Flash the firmware

The app programs the controller straight from the browser. You need to do this on a new board, and whenever the app says the firmware doesn't match.

Do you need to?

Open Firmware. With a machine connected it shows what is installed next to what the app recommends:

Row	What it tells you
Installed	The firmware version the machine reports
Protocol	The protocol version the firmware speaks, next to the one this app speaks. They must be equal.
Recommended	The newest firmware release that speaks this app's protocol
Will flash	What the next flash would write: the recommended release, or a local file you picked
Programming port	The serial port the flash goes through

Flash if any of these is true:

• The status bar says Connected but never Responding (a board with no firmware).

• A banner under the status bar asks for an update. While it is red, the app will not move the machine:

  

• Installed is older than Recommended.

If Installed equals Recommended and there is no banner, skip to Configure and calibrate.

Flash it

1. Plug the Prop Plug into J1 (or the P2-EVAL's USB). This is the programming port; the control port cannot program the board. Leave the control port connected.
2. On Firmware, check Programming port names the Prop Plug. If it says No serial device yet or Several serial devices, click Choose port / Change and pick it. The choice is remembered.

3. Click Install recommended firmware. The browser asks you to confirm the file (MaD-Firmware-<version>.bin) and the port. Check both, then confirm.

   

4. Wait. The status line under the button goes through:

   Status	What is happening
   Downloading MaD-Firmware-….bin…	The app fetches the release
   Resetting the board…	The control session is stopped and the Prop Plug resets the controller into its boot loader
   Uploading… n%	The image is sent to the controller
   Writing flash… about n s. Do not disconnect or reset the board.	The controller writes it to its SPI flash
   Wrote n bytes to flash. The board has rebooted into the new firmware.	Done

5. The app reconnects on the control port and checks the firmware again. The banner clears, and Installed shows the new version.

The whole thing takes well under a minute. The estimate is shown next to Write to flash before you start.

Don't unplug during Writing flash

The write happens on the controller after the upload finishes. Cutting power or resetting during it leaves a partial image. If that happens, flash again: the boot loader is in ROM and is always reachable through J1.

Flashing a local build

To flash something other than the recommended release, click Use a local file…, pick the image, then Write to flash. Will flash shows the file name with (local file) so you can see what is about to be written.

When the app is the one out of date

If the banner says the firmware is newer than this version of MaD Control, the banner names the way out. When a released app speaks the firmware's protocol, click Open MaD Control X.Y.Z. When none does (a development firmware build), click Install firmware for this app and flash the recommended release:

Firmware problems covers each case.

If it fails

See Firmware problems.

Next: Configure and calibrate.