Keysight Technologies X Series Installation and operation manual

Notice: This document contains references to Agilent.
Please note that Agilent’s Test and Measurement business
has become Keysight Technologies. For more information,
go towww.keysight.com.
Keysight X-Series Signal Analyzers
PC6 and PC7 CPU
Replacement Procedure
Installation Note

Notices
© Copyright 2015 - 2020 Keysight Technologies, Inc.
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Keysight Technologies makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including but
not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Keysight Technologies shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or
consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
Manual Part Number
N9020-90248
Edition
Edition 1, May 2020
Supersedes: June 2015
Printed in USA/Malaysia
Published by:
Keysight Technologies, Inc.
1400 Fountaingrove Parkway
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Installation Note N9020-90248 3
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
CPU Replacement Procedure
This installation note explains how to replace either a defective quad-core high performance CPU
(PC6) with a new quad-core high performance CPU, or a defective dual-core Celeron CPU (PC7)
with a new dual-core Celeron CPU. The replacement CPU in this kit contains a flash memory chip
on the CPU assembly used to store (back up) calibration data. This memory chip was added to the
existing PC6 or PC7 CPU and the memory can only be accessed with instrument software A.25.08
or greater.
When this latest replacement CPU has software A.25.08 or later loaded on the Solid State Drive,
the instrument Show System screen will show either N90xxA/B-PC6S or N90xxA/B-PC7S, where
the "S" designates "secure" memory. You will need to follow the backup process in this installation
note to backup the calibration data from the SSD to the flash memory.
When this latest CPU has software earlier than A.25.08 loaded on the SSD, the instrument Show
System screen will show either N90xxA/B-PC6 or N90xxA/B-PC7.
The CPU performance has not changed. The new CPU only has the memory chip added which is
accessed with the newer software revision.
To maintain backwards compatible, the CPU assembly also has the removable SD memory card
that previous PC6 or PC7 CPUs have. The SD card does show up in File Explorer, and can be written
to by the end user. This caused concern with our customers concerned about security. The
presence of the Flash memory chip cannot be seen, and can only be written to by the Keysight
factory or service center software or the instrument's internal Backup and Restore tool.
Products Affected: EXA N9010A/B
MXA N9020A/B
PXA N9030A/B
MXE N9038A
UXA N9040B/N9041B
PXE N9048B
Serial Numbers: All
To Be Performed By: (X) Keysight Service Center
(X) Personnel Qualified by Keysight
(X) Customer
Estimated Installation Time:
Estimated Adjustment and Verification Time:
0.5 Hours
1 Hour
This kit is not intended to be used to upgrade an X-Series Signal Analyzer from either a
single-core or duo-core CPU to the quad-core high performance CPU, or from a single-core or
Celeron CPU to a dual-core Celeron CPU.

4Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Contents
PC6 CPU Replacement Kit
PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Tools Required
—TorxDriverT-10
—USBKeyboard
—USBMouse
Quantity Description
1 Installation Note
1 Quad-Core High Performance CPU (without disk drive)
Quantity Description
1 Installation Note
1 Dual-Core Celeron CPU (without disk drive)

Installation Note N9020-90248 5
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Installation Procedure
1. Refer to Figure 1. Locate and remove the disk drive tray assembly (2) from the instrument by
loosening the drive tray retaining screw (1) and pulling the assembly out by the handle on the
drive tray rear panel.
Set the drive aside in a safe location for replacement later in this procedure.
Figure 1 Removing the Disk Drive Tray Assembly
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can damage or destroy electronic components. All work on
electronic assemblies should be performed at a static-safe workstation. Refer to the
documentation that pertains to your instrument for information about static-safe workstations
and ordering static-safe accessories.

6Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
2. Refer to Figure 2. Locate and remove the existing CPU assembly from the instrument by
removing the 6 rear panel screws (1). The CPU assembly can be removed from the chassis by
pulling straight out the back. Use the two extractors to pull the CPU assembly out from the
chassis.
Figure 2 Removing the CPU Assembly
3. Verify the part number of the CPU assembly that has been removed from the instrument. The
part number label will be either on the bottom nearest the GPIB connector or on the rear panel
below the USB connectors (ignore the part number label near the opening for the removable
disk drive). Do not proceed with this replacement if the part number of the CPU is one of the
following:
—W1312-60068
—W1312-60072
—W1312-60190
—W1312-60191
—W1312-60196
—W1312-60197

Installation Note N9020-90248 7
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
4. If the part number of the CPU assembly that has been removed is one of those listed in step 3,
the disk drive removed from the assembly cannot be used with the CPU assembly included in
this kit.
5. If the part number of the CPU assembly that has been removed is not one of those listed in
step 3, continue with this procedure.
6. Look for a removable SD memory card in a socket located just in front of the disk drive
connector. If no SD card is installed on the faulty CPU board; then remove the SD card from
the replacement CPU assembly.
7. See Figure 2. Install the replacement CPU assembly in the instrument with 6 screws (1).
Torque to 9 in-lbs.
8. See Figure 1. Reinstall the disk drive tray assembly (2) and torque the attaching screw (1) to
9 in-lbs.

8Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
BIOS Settings
As with other types of PC processor assemblies the A4 Processor assembly has a number of
settings particular to the hardware on the board assembly. These settings are saved in a separate
memory location on the board and accessed by the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) Setup Utility.
If these settings are changed from those that the instrument was initially shipped with this could
cause a problem with the booting and/or functionality of the instrument.
If the instrument is having a problem booting up, but is functional enough to enter the BIOS Setup
Utility you will want to verify that the BIOS settings have not been changed.
Accessing BIOS Setup Utility
To easily navigate the BIOS Setup Utility you will want to have an external USB keyboard connected
to the instrument. Then, when the initial Keysight Technologies splash screen is displayed at
power-up, press the key on the keyboard specified on the initial boot screen (typically the DEL key).
Once this is pressed you will see the main BIOS Setup Utility screen.
Load Defaults
The instrument was originally shipped from the factory with all of the BIOS settings in their default
position. If these have been changed for some reason they can all be returned to their default
position by navigating to the Save & Exit screen and select Restore Defaults. Once the defaults
have been loaded select Save Changes and Exit.

Installation Note N9020-90248 9
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Functional Check and Time/Date Reset
1. Turn the instrument on.
2. Verify that Operating System can be found and that the Keysight Measurement Application
starts up.
3. Press System, Show System and look under Options and determine which CPU the instrument
software finds. Either N90xxA/B-PC6 or PC7 or N90xxA/B-PC6S or PC7S.
4. Navigate to the Control Panel. Select Clock, Language and Region. Click Set the time and
date. Change date and time, and change time zone.
5. The next step is to back up the calibration data from the instrument's SSD to the internal flash
memory chip if the CPU is PC6S or PC7S, and also back up to the removable SD memory card
since you cannot be sure if the customer relied on the SD card containing the backup or not.
Not all earlier CPUs contained the SD card, and most security conscious customers remove the
SD card. Therefore you must check the original (faulty) CPU assembly and see if it has an SD
card or not. If it does not, remove the SD card from the new replacement CPU.

10 Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Data Backup Using Alignment Wizard
The Alignment Data Wizard is launched directly from the instrument application software interface,
so you do not need to exit the application software before proceeding.
Follow the steps below to start the wizard:
1. Plug the mouse’s USB cable into one of the instrument’s USB ports.
2. Plug the USB keyboard into another of the instrument’s USB ports.
3. Press System > Alignments > Backup or Restore Align Data...
4. If you are prompted to enter the Administrator password, enter either Keysight4u!, or
agilent4u, depending on your instrument’s software version.
5. When prompted, press OK to close the analyzer program.
6. The Alignment Data Wizard dialog appears, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Alignment Data Wizard

Installation Note N9020-90248 11
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Click Next to proceed.
7. The next screen allows you to select Backup or Restore. Select Backup as shown in Figure 4,
then click Next to proceeded.
Figure 4 Selecting Backup Operation

12 Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
8. The content of the next screen displayed depends on the Processor assembly type.
If the instrument has a PC6S or PC7S Processor Assembly, then the screen contains the
selections shown in Figure 5.
The available storage location options are as follows:
— Internal Flash is the Calibration Backup memory in the A4 Processor assembly. For
PC6S/PC7S, this is the default location, and the Internal Flash selection will only appear if
the instrument has PC6S or PC7S. Click Next to back up to the Internal Flash
—ExternalRemovableDrive: This will default to F:/AlignmentBackups... if the removable SD
memory card is present in the A4 Processor assembly. See Figure 6.
Figure 5 Alignment Data Wizard Storage Options for PC6S/PC7S

Installation Note N9020-90248 13
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
9. If the default location shown is F:\AlignmentBackups... the SD card is present. Click Next and
follow the wizard's on-screen instructions to back up the calibration data.
Figure 6 Alignment Data Wizard Storage Options for PC6/PC7
This completes the Backup operation.
10. After the backup has been completed, the signal analyzer application will be restarted.

14 Installation Note N9020-90248
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Calibration Data Backup to SD Card
To maintain backwards compatibility, the replacement CPU assembly also has a removable SD
memory card that previous PC6 or PC7 CPUs have.
Since it is unknown if customers have existing processes that assume the calibration data is located
on the SD card, you need to back up the calibration data to the SD card (if it is present).
To do this remove any USB memory devices connected to the instrument, and follow the Backup
process outlined earlier, but this time back up to the default
F:\AlignmentBackupst\N90xxx…location.
Figure 7 Alignment Data Wizard Storage Options for PC6/PC7
If you removed the SD card because the instrument did not contain an SD card when it was sent
in for CPU replacement, skip this portion of the installation.

Installation Note N9020-90248 15
PC6 and PC7 CPU Replacement Kit
Utilities, Adjustments, and Performance Verification Tests
Utilities Required
None
Adjustments Required
None
Performance Testing Recommended
Displayed Average Noise Level
Residual Responses
End of installation.
For assistance, contact your nearest Keysight Technologies Sales and Service Office. To find your
local Keysight office access the following URL, or if in the United States, call the following
telephone number:
http://www.keysight.com/find/assist
1-800-829-4444 (8 am - 8 pm ET, Monday - Friday)
Assuming calibration data on the SSD allows the instrument to be in specification. If the
instrument required repair and replacement of something other than the CPU assembly, see the
Service Guide Post Repair Procedures for Adjustment and Performance Testing requirements.

This information is subject to change
without notice.
© Keysight Technologies 2015-2020
Edition 1, May 2020
N9020-90248
www.keysight.com