HP16500C Logic Analyzer X-client connection

Once I had ftp up and running I decided to move the display from the analyzer to my PC. So, I needed a suitable X-windows server to run on my PC. I tried many, with little success. I finally settled on Xming (free version for sourceforge)... The first problem was that I got "Xlib: connection to ..... refused by server" errors on the 16500C... I figured it had something to do with authentication - and found that using Xlaunch I could check the box that says "No Access Control"... Now it would connect but the 16500C would crash with:

"SOFTWARE ERROR - Please record these numbers 0008 00001D5E 000C"

Requiring me to turn off the 16500C to reboot.

I did get a display on the PC, but the text was in the wrong place and missing...

Google (and the HP manual) told me I needed to install the special fonts provided on the 16500C (and ftp-able to my PC) to the X-server...

Of course the fonts provided have to be formatted properly for modern X-servers - something you can do on a Linux machine, or by installing Cygwin... (I went with Cygwin), once they are configured correctly (as lg165.pcf.gz and sm165.pcf.gz) you have to create a directory for them, and a fonts.dir file (something XmingNotes on fonts will tell you how to do...).

Save yourself this work and download the necessary files from:

http://cid-0038d26020c74e81.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/16500C?authkey=!UO0VD8g9Tw%24

Put them in a directory of your choice (I chose C:\fonts\16500C).

 
 You will also have to edit the file font-dirs in C:\Program Files\Xming to look something like:

# font-dirs

# comma-separated list of directories to add to the default font path

# defaults are built-ins, misc, TTF, Type1, 75dpi, 100dpi

# also allows entries on individual lines
C:\fonts\HP16500C

C:\Program Files\Xming\fonts\dejavu,C:\Program Files\Xming\fonts\cyrillic

C:\WINDOWS\Fonts


 Note that you have to run Notepad.exe (or your other favorite text editor) as Administrator to do this in Windows 7 (or Vista).

Now re-start Xming (remember to disable authentication), and see you 16500C screen on your PC!

HP16500C Logic Analyzer ftp connections

So these days you can get a logic analyzer pretty cheap (on eBay) - especially if you keep looking and wait for something listed at auction - I paid $232 (incl. tax and shipping) for mine with 3x16555D LA modules and one 16522A vector generator, but no pods.

There are various versions on the HP16500 series (A/B/C) but no reason to not go for the top of the line - 16500C - it has an HDD, PS2 ports for keyboard and mouse, and Twisted Pair (CAT5) ethernet interface.

The network interface allows connection to the analyzer using ftp or NFS, and a connection to your PC X-server to use as a display.  Of course setting any of these up is non-trivial, so here is how I Fixed It...

First - ftp - there are many ftp clients that will connect - but some are more difficult to get to work than others. I wanted to back up the HDD and replace it with a more reliable CompactFlash card, so I needed to transfer the entire file structure. The FileZilla client was my choice, and connecting to control@192.168.0.165 (the IP address I had assigned to the analyzer) gave me a directory listing of the HDD. I set up a folder on the PC called 16500C and dragged the four folders (slot_c, slot_e, status and system) to the 16500C folder on the PC.

Didn't work very well - timeouts and aborted transfer in the queue galore. Google hinted that the 16500C only supports one connection at a time - and with the directory listing open there were no more connections available to do the transfer, hence the timeouts...

Simple fix - disconnect (using the red X in the button bar) from the currently visible server, the queued transfers will complete nicely (except for the one user config file that had a bad block on the HDD).

Once you find a CompactFlash that works restoring the files you want is just as easy - drag, drop and disconnect!

Finding a suitable CompactFlash may not be easy so far I know that 1GB SanDisk Ultra fails, and so do 1GB, 4GB and 8GB Lexar cards and 4GB Kingston. I have a 32MB Smart Modular card working, and looking at some 256MB cards from STEC. Please comment on what you get to work if you do this!

Windows 7 and network shares on W2K (Windows 2000)

So, I have an old Windows 2000 machine, it works, and I don't want to replace it.
The data it manages I share on the network through a normal shared folder.

No problems until Windows 7... Suddenly I can't access the share - invalid username/password is the error. It worked this morning but now it doesn't and nothing has changed...

Google informs me that the authentication used by Windows 7 now requires NTLMV2 and proceeds to tell me how to configure W7 to accept NTLM - except I have "Home Premium" on this machine and can't edit security policies (I thought I just couldn't use remote desktop connection to the machine, but we learn something new every day)...

There is, however, a registry key that can be changed or created:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\LSA]

"LMCOMPATIBILITYLEVEL"=DWORD:00000001

Create (as I did) this key and give it a value of 1

Or, if it is already there, change the value to 1

The values defined for this key are:

Level 0 - Send LM response and NTLM response; never use NTLMv2
Level 1 - Use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated
Level 2 - Send NTLM response only
Level 3 - Send NTLMv2 response only
Level 4 - DC refuses LM responses
Level 5 - DC refuses LM and NTLM responses (accepts only NTLMv2)

Thanks to http://www.governmentsecurity.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=6526

for this info

Why S5397?

I need a fast system with lots of memory.
Dual quad core for maximum performance.
64GB of RAM, or more when I can afford it.

Well, it certainly looks like the TYAN Tempest i5400PW S5387 would work.
http://tyan.com/product_board_detail.aspx?pid=560

Others in the series also look acceptable, but this one has 1600MHz FSB and therefore supports FBDIMM 800 memory = More Bandwidth for all those gigs of RAM. The Block diagram in the data sheet for the 5400 MCH shows 17-21GB/s for (533-667) rated FBDIMM so I should get even better with the 800's...

A closer look at the "Seaburg" (5400) Memory controller shows two branches with two channels of four FBDIMM each for a total of sixteen slots. 4GB FBDIMMs are around $360 each, going to 8GB would cost $1,700 each - not sensible. So I could get 64GB on this system - but let's start with 32GB.

I need a suitable processor - 4 cores and 1600 Mhz FSB - the Xeon E5482 at 3.2GHz looks about right.

For video - NVIDIA 9800X2 looks interesting - two processors with 1GB of DDR3, not bad. XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 PVT98UZHDU is the part number.

Power supply - 860 W should be ample and PC Power & Cooling lists the S5397 as supported by the PPCT860.

Case - Thermaltake VG4000SWA - not only big enough but also has a clear side so that the POST codes on the motherboard can be seen.

Screen - Dell 2208WFP widescreen (1600x1050)

Keyboard - Logitech Bluetooth - Cordless Desktop MX 5000 (boy was that a mistake).

Everything is in stock at Newegg - my favorite place to shop (and no more New York sales tax - I'm always for that).

--------------------------

Issues - FBDIMMs run HOT!!! With 8 of the 800's in the system they overheat and the system will BSOD...

Unfortunately Crucial didn't know about it, so they graciously swapped out all 8 of them for me. I finally found the issue running Everest which will show the DIMM temperatures. Added some fans to the memory slots (Corsair Dominators) and fixed that problem....

The other issue still hasn't been resolved - the system will not POST with an XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics card - so I have to use the single GPU version (which does work OK).

Murphy's Law

So, I created this blog to document my adventures with Tyan's S5397 motherboard.

Google immediately flagged it as a "spam blog".

So now I have to wait for it to be reviewed and unlocked...

Meanwhile stay tuned to my adventures in Tyan - land.