HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

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hoagg123
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HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

I purchased an HxC Slim to use with this 'scope (mine is a 54542A, but all four are based on the same logic board) and I'm using the skot9000 adapter board to break out the +5v power to the four pin connector. The HxC Slim lights up and beeps when I press the button, so power seems to be working ok.

I have installed the IBM PC quickstart image for 1.44 diskettes and selected the "indexed" configuration file, but the 'scope says "No Disk" when I try to read the directory of the disk image. Self Test also fails to see a disk.

The original drive in this unit was an Epson SMD-1000.

This family of oscilloscopes is listed in the chart of working devices. Can anyone suggest switch and configuration settings that work?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by Jeff »

Hello,

You problably need to change to the shugart interface mode.
Is your SMD-1000 supporting HD disks ?

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

The documentation for the oscilloscope says that the drive supports 1.44M diskettes.

I think I got it set up correctly for Shugart interface mode, but still says "No Disk".

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

I just double-checked the compatibility chart; it lists the 54540C as compatible using IBM_PC interface. The A and C versions of this family of instruments differ mostly in the display. The A uses a monochrome CRT, while the C uses an LCD panel. The main logic boards are the same except for some jumper settings (and possibly the display firmware), and the system software (loaded to flash) is the same for all variants.

Jeff
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by Jeff »

Do you see any activity on the Slim HxC when you try to read the disk ?

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

Yes, the activity light is flickering or flashing.

Jeff
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by Jeff »

hoagg123 wrote:
Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:25 pm
Yes, the activity light is flickering or flashing.
i mean : do you see any change in the flashing while trying to access the drive ?

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

Yes. When I'm not trying to access the disk, I get a periodic flash. When I go into the disk menu, the LED comes on solid. After attempting a disk operation, it goes back to the flashing behavior after a delay until I attempt another disk access, at which point the light goes on solid and the 'scope reports "no disk".

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

I have made a bit of progress. I re-read user PMK145's account of installing an HxC Slim in an HP 1662A Logic Analyzer, as it is of similar vintage to my oscilloscope, and built into the same cabinet. It's probably built on the same platform and base operating firmware. The drive in PMK145's instrument was an EPSON SMD-1100 with a flexible cable attached to a 34 pin adapter, so is a bit later than my SMD-1000 with the single 34 pin connector.

PMK145 indicated that the 1662A was only working in 720K (DD) mode and not 1.44M (HD) mode. I had missed that detail when I read the report. Just now, I tested with a 720K configuration and the Shugart interface selected. The 'scope was able to see the disk and write a file to it.

This will work ok for me at the moment, but it would be nice to use 1.44M formatted disk images as well. PMK145 speculated that pin 2 of the drive interface needed to be toggled to the opposite state when using 1.44M disk images. I have found another reference that indicates that pin 4 may have been used as a "high density" indicator output. It should be easy enough to sort out, as I have the SMD-1000 drive and both HD and DD diskettes to test with. I will test and report back.

celinedion

Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by celinedion »

hoagg123 wrote:
Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:36 am
The documentation for the oscilloscope says that the drive supports 1.44M diskettes.

I think I got it set up correctly for Shugart interface mode, but still says "No Disk".mapquest driving directions
Confirm that the power supply to the HxC Slim and skot9000 adapter board is adequate and within the specified voltage range.

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

Thanks, but as you can see in my final post, the emulator works in standard density mode. That wouldn’t be the case if it were a power problem. It’s a configuration/compatibility issue with the HxC firmware that is as yet unresolved. I do need to get back to this project someday, but it works reasonably well for now.

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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by Jeff »

hoagg123 wrote:
Fri Jul 14, 2023 1:55 pm
Thanks, but as you can see in my final post, the emulator works in standard density mode. That wouldn’t be the case if it were a power problem. It’s a configuration/compatibility issue with the HxC firmware that is as yet unresolved. I do need to get back to this project someday, but it works reasonably well for now.
I am almost sure that this is yet another forum spammer.
They now look like very clever and post on-topic comments with the help of AI conversation generators...
It's sometimes very hard to detect/catch them.

EDIT : Confirmed !
Screenshot at 2023-07-14 18-01-54.png
Screenshot at 2023-07-14 18-01-54.png (11.62 KiB) Viewed 1984 times
Time to do some clean-up ;)

hoagg123
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Re: HP 54520A/22A/40A/42A Oscilloscopes

Post by hoagg123 »

Emulating a not so bright user. Interesting. Glad you caught them.

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