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Firmware update - personal experience and observation
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I have been reluctant to update the firmware despite having had the Duo for a few years so eventually I turned to my son-in-law who is a professional electronic engineer!
1) I should have read the posts on this group which offer advice https://groups.io/g/EladSDR/topic/89917593#20215 although in some details differ from the document Firmware Update Rev.1.1 07/2019 - see below. It is the case that only the latest update is needed even if there had been precious updates what had not been loaded. 2) Getting the top cover off was difficult and required some plastic tools to avoid damage to the metal work or any of the internal components. 3)Menu 84 shows the current firmware versions before starting which can also be seen in the SWR2 software - useful to record these. 4) The 4GB memory stick had never been taken out of its package or been used but actually had nothing on it and was unformatted! I bought the Duo from the UK supplier! 5) I have obtained a spare 4GB stick as an insurance for the future even if larger stick might work. 6) Son-in-law reformatted it (long process) in FAT32 and downloaded the latest Tx and Rx firmware to the memory stick 7) We followed through the Firmware Update Guide - Rev. 1.1 - 07/2019 However it is necessary to follow the guide to the very letter as the Duo only reads the first file it sees in the root directory i.e. fdmduorx.bin. It took a while to understand why the second file fdmduotx.bin would not load when updating the Tx firmware. So download the two files separately and delete the Rx update file before moving onto dealing with the Tx file! 8) There was no need to update the USB interface firmware 9) Also no need to update FPGA firmware 10) The Guide states update the User Interface (UI) after doing the other updates - although I now read that other posters suggest this is not necessary? 11)The latest tool to update the UI Firmware is Flashmagictool version 13 - this is what we used but followed the guide for ver. 12 without any issues. 12) At the end of the process menu 84 shows the updated firmware versions. Perhaps the Firmware Update document might be itself be updated? Chris m0pzc |
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Neil Smith G4DBN
Hi Chris, I've "only" done this process
about 16 times on my two FDM-DUOs, I always use Flashmagictool v11
for the update, it's still available on the website. Originally,
V12 changed some things and wouldn't work with the DUO, so I'd be
careful to stick to what's in the documentation rather than using
a more recent version in case they pull a similar trick in future.
After about 6 removals of the covers,
it gets slightly easier. Slightly.
As you say, follow the instructions -
it would help to include a note to say "use the original 4GB stick
or find another 4/8/16 GB unit as larger ones will not work.
A note to say "ensure the bin file is
the only file on the drive" each time would be a help.
A fast format is usually fine, bit
weird that yours was not formatted though.
I've always updated the UI last,
because if you update it and there's something that's a bugfix and
not backwards-compatible with the TX/RX firmware, then by some
mischance the firmware update fails because of a problem with your
memory stick, you'd be in a bit of a mess. I don't think any such
incompatibility has ever happened though.
You only need to update what is
indicated in the current firmware versions document, and then only
if you need the feature updates or bugfixes, but I'd do it once a
year anyway, just so you remember how and keep up to date with the
process.
Actually it's 19 times now I've
checked. Three times when I only had one DUO and eight times
since getting the second one. I still read the update document
and tick off the steps though.
On 10/01/2023 18:02, Chris m0pzc wrote:
I have been reluctant to update the firmware despite having had the Duo for a few years so eventually I turned to my son-in-law who is a professional electronic engineer! |
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