Front panel update - V20057

[peteru]

A firmware update for the T3 and T4 front panels is now available. There is no equivalent update for the T2, since it does not have a programmable front panel.

The main changes in this version, compared to the factory installed front panel firmware:

• Fix failures to wake up from deep standby.
• Fix for clock drift issue, which would cause the device to wake up too early.
• A workaround to recover from occasional T4 lock ups when rebooting.

If you have a particularly old front panel version, these fixes are also included:

• Improved LED indication during the power up stage.
• Improved LED indication in response to remote control activity.
• Remote controls from other manufacturers should no longer wake up the T3 from shut down state.
• When front panel is set for continuous scroll repeat, it no longer times out, instead it continues to scroll text indefinitely.

When updating the front panel, it is important that you do not power off your T3/T4 while the front panel is displaying the text "fpupload". If you do, you run a very high risk of making your front panel inoperable and the only way to recover is to send your T3/T4 back to the Beyonwiz service centre in Sydney.

To upgrade:

• Ensure that you are running firmware version 20150417 or later.
• Press the PLUGIN key on the remote.
• Choose "Front Panel Update".
• Press green button to upgrade.
• Press blue button to Download the latest firmware
• Wait.
• The file browser will have a file that looks like xxxx.bin preselected, so press OK
• You will get a screen asking to confirm the upgrade. Select Yes to proceed with the upgrade.
• The firmware upgrade process will now proceed, it is important that you do not power off the T3/T4 until you are told to do so.
• Depending on which version of firmware your old front panel had, your T3/T4 may now reboot by itself. If it does so, you do not need to power off.
• Once you power off, if requested, wait 30 seconds before powering back on.

You should now be running new front panel firmware. You can verify this by pressing MENU, then selecting Information / About. The reported version for Front Panel should be 20057.

[tezza007]

Didn't we already do this one last week?

[Gully]

Didn't we already do this one last week?

Only if you did it after reading the Public Beta area.

This is for everyone else.

[tezza007]

I see, said the blind man
I don't take a lot of notice of what area things are in

[Tekno]

I recently completed the front panel update - V20057 to get my T4 to wake from deep standby. Previously I was unable to wake T4 from deep standby from timers or remote operation. After the front panel update, the T4 is still unable to recover from deep standby from timers or remote.
Any help appreciated.

Firmware 23-12-2015 T4

Front Panel V20057

[Grumpy_Geoff]

... After the front panel update, the T4 is still unable to recover from deep standby from timers or remote.
Any help appreciated.

So you can only start the T4 from a deep standby state by using the front panel button?
If so, I wonder if the front panel is defective - give Beyonwiz support a call,

[Tekno]

... After the front panel update, the T4 is still unable to recover from deep standby from timers or remote.
Any help appreciated.

So you can only start the T4 from a deep standby state by using the front panel button?
If so, I wonder if the front panel is defective - give Beyonwiz support a call,

I can only restart the T4 from deep standby by switching the T4 off via rear on/off switch, not ideal. Timers, remote and front panel do not wake up from deep standby.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I can only restart the T4 from deep standby by switching the T4 off via rear on/off switch, not ideal. Timers, remote and front panel do not wake up from deep standby.

Lodge a support ticket at http://www.support.beyonwiz.com.au or call them on (02) 9603 1822 (Mon - Fri, 9.30am - 4pm Sydney Time)

[prl]

+1

[tonymy01]

Is it possible that it is hanging on shutdown, rather than a front panel problem? I have had to use the rear power switch a couple of times during a reboot(but reboot is just a shutdown/restart while code running, right?, I.e just before the front panel powers everything off).

[prl]

Is it possible that it is hanging on shutdown, rather than a front panel problem?

The thing to check there is that the front panel LED turns on.

[Tekno]

Is it possible that it is hanging on shutdown, rather than a front panel problem?

The thing to check there is that the front panel LED turns on.

The blue LED on the front panel does come on when touched from deep standby, but no wake up.

Thanks for all your input. I will take your advice and call BW next week.

