Firmware Upgrade

AfterBurner

Firmware Upgrade

User Guide

Ovation Systems Ltd.

Springfield Barn

London Road

Milton Common

Oxfordshire

OX9 2JY

Tel: +44 1844 279 638

Fax: +44 1844 279 071

Email:

Web: www.ovation.co.uk

1 User Firmware Upgrades

The main AfterBurner firmware is upgradeable when new features are added or existing features are refined. This is achieved by downloading upgrade files from Ovation Systems’ website, burning them to a blank CD or DVD, and then inserting this upgrade disk into the AfterBurner’s DVD drive. Alternatively, upgrade files can be downloaded into AfterBurner via a PC with an RS232 port and the Windows® ‘Hyper Terminal’ utility.

From AfterBurner firmware version 024 onwards, it is also possible to upgrade the Plextor DVD burner firmware, which provides better compatibly with x8 DVD (or faster) DVD-R disks.

2 Checking Firmware Status

2.1 Checking The Firmware Version

With early versions of firmware, AfterBurner cycles through the unit serial and firmware version numbers whilst showing the default screen. Later versions show the version number at power-up and also include a System Information option within the advanced menus. The version number format is defined as follows:

The last 3 digits are of most interest showing the unit’s main firmware version number. Visit http://www.ovation.co.uk/AfterBurner/upgrade.asp where the latest upgrade information may be found.
NB: The firmware download page is password protected. Email , including the serial number of your AfterBurner unit, to obtain the necessary login name & password.

3 AfterBurner Firmware Upgrade (Via CD or DVD)

NB: The following procedure is for upgrading AfterBurner units with firmware version 034 or higher.

1 Download the latest ‘AftBurn.bin’ file from the Ovation Systems’ website, as detailed in Section 2 above, to your PC’s hard drive (e.g. to the desktop).

2 Using the PC, burn the ‘AftBurn.bin’ file to a blank CD or DVD.

3 Switch on the Afterburner and press the “DVD” key to wake up the DVD drive. The LCD shows “Burner power up”, “Checking tray” and then “Tray empty”. At this point, press the “DVD” key again to open the tray and insert the upgrade disk.

4 Close the DVD tray by pressing “DVD” once more. The LCD momentarily shows “Checking tray” and then the upgrade takes place automatically.

4 AfterBurner Firmware Upgrade (Via R232 Serial Port)

NB: The following procedure is applicable to all AfterBurner firmware versions.

1 Download the latest ‘Aftburn.bin’ file from the Ovation Systems web site (as detailed in Section 2 above) to your PC’s hard drive (e.g. to the desktop).

2 Connect the AfterBurner port ‘SERIAL 1’ to the PC’s serial port using the RS232 cable supplied with the unit (9 way D-Type male to female without crossed wires).

3 Switch the Afterburner on and start Windows Hyper Terminal. If Hyper Terminal has not been previously set-up to operate with AfterBurner, refer to Section 6 below.

4 Check the PC and Afterburner are communicating, by pressing the ‘return’ key of the PC a few times and look for a ‘C:\>’ prompt to be returned by AfterBurner in the Hyper Terminal window.

5 After a ‘C:\>’ prompt type “login 255” and press the ‘return’ key. AfterBurner will reply with “Welcome ADMINISTRATOR”.

6 Type “receive aftburn.bin” and press ‘return’.

7 AfterBurner is now looking to receive the file “aftburn.bin”. Whilst waiting, AfterBurner sends the letter “C” approximately once a second.

8 In Hyper Terminal, goto the main menu and select ‘Transfer>send file’. The following “Send File” window will appear.

9 Browse for the ‘Aftburn.bin’ file downloaded in Section 4.4 above and set the “Protocol” dropdown menu to “1K Xmodem”. Click “Send” and a window showing the download status will appear.

10 When the transfer is complete, type “upgrade aftburn.bin” to implement the upgrade. During the upgrade you will see the following screen and the AfterBurner front panel LCD will display the message ‘upgrade in progress’.

Figure 1: Example Hyper Terminal Upgrade Dialogue.

