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/
31 === Updating TeleMega, TeleMetrum v2, EasyMega, EasyMini or TeleDongle v3 Firmware
36 === Updating EasyMini Firmware
40 Self-programmable devices are reprogrammed by
41 connecting them to your computer over USB.
43 . Attach a battery if necessary and power switch to
44 the target device. Power up the device.
46 . Using a Micro USB cable, connect the target device to your
47 computer's USB socket.
49 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File menu.
51 . Select the target device in the Device Selection dialog.
53 . Select the image you want to flash to the device,
54 which should have a name in the form
55 <product>-v<product-version>-<software-version>.ihx,
56 such as EasyMini-v1.0-1.6.0.ihx.
58 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
59 reasonable looking. If the serial number and/or RF
60 configuration values aren't right, you'll need to
63 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed
64 to flash the device with new firmware, showing a
67 . Verify that the device is working by using the
68 'Configure Altimeter' or 'Configure Groundstation'
69 item to check over the configuration.
71 ==== Recovering From Self-Flashing Failure
73 If the firmware loading fails, it can leave the device
74 unable to boot. Not to worry, you can force the device to
75 start the boot loader instead, which will let you try to
76 flash the device again.
78 On each device, connecting two pins from one of the exposed
79 connectors will force the boot loader to start, even if the
80 regular operating system has been corrupted in some way.
85 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
86 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
87 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
88 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
89 anything as that is connected directly to the
90 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
91 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
98 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
99 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
100 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
101 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
102 anything as that is connected directly to the
103 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
104 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
111 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the companion
112 connector. Pin 1 can be identified by the square pad
113 around it, and then the pins could sequentially across
114 the board. Be very careful to *not* short pin 8 to
115 anything as that is connected directly to the
116 battery. Pin 7 carries 3.3V and the board will crash
117 if that is connected to pin 1, but shouldn't damage
124 Connect pin 6 and pin 1 of the debug connector, which
125 is the six holes next to the beeper. Pin 1 can be
126 identified by the square pad around it, and then the
127 pins could sequentially across the board, making Pin 6
128 the one on the other end of the row.
134 Connect pin 32 on the CPU to ground. Pin 32 is closest
135 to the USB wires on the row of pins towards the center
136 of the board. Ground is available on the capacitor
137 next to it, on the end towards the USB wires.
141 Connect pin 4 on the CPU to 3.3V, which can be done by
142 connecting pin 1 to pin 4. Pin 1 is the left pin on
143 the lower edge of the chip when the unit is oriented
144 such that the SMA is at the top.
148 Connect pin 30 on the CPU to ground. Pin 30 is the 6th
149 pin from the right on the top when the unit is oriented
150 such that the SMA is at the top.
153 Once you've located the right pins:
155 . Turn the altimeter power off.
159 . Connect the indicated terminals together with a
160 short piece of wire. Take care not to accidentally
161 connect anything else.
165 . Turn the board power on.
167 The board should now be visible over USB as
168 'AltosFlash' and be ready to receive firmware. Once
169 the board has been powered up, you can remove the
172 ifdef::telemetrum,telemini[]
175 The big concept to understand is that you have to use
176 a TeleMetrum v1.0, TeleBT v1.0 or TeleDongle v0.2 as a
177 programmer to update a pair programmed device. Due to
178 limited memory resources in the cc1111, we don't
179 support programming directly over USB for these
182 If you need to update the firmware on a TeleDongle
183 v0.2, we recommend updating the altimeter first,
184 before updating TeleDongle. However, note that
185 TeleDongle rarely need to be updated. Any firmware
186 version 1.0.1 or later will work, version 1.2.1 may
187 have improved receiver performance slightly.
189 ==== Updating TeleMetrum v1.x Firmware
191 . Find the 'programming cable' that you got as
192 part of the starter kit, that has a red
193 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end and a
194 red 4-pin MicroMaTch connector on the other
197 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2
198 or TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the
201 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable
202 to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
203 v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0, and the 4-pin end to
204 the matching connector on the TeleMetrum.
205 Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an
206 alignment pin that goes through a hole in
207 the PC board when you have the cable
210 . Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum board.
212 . Plug the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0 into
213 your computer's USB port, and power up the
216 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from
219 . Pick the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0
220 device from the list, identifying it as the
223 . Select the image you want put on the
224 TeleMetrum, which should have a name in the
225 form telemetrum-v1.2-1.0.0.ihx. It should
226 be visible in the default directory, if not
227 you may have to poke around your system to
230 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
231 reasonable looking. If the serial number
232 and/or RF configuration values aren't right,
233 you'll need to change them.
235 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should
236 proceed to flash the TeleMetrum with new
237 firmware, showing a progress bar.
