Upload Firmware

As and when new features become available for card types the firmware on users cards can upgraded to take advantage of these. Firmware files are known as SPF files from the extension they use, and can be downloaded from the Grass Valley web site.

The Firmware Programming dialog allows single or multiple the cards within a system to be upgraded easily.

To program a card:

Select the device in the tree view of the system.
Select an SPF file to assign to the device.
Select the check box against the selected device, the selected file name will then appear in the device view
Once all the cards for programming have been assigned an SPF file, the Program Devices buttons should be pressed to start the operation.
A log of the progress is displayed in the right hand bottom window as well as progress indicators for card and total operation. After programming has commenced icons are used against the device to give its programming status, yellow is used for the device currently being programmed, green is used for a successfully programmed device and red is used for a device that could not be programmed for some reason. The log can be used for further information regarding any problems in the process.

Note: Programming devices will disturb the output signal from the device, so caution should be taken to make sure the operation is safe if the devices are being used 'On-Air.'

Reboot Under some circumstances a re-boot of a card maybe required. This operation normally takes a few seconds depending on the card type, if the rack controller cards (RRXnn) are rebooted this will effect the control of the frame and cards within it so care should be taken when using this option. Note: This option will only work for the rack controller IP configuration mode is set to Manual rather than DHCP.

Boot Mode Enable

Under some circumstances the boot mode for a card maybe required to be enabled/disabled. This is true for example on Linux based cards where the cards firmware can be programmed by directly connecting to the Ethernet adapter on the card itself using a Web Server based interface and requires the boot mode to be enabled to allow this interface to work. Selecting a card and pressing this button will enable the boot mode for the card, it will then become non-controllable so caution should be taken before enabling this mode. If the boot mode for the card is enabled then the button text will change to Boot Mode Disable and pressing the button again will attempt to re-boot the application firmware on the card if present.

Auto-Assign Latest

This option will attempt to assign the latest software firmware file for all cards within the system if not already up to date. It will base this assignment on the card type and the hardware version of the reported card.

Assign Selected

This option will attempt to assign the latest software firmware file to the currently selected card if not already up to date. It will base this assignment on the card type and the hardware version of the reported card.

Deselect All

This operation will deselect all the files that have been assigned to the cards in the network.

Save/Restore Settings

When re-programming a card the settings of the card will initialise themselves back to the factory defaults. In order to preserve the current settings, this option should be checked.
Note: This option currently does NOT work for Frame controllers (RRCXX and RRSXX) as the IP settings are reset so the frame is potentially not restored back to its current IP address on re- booting.

Check File Compatibility

This option will check that the SPF integrity against the card type selected when selecting this file against a device. This stops an invalid file being assigned to a card. This option should normally be enabled.

Prompt On Error

This option when checked gives the user the option to continue programming if the programming status of the rack controller returns 'busy' when starting to program a card. If not checked the programming process will not program the cards in this frame as another PC maybe currently programming devices in the same frame. It will also prompt the user on the first programming error to occur, in case a batch programming

Filter Network by Card Type Selected

This option button can be pressed to show all the cards with the same card type as the one that is currently selected, useful when upgrading all the cards of a particular card type when located in multiple frames.

Filter File List on Selected Card Type

This option helps in the selection of the correct SPF file, when checked the file list will only display files with the same name as the card type currently selected in the network list. If the platform being programmed is to be changed or the card is in its bootloader mode then this option should be un-checked.

Once the programming operations have been completed the close button can be used to get back to the main CommandCenter window.