Scales less than 0.2V/Div will be enabled in software when the opto-coupler is ready. For engineering batch, the quad can only use 0.2V/Div to 10V/div.
Thanks for pointing out, I have updated the bug list to avoid confusion. Thanks!
The problems will be fixed for beta batch. Thanks!
Just got mine … thanks a lot for arranging to send out samples!
It is indeed an impressive piece of hardware with a lot of punch in a small package. First impression with build quality is good and the fit of the enclosing frames didn’t really strike me as being off.
I like the firmware upgrade direct from the USB attached disk. This will make upgrading a lot easier for everybody and I wish we could offer the same to Nano users. Operating the Quad will obviously require some time getting used to and I’m not there yet.
At first I didn’t find the power button and expected some long press of play or similar would power it on, but then found the empty hole where I expect a sliding switch should have been. Is this to be expected for the engineering samples or is the missing slider perhaps unique to my sample?
I have a slider there. Maybe the samples are different?
Indeed the quad is impressive. I was pointing out quite small problems with the plastic case and screen. If it wasn’t a engineering sample I wouldn’t have said anything about it.
ESP will we be able to update our hardware with some soldering once the schematics is finished? Maybe we can order the pieces needed from you if they are hard to find?
justblair.co.uk/Oscilloscope … eview.html
youtube.com/user/justblairth … CPNe_9GS3I
Mostly all positive! Tell me what you think?
Blair
More up to date firmware files available…
minidso.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5
I found this forum that has firmware updates beyond what has been posted here. Unfortunately google translate wont help me but the files are obviously placed
I now have volume control and backlight control.
Still struggling to save and load the waveform in dat format. Now said OK instead of error, but the waveform does not appear on the screen
using 0106_sys and 0115_APP
OK… I got DAT files to save and load…
This is the firmware I am using, (gives you volume control and Backlight control)
firmware.zip (36.8 KB)
Load these DAT files into your Quad via USB
FileXXX_DAT.zip (3.53 KB)
Then use the save file menu item to save into the file number you wish (if you want more than 9 then just copy and rename the files)
When you load the waveform via the same menu, you can only view one of the waveforms at a time. To do so navigate to the green channel and cycle through its options till it reports “FILE_1 to FILE_4” These correspond to the saved channels in the DAT file
Been following the development on the miniDSO forum and today I noticed a new firmware revision…
0118_firmware.zip (55.7 KB)
To install I found that I had to install the Bin, Sys and App files seperately, adding them to the Quad storage and removing them after each time. All three files included in the above zip are required otherwise you get an error!
I have given it a try,
Improvements that are obvious…
Removed:
Translated from the forum:
I see from the blog you have overclocked the DSO Quad. Is this done in the software or is a hardware thing?
I am still awaiting mine. Maybe something went wrong.
Send a PM to ESP and ask for the tracking number.
Arrgh… I’ve borked the Quad!
I downloaded and installed the latest update from the miniDSO site. Now Channels A and B no longer show and the device is recognised as a USB device.
Not sure what to do now, but I guess I need to know how to reinstall the bootloader.
You mean you can’t downgrade either? If the firmware boots it must be functional? How can it be the bootloader’s fault if the firmware does not show channel A and B?
Not being able to use the USB… So I cant reprogram… Is that not a bootloader function?
Oh I should also mention. If I try and start the device with play held down I get the error…
“File error 04 Offset: 00008009”
OK I have managed to debork the Quad… well sort of!
I discovered that the selectors marked <…> is a three way button… Left, right and it has a push down function as well. Holding it down while starting the device puts the quad into USB only… Happy days I can access my usb drive.
I then managed to reinstall the 0118 fpga and sys files.
I still got the error message when trying to install the app file.
Out of desperation, formatted the USB disk via windows and tried again. This time the APP file installed.
I have a functioning device again but with one problem…
Each time I start it it asks for an Enhance Licence. I can skip past this, but it tells me I am going into Enhance Version Demo with a decreasing count it started at 250. Guess that I am going to loose some function of the quad at some point unless I can get hold of the licence code.
