Old F16V4 cant upgrade firmware past Build 3

[twinblack]

Hi Guys

I purchased this controller of a person on here that was getting out off the lights game. He had never used it and I fired it up this week. Its build 3 (latest is build 26) and I was looking to upgrade the firmware as its having trouble with the start channels and pixel output. I have reset this controller multiple times and pushed the controller output through xlights to no avail. I joined the zoom room and stumped them all and the outcome was, I should upgrade the firmware as build 3 is very old and apparently there was lots of problems with the older firmware's.

See below, the start channel is massive and trying to change it doesnt work




When I go to the pixel output, the errors displays.





So trying to upgrade firmware by downloading from github - https://github.com/Pixelcontroller/f16v4_issues/tree/master/F16V4

When I upload the file, the F16V4 thinks its incorrect, even trying any of the older firmware files in the archive section receive the same error.




See below build/controller details.




Any advice here?

 

[Katekate]

1. make sure you have the right firmware, and not the f48v4 one. - https://github.com/Pixelcontroller/f16v4_issues/blob/master/F16V4/Falcon_16_V4_Firmware_26.fl3

2. try using the SD card update process, as follows.

To upgrade the F16V4 firmware: 1. Download the chosen F16V4 firmware fl3 file. This file will be named Falcon_16_Firmware_<build>.fl3 2. Either - Place the file onto an SD card and place that SD card in the SD slot on the controller and reboot the conntroller. When the controller boots it will copy the file into flash ram on the board. Remove the SD card when done and reboot the controller; or - Navigate to the settings page on the controller web menu and select the "Update Firmware" link and upload the downloaded fl3 file. Once done the controller will reboot. 3. During the reboot the controller will validate the firmware. If it is incomplete or invalid the controller will tell you and delete the firmware without changing anything. 4. If valid the controller will upgrade the firmware in generally the following order - CPU 1 - CPU 2 - ESP (the wifi module code) - ESP Files (the wifi web interface) 5. Then it will erase the firmware files from flash ram (so it doesnt keep doing the upgrade) 6. If successful the OLED screen and the status web page should show the correct build number. To check the ESP (wifi) updated you will need to access the wifi page. If you dont use the wifi interface then you can ignore this.

 

[twinblack]

Yep done all of that and it will not work at all. I posted the github link to the firmware I am using and it is correct. I even purchased a new SD card, formatted it and just put one firmware file on there and would not upgrade and even the debug logs showed nothing.

 

[Katekate]

try loading another firmware, like build 10 or something

 

[twinblack]

I dont know if something changed after build 3, in the archive folder the naming convention changed. I have emailed David Pitts about this but he isnt replying to me on this issue.

 

[twinblack]

try loading another firmware, like build 10 or something

Did that, I tried all of them!

 

[Indigogyre]

How old is your board, out of curiosity?
What size is the SD card you are trying to use? If the SD card is too large I do not think the firmware can read it.

The name change should not matter as I have used the different versions in the past without issues.

 

[twinblack]

What size is the SD card you are trying to use?

32gb

 

[Katekate]

make sure you format the sd as fat32 and not exfat.

 

[Indigogyre]

I have pulled my never used spare from storage that I bought last year and will test upgrading the firmware.

 

[Indigogyre]

Si, I pulled my board out and it originally was on build 17. (No screen shot)

I downgraded the firmware to Build 4 which I had local and it worked.


I then clicked the link you provided, selected the build 26, and downloaded it. Once downloaded I applied it to my controller without issue.


I went back to Build 3 and I noticed something between your screen and mine.


Do you not have the button to "Reset to Defaults"?

 

[MikeKrebs]

Curious about the board you have. Post a picture?

Looks like you have debug mode turned on. Is there anything in the logs?

 

[Skymaster]

@keithsw1111 - Is there any specific order that firmware needs to be updated on the F16v4 to go from Build3 to the latest one?

 

[twinblack]

How old is your board, out of curiosity?
What size is the SD card you are trying to use? If the SD card is too large I do not think the firmware can read it.

The name change should not matter as I have used the different versions in the past without issues.

View attachment 23261

not sure how old the board is, size is 32g as I went with the smallest I could buy as its new. The board reads the SD card fine as I am using it for debugging logging. I will see what format it is formatted in as I hope that will resolve it. I am highly doubtful though as it should work by the upload method too

 

[twinblack]

Si, I pulled my board out and it originally was on build 17. (No screen shot)

I downgraded the firmware to Build 4 which I had local and it worked.
View attachment 23263

I then clicked the link you provided, selected the build 26, and downloaded it. Once downloaded I applied it to my controller without issue.
View attachment 23264

I went back to Build 3 and I noticed something between your screen and mine.
View attachment 23265

Do you not have the button to "Reset to Defaults"?

Nope, no reset to defaults.