2 == Updating Device Firmware
5 TeleMega, TeleMetrum v2, EasyMega, EasyMini and TeleDongle v3
11 programmed directly over their USB connectors (self
14 TeleMetrum v1, TeleMini v1.0 and TeleDongle v0.2 are
15 all programmed by using another device as a programmer (pair
16 programming). It's important to recognize which kind of devices
17 you have before trying to reprogram them.
20 You may wish to begin by ensuring you have current firmware
21 images. These are distributed as part of the AltOS software
22 bundle that also includes the AltosUI ground station program.
23 Newer ground station versions typically work fine with older
24 firmware versions, so you don't need to update your devices
25 just to try out new software features. You can always
26 download the most recent version from
27 http://www.altusmetrum.org/AltOS/
30 === Updating TeleMega, TeleMetrum v2, EasyMega, EasyMini or TeleDongle v3 Firmware
33 === Updating EasyMini Firmware
36 Self-programmable devices are reprogrammed by
37 connecting them to your computer over USB.
39 . Attach a battery if necessary and power switch to
40 the target device. Power up the device.
42 . Using a Micro USB cable, connect the target device to your
43 computer's USB socket.
45 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File menu.
47 . Select the target device in the Device Selection dialog.
49 . Select the image you want to flash to the device,
50 which should have a name in the form
51 <product>-v<product-version>-<software-version>.ihx,
52 such as EasyMini-v1.0-1.6.0.ihx.
54 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
55 reasonable looking. If the serial number and/or RF
56 configuration values aren't right, you'll need to
59 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed
60 to flash the device with new firmware, showing a
63 . Verify that the device is working by using the
64 'Configure Altimeter' or 'Configure Groundstation'
65 item to check over the configuration.
67 ==== Recovering From Self-Flashing Failure
69 If the firmware loading fails, it can leave the device
70 unable to boot. Not to worry, you can force the device to
71 start the boot loader instead, which will let you try to
72 flash the device again.
74 On each device, connecting two pins from one of the exposed
75 connectors will force the boot loader to start, even if the
76 regular operating system has been corrupted in some way.
81 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
82 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
83 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
84 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
85 anything as that is connected directly to the
86 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
87 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
94 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
95 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
96 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
97 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
98 anything as that is connected directly to the
99 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
100 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
107 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
108 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
109 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
110 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
111 anything as that is connected directly to the
112 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
113 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
120 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the debug connector, which
121 is the six holes next to the beeper. Pin 1 can be
122 identified by the square pad around it, and then the
123 pins could sequentially across the board, making Pin 6
124 the one on the other end of the row.
130 Connect pin 32 on the CPU to ground. Pin 32 is closest
131 to the USB wires on the row of pins towards the center
132 of the board. Ground is available on the capacitor
133 next to it, on the end towards the USB wires.
137 Connect pin 30 on the CPU to ground. Pin 30 is the 6th
138 pin from the right on the top when the unit is oriented
139 such that the SMA is at the top.
142 Once you've located the right pins:
144 . Turn the altimeter power off.
148 . Connect the indicated terminals together with a
149 short piece of wire. Take care not to accidentally
150 connect anything else.
154 . Turn the board power on.
156 The board should now be visible over USB as
157 'AltosFlash' and be ready to receive firmware. Once
158 the board has been powered up, you can remove the
161 ifdef::telemetrum,telemini[]
164 The big concept to understand is that you have to use
165 a TeleMetrum v1.0, TeleBT v1.0 or TeleDongle v0.2 as a
166 programmer to update a pair programmed device. Due to
167 limited memory resources in the cc1111, we don't
168 support programming directly over USB for these
171 If you need to update the firmware on a TeleDongle
172 v0.2, we recommend updating the altimeter first,
173 before updating TeleDongle. However, note that
174 TeleDongle rarely need to be updated. Any firmware
175 version 1.0.1 or later will work, version 1.2.1 may
176 have improved receiver performance slightly.
178 ==== Updating TeleMetrum v1.x Firmware
180 . Find the 'programming cable' that you got as
181 part of the starter kit, that has a red
182 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end and a
183 red 4-pin MicroMaTch connector on the other
186 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2
187 or TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the
190 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable
191 to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
192 v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0, and the 4-pin end to
193 the matching connector on the TeleMetrum.
194 Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an
195 alignment pin that goes through a hole in
196 the PC board when you have the cable
199 . Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum board.
