Lose the software 2.3.4 after power failure

Products ePMP
1

When you pick up a new software 2.3.4 to version 2.0 after a power failure and loss of data again be version 2.0 ? What goes on here ? 

2

Hi mojbug, 

I don't completely follow your question but I think you are asking why the radio reverted back to 2.0 when there was a power failure during an upgrade to 2.3.4. If that's the case, my first question or assumption would be that you are using a GPS Sync'd ePMP radio. If so, the radio has two software banks. Right out of the box, both software banks are loaded with 2.0. When upgrading to a newer release (ex: 2.3.4), the new software is written to one of the banks. If the upgrade is successful, then the radio will switch to the bank with the new software after a reboot. However, if the upgrade fails due to a power outage, the radio will fall back to the older software which is 2.0. 

Please let me know if that helps. 

Thanks,

Sriram

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3

Hey, that's a great feature!  So, you're saying that there's two separate firmware versions in the AP's, and if one of the fails, it can fall back to the other version, correct?  That's awesome... we've had other non-cambium products die due to corrupted firmware, and this would help.

4

Thank you for your response.
I use GPS sync'd ePMP radio. 
After successful software update to version 2.3.4. Successfully used for several days. There was a power or a short break in the power supply.
Software returned to version 2.0, I lost the key to the region, has lost frequency settings. Other settings are not lost


I do not want to after each power failure I have to re-install new software, there is a problem.

(use google translator)

5

Hi ninedd, 

You should look at it as two seperate software banks. You are in control of what software version resides in each bank. Out of the box, both banks come with 2.0 i.e. both active and inactive banks will have 2.0. When you upgrade to say 2.3.4 the first time, the new 2.3.4 version will get written into the inactive bank while the radio is running 2.0 from the active bank. After a reboot (which the radio will prompt after an upgrade through the GUI), the banks switch. 2.3.4 becomes the active bank and 2.0 becomes the inactive bank. Now, if you upgrade to 2.3.4 a second time, both banks have 2.3.4 and the radio will always boot up on 2.3.4 version no matter which bank it uses. 

The two software banks are available only on the GPS Sync'd radio, not on the Unsync'd radio unit. Therefore, on the Unsync'd unit, if there is a power outage  while the radio is actively writing to flash (for ex: during a software upgrade), it may cause a flash coruption and a recovery may not be possible. Cambium is trying to develop a mechanism to be able to recover these radios in the field but we don't have a solution yet. 

Hope that helps. 

Thanks,

Sriram

6

Hi mojbuk, 

I will try to explain what I think happened in your situation. The GPS Sync'd radio has two software banks. My guess is that you upgraded to 2.3.4 once so this caused the active bank to run 2.3.4 and the inactive bank still had 2.0. 

Now I dont know the nature of the power outage but it is quite possible that power outage was glitchy and caused the radio to power on and power off rapidly. There is an inbuilt mechanism in the radio where, if it fails to bootup on a software bank 10 consecutive times (due to rapid power on and power off), it will switch to the other (inactive) bank. This is what could've happened to the radio and it came up running 2.0 software version. Now, between 2.0 and 2.3.4 firmware version there is significant difference in features and capability of the radio. We have made numerous improvements to the software and it is quite possible that the settings were lost due to these vast differences in the underlying software. 

Solution: Upgrade the radio TWICE to the new software (2.3.4) so both banks are running the latest version you wish to have the radio run. This way no matter which software bank it boots up on, it will always run 2.3.4 and the settings will be maintained. 

If you need further assistance with this, please feel free to contact our customer support engineers at: http://www.cambiumnetworks.com/support/contact-support

Thanks,

Sriram

1 Like
7

I have been experancing the same issues over here i took your advice and loaded the firmware a second time. now my inactive bank does show 2.3.4 hopefully this fixes this issue