PCSU1000 Oscilloscope with PCLab2000SE <<Driver Issues>>

Instruments General
1

I have a PCSU1000 Oscilloscope which was functioning well
up until a few days ago. Running on 32 bit Windows XP sp3.
No drops, no accidents, simply started giving me problems.

Here is what happened every time i opened it up–

<>----open PCLab200SE------
prompts me with
“Other PCSU1000 software may be active.
Simultaneous use will cause problems.
Run anyway?”

-clicked “yes”-
after a few successful minutes of measuring,

FT_Write - General IO Error (clicking “ok” brings the following up)
GetFTDeviceSerialNo - Invalid Handle. (clicking “ok” brings it up again)

since it is locked up, i have to close it with the task-manager

upon re-opening PCLab200SE
I`m prompted with
“Other PCSU1000 software may be active.
Simultaneous use will cause problems.
Run anyway?”

But there are no other instances of PCSU1000 software running.
------go back to beginning and and repeat — <>

So, I decided to update the software and the drivers from the website.
I updated to pclab2000se_v4_03
pcsu1000_driver_2_04_16
and also the CDM20814

the device manager wont let me update the ftd2xx.sys file from the download. it only finds that file on the disk that came with the product. could this be the problem? why wont it work to update the ftd2xx.sys file
from the Velleman driver download? I have uninstalled all PCSU drivers from
the device manager, and chose the location of new drivers in the pcsu1000_driver_2_01_16
folder which i made and put the downloaded contents into----but it can`t seem to see them or find them…it askes specifically for the
pcsu1000 disk from an external drive and for the FTD2XX.sys file. (notice the large case letters) and only finds it on the disk that came with the product, (velsoft 2.0).

Could someone please give me an idea of what is going on with my oscilloscope?
and ideas would be greatly appreciated. And further, why can`t I successfully update the
ftd2xx.sys file which seems to be working no further with my system.

Also of note, after updating the drivers, the program Calibrates upon every open.

help, please.

2

In the latest driver package there is no file named ftd2xx.sys. It is a file of the original driver package. Now your installation for some reason tries to install the old driver.

It seems that you have now manually update the PCSU1000 driver.

Please see this site how you can manually update the driver in Windows XP:
pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthepro … iverxp.htm

The most important steps are these:

Choose the Don’t search. I will choose the driver to install. radio button and then click the [b]Next > button.

Click the Have Disk… button on the Select the device driver you want to install for this hardware. window.

Click the Browse… button on the Install From Disk dialog box that appeared.

In the Locate File dialog box that appears next, navigate to the folder where you extracted the downloaded driver files.

Click the ftdibus.inf file that displays in the file list and click the Open button.

Click the OK button back on the Install From Disk dialog box.

Then click the Next > button.

3

ok. all drivers for pcsu1000 are updated and current.
just opened oscilloscope -
began callibration,
and interrupted with the following error message.

“FT_Write - General IO Error”
upon clicking “ok”
comes another error message
“GetFTDeviceSerialNo - Invalid Handle”
upon clicking “ok”
“GetFTDeviceSerialNo - Invalid Handle”
upon clicking “ok”
“GetFTDeviceSerialNo - Invalid Handle”
upon clicking “ok”
((etc…)

what does the ft_write - general io error refer to? what does it mean?
is that a communication failure? where is it writing, what is “ft”, where is “io” transpiring?

and the getftdeviceserialno - invalid handle error message…
any ideas what that means?

i`m stumped as to where to start.

4

[quote]what does the ft_write - general io error refer to? what does it mean?
is that a communication failure? where is it writing, what is “ft”, where is “io” transpiring?[/quote]The error message indicates USB communication (Input/Output i.e. IO) error.
The cause may be some sort of driver, hardware or USB cable failure.

[quote]what is “ft”[/quote]The FT refers to the supplier of the USB chip and the USB driver for the PCSU1000:
Future Technology Devices International Ltd.
ftdichip.com/

5

[quote]The error message indicates USB communication (Input/Output i.e. IO) error.
The cause may be some sort of driver, hardware or USB cable failure.[/quote]

i have updated all drivers, done driver scans to insure no conflicts, have tried
two usb cables…all to no avail. same error messages. super frustrating.

[quote]The FT refers to the supplier of the USB chip and the USB driver for the PCSU1000:
Future Technology Devices International Ltd.
ftdichip.com/[/quote]

ok. thanks.

my oscilloscope is bricked most likely. i guess there is hope though…
what would cause it to run for only about a minute
before getting these failures and errors? any ideas?

