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Suggestion to making finding PNA-X firmware easier.

Question asked by drkirkby on May 24, 2017
Latest reply on May 25, 2017 by jvall

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I was looking to update the firmware from A.10.49.08 on an N5242A, but found it blinking hard to find where the firmware was on the Keysight website.

Google did not work - usually I find this the easiest way to find anything on the Keysight website. So I thought I'd go to the Keysight website. I don't think my steps below are too illogical, but got me nowhere useful.

Going to the page on the N5242A N5242A PNA-X Microwave Network Analyzer, 26.5 GHz | Keysight (formerly Agilent’s Electronic Measurement)
There's a tab for "Support" so I go there.
There's a tab for "Drivers. Firmware and Software", so I go there
There is a list of 7 items, one of which is "PNA firmware, manual, upgrade and support". That seems the most logical, although it does not say PNA-X, But I follow the link.
That sends me here to a page that looks semi-promising, although there's no PNA-X mentioned. But it does have the title "PNA manual, firmware, upgrade, and support " The problem is, the latest version is shown as. 2014-09-01. I did not click download, thinking I did not want a 3-year old version.
Had I actually clicked "Download" from the above page, it would have got me to the right place, but I quite reasonably thought it would download me a 2014 release.

See the screenshot below from my browser. I´ve highlighted the bits that show that the link has N5242A in it, but the latest software is dated 2014.

I did eventually find the PNA-X firmware on the na.support. bit of Keysight, at Keysight PNA Series: Firmware, Upgrades, and Support (Don't ask what route I took to get there, as I lost track).

I should have known the http://na.support.keysight.com/ bit of the site was better than the main www.keysight.com

I'm sure glad that http://na.support.keysight.com/ exists!

So basically, unless I'm being thick, taking a fairly logical approach to find the firmware, leads one to a page suggesting the latest release is in 2014, so one might not be too keen to press the big red "Download" button.

jvall

May 24, 2017 12:37 PM

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I can't tell you how many times we have tried to get this fixed! Many times it has been fixed, only to have it later revert to something nonsensical. From my point of view, most all existing PNA customers that go to our website are looking for firmware and this should be in big bold print near the top of the page. Unfortunately, I think the web designers are more focused on sales rather than support. That is why we have the na.support website; it is on a separate server that I control and it avoids all the issues with the normal keysight.com corporate system.

That "Release Date" is totally bogus and I have no idea where it comes from; it is meaningless, especially when you consider that clicking on the Download button does not actually download anything; instead it is a direct link to the PNA firmware page that you eventually got to. The description actually says: "All current and previous versions are available on the PNA Series Support Site. Click the Download button to access the site." At one time we had all this this working well, but then they revamped the entire website. I will try to get this fixed this yet again!

BTW, a Google search of "PNA Firmware" would have brought up the proper page as the #1 choice.

For most purposes, the terms PNA, PNA-X, and PNA-L all refer to the same family which all use the same firmware, so we just use the term "PNA" as the all encompassing family name.

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jvall

May 24, 2017 12:37 PM

BTW, a Google search of "PNA Firmware" would have brought up the proper page as the #1 choice.

For most purposes, the terms PNA, PNA-X, and PNA-L all refer to the same family which all use the same firmware, so we just use the term "PNA" as the all encompassing family name.

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drkirkby May 24, 2017 4:06 PM

Hi Jvall,

I think it would be useful if the html page on the server you control did have PNA-X in the title/keywords too, as there are a lot of PNAs, and I don't think it too unreasonable for someone to think that searching for a PNA-X is likely to the right files quicker.

But on the main Keysight website, having a button marked "Download" is a bit silly.

Having had a moan, I would add that I find it much easier to get information from the Keysight website than Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz etc. My company is quite small, and can;'t afford a lot of expensive kit (the PNA-X is on loan from another company I do some work for). So often I buy used kit. But HP/Agilent/Keysight is definitely my preference, as I can get information. Support forums like this exist, whereas they don't for the competition.

It also seems that someone (Jill) is now actually managing the forums, and seems to be doing a decent job of it. They were so bad at one point I gave up using them. Things do seem to have improved at bit, and at last there's a forum for LCR meters/Impedance analyzers.

