected which type of diagnostic test you wish the run, use the control knob to select, Cursor Up / Down, and Select, to select the test required. Then move the cursor to Run, which actually loads the little program in the unit, from that you cursor down to select which test to run. Push the control knob to make the test start.

If you select the "All test", it will run all the list one after the other until it gets to the end, where you should see "NO Failures". Do each test either one at a time or step by step until you get no failures. Carefully read the screen and follow any setup instructions like connecting the Audio out at the back to the Audio in at the front, etc.

You cannot destroy any data, so don't be worried about that. Play with these tests and try each choice; some allow you to do step by step and to pause on error. This is great for locating the section that has a problem.

Make sure you exit the tests and return to main screen before you turn off the power. I make notes so if I get interrupted (by the missus or the phone), I can get back to where I left off.

I think the Spec Analyzer is one of the plug in modules at the back near the power supply. Check if you have any OOL leds on (Out of Lock) that are in those modules. That could be a clue as to where the problem is.?

Be very careful in plugging in the boards and modules. It can be easy to bend the pins on the mother board.

Have fun James.

Bill M.

Used an HP-IB card for the communication so I believe you need that as well.

Not sure a generic card would work but who? knows ...haven't tried it?

doubt very much the battery will fix anything but keeping the stored settings and setups in NVRAM

everything critical is in EEPROM and ROM on the 892XA ...went to flash instead of ROM on the 8920B and 8924X

Does anyone have a copy of the 83224A IBASIC Developers Tool Kit software? It runs on a PC. It appears to include a utility to transfer files from a PC to the test set memory. As the test set memory is non-volatile this is as good as a card.

83224A came in two versions; one included the basic compiler (Rocky Mountain Basic) but that is not needed to transfer files.

Robert

Hi James,

I suppose you have changed the 3V Memory back up battery ??? on the board that the Card reader is attached to. It may be nearing failure. I believe they last about 3 years. They do not recharge from the unit's power.

Regards

Bill M.

Perth OZ.

usually "Non recoverable Firmware Error" is a HW issue.


You can try and update the firmware on the 8920A's to a later version ...depends on the memory card you have installed but 18.X or 14.X IIRC.

Doubt it will help but can't hurt.

On the newer memory cards the ROM's are typically not erasable so you need a new set of 8

The only way to easily troubleshoot this error is with two units.

My guess is that it's a processor board failure but it could be anything? ..second choice would be the SA board.

Make sure you move over the EEPROM with the calibration data ....usually making a copy isn't a bad idea as well?

Hi William,
I met the exactly same problem!
This HP8920A pops out that error message every time when I'm trying to get into Spec Ana screen:

" Non recoverable Firmware Error" the two lines below read

* $ header: Syshlp.c,v 22.1 96/06/20 21:43:17 hmgr EXP$, at line number 273

To continue operation Power Off and Back On"

Each time when trying to get into Spec Ana, the error message above pops out.
Any hint? Have you solved yours?
Thanks for anyone and any advance!

James - BH3TXW

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one on ebay right now

Don't get confused on that.? The 8920a and the Epson cards can have a different file system.? The Epson cards can come as "Read Only" for programs and updates you buy from HP or as Read/Write cards with a battery that holds the contents for about 6mo to a year.? I don't yet know how to convert files from the native format to DOS to back them up via serial port, and then back to native format.? The text files like the Basic files can be done, but I didn't figure out about the binary files.? Good luck.

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Hi Andy,!

I found one on Ebay. It has the HP Part Number 85700A and is 32Kilobyte capacity. Looks New!. It does work and I was able to write and read to it.?

So far, I have not been able to back up any of the inbuilt programs and routine to it. From what I read in the Operating Manual, it is for saving custom test routines that the user wants to use later.

I think the configuration and standard test setups are installed from a special format disk that comes with the "Upgrade" that the user has bought from HP.?

Each time the instrument was serviced or calibrated, a new Card was burned by HP and delivered with the repaired Unit. There must be thousands of cards out there gathering dust in some "Bottom Drawer".

I have attempted to get around this problem by burning a set of PROM Copies from a ? Working unit. Even some of the Proms are getting rare these days.

Such is the world we live in ....

Let me know if you find any cards, Especially the "Master Cards" from HP the Factory. I think that even with these cards, they are instrument specific, and may corrupt the system if you load programs that are not written for the unit. Something to do with the serial number??

Regards

Bill Macham ??? VK6IC

Thanks for the reply Tony,
The HP8920B uses a PCMCIA card which is more common than the Epson memory card.
Where did you find the flash code?