Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hey guys,

I own 3 Einsteins and did the V30 update a while back. I saw a newer release came out and decided to update again.

This is not really a problem but more of an Hummmmmm. I updated my first flash, no issues. Tested after removing the micro SD card and works as expected. Displays V31 on boot up.

I tried to do flash #2 but nothing happened??? Tried reseating the card several times but felt natural and smooth with spring tension. I unplugged after every reseat and plugged back in. So I moved on to #3 and the same thing, Nothing happening, no flashing display. Powered up and still at V30, same as #2.

That's when I noticed in the "LOAD" folder that it was missing the .HEX file that was in my computer hard drive download that I copied to the micro SD. So I recopied the whole firmware folder back on the card. #3 updated as it should. Went back to flash #2 and again, no update and that .HEX file was missing. Reloaded the card and it went just as smooth and everything is now updated.

Here's the thing, I don't remember having to do that on the last (V30) update. I'm using the same MS DOS formatted card as the last time. (had to dig up an old windows machine to do the format). Not a big thing but is this normal? Not sure how I could have done anything wrong, pretty straight forward procedure.

Like I said, not really a problem. Just different... Normal?

There is a .hex file in the load folder. The firmware is designed to kick out this file so firmware updates do not continue to happen every time power is restored when a card is installed. This is really more of a concern with Cyber Commander, so when the firmware is posted for Einstein (the two share a similar structure), it has a read only attribute applied to it. This prevents the file from being kicked out so the card can be moved to the next light. Since the card is not permanently installed in a light, there is no harm in having the file not kicked off.

However, the read only attribute is not honored in a Mac system, and does not get relayed to the SD card. This does require the card going back into the computer to regain the .hex file in the load folder.

If your previous update was applied to the card using a PC, you would have been able to go from light to light. On the latest, if you applied the update to the card using a Mac, then you would have had to reapply the update after each light.