TRBO firmware upgrade process reliability

[Mars]

[Posts split from this thread - admin]

This is somewhat unrelated, but I hope by the time 2.6 is out, Motorola also fixes the CPS so XPR/MTR/DR/DGR repeater firmware upgrades go smoothly and stop crashing at various points during the upgrade process. This occurs on several different laptops on XPR and MTR boxes. My record is 14 attempts for a 8400 to upgrade.

I mention this because Capacity Max means more sites and more repeaters. That means more time is required to maintain the infrastructure. Time is money when you have to do a firmware upgrade 14x before it works properly.

It's got to be timing issues during the firmware upgrade batch job(s).

 

[Zaarin]

More robust firmware upgrades also becomes more crucial now that we can do it remotely via Wi-fi. What happens if the radio is brought out of coverage or turned off in the middle of an upgrade?

I've had a few firmware upgrades fail in some portables. It seems to happen after the firmware itself is upgraded and the radio reboots. The CPS is then supposed to read the codeplug, upgrade it, write it back to the radio, and do a second reboot, but it looks like Windows doesn't detect the radio in time after the first reboot and the CPS times out. Fortunately, I don't have to restart the entire upgrade procedure. I just read the radio and the CPS tells me the codeplug version is wrong and upgrades it for me.

 

[DJ0WH]

More robust firmware upgrades also becomes more crucial now that we can do it remotely via Wi-fi. What happens if the radio is brought out of coverage or turned off in the middle of an upgrade?

Firmware over Wifi will use more or less the same method as IP Remote Programming so if the radio disappears during an upgrade, it will restart the next time the radio comes back onto the network.

 

[DJ0WH]

This is somewhat unrelated, but I hope by the time 2.6 is out, Motorola also fixes the CPS so XPR/MTR/DR/DGR repeater firmware upgrades go smoothly and stop crashing at various points during the upgrade process. This occurs on several different laptops on XPR and MTR boxes.

I've not seen that before. I've not done thousands of upgrades either. I do get reports of one or two doing this but it's generally <1%.

Are you only seeing this on repeaters? Is it happening with specific firmware versions? Upgrading an old DR3000 (XPR8300) can be tricky sometimes, especially if the firmware is older than R01.06.00.

 

[Mars]

I've not seen that before. I've not done thousands of upgrades either. I do get reports of one or two doing this but it's generally <1%.

Are you only seeing this on repeaters? Is it happening with specific firmware versions? Upgrading an old DR3000 (XPR8300) can be tricky sometimes, especially if the firmware is older than R01.06.00.

I'm seeing it on the XPR8400 during firmware upgrade R02.40.12 --> R02.40.20. I also saw it on the MTR3000 during the upgrade from the same version.

However, it's not limited to those versions. Nearly every single upgrade has been a challenge. Not limited to one laptop or operating system. Windows 7 64, Windows 10. CPS 11, 11.5, 11.6, 12.0. And it's not just me. There are others I've spoken with (hopefully they post to this thread) who have also had numerous failures with repeater firmware upgrades.

The good news is, the failures do not kill the repeaters. We just start over again until the upgrade(s) are complete.

I've never had the problem with a 2.0 subscriber radio. However, XPR6550/6350 have been problematic.

 

[Magnus]

I had this happen on a MTR3000 that was in a linked capacity plus system. One Repeater took four attempts before it would take 2.4 vintage firmware. The other three had no issues. Consecutive serial numbers running the same firmware.

 

[Astro Spectra]

I had issues with upgrades hanging on an early batch of SLRs.

See: http://communications.support/threads/10194-Possible-issue-with-firmware-R01-01-03-in-SLR-5700

 

[nje431]

I've seen the same thing with MTR3000s on our 30 site Connect Plus system. What I've noticed however, is with the exception of one repeater, I've never had a problem upgrading via remote IP programming. The additional benefit of remote IP programming, is that upgrades are a LOT quicker than USB upgrades. The one repeater that refuses to upgrade remotely, always comes back up in the disabled state. Only a Device Restore will get it working again. And that can only be done via USB. It's lucky, that repeater is located locally, and easy to access.

Cheers

 

[PSEhub]

3 tries is not uncommon for MTR3000s around here. 2.40.12>2.40.20. Win7 64.

 

[DJ0WH]

I asked three of our biggest customers in EMEA - two have come back saying they've never seen this before.

Something for me to think about while I'm on (tech-free) holiday....