DSPbR-UPDATE

SERVICE BULLETIN DSPbR - UPDATING FIRMWARE

Product: DSPbR Rebroadcast Repeater

Subject: Firmware Upgrading Date: 19th July 2019

Description This Service Bulletin describes the steps required to upgrade the firmware in the DSP-based Repeater (DSPbR). Upgrading Firmware Please read all Service Bulletins published from the release of the firmware currently operating in your DSPbR prior to commencing an upgrade. The upgrade to a firmware version may require an additional (interim) step in the upgrade process before an upgrade to a later firmware version is attempted. The required intermediate firmware version transitions are;

• Firmware below version 5.2.7 must transition through version 5.2.7 prior to attempting an update to 5.2.8 or above.

• Firmware below version 5.4.0 must transition through version 5.4.0 prior to attempting an update to a version above 5.4.0.

For firmware versions below 5.2.7, other transition requirements may be required in addition to those listed above. If you have any uncertainty regarding the current firmware revision installed in a DSPbR, the current firmware status of any modules in a DSPbR, or their compatibility with an upgrade to a newer firmware revision, please contact RFI for assistance prior to commencing any firmware upgrade attempt.

Note: When upgrading to (or transiting through) firmware version 5.4.0 please refer to: Service Bulletin DSPbR – Updating Firmware Version 5.4.0

DSPbR Firmware/GUI Upload To use the upload and other procedures described in this document, you need to use a PC connected to the DSPbR via either a Network or locally via an Ethernet cable. You will need to know the IP address of the DSPbR and you must be able to communicate with the DSPbR using a PC running Internet Explorer version 8 or higher. You will also need the password required for admin login.

Note: It is important to confirm the compatibility of the hardware (i.e. modules) and firmware revisions currently fitted into an existing DSPbR in the field – PRIOR to attempting an upgrade to any later firmware revision. In isolated cases, particularly where firmware has been developed and supplied for customised applications, later revisions of the product’s generic firmware may be incompatible, and attempting to upgrade such customised units to later firmware revisions may result in performance issues – such as the loss of the original customised features. Please contact RFI prior to upgrading any DSPbR to confirm any compatibility issues with any later firmware revision releases. Before You Start It is strongly recommended that you save the DSPbR configuration to the internal file system before you perform any firmware upgrades. Furthermore, it is also recommended to backup all internally saved configuration files to your PC. The procedures to perform these backups are provided below. Important: If you are upgrading the DSPbR GUI file system (.TFS file), you MUST perform both of the save and backup steps as described above because the upgrade process deletes all internally saved user configuration files from the DSPbR. After a GUI file system upgrade, the DSPbR configuration will have to be restored and reloaded from your saved backup. Once you have saved and made backups of the DSPbR configuration files, you should firstly check the versions of the current firmware versions in the DSPbR and then proceed to upgrade the individual module’s firmware as required. If you upgrade the GUI file system, you will have to restore the backed-up user configuration files you saved to your PC and reload, verify and activate one of these. After any firmware upgrade, you will also have to perform a Channel Verify & Activate operation to clear any “Required module not detected” alarms.

Save All Configuration Files 1. Type the DSPbR IP address in the Internet Explorer address bar and press the Enter key.

2. Login as Admin.

3. To save the current system configuration to a file, click on the Maintenance menu and select the

Files submenu.

4. Locate the textbox below the heading “Save Configuration to File”.

5. In the textbox, type a name to save the configuration file with .cfg extension as shown in the

screenshot below.

6. Press the “Save Config” soft button. Once saved, the file name will appear in the file list as indicated

below.

7. To backup a configuration file to your PC, select the required configuration file from the file list and

click the “View” soft button.

8. The contents of the configuration file will appear as a new tab as shown below (Example:

“test123.cfg”).

File List

Textbox

9. Using the “Save Page As” option in the web browser, save this text file with same name as the

original configuration file (example: “test123.cfg”), ensuring the .cfg extension is preserved. This will

create a backup copy of configuration file on your PC that can later be uploaded to the DSPbR if

required.

10. Repeat steps 7, 8 and 9 above for any other existing internal configuration files that you wish to

preserve.

Firmware Version Check Procedure

1. Type the DSPbR IP address in the Internet Explorer address bar and press the Enter key.

2. Login as Admin.

3. To check the firmware version click on the Status menu and select the Version Register

submenu. As shown in the example below, the controller (CTRL) Firmware version is 2.2.

GUI File System Version Check Procedure

1. To check the GUI version, navigate to the Maintenance menu and select the Files submenu.

2. Click on the “version/info.txt” option and press the “View” soft button. The GUI file system

Information will be displayed in a new tab.

3. An example GUI version page is shown below with the current version indicated in the top line

of the text.

Important: Firmware upgrades should be performed in the following sequence;

Controller Firmware Upload Procedure 1. Select the Maintenance menu from the menu bar on the left and select the Files submenu.

