FiPy firmware upgrade failed - Cat M1

[ArnaudP]

Hello everyone.

I'm new to the Pycom community, so I apologise in advance if some of my questions may seem stupid.

I've just received a FiPy from which I'd like to use its CAT-M1 capabilities. I'm using it on top of a Pytrack module.
When trying to do a "From network import LTE", it failed to find LTE but I think it's because I need to upgrade my FiPy firmware. I have tried to do so following the tutorials found here :
https://core-electronics.com.au/tutorials/pycom-gpy-fipy-cellular-lte-firmware-update.html
And here :
https://docs.pycom.io/tutorials/lte/firmware

But I cannot get past the step where it says :

import sqnsupgrade
sqnsupgrade.uart(True)

As I get this message :

>>> import sqnsupgrade
>>> sqnsupgrade.uart(True)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'uart'

Could anyone please help me figure out what's the issue here and how I can resolve it? Thanks.

[ArnaudP]

A little update. It's still not working but digging into the GitHub repo, it seems that the commands that are described in the tutorial : https://docs.pycom.io/tutorials/lte/firmware uses methods (sqnsupgrade.uart , sqnsupgrade.run , ...) that worked only with an older version of the code. Can anyone confirm ?

Has anyone attempted to upgrade its modem recently?

Thanks in advance.

[rskoniec]

@ArnaudP I've recently successfully updated my FiPy modem f/w with the newest CATM1-39529 and NB1-40343:

• FiPy (v1.18.1.r3) + PyTrack (v0.0.8) upgrade modem f/w to CATM1-39529
• FiPy (v1.18.1.r4) + PyTrack (v0.0.8) upgrade modem f/w to NB1-40343

I've put .dup and .elf files on the SD card root folder and use below instructions:

from machine import SD
sd = SD()
os.mount(sd, '/sd')
os.listdir('/sd')         # to check if the files exist on SD card

import sqnsupgrade
sqnsupgrade.run('/sd/CATM1-39529.dup', '/sd/updater.elf')         # for CAT-M1
sqnsupgrade.run('/sd/NB1-40343.dup', '/sd/updater.elf')             # for CAT-NB1

Which version of f/w do you have on your FiPy?

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Thanks for your reply.
I get this when I make a os.uname() :
(sysname='FiPy', nodename='FiPy', release='1.10.0.b1', version='v1.8.6-834-g5677703c on 2017-11-13', machine='FiPy with ESP32', lorawan='1.0.0')

Is that the information you were asking?
As for

sqnsupgrade.run('/sd/CATM1-39529.dup', '/sd/updater.elf')         # for CAT-M1

The system tells me that it doesn't know a method by the name "run". Which is odd since it's in the code of sqnsupgrade.py
I've been issuing these commands from the Pycom Console. Is it ok or should it be in main.py ?

Once again, thanks for your reply.

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp So you MUST update FiPy f/w first (you've got pretty one year old version 1.10.0.b1, now stable is 1.18.1.r4 with sqnsupgradeclass integrated within f/w). Download Pycom Firmware Update for your platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) and make a FiPy f/w update to the newest stable version. After that you should be able to upgrade FiPy modem f/w with my procedure and be patient, because it'll take a while.

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Okay, I've done as instructed and upgraded the FiPy. I've put your code in main.py, copied the necesarry files on a SD card and began the update process. Maybe putting it in main rather than typing the commands myself was a bad idea because I have no idea if the update process is running. I guess something is happening since I can't connonect on the pycom console.
So I guess I'll wait and see if something is happening.

Is the heartbeat suppose to resume once the update process is over? If not, how I'll know when I can remove the power?

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp Do not do this by main.py please - you should use USB UART REPL. Connect your PC to the FiPy through the microUSB of PyTrack module and use for example PuTTY to connect to VCP (Virtual COM Port) and execute my instructions one by one.

