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Post by wizardofoz on May 18, 2013 21:34:17 GMT -5
I personally am saddened to hear that the umc-200 is following in the footsteps of the umc-1 for the firmware update process...i though they were going to use usb memory sticks with file based loads...or was this only for the xmc?
I hope that they(emo) will never again go this pc-usb route ever again for any products in the future. It doest work for non pc users (macs) and its barely working that well for pc's even....
Suggesting to ship a unit back is not ideal unless you are happy to be without it or a week and definitely doesnt work for those outside the usa.
I hope they havent got as many issues for umc-200 owners as the umc-1 had...but its not looking good from the posts I am seeing.
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LCSeminole
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Post by LCSeminole on May 18, 2013 21:46:09 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure the Cirrus based platforms are all very similar in updating software. I'd be curious to know if any one actually know of one that is USB based. However, I do believe the Motorola based platforms are as easy as plugging in that USB or connecting by ethernet.
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Post by meldhache on May 18, 2013 21:49:53 GMT -5
I believe now with 2 methods to load the firmware, the update will be a nobrainer and the results so far is worth it. Bigger fonts for us old gaisers, greatly improved emo q and in my opinion a better sound to my setup. Hey now the UMC -200 turns on my panasonic Tv when powered up. The speakers sound level seems pretty well equalised. Well so far so good Mel
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Post by denist on May 18, 2013 22:44:48 GMT -5
Np when I get home
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Post by denist on May 18, 2013 22:54:08 GMT -5
Just check your post and that's how I did it 4 times
I even tested the PDF exact to make it fail which it did 3 times
Then did my method as in post #183
And it loaded all 4 files successfully the only other thing i did after that was I did my method one more time to make sure it loaded everything completely only because I wanted to coz the first time It failed the 2nd time it brand it back to life and the third to make sure it loaded it properly. make sure to everyone load defaults when finished so it can clear unwanted settings that might be lurking in there. unplug the unit also after the firmware load as this will clear cache. And emo says to do so
Denis
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doc1963
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Post by doc1963 on May 18, 2013 23:04:12 GMT -5
Well, I am now happy to say that my six hours of aggravation has paid off in big way. The UMC-200 now can "remember" user settings, has more granularity in CEC control, auto speaker setup (in my system) is spot on and all channels are within 1 dB (as confirmed with my trusty Rat Shack SPL meter) Phase reporting is accurate and the results of EmoQ sounds better than they ever have. For the first time ever (and I mean EVER as in "including Audyssey") I prefer the sound with ARC left "on". For me, when an ARC system doesn't suck the life out of a room, that's a big advancement...!!! Tomorrow will bring some critical music evaluations using ARC. In reviewing the EQ settings made by EmoQ, I found nothing surprising or unreasonable and, based upon previous frequency sweeps and measurements of my room taken with both OmniMic and REW, the adjustments are right where I'd expect them to be. Luckily, I have a pretty good room (and is "WAF" treated), so the adjustments are modest, but accurate. For me, there is only one issue (which I reported early on) that was not addressed. There is still NO way to "permanently" fine tune your speaker levels without the internal tones being active. Regardless of how accurate "auto" setup has become, there are always those who would prefer to do the speaker setup manually or, at least, tweak the results using tones from externally sourced (disc based) material. There is (still) no way to do that without the ability to defeat the internal tones. Sure, you "can" make your tweaks using the TRIMS menu (which are temporary and are forgotten at shutdown) making notations of your adjustments, then going back and making permanent adjustments to the SPEAKER LEVEL menu. Not a huge deal, but you better make sure you've lowered the master volume first. To me, a simple "Test Tones On/Off" feature (yes, like Oppo uses) would be perfect. Additionally, there is still no "-" (dash) in the character set... ;D For me, aside from the two trivial notations above, this update could well be the last. Personally, I'd be fine with that. My six hours of ungodly cursing not withstanding, congratulations are in order to Emotiva for delivering a "solid" product. It was worth the wait...
