Agilent E4411B flash upgrade

A

Andy Cuffe

Guest
I would like to upgrade the size of the flash memory in an Agilent
E4411B spectrum analyzer because the upgrade (from 8MB to 16MB) is
required for the current firmware.

The upgrade involves replacing the 4MB flash SIMM with a 12MB SIMM.
It's option B72, Agilent part number E4401-60081. It is available
from Agilent for $300, but that's a lot to pay for 12MB of flash
memory!

It looks like it would be simple enough to expand the existing 4MB
SIMM if I could find two more Sharp LH28F320SKTD-L70 4MB flash chips.
Does anyone have any ideas on where I could buy two LH28F320SKTD, or
equivalent 4MB flash chips?
 
Good luck.
According to Agilent, this part is in protected status which means it is
no longer made and they bought all that they needed based upon projected
demand. That might explain the high cost.....Agilent's factory cost is
about $70 and a 3-4 times mark-up is typical in this industry.
The Mfg part number I found was LH28F320SKTD-ZR...not sure what the
suffix difference indicates.

CV



Andy Cuffe wrote:
I would like to upgrade the size of the flash memory in an Agilent
E4411B spectrum analyzer because the upgrade (from 8MB to 16MB) is
required for the current firmware.

The upgrade involves replacing the 4MB flash SIMM with a 12MB SIMM.
It's option B72, Agilent part number E4401-60081. It is available
from Agilent for $300, but that's a lot to pay for 12MB of flash
memory!

It looks like it would be simple enough to expand the existing 4MB
SIMM if I could find two more Sharp LH28F320SKTD-L70 4MB flash chips.
Does anyone have any ideas on where I could buy two LH28F320SKTD, or
equivalent 4MB flash chips?
Click to expand...
 
On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:07:21 -0800, Caesar Valenti <caesarv@email.com>
wrote:

Good luck.
According to Agilent, this part is in protected status which means it is
no longer made and they bought all that they needed based upon projected
demand. That might explain the high cost.....Agilent's factory cost is
about $70 and a 3-4 times mark-up is typical in this industry.
The Mfg part number I found was LH28F320SKTD-ZR...not sure what the
suffix difference indicates.

CV
Click to expand...
Wow, I had no idea it was such a rare part. I guess I'll have to
decide if the upgrade is worth the cost.

Thanks,

Andy
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
On Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:14:03 -0600, Andy Cuffe <acuffe@gmail.com>
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:07:21 -0800, Caesar Valenti <caesarv@email.com
wrote:

Good luck.
According to Agilent, this part is in protected status which means it is
no longer made and they bought all that they needed based upon projected
demand. That might explain the high cost.....Agilent's factory cost is
about $70 and a 3-4 times mark-up is typical in this industry.
The Mfg part number I found was LH28F320SKTD-ZR...not sure what the
suffix difference indicates.

CV
Click to expand...
I don't suppose anyone has a one or two old 4MB flash SIMMs sitting
around after doing an upgrade?
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
On Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:19:35 -0600 Andy Cuffe <acuffe@gmail.com> wrote in
Message id: <0g4dl5te5kakugditmq8h3p2ls8v6epsge@4ax.com>:

On Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:14:03 -0600, Andy Cuffe <acuffe@gmail.com
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:07:21 -0800, Caesar Valenti <caesarv@email.com
wrote:

Good luck.
According to Agilent, this part is in protected status which means it is
no longer made and they bought all that they needed based upon projected
demand. That might explain the high cost.....Agilent's factory cost is
about $70 and a 3-4 times mark-up is typical in this industry.
The Mfg part number I found was LH28F320SKTD-ZR...not sure what the
suffix difference indicates.

CV



I don't suppose anyone has a one or two old 4MB flash SIMMs sitting
around after doing an upgrade?
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
Click to expand...

Hi Andy, there are a couple of hits for LH28F320SKTD-L70 on findchips.com
http://www.findchips.com

Allegedly 1200+ pcs. at
http://www.americaii.com/help/help_partsearch.shtml

I don't know whether they have a minimum order, though.
 
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:18:21 -0500, JW <none@dev.null> wrote:


Hi Andy, there are a couple of hits for LH28F320SKTD-L70 on findchips.com
http://www.findchips.com

Allegedly 1200+ pcs. at
http://www.americaii.com/help/help_partsearch.shtml

I don't know whether they have a minimum order, though.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. This site looks like promising:

http://www.questcomp.com/
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
Well, the chips arrived, but so far I haven't been able to get it to
use the added flash memory. There are 4 jumper resistors on the SIMM,
which I assume identify the type of SIMM. I've tried every
combination, and the best I can get it to do is boot, but not see the
extra 8 MB. The firmware upgrade boot floppy either reports an error
accessing drive C: (the flash memory), or it reports that it's not big
enough (the upgrade requires the additional flash memory).

My guess is that it needs be partitioned, or formatted, and that the
real 12MB SIMM comes pre-formatted. Is there a way to partition the
flash memory (like in a service menu)?
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
On Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:49:27 -0600, Andy Cuffe <acuffe@gmail.com>
wrote:

Well, the chips arrived, but so far I haven't been able to get it to
use the added flash memory. There are 4 jumper resistors on the SIMM,
which I assume identify the type of SIMM. I've tried every
combination, and the best I can get it to do is boot, but not see the
extra 8 MB. The firmware upgrade boot floppy either reports an error
accessing drive C: (the flash memory), or it reports that it's not big
enough (the upgrade requires the additional flash memory).

My guess is that it needs be partitioned, or formatted, and that the
real 12MB SIMM comes pre-formatted. Is there a way to partition the
flash memory (like in a service menu)?
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
Click to expand...

Well, I have confirmed that the problem is due to formatting, or
partitioning of the blank flash chips. I swapped the original chip
with one of the new ones so that the first chip on the SIMM was blank.
After that, it reported that it couldn't install the firmware because
there wasn't enough space available on drive C:.

It's not going to work unless I can find a way to format the flash
memory. I've been playing with the key combination that does a secure
erase of the flash memory, including the firmware, but so far no luck.
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
I'm happy to report success.

I restored the flash chips to their original locations, and confirmed
that everything was working as before. Then I ran the flash erase
with several of the other jumper configurations. After finding the
correct jumper configuration, it allowed me to install the latest
firmware, and everything appears to me working well.

If anyone else wants to try this, you need to have both the jumpers
closest to the SIMM's edge connector open, and the other two shorted.
You will have to run the secure flash erase to reformat the SIMM (hold
"view/trace", "ESC", and "return" while turning on the analyzer. The
screen will be blank, but you can tell it's working by checking for
the Vpp voltage of one of the chips. Give it about 10 minutes, and
then pull the plug to turn it off. After erasing the flash, it won't
work until you install the firmware.
Andy Cuffe

acuffe@gmail.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top