Corrupted Firmware?? PSDR 2.7.2

Lionel

My 5000 is in its box for a trip to Austin tomorrow but thought I'd ask about the firmware anyway.  The ham in me can't easily accept an open electronics issue in the shack. 

The rig no longer keys from the CW key jack (key jack OC voltage and CC current seem fine).  Works fine with CWX and all other modes and in all respects.  It could be hardware, or maybe firmware. I found another ham with this problem (his 5000 also on the way to Austin he says) also, and a few distant references in the old archives but no solutions.

The question:  Does the PSDR 2.7.2 Integrated Installer flash the firmware if the radio already has the latest?  I have a suspicion, weakly supported, that the firmware is somehow corrupted and the installer does not re-flash when PSDR 2.7.2 is first installed if it reads the latest revision already installed in the hardware. 

What I have done is completely uninstall 2.7.2 (win 8.1).  Then I downloaded the 2.7.2 installer from Flex and re-installed.  Install runs normally.  But at the end of it still no CW operation. 

So how do you know if the firmware ( latest ) needs to be flashed because of a slightly corrupted file?

Tim - W4TME

Lionel - The installed does not install firmware into the 5000; that is the responsibility of PowerSDR.  Once a version is flashed into the firmware it is not re-flashed.  If after loading PowerSDR v2.7.2 the radio operated correctly (which you said it did), then the probability that you got a bad firmware flash is almost nil.  When PowerSDR loads, it queries the radio's firmware to get the firmware version number.  If it can't or gets a version that is lower than the required version, it will initiate a firmware update.

From what you have described above, the issue you are having is most likely hardware failure and not a firmware issue.

N5LB - Lionel

Thank you Tim.  As I said it was a weak argument that it was firmware.  Yes, it was working A-Ok up until it decided that CW would no longer key the radio.   Per earlier communications with Dudley it is on its way to you guys anyway. 

I had noted that the O.C. voltage at the key jack was 2.3 and the CC current was 1.3 ma on both T and R, S is solid ground at < 50 milli ohms.   Maybe the SN75468 or god forbid the TCD2210 rolled up.  I'm sure the shop will figure it out. 

Thanks for the feedback. I assume that there is no way to flash the firmware to test my theory (my 5000 is in the box ready to ship so probably would unpack to test).  Prior to 2.7.2 I think you could download the latest firmware and flash.  I guess too many user problems and you had to simplify and better control the process.  No issue there.

I LOVE my 5000 and will until I can move to a 6500. 

Cheers..

Tim - W4TME

There is a way to manually re-flash the firmware, but we don't recommend doing it unless we know it will fix a problem and then usually Dudley or I will do a remote support session to flash it.  Messing up the firmware is a guaranteed trip back to Austin to have the radio's brains unscrambled.  I know this all too well as I have done it before ;-)