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Post by avaddikt on May 18, 2013 23:26:13 GMT -5
Just check your post and that's how I did it 4 times I even tested the PDF exact to make it fail which it did 3 times Then did my method as in post #183 And it loaded all 4 files successfully the only other thing i did after that was I did my method one more time to make sure it loaded everything completely only because I wanted to coz the first time It failed the 2nd time it brand it back to life and the third to make sure it loaded it properly. make sure to everyone load defaults when finished so it can clear unwanted settings that might be lurking in there. unplug the unit also after the firmware load as this will clear cache. And emo says to do so Denis I like your method, Denis, and wonder if this is how it was originally intended to be done. Maybe the powers to be thought it would be less intimidating and less risky to have owners take smaller baby steps in the procedure by loading each file manually, rather than let the programmer do it's job more efficiently. When in actuality, because it involves MORE steps than your own method, if anything there is higher risk of making a error IMO. On the other hand, the way the procedure is written, there may be more opportunity to detect or isolate an equipment problem early on. But I am not sure of the value in that, nor what the owner would be expected to do outside of calling for tech help which they would likely need to do regardless of which method failed. In any case, great job!
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Post by srrndhound on May 19, 2013 0:02:20 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure the Cirrus based platforms are all very similar in updating software. I'd be curious to know if any one actually know of one that is USB based. Here's one. At the hub of the [Krell] Foundation digital signal processing is a pair of dual core 32 bit Cirrus Logic CS497024 DSPs Software UpdatePress the Enter button to display the Software Update sub menu. Press the Up or Down button to select the method for updating the software. Press the Enter button to select and then the Enter button again to confirm. Choose the USB option if the Foundation is not connected to the internet and software updates are to be performed by connecting a USB drive to the USB input on the rear panel of the Foundation. Choose the Network option if the Foundation is connected to the internet. The Foundation will check the Krell update server to determine if a new software update is available.
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pva
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Post by pva on May 19, 2013 4:34:29 GMT -5
Following a good night's sleep and some experimentation, I finally managed to stumble upon a method which allowed me to flash all the firmware modules successfully and recover from the endless Loading... loop which appeared after flashing the first module. I'll try to describe in (painstaking) detail what I did in case it'll help somebody else to recover from a failed update. After getting stuck in the Loading... loop, the only thing I could consistently get to work was flashing the 4th module according to Keith's instructions outlined in post #4 of the sticky thread ( emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=preamps&thread=30791&page=1#527408). Reflashing the first three modules would fail no matter which method I used (the official Emo method, the "denist/Jumpstart" method or trying to flash the other modules straight after the 4th without quitting the updater or restarting the unit). The steps I took were: - Flash the 4th module and then let the UMC-200 boot (ignoring the DSP and OSD error messages) until the text Cable / HDMI 1 / 48.0 is displayed on the OSD.
- Turn off the unit from the standby button on the front and disconnect the USB cable from the computer.
- Start the updater program, open the firmware file, select all the updates and contrary to Emo's or denist's instructions, check the Skip radio button. Press Start and a popup window will appear.
- Turn on the UMC using the standby button, and let it fully boot until the text Cable / HDMI 1 / 48.0 is displayed on the OSD. Reconnect the USB cable to the computer.
- The popup window will close and the updater will proceed to write all the modules. The status of the first and fourth modules (DSP2 Code and UMC2, respectively) will show Skip!. The second and third modules should be written successfully (this should take a few minutes per module).
- After all the modules have been flashed, quit the updater, turn off the unit, disconnect the USB cable and proceed to load defaults according to Emo's instructions.
- Sunday night saved and a roundtrip to the States avoided!
