Badge update instructions Rev 09.

24 29 May 2012
These instructions are intended for dosimeter owners who wish to update their equipment to the latest firmware version. Please read the entire document before starting. Early versions of dosimeter equipment (badges and cradles) were not equipped with the ability to update the badges. ** If your equipment is running firmware version 18 or earlier, these instructions will not work. ** Return your equipment to Scienterra for a free upgrade.

Overview Firmware is the set of instructions that tells a piece of electronics what to do. It is similar to computer software, except that it does not disappear when power is removed. There is firmware in the cradle, and there is firmware in the dosimeter badges. Cradle firmware can be easily updated through the USB cable, using the "Update cradle firmware" option in the menu. However, updating the dosimeters themselves requires more effort. To update the dosimeter firmware, the cradle must be temporarily modified. A new piece of firmware must be sent to the cradle, to change the cradle into a new tool that is capable of updating the badges. After the cradle has been modified, it is ready to load the image into each dosimeter badge, one after another, without any further file transfer from the computer. After all the badges have been updated, the cradle should be restored to its original state by reloading the original operating firmware. Badges should be configured before they are redeployed, as updating the firmware disturbs their memory.

Procedure Step 1: Prepare the cradle 1. Ensure that your terminal program is configured to insert a 30 ms delay between lines. 2. Connect to the cradle as you normally would. 3. In the cradle menu, select the "update firmware" option, and confirm by hitting "y". 4. At the prompt, hit the "f" key (for firmware). 5. Using your terminal program, send the new firmware (UPLDR24.TXT) to the cradle as a "text file". After several lines of marching dots, you should see "OK", which indicates success. The cradle is now ready to update the dosimeter badges.

Step 2: Update the badges 1. Insert a dosimeter badge into the cradle and wait for the handshake. 2. In the badge menu, select the "update badge firmware" option. 3. Confirm by hitting "y". You should see a pattern of characters appear on the screen: "06060606z06f06z06e06w06.0000.06z....." Technical note for the curious: What do those crazy characters mean? This pattern indicates the progress of the updater. The updater is constantly sending commands to the badge, and the badge is constantly giving feedback to the updater. 06 is a special code from the badge, indicating that a command has been accepted. 'z' indicates that the badge has selected a new memory page. 'f' indicates that the badge has filled its buffer with new firmware data. 'e' indicates that the badge has erased the old memory page. 'w' indicates that the badge has written the buffer to the memory page. The four-digit number between the dots shows which memory page has been written. This is a hexadecimal number that counts up to 1F00. After the pattern stops, you should see "Firmware is complete. Badge restarted with new firmware."

If there was an error, then the badge will not restart. It will not have a heartbeat, because it is waiting for instructions. Don't panic! Just reload the firmware, using the "Update badge firmware: no handshake" option. 4. After the "Badge restarted" message appears, remove the badge from the cradle. It will have a heartbeat. The cradle does not automatically exit communications mode. If it did, it would handshake with the badge again. Instead, it waits for you to hit x. The display will not indicate the new firmware version, because the cradle has not communicated with the badge since the firmware update was completed. 5. Insert the next badge to start the handshake routine again. Repeat for each badge.

Step 3: Restoring the cradle to its original state. 1. In the cradle menu, select the "update firmware" option, and confirm by hitting "y". 2. At the prompt, hit the "f" key (for firmware). 3. Using your terminal program, send the new firmware (DB24D.TXT) to the cradle as a "text file". After several lines of marching dots, you should see "OK", which indicates success. 4. In cradle firmware version 24, there is an extra parameter in the Cradle menu called Transmit delay. Set this to zero (0).

Step 4: Configure your dosimeter badges The update procedure will have reset the badge's clock. 1. Insert the badge into the cradle and configure it according to the user's manual. The updates are now complete.

Note to self: To create image file, compile to hex. Use hex2bin, and then bin2mot filename.bin /O7168. (/O6144 if cradle has old 1024 word boot section.)