P2 Newbie Issues

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K8EZB
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P2 Newbie Issues

Postby K8EZB » Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:48 pm

Received my 7000DLE Dec 14, seven weeks after ordering. All has gone well (including several QSOs) so far except for some issues re updating from P1 (which was installed at the factory) to an appropriate version of P2. I carefully followed the instructions in The Guide To Using HPSDR Programmer posted here which contained a link leading to P2 v1.9 in the GitHub repository. This installed with the P1 Programmer with no error messages, however, the P1 Programmer cannot now discover the radio (with P2 installed). The radio seems to run well and shows P2 v1.9 installed.

I later found an additional post as follows in another thread:

“UPDATE 2.1.18 14 Aug 2021
Numerous bug fixes and timing improvements.
Thetis 2.8.11 build 21f will show the full firmware version number in Setup > General.
Metis_Orion_MkII_Protocol_2_v2.1.18.rbf(1.89 MiB) Downloaded 267 times”

This seems a bit cryptic but suggests a much newer version of P2 is available: P2 v2.18.rbf. It would seem that I am many revs behind on P2, but not seeing the P2 versions beyond 1.9 on GitHub.


Questions:
1. Is there a later version of P2 that is appropriate to install, and if so, where do I find it and associated documentation? According to guidance posted here, this should be installed with the P2 programmer – right?
2. Should P1 Programmer be able to discover a radio with P2 installed? Or, do I need to use P2 Programmer to discover a P2 radio?

Rick
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w-u-2-o
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Re: P2 Newbie Issues

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:08 pm

Rick,

It doesn't appear you read all the tacked topics in the "Upgrading/Downgrading" firmware sub-forum, especially this one:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2333

That thread provides the rules of the road with respect to what software you need to use to upgrade a box depending on whether it currently contains P1 or P2 firmware.

I wrote that post some time ago. While it is still valid, the most goof-proof, reliable way is to use Bootloader. That is what I recommend. Pay close attention to the Bootloader instructions and you should be fine.

With regard to where the latest and greatest P2 firmware is, the good news is you found the right spot in the forum for the 7000 :)

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=3192

All of that work is still officially beta and none of it was ever committed to git, unfortunately :cry:

2.1.18 is what you want, although sometimes certain serial numbers are not happy with that and you may need to try some older rev's if you run into trouble.

73,

Scott
K8EZB
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Re: P2 Newbie Issues

Postby K8EZB » Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:06 pm

It doesn't appear you read all the tacked topics in the "Upgrading/Downgrading" firmware sub-forum, especially this one:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2333


I read this one so many times I can recite it from memory.

Thanks for clarifying Programmer vs Bootloader.

I may wait for 2.1.8 to be up on GitHub; betas are not usually my thing.

RB
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w-u-2-o
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Re: P2 Newbie Issues

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun Dec 19, 2021 11:45 pm

And don't forget there are two programmers, as noted in the topic. One for when you have P1 loaded and one for when you have P2 loaded. You could use the P2 programmer. Did you try that? But I'd still recommend Bootloader, which works in either case, hence less confusion.

If you wait for it to go up on Git you may be waiting forever given the current development climate. 2.1.18 is universally regarded as the best version available. You can always go back to any other version you want.

The situation is the same for Thetis. Currently the beta is miles ahead of the Git release and yet there is no schedule for it to be formally packaged and released into Git. This is just a fact of life with our radios and consequence of an open source development environment that tends to attract only a single, active developer at a time, and only sporadically.
K8EZB
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Re: P2 Newbie Issues

Postby K8EZB » Mon Dec 20, 2021 1:05 am

And don't forget there are two programmers, as noted in the topic. One for when you have P1 loaded and one for when you have P2 loaded. You could use the P2 programmer. Did you try that? But I'd still recommend Bootloader, which works in either case, hence less confusion.


This is more than clear from your post on this topic. I had P1 (from the factory) and updated to P2 using the P1 programmer per the post. So, now I have P2 in the radio and it seems to be working well. Getting good reports running SSB 2.8 + CFC profile (as a starting point) from other 7000 DLE users. The issue I am unclear on is whether or not the P1 programmer can discover a radio with P2 installed. I decided to be cautioius and post this question before I try the P2 programmer and get off into the weeds with a result I dont like. The updating instructions imply that the P1 programmer can discover a P2 radio - words to the effect that one should click on "Discover" at the end of theP1>P2 updating process, perhaps more than once etc due to timing issues. When I do this I get an error message "Discovery Has Failed." My sense of the situarion is that I need to use the P2 programmer to discover a P2 radio, but this is a SWAG on my part, reading between the lines. Some folks posting here have years of experience in dealing with this technology and AL products. I am four days into this at present. Forgive me if I am not up to speed just yet. Working on it. I have spent may hours reading hundreds of posts here and the Thetis and 7000 DLE manuals and this has been helpful.

Given your comments, I'll likely move to the Betas sooner rather than later. Right now my first priority is learning the radio. I'll get to refinements in a bit.

RB
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Re: P2 Newbie Issues

Postby w-u-2-o » Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:14 am

From the main, tacked upgrading/downgrading post referenced above:
There are now two different versions of HPSDR Programmer. Choose the correct version as follows:

If Protocol 1 firmware is currently in the radio hardware, to change it to another version of Protocol 1 or Protocol 2 firmware use the Protocol 1 HPSDR Programmer.
If Protocol 2 firmware is currently in the radio hardware, to change it to another version of Protocol 1 or Protocol 2 firmware use the Protocol 2 HPSDR Programmer.
I'm not sure how it can be any clearer than that.

In my experience the P2 programmer is a bit flaky. I've gone over to using Bootloader exclusively. But YMMV.

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