In summary, it would appear that if after flashing the DSP2 code the UMC gets stuck in the Loading... loop, the reprogram mode of the updater program won't work. What will work is to flash the fourth module using the "jumpstart" method, and skip the first and fourth modules (which have been successfully flashed, but the updater won't reprogram for some reason). Now, for my two Euro cents. While I can appreciate that as far as the update process goes, Emotiva seems to be at the mercy of the chipset manufacturer and/or Far Eastern OEM (judging from the rather gnarly looking UI and the foreign language dialogs still left in it) as well as various unanticipatable problems which don't crop up during testing (faulty USB cables and such), I still find that if you're going to allow the firmware to be end-user upgradeable, you'd better make the process more palatable than it currently is (ideally, the update should be atomic, and the end user wouldn't have to bother with anything else than pressing a single button once). Otherwise, all the money you've saved and – maybe more importantly – all the goodwill you've built elsewhere will be eaten up by having to support disgruntled customers. I realise that I may be preaching to the choir here, but hopefully this is an area you'll pay special attention to in future products, since consumer electronics are increasingly software-driven, and bugs along with firmware updates to correct them are inevitable (maybe save for the space shuttle www.fastcompany.com/28121/they-write-right-stuff; but that's entirely another kettle of fish ).
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pva
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Post by pva on May 19, 2013 5:16:32 GMT -5
Pending the official changelog, and so that my posts won't be all doom and gloom ;D, I can happily report that the YCbCr 4:4:4 colourspace/HDMI handshake bug, which had been reported here on the forums earlier in the year ( emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=preamps&thread=28747&page=1) and has plagued me and my Dune D1 media player from the word go seems to have been fixed in this firmware version. Thanks for listening, Emo!
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Post by Topend on May 19, 2013 5:58:59 GMT -5
I personally am saddened to hear that the umc-200 is following in the footsteps of the umc-1 for the firmware update process...i though they were going to use usb memory sticks with file based loads...or was this only for the xmc? I hope that they(emo) will never again go this pc-usb route ever again for any products in the future. It doest work for non pc users (macs) and its barely working that well for pc's even.... Suggesting to ship a unit back is not ideal unless you are happy to be without it or a week and definitely doesnt work for those outside the usa. I hope they havent got as many issues for umc-200 owners as the umc-1 had...but its not looking good from the posts I am seeing. I thought the same thing but as I don't own a UMC-200 I'm not complaining. I am however holding out hope the the XMC-1 does not follow this route. Dave.
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Post by jmilton on May 19, 2013 6:47:45 GMT -5
Thanks Denist! Overall a tricky update, but not as bad as the UMC-1. I have noticed that the 200 now has no sound on dts-ma and DD-HD. I've managed a work around by changing the Oppo 103 to LPCM. Any one else have that issue? Should I reload? I've not had that issue Jim. If you are having to resort to LPCM then I would definitely reload. Just curious, did you a LOAD DEFAULT after you successfully updated the software? If not, try that, otherwise I think a reload is in order. Yes, I loaded default. Also noticed trigger 2 does function. I'll reload this afternoon and let you know how things go.
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Post by rskarvan on May 19, 2013 9:28:07 GMT -5
After getting stuck endlessly in the load loop while precisely following the PDF written directions.... I am pleased to report that the Denist method (Page 7) worked flawlessly. Finally! (Thank you Denist! - Emotiva needs to hire you to write and manage firmware updates).
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Post by calvinhobbe on May 19, 2013 9:34:44 GMT -5
It should still be easier than this. No lessons learned from the umc-1? Unplug cable at the right time? really? The question needs to be asked. if the upgrade process is no different that that of the umc-1, experience alone should tell you that as a company you really don't want to do this the same way again. I guess I'm the only one that sees it this way. I'm just disappointed, that's all. I hope the xmc isn't the same. Well said, and, unfortunately, I expect we will see the same nonsense for the XMC-1 installer. Keith's response wasn't very encouraging.
