From tony@psicraft.com Thu Nov 17 18:52:32 2005
Subject:RE: CX-3 version upgrade danger???

I'm sure there will be a flood of responses coincidental to mine, but
just in case, here's your answer:

When you download a new firmware version to any instrument via MIDI you
are replacing certain parts of its operating system with the new
firmware being written to Flash Ram in the upgrade procedure's final
phase.

In some products, failure of this procedure will not 'damage' the
product because a crucial component of the operating system called the
boot loader is not being overwritten by the upgrade: The boot loader (as
can be inferred from its name) is responsible for loading the operating
system and even if the OS has been wiped out by a botched upgrade, the
boot loader is still open for business, waiting to handle another
attempt from you out there in the real world.

Other instruments aren't this fault tolerant: Upgrading the firmware
also overwrites the boot loader, and a botched attempt to upgrade the
firmware can wipe out everything including the boot loader. At that
point, the only alternative is to replace the flash ram chip with one
that has the OS preloaded, which as they say, involves qualified service
personnel if warrantees are to be preserved.

I'm sure someone more experienced than me with regards to flash ram
technology will post a reply regarding the dangers of cutting the power
to a flash ram chip during its write operation - This is another
scenario that could require the replacement of the memory chip owing to
actual damage to the chip. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but it's
also a distinct possibility.

Best regards,

Tony Antoniou,
Psicraft Designs Inc.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of hudakjm@mcmaster.ca
> Sent: November 17, 2005 4:53 PM
> To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [CWSG] CX-3 version upgrade danger???
>
> Hello group:
>
> I've got a BX-3 so this matter doesn't apply to me. However
> I've heard it mentioned many times that it's possible to
> bugger up your CX-3 during the upgrade process and that if
> that happens then you have to do a hardware repair. I wonder
> how this can be?
>
> Unless there's something I'm not understanding I don't get
> how a failed "software" transfer can damage "hardware". The
> hardware consists of integrated circuits, resistors,
> capacitors, etc. None of these, as far as I can tell can be
> damaged by the software. You can physically damage the
> hardware (take a hammer to it?), or electrically damage the
> hardware (static charges, overvoltages, etc.) but software
> damaging the board? I've been fiddling around with
> electronics a long time and I've never heard of this. The
> only thing I can think of is if there is some "write once
> only" PROM on the boards which if you don't get it correct
> the first time then you can't overwrite the data to correct
> it. Similar to the way in which once you write to a CD-R
> that's it. Finished. Still, I just don't see how a software
> failure can destroy enough components on a circuit board that
> it requires total replacement. And common sense would
> dictate that if there is a possiblility of damaging a
> discreet electronic component then maybe one should make it
> easily field replaceable.
>
> So ... I was just wondering if this sounds fishy to anyone
> else? Does anyone have any actual firsthand knowledge as to
> what really goes wrong on the board when there is a software
> transfer failure? I'd really be interested in learning about this.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> John
>
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