Updating Vesper Firmware

Updating Vesper Firmware

Requirements prior to starting
  1. Vesper and accompanying MicroSD card
  2. Vesper battery charged > 30%
  3. Computer / laptop with internet access to download firmware
  4. Time, process may take up to 30 minutes
Part I: Prepare MicroSD card
  1. Remove MicroSD card from fuselage and insert into laptop.
  2. Format to EXFAT.  Ensure to back up existing media as all contents will be lost after formatting.
  3. Download Vesper firmware here.
  4. Copy and paste Vesper fw.7z zip file to MicroSD card. Do not extract contents from zip file.
Part II: Update Vesper firmware
  1. Reinstall MicroSD card into fuselage.
  2. Install battery to Vesper fuselage and lay unit on it's side.
  3. Allow Vesper to boot and initialize indicated by steady light blue LEDs located on the tail of fuselage. 
  4. Light blue LEDs transition to pulsing cobalt blue or pulsing green (adequate positioning data received) indicating boot sequence is complete.
  5. Within 5 minutes, a melody commences and LEDs transition to pulsing red, indicating first phase of update has begun.
  6. First phase of update is complete when Vesper reboots. If Vesper does not automatically reboot but hibernates, squeeze battery to resume. This may happen twice.
  7. After reboot and within 5 min, second phase will commence with the same behavior as the first.
  8. Second phase is complete when the melody ceases and pulsing red LEDs transition back to pulsing cobalt blue or green.
  9. Remove Vesper battery.  
Part III: Confirm Successful Update
  1. Remove MicroSD card and reinsert into laptop.
  2. Open MicroSD card to view contents.
  3. Open file labeled cfw and verify version corresponds to firmware release announcement.  Example: 2.1.22f
  4. Open file labeled radio_firmware_version with a text editor (Notepad, Word, etc).  File content displays Vesper radio version (see table below):
Radio Hardware 
Radio Firmware Version
2.4GHz Radio [gen 2 hardware]
V1.3.5 build 1044
2.4GHz Radio [gen 1 hardware]
v1.4.0 build 1036
1.8GHz Radio 
v1.3.0 build 1052
To learn more about the latest radio features, click here.
Part IV: Troubleshooting unsuccessful updates
  1. MicroSD card still shows the fw.7z file - update failed to initiate.  Restart update sequence from Part II.
  2. MicroSD card contains two zip files labeled update_ext4 and update_custom - Vesper failed to start / complete second phase. Reinsert MicroSD card to fuselage and resume update to completion.
  3. Build numbers in radio_firmware_version do not match with the table above - radio software failed to update. Reinsert MicroSD card to fuselage and resume update to completion.   




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