Anyway, I got the PNA-X firmware downloaded, so I will install tomorrow after taking an image of the disk, just in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Dave

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jvall

@ drkirkby on May 25, 2017 10:11 AM

Dave,

The title of the firmware page now shows: PNA Series Firmware Upgrades (Includes PNA, PNA-X, and PNA-L)

Like you, I got frustrated with the new forum format and do not use it or check it as much as I used to. Hopefully Jill will continue to improve it.

I also agree with the Download button, however they have certain formats and trying to work around it results in these weird nonsensical results. I am having someone look at the web page to see if they can “fix” the confusing issues (and remove the date); don’t hold your breath! As I said before, this is a recurring, frustrating ordeal. At one time we had the firmware download link on the main product page, but that now seems to have changed. No one that deals with the web pages agrees with me that firmware updates should be very visible; they seem to be just thinking sales.

There should be no need to image the disk before performing an upgrade…but I guess it will not hurt either. Each PNA has a recovery image in a hidden partition…just in case.

Thanks for the feedback.

JVall (aka CV)

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jvall May 24, 2017 12:37 PM
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I can't tell you how many times we have tried to get this fixed! Many times it has been fixed, only to have it later revert to something nonsensical. From my point of view, most all existing PNA customers that go to our website are looking for firmware and this should be in big bold print near the top of the page. Unfortunately, I think the web designers are more focused on sales rather than support. That is why we have the na.support website; it is on a separate server that I control and it avoids all the issues with the normal keysight.com corporate system.

That "Release Date" is totally bogus and I have no idea where it comes from; it is meaningless, especially when you consider that clicking on the Download button does not actually download anything; instead it is a direct link to the PNA firmware page that you eventually got to. The description actually says: "All current and previous versions are available on the PNA Series Support Site. Click the Download button to access the site." At one time we had all this this working well, but then they revamped the entire website. I will try to get this fixed this yet again!

BTW, a Google search of "PNA Firmware" would have brought up the proper page as the #1 choice.
For most purposes, the terms PNA, PNA-X, and PNA-L all refer to the same family which all use the same firmware, so we just use the term "PNA" as the all encompassing family name.
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drkirkby May 24, 2017 4:06 PM
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Hi Jvall,
I think it would be useful if the html page on the server you control did have PNA-X in the title/keywords too, as there are a lot of PNAs, and I don't think it too unreasonable for someone to think that searching for a PNA-X is likely to the right files quicker.

But on the main Keysight website, having a button marked "Download" is a bit silly.

Having had a moan, I would add that I find it much easier to get information from the Keysight website than Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz etc. My company is quite small, and can;'t afford a lot of expensive kit (the PNA-X is on loan from another company I do some work for). So often I buy used kit. But HP/Agilent/Keysight is definitely my preference, as I can get information. Support forums like this exist, whereas they don't for the competition.

It also seems that someone (Jill) is now actually managing the forums, and seems to be doing a decent job of it. They were so bad at one point I gave up using them. Things do seem to have improved at bit, and at last there's a forum for LCR meters/Impedance analyzers.

Anyway, I got the PNA-X firmware downloaded, so I will install tomorrow after taking an image of the disk, just in case it all goes horribly wrong.

Dave
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- jvall @ drkirkby on May 25, 2017 10:11 AM
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  Dave,
  
  The title of the firmware page now shows: PNA Series Firmware Upgrades (Includes PNA, PNA-X, and PNA-L)
  
  Like you, I got frustrated with the new forum format and do not use it or check it as much as I used to. Hopefully Jill will continue to improve it.
  
  I also agree with the Download button, however they have certain formats and trying to work around it results in these weird nonsensical results. I am having someone look at the web page to see if they can “fix” the confusing issues (and remove the date); don’t hold your breath! As I said before, this is a recurring, frustrating ordeal. At one time we had the firmware download link on the main product page, but that now seems to have changed. No one that deals with the web pages agrees with me that firmware updates should be very visible; they seem to be just thinking sales.
  
  There should be no need to image the disk before performing an upgrade…but I guess it will not hurt either. Each PNA has a recovery image in a hidden partition…just in case.
  
  Thanks for the feedback.
  
  JVall (aka CV)
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Suggestion to making finding PNA-X firmware easier.

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