PowerFlarm Update Problem

My PowerFlarm doesn't want to update.

The last time I used it was in Feb 2015, and all was well. Today I loaded PF6.02_7592.fw and my configuration file FLARMcfg.txt onto the USB thumb drive that I have used with my PF since 2012. Thumb drive was put into the PF USB, turned on the power, the LED on the PF showed amber, then changed to green, then turned red. On the Butterfly 57 mm display I saw a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it, superimposed over the red Butterfly and the red TX and GPS boxes, plus the words "Flarm error! Old Firmware". I waited 0.5 hours, nothing else happened.

Turned off the power for a minute or so until the Butterfly display turned grey, then turned it on again. Same color changes with the PF LED, the only difference was at the end the Butterfly display showed "Configuring PowerFlarm" and there was no red Butterfly and the red TX and GPS boxes. Waited another 0.5 hours, nothing else happened.

Tried both steps again after an hour using a different USB thumb drive, freshly formatted to FAT, same story.

Seems to me that either (1) my PowerFlarm has suddenly decided it won't read any USB thumb drives, or (2) it is impossible to upgrade a PowerFlarm from last years firmware after 31 March 2015.

Question - Has anyone been successful in upgrading a PowerFlarm from last year's firmware during the month of April 2015?

-John, Q3

PS - Richard is involving PowerFlarm for me. I'm just trying to find out if others have had the same experience.

On Tuesday, 14 April 2015 17:24:43 UTC-6, John Carlyle wrote:
My PowerFlarm doesn't want to update.

The last time I used it was in Feb 2015, and all was well. Today I loaded PF6.02_7592.fw and my configuration file FLARMcfg.txt onto the USB thumb drive that I have used with my PF since 2012. Thumb drive was put into the PF USB, turned on the power, the LED on the PF showed amber, then changed to green, then turned red. On the Butterfly 57 mm display I saw a yellow triangle with an exclamation point in it, superimposed over the red Butterfly and the red TX and GPS boxes, plus the words "Flarm error! Old Firmware". I waited 0.5 hours, nothing else happened.

Turned off the power for a minute or so until the Butterfly display turned grey, then turned it on again. Same color changes with the PF LED, the only difference was at the end the Butterfly display showed "Configuring PowerFlarm" and there was no red Butterfly and the red TX and GPS boxes. Waited another 0.5 hours, nothing else happened.

Tried both steps again after an hour using a different USB thumb drive, freshly formatted to FAT, same story.

Seems to me that either (1) my PowerFlarm has suddenly decided it won't read any USB thumb drives, or (2) it is impossible to upgrade a PowerFlarm from last years firmware after 31 March 2015.

Question - Has anyone been successful in upgrading a PowerFlarm from last year's firmware during the month of April 2015?

-John, Q3

PS - Richard is involving PowerFlarm for me. I'm just trying to find out if others have had the same experience.

John, I just updated my PF Brick with the same file two days ago and a second one a week ago. Previous usage was 10/14.

Lots of recent posts on this, sounds like you have to update the config file as well to work with the new firmware.
A bit of a search (maybe "update"?) will lead you through it.

Ron, thanks, that eliminates one variable. Charlie, you may be right, but that's step 2. I have to get the firmware upgraded first!

I'm beginning to think that my PF brick went bad. One of the USB thumb drives I have has a blue LED on the end that flashes when it is read. I've seen no flashes from it today, and I've seen no red/green flashing of the PF LED indicating that it was reading the USB thumb drive.

One last thing I'll try tomorrow is to put only the PF firmware on the drive (no configuration file), and see if it updates then. According to the manual a firmware update happens after device configuration. Wish me luck!

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 7:40:10 PM UTC-4, Ron Gleason wrote:
John, I just updated my PF Brick with the same file two days ago and a second one a week ago. Previous usage was 10/14.

I tried updating the PF using a USB thumb drive with only the PF6.02_7592.fw on it (no configuration file). Got the sequence of PF LED going from amber to green to red, ending up with the words "Configuring PowerFlarm" on the Butterfly 57 mm display.

Significantly, there were NO red/green flashes from the PF LED. So apparently my PF core is refusing to read the USB thumb drive.

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 8:08:14 PM UTC-4, John Carlyle wrote:
---snip---
One last thing I'll try tomorrow is to put only the PF firmware on the drive (no configuration file), and see if it updates then. According to the manual a firmware update happens after device configuration. Wish me luck!

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 7:40:10 PM UTC-4, Ron Gleason wrote:
John, I just updated my PF Brick with the same file two days ago and a second one a week ago. Previous usage was 10/14.

John have you tried to download the file over again to verify that the file on your computer and USB is complete and free of errors?

Greg, yes I did download it again. I tried the upgrade a few minutes ago (in the dark) and saw no evidence that the USB drive was being read (no LED blinks on the PF).

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 9:28:26 PM UTC-4, John Carlyle wrote:
Greg, yes I did download it again. I tried the upgrade a few minutes ago (in the dark) and saw no evidence that the USB drive was being read (no LED blinks on the PF).

-John, Q3

I've found I have 100% success when I disconnect the Butterfly Display, then power up with usb in, and 0% when it is connected (mine is an early core, 169). Once it is done, I reconnect and check it went through. I was a beta tester for 2.7 and it was suggested as a good idea. Adds a couple of seconds but has proven to be a good idea - for me at least.
USB 2 less than 32 GB is required for the stick.
Dan

Dan, that's extremely interesting! I have PF core s/n 117, maybe that's the trick I need. Both my USB drives are v2, the one that has always worked before is 1 GB, the other one is 512 MB (both formatted as FAT drives).

I'll try updating with a disconnected Butterfly display tomorrow at the airfield. I'll let you know if it works...

-John, Q3


On Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 9:57:50 PM UTC-4, Dan Daly wrote:
I've found I have 100% success when I disconnect the Butterfly Display, then power up with usb in, and 0% when it is connected (mine is an early core, 169). Once it is done, I reconnect and check it went through. I was a beta tester for 2.7 and it was suggested as a good idea. Adds a couple of seconds but has proven to be a good idea - for me at least.
USB 2 less than 32 GB is required for the stick.
Dan

My Core backlevelled itself after 6.0; so I
removed 3.4 and it reinstalled 6.0

You should have a PFC00nnn.TXT file put
on your USB which has all sorts of
informative messages. Have a look at it.
It came in handy when a Portable was
shutting itself down because the
towplane battery is dying.