239 . Confirm that the TeleMetrum board seems to
240 have updated OK, which you can do by
241 plugging in to it over USB and using a
242 terminal program to connect to the board and
243 issue the 'v' command to check the version,
246 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
248 ==== Updating TeleMini v1.0 Firmware
250 You'll need a special 'programming cable' to
251 reprogram the TeleMini v1.0. You can make your own
252 using an 8-pin MicroMaTch connector on one end
253 and a set of four pins on the other.
255 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2
256 or TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the
259 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable
260 to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
261 v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0, and the 4-pins into the
262 holes in the TeleMini v1.0 circuit board. Note
263 that the MicroMaTch connector has an
264 alignment pin that goes through a hole in
265 the PC board when you have the cable
266 oriented correctly, and that pin 1 on the
267 TeleMini v1.0 board is marked with a square pad
268 while the other pins have round pads.
270 . Attach a battery to the TeleMini v1.0 board.
272 . Plug the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0 into
273 your computer's USB port, and power up the
276 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from
279 . Pick the TeleDongle v0.2 or TeleBT v1.0
280 device from the list, identifying it as the
283 . Select the image you want put on the
284 TeleMini v1.0, which should have a name in the
285 form telemini-v1.0-1.0.0.ihx. It should be
286 visible in the default directory, if not you
287 may have to poke around your system to find
290 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
291 reasonable looking. If the serial number
292 and/or RF configuration values aren't right,
293 you'll need to change them.
295 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should
296 proceed to flash the TeleMini v1.0 with new
297 firmware, showing a progress bar.
299 . Confirm that the TeleMini v1.0 board seems to
300 have updated OK, which you can do by
301 configuring it over the radio link through
302 the TeleDongle, or letting it come up in
303 “flight” mode and listening for telemetry.
305 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
307 ==== Updating TeleDongle v0.2 Firmware
309 Updating TeleDongle v0.2 firmware is just like
310 updating TeleMetrum v1.x or TeleMini v1.0 firmware, but you
311 use either a TeleMetrum v1.x, TeleDongle v0.2 or
312 TeleBT v1.0 as the programmer.
314 . Find the 'programming cable' that you got as part of
315 the starter kit, that has a red 8-pin MicroMaTch
316 connector on one end and a red 4-pin MicroMaTch
317 connector on the other end.
319 . Find the USB cable that you got as part of the
320 starter kit, and plug the “mini” end in to the
321 mating connector on TeleMetrum v1.x, TeleDongle v0.2
324 . Take the 2 screws out of the TeleDongle v0.2 or
325 TeleBT v1.0 case to get access to the circuit board.
327 . Plug the 8-pin end of the programming cable to the
328 matching connector on the programmer, and the 4-pin
329 end to the matching connector on the TeleDongle
330 v0.2. Note that each MicroMaTch connector has an
331 alignment pin that goes through a hole in the PC
332 board when you have the cable oriented correctly.
334 . Attach a battery to the TeleMetrum v1.x board if
337 . Plug both the programmer and the TeleDongle into
338 your computer's USB ports, and power up the
341 . Run AltosUI, and select 'Flash Image' from the File
344 . Pick the programmer device from the list,
345 identifying it as the programming device.
348 . Select the image you want put on the TeleDongle
349 v0.2, which should have a name in the form
350 teledongle-v0.2-1.0.0.ihx. It should be visible in
351 the default directory, if not you may have to poke
352 around your system to find it.
354 . Make sure the configuration parameters are
355 reasonable looking. If the serial number and/or RF
356 configuration values aren't right, you'll need to
357 change them. The TeleDongle v0.2 serial number is
358 on the “bottom” of the circuit board, and can
359 usually be read through the translucent blue plastic
360 case without needing to remove the board from the
363 . Hit the 'OK' button and the software should proceed
364 to flash the TeleDongle v0.2 with new firmware,
365 showing a progress bar.
367 . Confirm that the TeleDongle v0.2 board seems to have
368 updated OK, which you can do by plugging in to it
369 over USB and using a terminal program to connect to
370 the board and issue the 'v' command to check the
371 version, etc. Once you're happy, remove the
372 programming cable and put the cover back on the
375 If something goes wrong, give it another try.
377 Be careful removing the programming cable from the
378 locking 8-pin connector on TeleMetrum. You'll need a
379 fingernail or perhaps a thin screwdriver or knife
380 blade to gently pry the locking ears out slightly to
381 extract the connector. We used a locking connector on
382 TeleMetrum to help ensure that the cabling to
383 companion boards used in a rocket don't ever come
384 loose accidentally in flight.
385 endif::telemetrum,telemini[]