How do I erase and declassify an MSO/DPO2000, MSO/DPO/MDO3000, and MSO/DPO/MDO4000 Series oscilloscope?

This example will show you how to declassify the MDO4000/B/C Series oscilloscope. This procedure also applies to the MSO/DPO4000/B, MSO/DPO/MDO3000, and the MSO/DPO2000/B series of oscilloscope.

The first step in the declassification process is TekSecure Erase Memory. This erases all the nonvolatile RAM, which contains reference waveforms and setup files. This can be accessed by going to the Utility Menu, selecting TekSecure Erase memory, and selecting OK Erase Setup & Ref Memory.

The next step is to erase the existing protected user data using the *PUD command from the programmer manual. You can either write the commands directly to the instrument using the OpenChoice Talker/Listener included in TekVISA or you can write the commands into a text file and load it on the scope as a setup file.

To write the commands to the scope using OpenChoice, launch OpenChoice Instrument Manager, select your instrument, and double-click on OpenChoice Talker/Listener. This will open a new window. Enter PASSWORD "XYZZY" in the field and click the Write button. If you're curious, you can see what is contained in the protected user data by entering *PUD? into the field and clicking the Query button. The protected user data is 300 characters long. To overwrite the protected user data, enter *PUD "xxxxxxxxxxxxx..." into the field and click the Write button. To ensure that you've overwritten the data successfully, enter the *PUD? query again.

If you can't connect your scope to a computer, you can write these commands into a setup file and run it on your scope to erase the protected user data. Open a basic text editing application such as Notepad. Copy and paste the following into it:

:PASSWORD "XYZZY"
:*PUD "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

(Yes, there are actually 300 x's there, if you want to copy and paste this, make sure you take out the soft returns/line breaks). Then save the file onto a USB drive with a .set extension because the scope will not be able to read anything else as a setup file. Plug the USB drive into the USB port on the front panel of your scope, press the Menu button on the bottom of the scope, press the Recall Setup softkey, select the From File softkey, use the multipurpose knob A to select your setup file, and press the Recall From Selected File softkey. The protected user data on your scope is now overwritten with x's.

The next step is to disable the LAN port and clear IP addresses. To do this, remove the Ethernet cable from the LAN port of the instrument if it’s connected. Go to the Utility menu, scroll to the I/O page in the Utility Page menu, select Ethenet & LXI, select the “more” button, select e*Scope Password, and use the multipurpose knob A to select Disabled. Select Change e*Scope Password, Clear the password, and select OK Accept.

To clear the IP Addresses, select Network Configuration, Select Manual, and select Set IP Addresses Manually. Clear each IP address field using the Clear button and select OK Accept.

To clear the host and domain names, select Ethernet &LXI, select Change Names, clear the Host Name and Domain Name fields using the Clear button, and select OK Accept.

The final step is to disable the USB device port. Remove any USB cables or devices from the instrument, navigate to the I/O Utility page, select USB, and select Disabled.