On reflection, when it was borked, it did say “basic hardware version” I did not think anything of it at the time, but checking back to video I took of the device it was supplied saying enhance hardware version on the splash screen.
Ok. Guessing game here.
on the usb drive there is possibly a key file that somehow got corrupted when I was updating the firmware. In it is holds a registration key that allows access to some of the software features. (guess is that this is not as opensource as we might think)
By formatting the drive presumably I have removed the corrupted hidden file but at the same time have now limited the function of the device. When my countdown reaches 0 on the Enhance Demo I will no doubt find out.
So Seeed, how do I go about getting my licence key?
Seeed wrote something about this in the past (can’t recall where) and when reading it I envisioned the idea came from Apple and its App store for 3rd party extensions. Surely, the Quad will not be compatible with Iphone App’s, but a similar licensing scheme for extensions is a possibility.
Thanks for your contributions to this thread and your in-depth review of the engineering sample. When reading your review I ended up with two questions on my notepad. One was a reference to a “sliding” battery cover and the other was your mention of the C and D logic channels having a low sample rate. In terms of the sliding battery cover, I assume you refer to the possibility to remove the back cover (pry apart)? What about logic channels, is anything published in terms of sample rate for these channels?
I don’t remember seeing anything about extensions…I will have a look around the blog to see if I can find anything.
The sliding battery cover is just that. No need to unscrew anything, it slides sideways instead.
In terms of the lower sampling rate… I will try and find where Seeed explicitly said this, but the recent blog post they made about overclocking the Analogue to digital converter discusses a 2 channel device… ergo the sampling is being done through different hardware and hence will likely have a different sampling rate
The specs say 30S/s – 72MS/s so I deduce that the 30S/s is the digital channels, the 72MS/s is definately analog.
I thought you were getting a Quad Ben?
Thanks!
Yes I have one, but I never realized (or forgot after assembling it) the back cover would slide away until I just tried now.
As for the sampling rate, I would think this applies to analog only as a range. This is similar to what we do with the Nano (and DSO’s in general) where sampling rate is adjusted to match your choice of T/Div. For the Nano, 1Msa/s is only used from 1us/Div to 20us/Div and at 10s/Div, sampling rate is as low as 2.5Sa/s.
What I referred to is actually in the first post from ESP in this very thread.
I really hope they are not going the proprietary road with this 
I’m quite sure I will not buy something which is heavily restricted with licenses and closed source.
Btw why should seeed have their own apps format? Wouldn’t it be better to run a light weight android version on the DSO and write a oscilloscope app for it? Maybe to processor is to slow or ram is not enough? But that would be damn cool, download any android app to it. I think another good advantage of using android is that it already has the UI framework and it would be much easier to write the oscilloscope UI that looks nice and android theme like 
The developers can focus more on functions than low level graphics code.
Reading the first post again I see what you mean…
However the way that I read it, comparing the licensing to the Apple marketplace is probably a bit of a red herring. I dont think that they are talking about licensed extensions, but more a mechanism for a developer to licence their own full firmware for the device.
For instance a talented developer, going by the name of BenF for instance (BenF in this instance is a fictional character, any resemblance in name or character to real individuals alive or dead is purely coincidence) might decide that they want to create their own firmware for the Quad. Assuming that they have a key generator (possibly purchased? Seeed?) they can create a secure version of their firmware.
I assume that this would mean that they could command a revenue for their work either by licensing to individuals directly or by closing a deal with a supplier (Seeed?) I guess even if the developer wished to give the software away, this could be used to restrict it’s distribution from companies that the talented developer wished to see prosper as opposed to those who’s business ethic for instance jarred with the developers own values.
In some ways this could be a good thing, though if it is as easy to loose your key as I have found it, the system has a small flaw. Easy to fix with either transmission of the key to customers, or a web mechanism for those that need to retrieve it.