Firmware update hang, New 6500, SmartSDR 0.13.10

Randy KX4Y

Received my 6500 yesterday. Downloaded SmartSDR 0.13.10 and it of course wants to update the firmware. It hangs at the end of the update process - yellow update bar with yellow update button. Left it an hour last night the first time, tried it again and left it all night, tried again this morning and same thing. Thoughts?

Al K0VM

My only suggestion ( not an expert ), would be to remove power from the 6500, reboot the PC, restart the 6500 and try again... If that fails, you likely need to open a ticket with help desk. AL, K0VM

Eric-KE5DTO

Al is on the money here. Several of our support folks are pulling double duty this weekend at the Huntsville hamfest. If you need help with this before Monday, shoot me a direct email (eric@flex-radio.com) and I'll do what I can to help.

Eric-KE5DTO

Just to close the loop here, I was able to get Randy going via a direct connection between the radio and the PC.

philip.theis

Randy, tell me more about what hands out IP addresses (DHCP) on your network? thanks

philip.theis

Is that the final solution, or temporary?

Randy KX4Y

I felt I should post this for anyone else that may stumble in to a similar situation. Problem solved in a matter of minutes while describing everything to Eric (who was kind enough to call me on a Saturday so I could enjoy my new radio over the weekend). For background, I used to design networks and have a pretty sophisticated home network. My problem was very simple and being new to SmartSDR I overlooked the key trouble shooting info. The Flex-6500 was not locking on DHCP address from my server. I have NOT determined why but will work on that later and if I find a specific cause will post it. The key trouble shooting info was the IPv4 address in the General Tab of the SmartSDR start up screen. It was NOT an address from my DHCP address pool but was defaulting to an address of 168.254.NNN.NNN (a 169.254.0.0/16 address). This is referred to as a "link-local" address subnet in the IP Protocol world, is reserved for this purpose and it's use specification can be found in RFC-3927 for those needing some light reading. Basically, almost any device built recently with IP Protocol capability will default to a link-local address if it the device is unable to perfect a DHCP address and a manual address is not assigned (Flex 6000 series have no mechanism for assigning manual addresses at this time). The neat thing about this is if you put multiple devices on a single link without the aid of DHCP (let's say a Windows 7 PC and a Flex-6500) they will negotiate link-local addresses. The Flex sends out broadcast discovery packets which SmartSDR is searching for. The 2 devices will find each other with no help from you assuming they are properly connected. Thus, in my case for trouble shooting purposes I moved an Ethernet cable directly connecting the 2 devices, they negotiated addresses, SmartSDR instantly saw the Flex and I was able to upgrade the firmware and crank up SmartSDR. The point of my story: if you think you have any sort of network issue one of the first things you should try is direct attaching the Flex to your computer in this manner and see if it works. Hope this helps someone as we experiment with this wonderful technology. Thanks again Eric! Enjoy, Randy KX4Y

philip.theis

So you are now in operation using the link-local address on the 6500? What kind of device does the DHCP work on your network? You say a server? Tell us more. thanks

Eric-KE5DTO

Temporary, I would think.

Brian_W9HLQ

This is an old thread but I have the exact same problem with 1.2.1 update of 4/30/2014.  My update (Windoze 8.1) would run for over an hour and never finish.  I changed computers to a different PC (Windows 7) and the upgrade worked just fine.  Both feed the same router.  I would guess the problem is what Randy, KX4Y described.   Summary: if your install hangs up, fool around with your ethernet connections and routing.  Brian, W9HLQ

Tim - W4TME

This smells like a firewall issue.  If you are using any third-party firewalls or security suites, shut them down and see if that makes a difference.

Brian_W9HLQ

Tim,
   Tnx fer your reply.  I think your suspicions  are correct regarding the firewall.   In the past, I had to turn the firewall off to even run the radio, so I assumed it was still off.   I did re-boot the computer before the install.   Today I checked and found the firewall to be on.   No way to determine if that was the trouble or not.   I am not going to risk trying another update, since it is working now.   The fact that the install started and never finished is what misled me.   All is well now!  CU at Dayton.