[prl]

Is it possible that it is hanging on shutdown, rather than a front panel problem?

The thing to check there is that the front panel LED turns on.

The blue LED on the front panel does come on when touched from deep standby, but no wake up.
...

The blue LED should come on when your T4 goes into shutdown/deep standby and go off when you press the front panel power button. Similarly if you start the T4 from shutdown using the remote.

[Tekno]

Problem solved Sent T4 back to Beyonwiz. They replaced the front panel PCB. The unit will now wake up from deep standby. Hope this helps other users.

[Somebody]

I just did the up date for the front panel & now I cannot open the setup menu every time it says there was a system error & needs to be restarted (also next to this, I think it is the sources menu, is empty). Looks like to me who does not understand computers that much that there is a import error with the systems plugin/softwaremanager that the "importError. No module named zipfile" & when I open the plugins to look it says under plugins not available that the software manger - no , module named zipfile. Yet I never deleted it. Help!

[Somebody]

Also just noticed its a different error when trying to open the sources menu (where there is nothing). I it says "IndexError. list index out of range".

[Somebody]

Should i remove the systemplugins-softwaremanger then re-download it? Its not there to re-download at the moment only to remove it. Help any one!

[MrQuade]

I think that you need to install the latest firmware from USB again. It sounds like your firmware installation has been corrupted somehow. Loading from USB will install an entirely fresh copy.

I would advise you to not restore your old configuration when it first boots up after the upgrade. Instead, finish the first boot wizard, and then check to see if all the setup menus work properly.

If everything works properly, you can then choose to restore your old settings. If things stop working properly after that, then your settings are corrupt. You will need to reload firmware from USB again, choose not to restore settings, then set up your Wiz manually.

[Somebody]

That didnt work it, it said usb reboot detected & rebooted but didnt go thru the other processes when updating firmware just booting up as per normal. I still cannt access setup.

[MrQuade]

Seeing as you front panel is probably not working at the moment, you will probably have to rename the "noforce" file in the USB stick to "force". That will force the upgrade to go ahead.

[Somebody]

Thanks for the instructions. It worked! Changed name of file, then let it go thru boot wizard without old settings then restored old settings & now all is working. Thanks heaps.

[000]

Hi forum folks.

Just wondering if there is a reason why the Beyonwiz (specifically the Beyonwiz T4), doesn't tell the user that there is an update for the Front Panel?

i.e. the user has to seek it out, e.g. if they find they are having a power or timer-related issue, you may stumble across it (that's how I found it), when you realize it when looking through the forums for related problems.

Cheers,
D.

[MrQuade]

I think that it is probably a good idea not to bother users with a front panel update for a few reasons.

1. It is a fairly risky procedure that shouldn't need to be done often if at all. A novice user should not be asked to perform an update of this nature without guidance, at the risk of bricking their DVR. Also, repeated notifications of available updates and reluctance to perform the risky update would quickly become annoying to users.
2. The steps to update the firmware are somewhat complex and need to be spelled out as steps. That's best done in the forum setting.
3. The fact that the front panel firmware will probably never receive another update means that the feature is a bit of a waste of effort. Any new T4's that are produced will already be up to date.

[000]

No worries - fair call!

Thank you.

D.

[Scobie]

Is this update contained in the general 16.1 and upcoming 17.5 updates...or should it be installed separately?

Thanks

[prl]

Is this update contained in the general 16.1 and upcoming 17.5 updates...or should it be installed separately?
...

It's not in any general firmware update. It needs to be installed separately.

[RoscoHead]

I just tried this on my T4, and after I did "Download current firmware", I got the error:

Code: Select all

Unable to download .md5 file
socket error -2 Name or Service unknown

This was just after successfully installing and setting up the latest official 17.5 firmware. What might be causing this?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I just tried this on my T4, and after I did "Download current firmware", I got the error:

Code: Select all

Unable to download .md5 file
socket error -2 Name or Service unknown

This was just after successfully installing and setting up the latest official 17.5 firmware. What might be causing this?