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Post by calvinhobbe on May 19, 2013 9:39:53 GMT -5
It is quite unusual to end up with a bad load if all four modules reported that they loaded successfully. However, it is possible, which is why the first thing to do is to try reloading all four modules. With the UMC-200, the "eternal loading loop" doesn't And, finally, a (more or less) personal note from me to you: Firmware update procedures run the full gamut in terms on convenience. Some devices don't have firmware that can be updated at all, and some can only be updated by the factory. Some software (like Windows) requires so many updates that they just send them out without asking (every "patch Tuesday"), and you just hope that your computer doesn't mysteriously stop working the morning after. We do our best to have as few firmware updates as possible, and, when we have to do one, to make it as painless as possible. With any luck you won't be doing this very often... and, honestly, we're not eager to spend a lot more money to make the process a few minutes quicker or the loader more impressive (if we did, we'd have to charge more for our products to pay for all the pretty software). I've seen a lot of both ends of the spectrum, and I think we've hit a pretty good compromise between convenience and expediency. You "can't see it from out there", but the UMC-200 updater is MUCH more reliable, and much less likely to not work, than the updater for the UMC-1. Public forums always exaggerate the negative; we have a lot of UMC-200's out there, and most of them will be updated quickly and successfully... and we do apologize to the few of you who have problems (and we're always here to help when it happens). [Just try and get Microsoft on the phone when your Windows PC won't boot....] I tried several different ways to load this firmware, kept ending up with "dsp" and "osd flash" errors and/or mismatch. Yes, I did it as Keith says "EXACTLY AS WE INSTRUCTED YOU" several times with the same result (errors and mismatch) from 2 different computers, although they are both running Windows 7 64 bit. Used the above method and no more errors. Further testing will have to wait until tomorrow. THANK YOU DENIST! The last non-boot of Windows 8 (licence key issue is what it turned out to be) for me was two weeks ago, and I called their 800 line, had a tech rep within five minutes and resolution within an hour. It might be better not to talk about other companies when explaining how much better your support is than theirs. And I didn't pay Microsoft anything nor do I have a contract with them.
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Post by calvinhobbe on May 19, 2013 9:46:17 GMT -5
Well, stranger things have happened.... Obviously there are several combinations and orders that do work; we picked the one that works the most often, but every computer is slightly different, and there are even minute hardware and timing differences between individual UMC-200 units. I'm glad you got yours sorted out. In the end, by and large, this updater is a lot smoother than the one for the UMC-1, so I figure we've done OK with it. As I'm sure somebody in software development once said: "If you hold a product until you're sure it's totally absolutely perfect, you'll never have a dissatisfied customer. Of course, that's because you'll never be able to release it." Works most often? ? Not something anyone in my business would ever say publicly.
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Post by avaddikt on May 19, 2013 10:16:18 GMT -5
Regardless of which method 'seems to work', how confident can we be that all will yield the same results? Sounds like a "fairly certain" to me.
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on May 19, 2013 10:32:39 GMT -5
Well, stranger things have happened.... Obviously there are several combinations and orders that do work; we picked the one that works the most often, but every computer is slightly different, and there are even minute hardware and timing differences between individual UMC-200 units. I'm glad you got yours sorted out. In the end, by and large, this updater is a lot smoother than the one for the UMC-1, so I figure we've done OK with it. As I'm sure somebody in software development once said: "If you hold a product until you're sure it's totally absolutely perfect, you'll never have a dissatisfied customer. Of course, that's because you'll never be able to release it." Works most often? ? Not something anyone in my business would ever say publicly. Are you frustrated with your UMC-200? It's tough.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 10:45:01 GMT -5
> I personally am saddened to hear that the umc-200 is following in the footsteps of the umc-1 for the firmware update process..
This reminds me of my first computer in 1979, a Heathkit z80. It usually took about four attempts to load the 8k operating system from a casette tape player. Sounds like EMO used the same loader programmers...
At least we know why the firmware update took so long; the programmers couldn't get it to load.
Sincerely /b
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Post by srrndhound on May 19, 2013 11:20:47 GMT -5
After getting stuck in the Loading... loop Flash the 4th module contrary to Emo's or denist's instructions, check the Skip radio button. Turn on the UMC using the standby button, and let it fully boot until the text Cable / HDMI 1 / 48.0 is displayed on the OSD. Reconnect the USB cable to the computer. Interesting that my success only came when these same conditions you described were met: Break out of the endless Loading result. Get the unit to display Cable/volume with the Denist process. Use the Denist process again but leave the Skip mode selected. I think you are on to something.
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