Be sure that your boot.py have these lines:

from machine import UART
import os
uart = UART(0, 115200)
os.dupterm(uart)

Your main.py for safety should be empty or renamed (main_off.py).

With heartbeat when pycom.heartbeat_on_boot(0) is set then it won't work after FiPy restarts.

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Indeed, it seems it may have been a bad idea. I had uploaded this (and forgot a boot.py) and now I can't get a REPL console.
I hope I did not brick it....

Do you know by any chance how I can reset the board so I can connect to it and upload the correct files ?
Sorry and thank you for helping me.

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp Did you try anything after you start upgrade (reset button)? How long is it going now? Do you have WiFi connectivity in your boot.py/main.py files to try telnet connection? There is also something like Safe Boot.

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Oh thank you ! I was able to safe boot into it. I was afraid I had bricked my device.
So now I'm trying your commands. And here what I giet for :

>>> os.mount(sd, '/sd')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
OSError: the requested operation failed

Sorry for the delay between the messages, I'm allowed only one message every 10 minutes on thsi forum.

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp Did you verify your FiPy f/w version after the update?

import os
os.uname()

Btw, I've upvoted your posts so maybe your posts delay has gone - check it out.

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Yup, I had checked it, here's the update :

(sysname='FiPy', nodename='FiPy', release='1.18.1.r4', version='v1.8.6-849-dfa1176 on 2018-11-12', machine='FiPy with ESP32', lorawan='1.0.2', sigfox='1.0.1')

1.18.1.r4 seems on it.
Thank you, that's very kind of you. I you can read this message, it'll mean it succeeded to post ;).

I'm going to try to format my sd card again. Could that be an issue with it or is it necessarily on the side of the fipy firmware itself?

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp OK, perfect. If you try:

from machine import SD
sd = SD()
os.mount(sd, '/sd')
os.listdir('/sd') 

do you get your modem upgrade files listed?

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Nope, here's what I get :

>>> from machine import SD
>>> sd = SD()
>>> os.mount(sd, '/sd')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
OSError: the requested operation failed

I wonder if it could come from the card? I only have at hand a 128Gb card (maybe too high capacity) ?

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp Can you try:

os.mkfs(sd)

and then:

os.mount(sd, '/sd')
os.listdir('/sd') 

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Same issue :

>>> os.mkfs(sd)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
OSError: the requested operation failed

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp So maybe you should try with 8/16 GB SD card. FYI, os.mkfs(sd) is formatting your SD card to the right filesystem for Pycom devices. So after that you should remove SD card from PyTrack, put into your PC, copy files and then insert back again to the PyTrack, reset by button your FiPy and from fresh REPL:

from machine import SD
sd = SD()
os.mount(sd, '/sd')
os.listdir('/sd')         # to check if the files exist on SD card

import sqnsupgrade
sqnsupgrade.run('/sd/CATM1-39529.dup', '/sd/updater.elf')         # for CAT-M1
sqnsupgrade.run('/sd/NB1-40343.dup', '/sd/updater.elf')             # for CAT-NB1

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Ok ! So I have formatted it again and now it works !

Now here's the new issue :

Attempting AT wakeup...
Session opened: version 1, max transfer 8192 bytes
Sending 55498 bytes: [########################################] 100%
Received ERROR from AT+SMSWBOOT=0,1! Aborting!
Unable to upgrade bootrom.
Unable to load updater from /sd/updater.elf

[rskoniec]

@arnaudp I think you've got incomplete file/files - 55498 bytes is too short (incomplete download from https://software.pycom.io/downloads/sequans2.html ?).

CATM1-39529.dup is almost 6MB big
updater.elf is over 400KB big

[ArnaudP]

@rskoniec Yup, that's the file I have on my disk, just checked the size with a freshly dowloaded version. It seems that it's the sending that didn't work. And now it says it won't detect the modem (perhaps because of faulty upgrade). Ok not anymore
But my files are the right ones on the disk :/