Ds2000A upgrade utility
  • Getting Started
  • Troubleshooting
  • About

Before you begin

The DS2000A Upgrade Utility depends on several 3rd party software components. The portable edition does not install these prequisites, you need to do it manually.

Introduction

The DS2000A Upgrade Utility is a free tool that enables you to unleash the hidden capabilities of your DS2000A series DSO such as:
  • Bandwidth extension: 100 / 200 / 300MHz (the choice is yours)
  • Deep Memory: 56Mpts(single channel) / 28Mpts(dual channel)
  • Advanced trigger functions: Windows, Nth Edge, HDTV, Delay, Time Out, Duration, USB
  • Serial Protocol Decoding: RS232, I2C, SPI Decoding Kit
  • CAN Analysis kit: Trigger+Decoding

The Utility is able to keep track of multiple DS2000A oscilloscopes.

If you want to upgrade your DS2000A, all you need is the device itself, a USB cable, a USB flash drive and the DS2000A Upgrade Utility. No 3rd party tools (e.g. Ultra-sigma, Hex editor, etc.) are necessary.

You don't need to worry about lost DSO settings or multiple (conflicting) option keys installed at the same time. The Utility automatically removes all previously installed options before installing a new one, and option install / uninstall operations are always accompanied by settings backup / restore. This approach applies to both Wizard mode and Quick configuration mode (see next chapter).

Wizard mode vs quick configuration mode

At the first run, the Utility will be operating in Wizard mode, enabling you to upgrade your DSO in the easiest possible way. Once you successfully completed the wizard for at least one DS2000A DSO, it will swich to Quick configuration mode, and it will start in that mode from then on.

Quick configuration mode brings you a condensed, streamlined UI and some additional cool features like an SCPI terminal, screenshots in multiple formats, manual DSO settings backup / restore, and so on. You will not be constrained to this UI mode, however. Wizard mode will still be available via a dedicated button.

SCPI terminal

In Quick configuration mode there is a built-in SCPI terminal available for you. It is fairly easy to use, there are only two aspects of its operation that may need further explanation.

"Auto-query" button

This is the button you will use 99% of the time for sending SCPI commands and queries. When sending messages containing only commands (e.g. *CLS), it acts the same way the "Write" button does: it sends the SCPI command and does not attempt to read back anything. When sending messages containing at lease one query (e.g. *CLS; *IDN?) it will send out the message and attempt to read back a response.

Smart respone handling

The SCPI terminal will detect if the response has binary format and will not try to display it in a textual form. Instead it will ask you if you want to save the received binary file for further processing. The file will contain only raw data, the SCPI header and termination characters will not be included. The received binary files are all checked for consistency. If their size does not match the size announced in the header or the header itself is corrupted, an error will be raised.

Built in Help system

The UI of the utility was designed to be intuitive and self explanatory. The Wizard interface contains detailed instructions aided by graphic illustrations about every step you need to take.

In Quick configuration mode, only those actions / UI elements will be accessible to you which make sense in the current context
(i.e: option key calculation features will be disabled if you have never dumped a code for the currently connected DSO). Each GUI element in Quick configuration has a tooltip assigned, which gives you information on its purpose and recommended usage.

In general, the Utility will not bother you with message boxes. Only the most common errors (errors which are most probably caused by some mistake made by the user) are assigned to message boxes, the "more exotic" ones are reported only via the error log.
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