2. This will open the “File Management” page as shown below.

3. On the “File Management” page, select “Choose File” soft button to open the file selection dialog box.

4. Select the appropriate firmware file (example: “CTRLSS_APP_4_9.BIN”).

5. The selected file name appears beside the “Choose File” soft button.

6. Press the “Send” soft button to start the file upload process.

7. The upload process takes about 3 minutes. During the upload process, the progress bar may start

and stop several times, but it is advisable to wait for the full 3 minutes.

Note: During the upload process, do not refresh or click any soft button on the DSPbR GUI as

this could lead to file corruption.

8. After the upload process is completed, check the new firmware version by repeating the steps

described in Firmware Version Check Procedure above.

Update Module Firmware 1. Select the Maintenance menu from the menu bar on the left and select the Files submenu.

2. This will open the “File Management” page as shown below.

3. On the “File Management” page, select the “Choose File” soft button to open the file selection

dialog box.

4. Select the appropriate module firmware file (example: “REFGEN_V1_8.BIN”).

5. The selected file name appears beside the “Choose File” soft button.

6. Press the “Send” soft button to start the file upload process. After the file transfer has completed,

the file will appear in the file list box.

7. The upload process takes about 3 minutes. During the upload process, the progress bar may start

and stop several times, but it is advisable to wait for the full 3 minutes.

Note: During the upload process, do not refresh or click any soft button on DSPbR GUI as this could

lead to file corruption.

8. To load the firmware into each of the modules, select the required firmware file in the file list box.

9. Click the “Synchronise” soft button to commence the module firmware update process. This will

update all modules in the DSPbR which are compatible with the selected firmware file.

10. After the upload and synchronise processes have been completed, check the new firmware versions

by repeating the steps described in Firmware Version Check Procedure.

GUI File System Upload Procedure

Warning: Updating the GUI file system will delete all existing files in the internal file system. Ensure you have saved any configuration files to your PC that you wish to preserve before proceeding. 1. Click on the Maintenance menu on the menu bar on the left and select the Files submenu.

2. This will open the “File Management” page as shown below.

3. On the “File Management” page, select the “Choose File” soft button to open the file selection

dialog box.

4. Select the appropriate GUI file (example: “CTRLSS_FS_5_2_.TFS”).

5. The selected file name appears beside the “Choose File” soft button.

6. Press the “Send” soft button to start the file upload process.

7. The upload process takes about 3 minutes. During the upload process the progress bar could

start and stop couple of times but it is advisable to wait for the full 3 minutes.

Note: During the upload process, do not refresh or click any soft button on the DSPbR GUI as

this could lead to file corruption.

8. After the upload is completed, check the new GUI version by repeating steps described in

GUI File System Version Check Procedure.

9. After updating the GUI file system, you will need to restore each of the backed-up user

configuration files you previously saved on your local PC as described in the following

Restore and Reload Backed-up Configuration Files section.

Restore and Reload Backed-up Configuration Files 1. Click on the Maintenance menu on the menu bar on the left and select the Files submenu.

2. This will open the “File Management” page as shown below.

3. On the “File Management” page, select the “Choose File” soft button to open the file selection

dialog box.

4. Select the required configuration file to restore (example: “myconfig.cfg”).

5. The selected file name appears beside the “Choose File” soft button.

6. Press the “Send” soft button to start the file restore/upload process.

7. The configuration file upload process will only take a few (usually less than 10) seconds to load.

Note: During the upload process, do not refresh or click any soft button on the DSPbR GUI as

this could lead to file corruption.

8. Repeat steps 1 through 7 for each configuration file you wish to restore from your PC.

9. When all the configuration files have been restored to the DSPbR internal file system, one

configuration file must be loaded in preparation for the Verify and Activate process.

10. To reload a DSPbR configuration file, select the required file in the file list box, and press the

‘Load Config’ button below the list box.

11. Finally, perform the steps in the following Activate the Previous Configuration section.

Activate the Previous Configuration 1. To clear the “Required module not detected” alarm and to activate a reloaded configuration, a

Channel Verify & Activate operation is essential.

2. From the Configuration menu, select the Channels submenu. This will open the Channel

Configuration Overview page as show below.

3. On this page, locate the soft button called “Verify & Activate” towards the middle portion of the

page and click this soft button.

4. The system will initially perform a channel verification check and upon successful verification, the

GUI will display the “Confirm Channel Activation” page requesting confirmation from the user to

activate the channels as shown below.

5. Click the “Confirm” soft button to begin the channel activation process. This could take a few

minutes depending on the number of configured channels. At the end of a successful channel

activation process, the “Required module not detected” alarm will disappear.

6. To confirm that all the spurious alarms have been cleared, click on Status menu and select

the Alarms option. With all the spurious alarms cleared, the page will look as shown below.

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