…perhaps this will be of some use to someone for helping me debug this problem.
i deleted the config files (WinDso, USB_rec, FGen1000, and FGen) found in the PCLab20o0SE
folder and then ran the application. This produced the error messages (the same error messages
as listed above), but considerably faster. There was no time when the oscilloscope
actually functioned.

Could this be a clue as to what is happening with the PCSU1000?
After deleting these four files and having an instant program crash upon open – I
post for you the contents of the WinDso file which was re-writen by the program in the
meantime.

[Hardware]
DemoMode=0
ExtendCalTime=0
LPT_Port=4
LPT4=888
HW_DSO=1000
USB_Recorder=0
[Path]
FilePath=C:\Programme\Velleman\PCLab2000SE
[Menu_1000]
No_Gen=1
Hide_Scope=0
No_Scope=0
[Menu_500]
Hide_Scope=0
No_Scope=0
[Menu_8031]
Hide_Scope=0
[Menu_100]
Hide_Scope=0
[Status]
Running=1

Does this provide anyone with some clues?

just a thought, from working with the usb-serial ftdi drivers years ago i ran into many issues
with baud rates. what is the default baud rate of the pcsu1000? or does it change depending on the sampling rate?

6

The PCSU1000 is not using serial communication but the FT245B USB FIFO device.

[quote]what would cause it to run for only about a minute[/quote]Does this happen also if the probes are disconnected from the oscilloscope?
If happens only if the probe lead is connected to the external device, then the cause may be a ground loop current from probe’s ground lead to the power network ground and back to the computer’s ground. The final link in this loop is the USB cable between the oscilloscope and PC. Any external loop current through the USB cable may disturb the USB communication.

7

hmmm…with the probes disconnected i get the same error.
however, sometimes i get a second to allow the two channels to
autoset – i am reading a 5mV 50Hz signal on both channels.

perhaps your ground-loop idea is dead-on.

what do you suggest as a fix?

8

Can you test the PCSU100 with other PC?
If the same problems occur with other PC too, then there is something wrong with the PCSU1000 and you have to send it to repair.

9

unfortunately my jet-set lifestyle allows me only one computer.
ho hum.

the good news is i uninstalled the updated PCLab2000SE and all the updated drivers –
then I reverted back to the original disk that came with the oscilloscope (perhaps out-dated
by 4 years) and guess what –
it works. for now – all seems to be functioning well.

there is that little bit of a ground loop issue…which still shows up, but doesnt crash the software and the drivers. im dealing with that as best i am able…in the meantime,
i have a working oscilloscope again. perhaps you`ll hear from me tomorrow…
if not, all is well.

thank you very much for your assistance and help in finding out the issues and possible
solutions and avenues to repair.

10

This is good news indeed!
Thank you for the reply.

11

Hello,
I’m now having the same problem and getting the FT-write general IO error. PCLab recognizes the scope is connected via USB, and the scope application opens properly, and I can use the scope for a few seconds. I then hear a relay switching inside the scope, and I then get the FT-write general IO error message. Sometimes the scope application immediately gives me the IO error message. Typically I click “OK” in the error message window and it pops up again and again, and finally there is an error message and the application terminates.

I loaded PCLab2000SE v4_05 and loaded the driver from the pcsu1000_driver_2_04_16 and verified that is the driver that is shown in PCSU1000_Osciloscope Properties.

I’m running Windows 7. I have not had this problem before.

I’ve tried several different USB ports on my PC but I can’t get the scope to work reliably. As I mentioned sometimes the scope will operate for a few seconds, I can see the scope traces and they respond to signals applied to the probes, but then the IO error appears.

Looking forward to your help with this problem!

Blake

12

Maybe the USB cable is defective.
Can you test the oscilloscope with other PC?

13

Hello,

Thank you for the suggestion, the scope works perfectly on another computer, so there must be a conflict on the PC that threw the General IO errors. I will have to figure out what is causing the conflict. But at least the scope is fine!

Blake

14

Thank you for the reply - It’s good to see the oscilloscope is working.

In the problematic PC you can try following:

  • Uninstall the driver in the Device Manager.
    You will get a pop up window with “Delete the driver software for this device” check box.
    Select this option to uninstall the driver completely.
  • Unplug and then plug the PCSU1000.
  • Install the driver.

For more info: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9990