Nixie Clock MOD-SIX Manuale per l'uso e la cura

MOD-SIX

Nixie Clock System

Updating Instructions

August 2015

This manual provides instructions for updating the ﬁrmware of the

MOD-SIX Nixie Clock System ﬁrmware as well as a brief ﬁrmware

revision summary.

Revision/Update Information: This is a revised manual

Clock Firmware: V08-08

GPS Repeater-Next Firmware: V36

Keyfob Firmware: V14

http://www.badnixie.com

26 August 2015

This document may be freely copied provided it is not modiﬁed. For permission to

distribute modiﬁed versions of this document, contact the author.

Apple, Mac, and Mac OS are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

FreeBSD is a registered trademark of The FreeBSD Foundation.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft.

CAUTION: This clock makes use of high voltages within the case. Use extreme care

when operating the clock with the cover removed.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not

be construed as a commitment by the authors. The authors make no representations

or warranties with respect to the contents or function of this document and speciﬁcally

disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or ﬁtness for any particular purpose.

Preface

This manual provides instructions for performing ﬁrmware updates as

well as a brief ﬁrmware version summary for the MOD-SIX Nixie Clock

System.

Intended Audience

This manual is intended for all MOD-SIX Nixie Clock System owners.

Important Cautions

Hazardous voltages are present at some locations on the circuit boards

when the clock is operating. Avoid touching any components other than

the updating dongle while power is applied.

Never install or remove the updating dongle or the RF-Link mezzanine

board while power is applied.

Like all electronic devices, the clock system components can be damaged

by static electricity. When updating the ﬁrmware, always touch the

aluminum base plate ﬁrst to discharge any static.

The tubes are extremely fragile and expensive. Take care to avoid

damaging them when removing and reinstalling the acrylic cover and

when updating the clock ﬁrmware.

iii

1Identifying the installed ﬁrmware

In order to determine if there is a newer version of ﬁrmware available for

any of your clock components, you will need to ﬁrst determine the current

versions. This chapter provides instructions for identifying the ﬁrmware

version of each clock system component.

1.1 Identifying clock ﬁrmware

Unplug the power cable from the left rear of the clock. Wait a moment and

then plug it back in. As part of the clock’s startup messages, it will display

the ﬁrmware version as "Vxx-xx" where xx-xx is the current ﬁrmware

version.

1.2 Identifying GPS repeater ﬁrmware

Disconnect the power from the GPS repeater, either by unplugging the AC

adapter from the wall outlet or by unplugging the other end of the power

cord from the GPS repeater, whichever will give you a better view of the

clock. Wait a few moments and reconnect the GPS repeater’s power. The

clock display will show a series of messages, one of which will be "NEX xx"

where xx indicates the GPS repeater’s current ﬁrmware version.

Note: The clock must be running ﬁrmware V08-01 or newer AND the GPS

repeater must be a next-generation model (V31 or newer) in order

to display this information. Failure to display messages from the

repeater does not identify which of the clock, GPS repeater, or

both is out of date.

Note: The repeater ﬁrmware also displays the version on the repeater’s

IND LED at power-on. For example, three red blinks followed by

six green blinks would indicate ﬁrmware V36.

1.3 Identifying keyfob ﬁrmware

Press and hold both the up and down buttons on the keyfob simultaneously

until the clock reports the keyfob version. This will happen within 10

seconds. The clock will display a message of the form "F# x-x" where #

indicates the keyfob’s current address (0-7) and x-x indicates the keyfob’s

ﬁrmware version.

Note: The clock must be running ﬁrmware V08-01 or newer in order to

perform this function.

Note: The same up + down procedure will also display the keyfob version

number on the keyfob LED. For example, one red blink followed

by four green blinks would indicate version V14.

1–1

2Firmware updating procedures

2.1 Clock updating procedure

Clock ﬁrmware updates are performed with a small updating dongle. The

dongle installs the new ﬁrmware onto the clock CPU and is removed once

the update is completed.

Note: Depending on your current clock ﬁrmware version, you may or

may not receive a clock updating dongle.

Note: The dongle checks to make sure it contains appropriate ﬁrmware

for the device being updated and will not install the update if it is

for the wrong device.

Figure 2–1 Updating Dongle (front and back views)

Note: You may want to write down your clock conﬁguration settings

before proceeding, as the update process resets the clock to default

values.

To perform the update, disconnect the power cord from the clock. Remove

the acrylic cover (you may want to use cotton gloves or some similar

method to avoid getting ﬁngerprints on the cover) and set it aside. Locate

the programming connector on the CPU board, labeled "ISP J4". Note that

if you have a GEN I CPU (labeled "CPU 1.0") with an RF-Link mezzanine

2–1

Firmware updating procedures

board installed, you will need to remove the mezzanine board in order to

access the ISP connector.

Figure 2–2 Location of ISP connector on CPU

Note: The above picture shows a GEN I CPU. While the layout of the

GEN II CPU is somewhat different, the ISP connector is in the

same location and orientation.

Install the updating dongle on the CPU with the dongle components facing

away from the tubes. Make sure that all 6 pins on the dongle are on the

matching pins on the CPU, not offset by one pin.

Note: The clock generates and uses high voltages to operate the tubes.

Use caution to not touch any clock components other than the

updating dongle when performing the update procedure.

2–2

Firmware updating procedures

Figure 2–3 Dongle installed on CPU

Apply power to the clock and wait for it to proceed through its normal

startup. If the clock does not power on and display the normal startup

messages, immediately disconnect the power and check your installation of

the updating dongle.

Press the button on the top center of the updating dongle. It is rather

small, and you may have trouble pressing it if you have large ﬁngers.

There should be an obvious tactile "pop" when it is successfully pressed.