11 When the upgrade has finished, AfterBurner will automatically reboot.

12 Hyper Terminal is now configured for use with AfterBurner When the window is closed, you will be asked to save the connection. It is recommended this is done for future use.

5 Upgrading the Plextor DVD Burner Firmware

Plextor provide occasional upgrades for the PX-716 DVD and PX-755A DVD burners used by AfterBurner. Upgrading the burner provides better support for the faster DVD blank discs (eg x16 or greater).

NB: upgrading the burner firmware will improve the drive compatibility with x16 (or greater) discs but unfortunately, it will only have a limited affect on the burn time, as AfterBurner is internally limited to approximately a x6 write speed.

5.1 Plextor Burner Firmware Upgrade Via CD or DVD.NB: The following procedure is applicable for upgrading AfterBurner units with firmware version 034 or higher.

1 Depending upon your Plextor drive model, download to you PC’s hard drive either the PX-716A or PX-755A .bin file from Ovation Systems’ website page:
http://www.ovation.co.uk/AfterBurner/upgrade.asp
(Contact with a serial number of one of your AfterBurners for a username and password)
The file names have a format of either 716Axxx.bin or 755Axxx.bin, where xxx is the version number.

2 Burn the .bin file to a blank CD or DVD.
TIP► The “AftBurn.bin” and Plextor firmware (.bin) files may be burnt to the same upgrade disk so that both upgrades take place sequentially (Plextor burner first). Note - both files must be burnt to CD / DVD within in the same burning session.

3 Switch the Afterburner on and press the “DVD” key to wake up the DVD drive. The LCD shows “Burner power up”, “Checking tray” and then “Tray empty”. At this point press the “DVD” key again and insert the upgrade disk.

4 Close the DVD tray by pressing “DVD” once more. The LCD momentarily shows “Checking tray” followed by “Copying files”. Once copied, the AfterBurner DVD tray opens and the LCD shows “Please remove disk”. Remove the upgrade disk and close the tray by pressing the “DVD” key. Upgrade now takes place automatically.
NB: Do not remove power whilst the unit is upgrading.

Checking the AfterBurner DVD firmware version number via RS232:

5 Ensure AfterBurner has version 024, or higher, firmware. See Section 2

6 Connect the RS 232 cable and launch Hyper Terminal as described in Section 4.2 to 4.4 above.

7 Login to the AfterBurner by typing into Hyper Terminal “login 255” followed by return. AfterBurner will respond with “Welcome ADMINISTRATOR”

8 Check the Plextor burner’s firmware version by typing “view info” then return. The Plextor firmware version is shown (highlighted in the screen shot below).
NB: it may be necessary to enter the “view info” command twice to actually retrieve the burner firmware version (as shown).

Figure 2: View Info Command (AfterBurner Version 024 or Higher)

9 If the version number is lower than indicated on Ovations Systems’ Website then an upgrade is recommended.

10 Download the latest Plextor firmware .bin file from the web page to your PC’s hard drive. The file name format is likely to be 716Axxx.bin or 755Axxx.bin where xxx is the version number (eg version 1.09 is where xxx = 109).

6 Setting Up ‘Hyper Terminal’

1 Open Hyper Terminal via ‘Start>All Programs> Accessories> Communications> Hyper Terminal’. The ‘Hyper Terminal’ window will appear together with a smaller ‘Connection Description’ window (see Figure 3). Enter a name (eg AfterBurner) and select an icon for the connection.

Figure 3: Hyper Terminal Screen 1 / Figure 4: Hyper Terminal Screen 2
2 Click ‘OK’ and the “Connect To” window appears. Find the drop down menu titled ‘Connect using’ and select the Com (serial) port relevant to the RS232 connection on your PC (see Figure 4).
3 Click ‘OK’. A third window appears. Set ‘bits per second’ to ‘38400’ and ‘Flow control’ to ‘None’ (see Figure 5)’.
4 Click ‘OK’ leaving just the main Hyper Terminal window. /

Figure 5: Hyper Terminal Screen 3

Issue 3 Ovation Systems Ltd. Page 2