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Author Topic: Do I need to update my Radarbox Firmware?  (Read 31416 times)

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AirNav Team

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Do I need to update my Radarbox Firmware?
« on: April 21, 2008, 10:44:38 AM »
The RadarBox instalation consists of software and hardware.  The software is the Radarbox program which you run to view aircraft data.  The hardware is the black metal box, the RadarBox receiver.  The software is updated every now and then and the current version is V1.5 (at April 2008).  The software within the receiver can also be updated, but because this is "software within the hardware" is is called "firmware".

Updating the firmware is a quite critical process, as the update will modify the information held on the programmable "chip" inside the receiver.  The firmware is not updated very often and will only be necessary when a major change has been made to the way that the software and the hardware talk to each other.  RadarBox has only had one firmware update since it was launched and this was to accomodate the new USB driver.

It is possible for the firmware in the receiver to become corrupted if there is a power failure during the update, or if the update is attempted when the firmware is already the latest version.  In this case, it might be necessary to return the receiver (hardware) to AirNav to have the firmware reinstalled.

As of April 2008, there are 2 current firmware versions:

V1.01.0
V1.01.2

These firmware versions are identical.  If you did the update using the download availalable here on the forum, you will get V1.01.0 showing in the Radarbox "About" window. If you have recently purchased RadarBox, then you will see V1.01.2 which is the "factory installed" version that comes with newer RadarBoxes.  Do not attempt to upgrade V1.01.0 thinking that you will get V1.01.2 - these versions are identical.

If you cannot see the firmware version listed in the RadarBox "About" box, then it is possible that the firmware is corrupted.  However, the problem might be a USB driver problem rather than a firmware issue - if the RadarBox software cannot "see" the hardware, then the firmware version is not displayed (try running RadarBox without the harware receiver connected to see this effect).

Once you have the latest version of the firmware, the RadarBox receiver (hardware) can be used on any computer providing the Radarbox software is installed on that computer.  It is not necessary to update the firmware when moving the receiver from one computer to another.