201 . Plug the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0 into
202 your computer's USB port, and power up the
205 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from
208 . Pick the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0
209 device from the list, identifying it as the
212 . Select the image you want put on the
213 TeleMetrum, which should have a name in the
214 form telemetrum-v1.2-1.0.0.ihx. It should
215 be visible in the default directory, if not
216 you may have to poke around your system to
219 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
220 reasonable looking. If the serial number
221 and/or RF configuration values aren't right,
222 you'll need to change them.
224 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should
225 proceed to flash the TeleMetrum with new
226 firmware, showing a progress bar.
228 . Confirm that the TeleMetrum board seems to
229 have updated OK, which you can do by
230 plugging in to it over USB and using a
231 terminal program to connect to the board and
232 issue the 'v' command to check the version,
235 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
237 ==== Updating TeleMini v1.0 Firmware
239 You'll need a special 'programming cable' to
240 reprogram the TeleMini v1.0. You can make your own
241 using an 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end
242 and a set of four pins on the other.
244 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2
245 or TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the
248 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable
249 to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
250 v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0, and the 4-pins into the
251 holes in the TeleMini v1.0 circuit board. Note
252 that the MicroMaTch connector has an
253 alignment pin that goes through a hole in
254 the PC board when you have the cable
255 oriented correctly, and that pin 1 on the
256 TeleMini v1.0 board is marked with a square pad
257 while the other pins have round pads.
259 . Attach a battery to the TeleMini v1.0 board.
261 . Plug the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0 into
262 your computer's USB port, and power up the
265 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from
268 . Pick the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0
269 device from the list, identifying it as the
272 . Select the image you want put on the
273 TeleMini v1.0, which should have a name in the
274 form telemini-v1.0-1.0.0.ihx. It should be
275 visible in the default directory, if not you
276 may have to poke around your system to find
279 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
280 reasonable looking. If the serial number
281 and/or RF configuration values aren't right,
282 you'll need to change them.
284 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should
285 proceed to flash the TeleMini v1.0 with new
286 firmware, showing a progress bar.
288 . Confirm that the TeleMini v1.0 board seems to
289 have updated OK, which you can do by
290 configuring it over the radio link through
291 the TeleDongle, or letting it come up in
292 “flight” mode and listening for telemetry.
294 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
296 ==== Updating TeleDongle v0.2 Firmware
298 Updating TeleDongle v0.2 firmware is just like
299 updating TeleMetrum v1.x or TeleMini v1.0 firmware, but you
300 use either a TeleMetrum v1.x, TeleDongle v0.2 or
301 TeleBT v1.0 as the programmer.
303 . Find the 'programming cable' that you got as part of
304 the starter kit, that has a red 8-pin MicroMaTch
305 connector on one end and a red 4-pin MicroMaTch
306 connector on the other end.
308 . Find the USB cable that you got as part of the
309 starter kit, and plug the “mini” end in to the
310 mating connector on TeleMetrum v1.x, TeleDongle v0.2
313 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2 or
314 TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the circuit board.
316 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable to the
317 matching connector on the programmer, and the 4-pin
318 end to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
319 v0.2. Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an
320 alignment pin that goes through a hole in the PC
321 board when you have the cable oriented correctly.
323 . Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum v1.x board if
326 . Plug both the programmer and the TeleDongle into
327 your computer's USB ports, and power up the
330 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File
333 . Pick the programmer device from the list,
334 identifying it as the programming device.
337 . Select the image you want put on the TeleDongle
338 v0.2, which should have a name in the form
339 teledongle-v0.2-1.0.0.ihx. It should be visible in
340 the default directory, if not you may have to poke
341 around your system to find it.
343 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
344 reasonable looking. If the serial number and/or RF
345 configuration values aren't right, you'll need to
346 change them. The TeleDongle v0.2 serial number is
347 on the “bottom” of the circuit board, and can
348 usually be read through the translucent blue plastic
349 case without needing to remove the board from the
352 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed
353 to flash the TeleDongle v0.2 with new firmware,
354 showing a progress bar.
356 . Confirm that the TeleDongle v0.2 board seems to have
357 updated OK, which you can do by plugging in to it
358 over USB and using a terminal program to connect to
359 the board and issue the 'v' command to check the
360 version, etc. Once you're happy, remove the
361 programming cable and put the cover back on the
364 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
366 Be careful removing the programming cable from the
367 locking 8-pin connector on TeleMetrum. You'll need a
368 fingernail or perhaps a thin screwdriver or knife
369 blade to gently pry the locking ears out slightly to
370 extract the connector. We used a locking connector on
371 TeleMetrum to help ensure that the cabling to
372 companion boards used in a rocket don't ever come
373 loose accidentally in flight.
374 endif::telemetrum,telemini[]