Firmware update Over the Air

[naveen]

Hello,

Just received FiPy and I am able to connect it using PyMakr and ran some example code to change RGB LED., so far so good. I have read documentation but it seems I need an expansion board to update firmware. I got a FiPy board only from the Kickstarter campaign. I had no idea i would need an expansion board or PySense or PyTrack so I only pledged a FiPy. I asked a question during the campaign that whether i would need an expansion board to program or power it. I was told I will not need it so I didn't add one. Is there any way to do it over the air using wifi or bluetooth?

Thanks,
Naveen

[AWalters]

Hi @naveen, Sorry I'm late to the party here, but I believe that the PyMakr is the "expansion board". Take a look at the back of your PyMakr and it should say Expansionboard v2.X or v3.X. You should be able to update firmware using your PyMakr and this tutorial.
https://docs.pycom.io/gettingstarted/installation/firmwaretool.html
Hope this helps!

[robert-hh]

@naveen @misterlisty You can do both.
You can use any USB/Serial bridge to connect to USB. Two things have to be considered:

• Supply through the Vin and GND pins only, do NOT us the 3v3 Pin for supply.
• The Voltage at Tx/Rx shall not exceed 3.3V

That is a little bit tricky with standard USB/Serial bridges, because even when they can be switched between 3.3 and 5 V outputs, the 3.3V output is not able to provide sufficient power for the FiPy. For the Pinout DIagram, look at https://docs.pycom.io/chapter/datasheets/development/fipy.html
I agree that it is inconvenient for a development board not to have that USB/Serial chip by default, especially if it is needed, at least for recovery.

The WiF link provides both Telnet for the I/O and FTP for file transfer. You can also update the firmware with FTP. The main file system is /flash. If you want to update the firmware, transfer the file application.bin from the update package to /flash/sys and reset.

Still, it is sometimes better to be able to connect via USB/Serial, for instance when you messed up with the WiFi-settings.

[misterlisty]

I assume you can just use a serial to USB adapter board? Just connect 3.3v,GND,RX and TX as indicated by the pinouts.