"Name or Service unknown" sounds like a DNS issue.
Is this error still happening?
I updated my T4's front panel years ago when this update came out in beta, so I can't now check further than the plugin advising me that there's no new version available.

[prl]

I just ran the front panel upgrader on my test T4, and it downloaded the front panel upgrade files without any problems.

There may have been a temporary problem with the server, or a local problem in your network, or just one of those things...

[RoscoHead]

I just tried this on my T4, and after I did "Download current firmware", I got the error:

Code: Select all

Unable to download .md5 file
socket error -2 Name or Service unknown

This was just after successfully installing and setting up the latest official 17.5 firmware. What might be causing this?

"Name or Service unknown" sounds like a DNS issue.
Is this error still happening?
I updated my T4's front panel years ago when this update came out in beta, so I can't now check further than the plugin advising me that there's no new version available.

Yep, next day and it's still getting the same error.

[MrQuade]

Yep, next day and it's still getting the same error.

What DNS server is the Wiz and/or your router using? ISP's default, Google, Cloudflare?

I'm not sure what URL the front panel update tries to access, but knowing that, you could try seeing if you can ping it (first from a PC on your network, then from a command line on the Wiz).

[prl]

Yep, next day and it's still getting the same error.

What DNS server is the Wiz and/or your router using? ISP's default, Google, Cloudflare?

I'm not sure what URL the front panel update tries to access, but knowing that, you could try seeing if you can ping it (first from a PC on your network, then from a command line on the Wiz).

Files in: http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ (i.e. on the standard Beyonwiz feeds server).

Specifically for the T4:

Code: Select all

http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-8000au/INI900AU_OLED_Micom.bin
http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-8000au/INI900AU_OLED_Micom.bin.md5
http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-8000au/INI900AU_OLED_Micom.bin.version

I was just able to download the update files to my T4 without any problem.

[aaharwood]

Hi everyone.

Know this topic is a bit old, but I've just had to update my Dad's T4 firmware after flash corruption. While doing this, I noticed his front panel version is 20050, so went to update it to 20057 using the steps in the beginning of this thread. However they are not working.

Once I select the "Front Panel Update" plugin, I see the following.

Pressing the green button to continue results in a crash and reboot of the T4.

I manually downloaded the files mentioned by prl and saved them onto USB.
http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-800 ... _Micom.bin
http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-800 ... om.bin.md5
http://feeds.beyonwiz.org/micom/ini-800 ... in.version

However, trying to use File Commander to run the bin file fails with the below error, even after ensuring the execute bit set on the file.

File Commander error.png (124.21 KiB) Viewed 3184 times

Tried both with the latest 19.3_20211010 and an old 17.5_20180417 (the latter does nothing when trying to run the .bin file in File Commander).

Does anybody have any suggestions as to any other way to get the front panel firmware updated?

I know Dad's had issues with start from deep standby for recordings, so I'd really prefer not to leave the front panel not updated.

[peteru]

Once I select the "Front Panel Update" plugin, I see the following.
...
Pressing the green button to continue results in a crash and reboot of the T4.

The details of the crash are important in order to offer any specific advice. Please attach the crash log.

[aaharwood]

Hi Peter.

Doing the update again to capture the error made me realised it crashes at the next step than I'd said - pressing the blue button when on the screen shown in the image attached (which is what opens when pressing the green button on my previous screenshot)

Please find attached crash dump file as requested.

[peteru]

Thanks for the log. I found the bug and committed the fix to the repository. The issue was caused by upstream prematurely pushing Python3 changes without ensuring backwards compatibility with Python2. I reverted the change.

At this stage, I'm not going to run another build or make a new release of the firmware. This bug is unlikely to affect many people as the front panel update is about six years old. There is a workaround. If you use firmware from earlier than 20211009, the front panel update should work. Once the front panel firmware is updated, you can install 20211010.

Specifically, beyonwiz-19.3-beyonwizt4-20191106_usb.zip should have a working front panel update plugin.

[aaharwood]

Thanks Peter.

That's worked and his T4 is now running front panel version 20057.