Software crashed during firmware v6 upgrade

[a_team]

Hi

I was upgrading the firmware to v6 and the program crashed during the process. Now it says that Flirc is disconnected and I can't re-flash it.

What to do? Is it bricked?

[Chris!]

It should still be accessible, it should pop up now and then.

When it does connect (even for a short amount of time) try uploading the latest stable firmware.

Let us know how you get on

pleasant regards

[a_team]

Solved: Reinstalled the software drivers into windows 8 using zadig. It then detected it again. I upgraded the firmware flawlessly the second time around

[jason]

Great, glad to hear you are up and running.

[Dukeivo]

Hello,

 

I have similar issue now. SW crashed while upgrading to firmware 1.0.

Reinstal (shall reinstall drivers) do not help.

 

In Device Manager i see device "bootldr" instead of Flirc now, but it was OK before. Any idea how to resolve to normal status and upgrade firware ?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Ivo

[aminchew]

I attempted an upgrade to 1.0.0.rc2 FW with similar results and have not been able to recover.

 

The update was done from a new Macbook Air (haswell), Mountain Lion.

 

Tried to recover from the Mac and 2 different Windows 7 PC's without success.

 

Reported the issue via the Flirc support page and have not received a response.

[Chris!]

Reported the issue via the Flirc support page and have not received a response.

We will get back to you (or rather Jason will). We have full time jobs and families which compete for our time too - don't worry we won't leave you with a useless Flirc.

 

In Device Manager i see device "bootldr" instead of Flirc now

This means that it's still "alive" it's just got to have the firmware flashed onto it - sometimes it makes a few tries. I'll let Jason take over on this thread as he'll be more helpful.

 

 

I will say one thing, just in case: Remember to use the right software for the right firmware (Beta software for beta firmware and stable software for stable firmware). When in doubt, use the stable ones: 

[Dukeivo]

Hello,

 

Do you an update on how to fix it as none has replied here on in tech support ?

 

We will get back to you (or rather Jason will). We have full time jobs and families which compete for our time too - don't worry we won't leave you with a useless Flirc.

 

This means that it's still "alive" it's just got to have the firmware flashed onto it - sometimes it makes a few tries. I'll let Jason take over on this thread as he'll be more helpful.

 

 

I will say one thing, just in case: Remember to use the right software for the right firmware (Beta software for beta firmware and stable software for stable firmware). When in doubt, use the stable ones: 

[Chris!]

Oh no, he didn't get back to you. Sorry about that. I think he has been very busy recently.

 

Did you try my suggestion of trying to re-upload the stable firmware?

It might take a couple of tries but it should work

[Dukeivo]

I can't reload firmware as Flirc sw shows DISCONNECTED all the time. And "Upgrade firmware" menu item do not respond - actually nothing happens when i press it.

 

P.S. To remind - mine stopped working because sw crashed during fw upgrade to 1.0.

 

Oh no, he didn't get back to you. Sorry about that. I think he has been very busy recently.

 

Did you try my suggestion of trying to re-upload the stable firmware?

It might take a couple of tries but it should work

[jason]

I can't reload firmware as Flirc sw shows DISCONNECTED all the time. And "Upgrade firmware" menu item do not respond - actually nothing happens when i press it.

 

P.S. To remind - mine stopped working because sw crashed during fw upgrade to 1.0.

Send me an email at flirc.tv/support, I'll get you an RMA and I'd like to take a look at this unit. Really sorry for the delay.

[jonbennett]

I too just had this happen to me.  I have emailed and eagerly await a response.

 

apparently it got bricked during firmware update.

 

running Mountain Lion 10.8 .5

[jason]

I'm going to write a blog post soon, Chris is staying on top of me to make sure this gets done.

I have a bug in my bootloader, and sometimes the device gets bricked. As you can imagine, it's not a good problem, and is the reason I've slowed down my updates. There are enough devices out there where this is now a serious risk to the company should an update ruin the majority of devices.

Among a number of things I'm working on, I'm trying to fix this, and I'm nearly certain I've got it. It was a massive re-write of all my code, my bootloader, pretty much everything. I'm absolutely exhausted, and this had to be done correctly before the next build starts. (it's already started, and I'm holding it up, and am now nearly out of stock).

 

My blog post will be extensive on the measures I've taken, and what problems arose. The majority being this microprocessor is old. Too many limitations, every line is critical in code to timing, and it's becoming a dumb waist of my time.

I need to do a lot more testing, however, how to move forward I don't know. Updates will probably end for devices out there unless I can come up with a clever way of detecting if the firmware upgrade is not going well and stop the upgrade. I've noticed that the majority of failures I've been able to reproduce is when there was a hub in-between the device and computer. 

 

Any devices that gets bricked due to these upgrades will be replaced, just email me and wait patiently.

 

The massive code overhaul has caused me to fall far behind, and I'm burning the midnight oil to catch up. I'm not going to leave anyone hanging, just bear in mind I'm still the only one doing this.

[jonbennett]

Jason,

 

Thank you for the quick reply.  

 

I was using a powered USB 3.0 hub when it occurred.

 

I think you have a really awesome product.  

 

As more and more people are building rPI and htpc and media servers I think you will see your sales grow rapidly.

 

Can't wait to get this working on my latest project.  It is the last needed piece :-)

[jason]

Mac's are pretty solid as far as upgrades, but I had a sigh of relief when you said you used a hub. 

Which one do you have? I'm going to get one.

I'll have a replacement in the mail for you shortly.

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, really means a lot.

[Videonisse]

The majority being this microprocessor is old. Too many limitations, every line is critical in code to timing, and it's becoming a dumb waist of my time

 

Any chance you will release a new hardware revision soon with a more up to date hw? I love Flirc and want to order more but will not do so until the current hw works well and it supports all the standard media keys as well as Ctrl-F etc. (I'm stuck using Windows Mediacenter as TV PVR)

[jason]

I'm overdue for a blog update. I spent the last 3-4 weeks re-writing all my software. I actually do plan on saying goodbye to this processor, but it's still too early.

I re-wrote my bootloader. I have a manufacturing build going on right now, which was held up until I finished fixing this bug. This wasn't a hardware limitation, some bad libraries I had found that weren't quite optimized for microcontrollers. Not to mention, everything I mentioned above didn't help. Data get's corrupt on the way down, and I do a number of things to check in the new one.

So to answer your question, I've fixed it for all the new ones being made. I'll make upgrades for the new ones more automatic, however, the old one's will require people to hunt down the one in the forums. This is to prevent people from upgrading (when they don't need too), and possibly bricking their device.

 

As far as media keys, ctrl-f, etc. I'm going to get to it pretty soon. I'd say this is next on the list.

 

Ctrl+F, I think works now. Give the latest 1.0.0-rc.4 package a try. Create a new post in that sub forum if that worked or didn't work.

[Videonisse]

Great, then I will try to upgrade one of my current units to rc4 as soon as I can :-)