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I have an SA124B/TG124A combo which wasn’t used for a while.
I tried it with the latest Spike software 3.9.0
“not detected”
Used different driver versions, but no success. (USB devices were always recognized, but for the SA only a serial converter ‘A’ was shown)Then tried with the old “signal hound v2.17” software. I was able to get it working, but in a rather un-usual (and inconsistent) way.
1. First install FTDI CDM driver 2.12.0.0
2. The device manager now shows only serial converter ‘A’ for the SA.
3. Install the very outdated FTDI driver 2.8.24.0 10/04/2012 (was delivered with the old signal hound software)
4. After installing this 2nd driver a serial converter B is shown as well.
5. Now the software detects the SA, but it is quite unstable.Note: A fresh install of the old “2.8.24.0 10/04/2012” driver without first installing the newer FTDI driver seems not to work.
OS is Windows 11
I assume the recent FTDI driver does not match with the firmware of the SA, which seems not the latest version. Reported firmware version is v3.10
Any other suggestions and how to update the firmware ?
MGielen,
If you can get Serial Converter A and B to show up, the next thing to check is if the VCP driver is being loaded. It should *not* be loaded, as it is not compatible with our firmware.
The VCP Driver can be unloaded by going to Device Manager –> USB Controllers –> USB Serial Converter A –> Advanced, and un-checking the “Load VCP” box, then repeating for Serial Converter B. If this does not work, please email our support team.
The SA124B should be used with a Y cable to provide extra power. If you are using a standard USB cable, especially with a laptop, it may not be getting enough voltage. 4.75V at the SA124B is ideal, but it will operate down to 4.5V. Below 4.5 volts there will be issues.Thanks for your reply.
The VCP I was aware of, it is disabled. I tried it both on an external powered USB HUB as well as direct on a desktop PC (behavior the same)
To exclude any power issues I just slightly modified my USB cable (Didn’t have a Y cable) and powered it by a R&S PSU (set to 5.2V/1A) (cable length to SA approx. 40cm so it is very unlikely to drop be below 5V at the unit (or is the inrush current that high ?)
Removed all the FTDI stuff from the PC, installed the driver included with Spike (“CDM v2.12.00 WHQL Certified.exe”)
Only “USB serial converter A” showed up under “Universal serial bus controllers”
(this is consistently: connect/reconnect as well as power cycle several times)Next installed the very old FTDI driver (without disconnecting the unit and power) and “USB serial converter B” appeared. (after which the old Signal hound software detects the device, but Spike doesn’t)
Therefore it really seems to be software related.
Somehow my previous post got lost. Using a separate power supply didn’t help, so it seemed clearly a software issue.
I just installed Spike with accompanied driver on a laptop to see how that behaves. That setup works as expected 🙂
Probably there is still something on the desktop PC interfering with the FTDI drivers. Anyway the fact it works on the desktop at least shows there is no driver/software/SA incompatibility.
I will do some more investigation trying to find out why the same configuration does not work on the desktop PC.
One thing to try is the CDM Uninstaller with VID 0403 and PID 6010. Sometimes the first install goes south on a particular computer and this is the only way to get it functional. https://ftdichip.com/utilities/
Good news. Thanks for the update, and for sharing what fixed it!
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