MemCardTest

A small Windows console utility for managing the storage on an HP/Agilent 8563E spectrum analyzer fitted with the 85620A Mass Memory Module and a FRAM memory card. Talks to the analyzer over GPIB via NI-VISA.

It can list and clear the module's RAM, list and (semi-)clear the FRAM card, copy files MEM → CARD with per-file verification, compare the two stores, and probe individual filenames on the card without going through CATALOG?.

Hardware

• HP/Agilent 8563E spectrum analyzer
• HP 85620A Mass Memory Module
• FRAM memory card seated in the 85620A
• A GPIB controller on the host PC; analyzer expected at GPIB0::18::INSTR (change Resource8563E if yours differs)

Prerequisites

• Windows
• .NET Framework 4.7.2
• NI-VISA installed (the project references Ivi.Visa.dll and NationalInstruments.Visa.dll from the IVI Foundation install — see the HintPath entries in MemCardTest.csproj and adjust if your VISA install lives elsewhere)

Build

dotnet build

Or open MemCardTest.sln in Visual Studio.

Usage

Two modes share a single dispatcher, so every menu entry is also reachable from the CLI.

Interactive menu

Run with no arguments and pick from the list:

.\MemCardTest\bin\Debug\net472\MemCardTest.exe

CLI

Pass one or more commands as positional arguments. They run sequentially in a single GPIB session, so you can chain connect with the operation you actually want.

Command	Action
connect	Open the GPIB session to the 8563E
catalog-mem	List files in the Mass Memory Module
clear-mem	DISPOSE ALL on module RAM
catalog-card	List files on the FRAM card
card-info	Show file count + BYTES FREE for card
format-card	Walk the user through front-panel format (cannot be done over GPIB on this analyzer)
copy-to-card	Copy every file MEM → CARD, verify each
copy-from-card	Copy every file CARD → MEM (stub)
compare	Diff MEM vs. CARD by name
probe-card	Per-name CARDLOAD probe of every MEM filename against the card

Examples:

MemCardTest connect copy-to-card
MemCardTest connect catalog-card
MemCardTest connect compare

help, -h, --help, or /? prints the same table.

Logging

Each session writes a fresh log file (MemCardTest.log) next to the executable, including every GPIB command sent, every error code returned, and the per-file summary of any copy operation. The log path is printed at startup.

Known issues

• CATALOG? on CARD truncates at ~903 bytes (~55 entries). Documented inline at the use site in Program.cs — the post-copy verification works around it by issuing per-name CARDLOAD probes instead of trusting the catalog. Root cause not yet pinned down (firmware vs. driver vs. this code); reproduction from HTBasic still pending.
• format-card is front-panel only. FORMAT n over GPIB returns ERR 112 NOT CTRL because the PC is the system controller, and DLP-wrapped variants are stored but not executed. The command walks the user through the manual sequence and releases the analyzer to local control so the front-panel keys respond.
• copy-from-card is not yet implemented.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.