Upgrading Board Firmware
NOTE: Your screen may not match exactly with the screen representations shown in this article, depending on your system configuration and installed firmware/software versions.
Insure these prerequisites are met prior to following the instructions listed below:
- Board (DAQ or laser) must be powered-on.
- Board must have valid microcontroller firmware already installed.
- Board must be connected to the host PC via a USB cable.
- Ethernet DAQ can be connected via an Ethernet cable with the Laser on RS-232 pass-through.
- Axsun USB device driver must be installed on the host PC.
- or if upgrading via Ethernet, the network card must be configured with the appropriate static IP address.
- OCTHost.exe application must be installed on the host PC.
- A valid firmware file provided by Axsun must be available on your PC or network.
- Launch the OCT Host application (OCTHost.exe) and wait for indication of a successful connection with the board. OCT Engine (i.e. the laser driver board) and/or DAQ will be listed in the Connected Boards: indicator in the lower left region of the window:
Connected Boards indicator
- Select the Firmware tab on the main OCT Host window and then select DAQ or Light Source from the System drop-down menu, depending on the board to which you are installing firmware:
Main OCT Host window showing Firmware tab with Light Source board selected.
WARNING: A microcontroller firmware .bin file is different from the DAQ FPGA bitstream .bin file which is described in a separate article. Do not confuse these files and attempt to upload a microcontroller <firmware>.bin file to the DAQ FPGA or a DAQ FPGA <bitstream>.bin to the microcontroller.
- Press the Load Firmware button and use the file dialog to find and open the desired <firmware>.bin file provided by Axsun to be installed on the Board. The filename, type, date, and size of the selected file will be indicated below the buttons:
- Confirm again that the desired board to upgrade (DAQ or Light Source) is seleted in the System drop-down menu and then press the Send Firmware button to start the file upload to the board’s flash RAM. Wait 10-15 seconds until a “Firmware sent <xxx,xxx> bytes successfully” message is given:
Message indicating firmware upload is completed.
WARNING: If an error message is received or if the process is interrupted before upload is complete, this installation process should be re-attempted prior to restarting the hardware. If attempts continue to fail, contact Axsun Customer Support.
- Reset the Board by cycling its power off and on. Wait for the board to reconnect to the OCT Host application and confirm the correct version number is listed in the Devices tab:
Main OCT Host window showing Devices tab with firmware version listed.
Congratulations! You have completed the steps to upgrade firmware on your Axsun Laser or DAQ Board.