Firmware upgrade - Tahoe 681/682/684

Note: Read about the differences in firmware upgrade introduced in firmware release 1.2.9.

To upgrade the firmware you'll need a TFTP client. Please use utftp client for Linux, which was tested and works for sure. Other clients should also work, but for example a client supplied with Slackware 8.0 was buggy.

Untar and compile the utftp:

tar xvf utftpd-0.2.4.tar.gz
cd utftpd-0.2.4
make
make install

We advise to connect the modem directly to the PC, with no other traffic present. Although it's possible to upgrade firmware remotely (over the Internet), it would be easier to see what is displayed on the LCD and access the serial console if necessary.

Connect to the modem and enable TFTP access:

Tahoe> tftp on

Send the 'erase' file (zero-length) to erase the Flash memory:

utftp -p 10.0.0.1 erase

(replace '10.0.0.1' with modem's IP address)

After a few seconds the Flash memory is erased.

WARNING: if your modem had firmware version 1.2.8 or older do not power off or reboot the modem until you complete writing the new firmware. It has no firmware at all at the moment and won't boot again. You don't have to care about that with newer versions (1.2.9 and later) as there is always a bootstrap which is never erased and allows a firmware recovery in case of accidental reboot during the upgrade.

Send the new firmware under the name 'flash':

utftp -p 10.0.0.1 flash t680-1.2.9.bin

(yout may need to change 't680-1.2.9.bin' to another filename)

You'll see the programming progress on the LCD. If something goes wrong, repeat the procedure by first erasing the Flash and then programming again.

One of the older firmwares (before 1.2.9) had a bug in the Flash programming procedure, so it would be advisable to verify the Flash contents BEFORE REBOOTING THE MODEM WITH THE NEW FIRMWARE. Download the memory contents and compare them to the original file:

utftp -g 10.0.0.1 flash
cmp flash t680-1.2.9.bin

A message 'cmp: EOF on t680-1.2.9.bin' means that the comparison was successful. The file sizes may be different because utftp downloads whole flash memory (0.5MB) while the firmware file may be smaller. If any error occurs repeat both erasing and programming process.

NOTE: You don't need this comparison when upgrading from 1.2.9 firmware to a newer one. The comparison would probably fail, because the bootstrap section wasn't updated and may differ from the bootstrap in the new firmware file.

Now you can reboot the modem. If will start with the factory settings.

If anything goes wrong (modem reboots with no firmware present, power goes off and you had firmware older than 1.2.9 so you don't have firmware recovery option) please contact us immediately.