The red and green LEDs on the dongle will light while updating is in

progress. This normally completes within a few seconds. After the update

completes, the green LED will remain lit to show a successful update and

the clock will reset and display the new ﬁrmware version. If the red LED

is lit instead, the ﬁrmware update was unsuccessful and you should press

the button again to repeat the update procedure.

Note: During the updating process, the tubes may go blank or freeze

while displaying a message. This display may be brighter or

dimmer than normal operation and does not indicate a problem

with the update process.

Once updating is complete, disconnect power from the clock and remove

the updating dongle. If you removed the RF-Link mezzanine board,

reinstall it, being careful to align all the connectors properly. Place the

dongle back into its antistatic bag and reinstall the acrylic cover on the

clock.

Apply power to the clock and set your desired conﬁguration options. You

may wish to review the new features in the latest User’s Guide to see if

there are any new options you’d like to explore.

2–3

Firmware updating procedures

2.1.1 Return of the updating dongle

Once you have conﬁrmed that the ﬁrmware has been updated and all

components are operating normally, please email [email protected]

for the address to return the dongle to.

Note: A single dongle and its packaging can be mailed in a regular

envelope and should be under 1 ounce.

Note: Returning the dongle lets us send it to another clock owner and

keep costs down.

2.2 GPS repeater updating procedure

The GPS repeater ﬁrmware and lexicon (random word dictionary) may be

updated using a Windows® PC, an Apple® Mac® (running OS X®), or any

other system that supports USB Mass Storage devices such as systems

running FreeBSD® or Linux®.

You will need the following in order to update the GPS repeater ﬁrmware:

• A computer of one of the types shown above and general familiarity

with command line operations on that computer

• GPS repeater

• Updated ﬁrmware and lex_make utility (available from

http://www.badnixie.com/MOD-SIX_Info_Page.html)

• USB cable with mini-B (not micro-B) connector on one end and a

connector appropriate for your computer (normally full-size A, but this

can vary) on the other end

The following ﬁgure shows the top of the USB repeater.

2–4

Firmware updating procedures

Figure 2–4 GPS repeater top view

Unplug the USB power cable from the GPS repeater’s USB connector

(shown on the right side of the ﬁgure above). If necessary, unscrew the

GPS antenna connector from the repeater (left side, lower). You may leave

the radio antenna attached. Attach one end of the USB cable to your

computer and while pressing and holding the button (top side, toward left)

on the repeater, plug the other end of the USB cable into the mini-USB

connector on the repeater.

At this point, no LEDs should be lit on the GPS repeater. If any LEDs are

lit, it indicates that the repeater is not in updating mode. Disconnect the

USB cable from the repeater, ensure that the button is pressed ﬁrmly, and

repeat the operation.

Once the GPS repeater powers up in updating mode, your computer may

or may not display a "Found new hardware" (or similar) message. The

computer should automatically install any necessary driver software. If

you are prompted to provide driver software, allow the computer to search

the appropriate places for it. For example, Windows Update when using a

Windows computer.

Note: The GPS repeater (when in updating mode) acts as a standard

USB Mass Storage device and no unusual drivers are needed. The

same drivers that handle (for example) USB ﬂash drives will work

with the GPS repeater.

If the GPS repeater does not illuminate any LEDs but the computer does

not detect it, you may have a bad USB cable or perhaps the USB port

you are using on the computer has been disabled. Some systems allow

disabling groups of USB ports (although this is normally only done in

2–5

Firmware updating procedures

corporate environments). Try a port in a different group (for example, try

a port on the back of the computer if you were using one on the front). You

can also try using a different USB cable and / or a different computer.

Once you have the GPS repeater in updating mode and detected by the

computer with any necessary drivers installed, it should appear as an

additional disk drive. The method used to display this new disk drive

will vary depending on the operating system used, but the computer will

normally display some type of message indicating the name that was

assigned, and / or add a new icon to the desktop. The "volume label" of

the drive will be CRP DISABLD and the type of drive (possibly not shown)

will be LPC1XXX IFLASH.

2.2.1 The ﬁrmware update ﬁle

One or more standard ﬁrmware ﬁles are provided in the update package

(available from http://www.badnixie.com/MOD-SIX_Info_Page.html). You

can use either one of the pre-built ﬁrmware ﬁles, you can modify the

supplied lexicons and build your own ﬁrmware ﬁle, or you can create

entirely new lexicons from scratch. Building customized lexicons is covered

in Appendix A. The examples in this chapter assume you are using the

provided ﬁrmware ﬁle named RPTR-NEX_V36_LEX-BASIC.bin, although

the procedure is the same with a customized lexicon.

2.2.2 Updating procedure for Microsoft Windows

Open a command prompt window on the computer. This is normally done

with the Start / Run menu sequence followed by typing cmd and pressing

Enter, but can vary depending on the version of Windows installed. This

should open a new window on the desktop. Use the mouse to click on that

window to start using the command line. In the following example, we will

assume that the drive letter assigned to the GPS repeater is I: although

this will vary depending on the computer being used. We will also assume

that the new ﬁrmware ﬁle is located in the tmp directory on drive C: and

is named RPTR-NEX_V36_LEX-BASIC.bin.

• Type dir i: and press the Enter key to make sure you are on the

correct drive

• Type del i:ﬁrmware.bin and press Enter to delete the old ﬁrmware ﬁle

• Type xcopy c:\tmp\RPTR-NEX_V36_LEX-BASIC.bin i:\ and press

Enter to copy the ﬁle to the GPS repeater

Note: If you receive an "Insufﬁcient disk space" or similar error it

means that you did not delete the ﬁrmware ﬁle in the previous

step, or (unlikely) that the ﬁrmware ﬁle you are attempting to

copy is damaged or too large.

• Type dir i: and press Enter to verify that the ﬁle was copied to the

repeater

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