Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I'm sure this is answered somewhere here but trawling through very long threads in the hope of finding the relevant information is somewhat daunting so I'll apologise before hand for wasting thread space I have a fairly early Taranis (in fact I have 2 - it's a long story) which is running S?W version 1.0.01 date 2013-07-23. I'm trying to set up a variometer and looking at some YouTube clips it seems there are features I don't appear to have so I would like to up date the software. First it's not the RF section I mean but the user interface. Is that stored internally or in the microSD card? I've had a year's lay off from flying and I've forgotten all I knew about the Taranis after getting quite familiar with it all beack in 2013 I'm sure I updated it before but I can't remember. Where do I go for an the update? Frsky or OpenRC? Which version do I use? I'm a bit nervous about updating software on a perfectly working transmitter, but needs must. I suspect I'll also have to up date the RF section but for now I'll delay the potential trauma. Thanks in anticipation. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Hi Geoff, first step go to OpenTx Companion and update that - remember that's just a program on your PC. Then when you plug in your Taranis that will offer you the opportunity to update OpenTx on the Taranis. It should go to 2.0.15 or there abouts! I don't know - as I have never taken a Taranis from 1.0.01 to a late version 2, you may have to go through an intermediate update to 2.0.1 - but Companion will guide you anyway. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 03/05/2015 12:57:24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Hi Geoff It's really very easy, once you have the Tx and the PC talking to each other. It would be good to get Mike Blandford to chip in here, to that end I'll add the word Taranis to the thread title. The reason I say that is that the procedure changes as you go up software versions, and I can't remember just where the difference happened. Early units needed PC software called Companion9x to do the upgrade. Later, OpenTx companion came along, and I can't remember if OpenTx will upgrade an old Taranis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Snap Chris. I think the difference came in when we went from version 1 to version 2? BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 03/05/2015 12:58:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Thanks, gents. I downloaded OpenTX last nught and it looks quite different from Companion9x I already have. I'll give it a try. Is the user interface s/w stored internally or on the microSD card? It's just nice to have a way back in case of ... accidents Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 If you plug a USB cable between the Tx and PC, with the Tx switched off, does the PC eventually see a couple of new external drives? (Once drivers etc have installed) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Just tried to up date the firmware but neither Companion9x not OpenTX seem able to communicate with it. Each time it fails to read the existing firmware (presumably for back up) and I've tried just reading the firmware, which also fails. I can read the SD card OK to back up model settings so the communication is there. I plugged in the USB with the Taranis switched on. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 As Far as I can see Geoff, there's another drive on the Tx it's self that holds the firmware. The Pc has to connect to that. Just to check that your Tx doesn't have the later bootloader. Try this:- With no cable connected, press rudder and aileron trims towards the on off switch, while switching it on. If you get a few menu options, try plugging it into the PC in that state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 If you do indeed still have the old bootloader, then then there's some good help here. We're probably into having to use Zadig, territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 No, that doesn't work either, I'm afraid. Perhaps I didn't update my frmware as I thought. So I'm stuck, I guess. I'll try the OpenRC Forum Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Blandford Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 If the Taranis is old, then it won't have the bootloader I wrote, so you will definitely need to use Zadig to update the firmware. The firmware is stored on the processor flash memory. The model data is stored on a EEPROM, external to the processor. With the firmware you have, then plugging in the USB cable with the Tx switch on will give you two drives, one the SD card, the other looks like a disk drive, but reading and writing it actually accesses the EEPROM. The only way to update the firmware is to plug the USB cable in first, then switch the Tx on. You then need to get Zadig installed on the PC to be able to 'talk' to the DFU bootloader. Your best bet is probably to read this: **LINK** to start with. Once you have upgraded to a recent version of openTx (or ersky9x come to that), you will then have the bootloader I wrote and won't need Zadig again. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Thanks Mike. Help is much better coming from someone who properly knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Thanks, Mike. I'll do all that. Been slightly delayed watching the last stage of the 'Tour de Yorkshire' on my PC.and my cycling wife raided my workshop to watch with me I'll report back on the possible (probable?) disaster - hope not! Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Well I managed it but not without problems. I have 2 Taranis radios and I updated the one I had to repair when I blew up a mosfet in the charge circuit as it's the one I use for less critical flying. That went quite well and Zadig succesfully loaded STM 32 Bootloader and I was able to update its firmware to version 2.0.15 which also allowed the bootloader to start when the radio was switched on with the trim buttons held in. However, when it came to updating the second radio I had a repeat of the problems I'd experienced earlier and Companion9x wouldn't read the firmware. When I checked the Device Manager on my PC, STM 32 Bootloader was absent, moreover Zadig no longer offered it as an option when I tried to go through the same steps as I had for radio #1. I overcame the problem by using my wife's machine. A bit of a pain as I had to install Companion9x and Zadig and go through the earlier steps. Oddly, STM 32 was the only option offered on that PC and took ages and ages to update. I checked after I was finished and STM 32 Bootloader was no longer installed in the USB list of drivers. Now both radios seem to be updated to the same version. It's taken me most of the day, though. Still - it was raining One of the problems was that the USB/radio connection sometimes requires the radio turned on before connection and at other times to be off. A little consistency would help. I'm fairly confident as a PC user having been playing with them since the days of DOS and with computers and microprocessors for far longer (since 1961!) so I can well understand how less experienced people give up. The trouble is, in my case. that I don't get involved as more than an operator very often and I forget what to do and have to work it out from first principles each time, which takes longer as I get older Anyway, thanks for all the help. I hope my mini saga will help others on the same route. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Geoff, you can go ahead and update to version 2.0.16 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 I think I'll wait until I've got my altimeter working thank you very much, Pat I can only spend so much time fighting software before things start hitting walls with some force. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Blandford Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Zadig has a problem in that once you have found a Taranis to update, it doesn't find a second one. You have to either uninstall Zadig and re-install it, then try the second Taranis (losing the first one) or run Zadig.exe that opens a window, plug the second Taranis in, then run the driver install. This is one of the reasons I wrote the bootloader. With the bootloader, firmware updates should be easy, and you can have as many transmitters as you like, they all just work in bootloader mode. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Mike, do newer Taranii come with your bootlader? And if so, from about when? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Blandford Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Yes they do. I think from when the firmware shipped is 2.0.09, I'm not sure of the date. I believe all Taranis Plusses have the bootloader. Contrary to my earlier statement, it seems 2.0.16 does NOT include an option to do module/sensor firmware updates. I've done the changes to add my "maintenance mode" to 2.0.16 and posted the files here: **LINK**. I've done a quick test and all seems to work OK. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dennier Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Please advise what a maintenance mode is Cheers JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Blandford Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 It provides the ability to update the firmware on the internal XJT module, or external XJT module or X series receivers or SPort sensors, from files on the SD card. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 Mike, is that a means of updating the transmitter RF section to the latest EU requirement as well as updating the receivers I already have? Are your updates incorporated into the latest firmware version without adding them manually from your link? I'm a bit ambivalent about updating my Tx RF module because it means doing the same to several receivers which are buried in models but in my heart of hearts I knwo it really needs to be done as all the new receivers I buy will be to the new standard. I'm very grateful for your invaluable advice so far. Without it, I think I would have been even more frustrated yesterday than I was Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Blandford Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Yes it allows you to update the internal XJT module, an external XJT module, 'X' series receivers and SPort sensors. It isn't incorporated into the standard openTx release. They don't seem to want to use my "maintenance mode" so instead of just adding my changes (20 minutes work), they are coding it up to operate from elsewhere in the code so it won't be available until 2.1 is released. There are instructions on the post I linked showing how to update receivers and SPort sensors. Note that you need a cable where the power and ground wires cross over, or use a separate battery to power the device. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 Posted by PatMc on 03/05/2015 22:36:08: Geoff, you can go ahead and update to version 2.0.16 now. Actually, Pat, I'm now running ver 2.0.17. You are SO last week I had a bit of trouble with the latest version of OpenTX Companion. It gathered up its skirts and shut down when trying to simulate the transmitter for some reason. It was to cure that by loading an earlier version (which seemed OK) that the site flagged an update which I dutifully down loaded and successfully installed in my Taranis, Thanks to Mike's excellent loader. It seems to have cured the Companion glitch. All in my Taranis garden is lovely right now - except for the RF firmware update that is. I'm saving that for a future date after I find out if all my receivers will need updating to match (3x V8R4 II; V8FR II and V8R7 II, D8R II plus; and a X6R - I'm sure there must be some rational logic behind FrSky receiver numbers but I haven't spotted it yet.) Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I had the same issue today with 2.0.16 - the simulator only worked if started in administrator mode. I'll wait for Mike to produce an SPort updating version before going to 2.0.17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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