PA1000t Firmware Upgrade
The PA1000t firmware can easily be upgraded in the field if necessary.
However, please note that it is not recommended that you upgrade your firmware at this time since there are no significant problems or added features that warrant an upgrade.
When a significant feature is added, or problem is corrected, it will be posted here.
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PA1000t Firmware History |
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| 2/16/00 | First release of firmware - version 1.11 |
| 3/17/00 | Removed all lines that were used for debugging the firmware, they caused the error LED to flash at seemingly random times just before the down stroke. This is only a false visual error that caused unnecessary concern. Removing these unused lines prevents the error LED from flashing (unless there is an error). Release version 1.12 |
| 12/11/00 | Very quick power glitches could be read by the applicator as ‘printed’ signals.
This could cause a false trigger of the pad, and a vacuum error. The problem
is extremely rare, and this is only a precaution. The firmware was changed
to look for a longer pulse before accepting the signal as valid; this will ignore
the quick glitches and prevent the possibility of a problem. Release version 1.13
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Follow the steps below
to upgrade your applicator’s firmware;
| Step 1. | Completely remove the smoked black plastic cover from the
front of the applicator |
| Step 2. | With the power off, attach the male side of a
9-pin null modem
cable to the female 9 pin connector located on the top back of the applicator
mainboard refer to the PA1000t manual page 49 |
| Step 3. | Attach the female side of the 9-pin null modem cable to any
serial port of your PC. |
| Step 4. | Be sure the applicator is connected to the Apollo printer,
and then turn on the printer. |
| Step 5. | Download the file
pa_firm.exe You will be presented with a prompt that asks where
you would like to save this file. Please remember the path that you choose so
that you can find this file after it is downloaded. |
| Step 6. | Go to the path that you downloaded the file pa_firm.exe to, and
run the file. The file will automatically unzip to the directory
c:\pa_firm, and the firmware upgrade will begin automatically. |
| Step 7. | The onscreen prompt on the PC will indicate success, or display
any errors. If you receive an error, double click the file ‘errors.txt’
and read the suggestions for correcting the error. Run the file pa_firm.exe
again and select ‘yes’ to all six prompts that ask if you would like to overwrite
the files in c:\pa_firm. The upgrade will again begin automatically. |
| Step 8. | When the upgrade is successful, remove the 9-pin firmware upgrade cable from the PC and the applicator, and replace the smoked black plastic cover on the applicator. |
| Checking the applicator's
firmware version: |
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| When there is no job in
the printer, press and hold the OneStep button
for three seconds. The last three LEDs (down, vacuum and error) will begin flashing
in order. Continue to hold the OneStep button in order to keep the LEDs flashing.
The flashes will correspond to the number for each digit.
For example: DOWN LED flashes once = 1 VAC LED flashes three times = 3 ERROR LED flashes five times = 5 Firmware version = 1.35 (In order to prevent confusion, zeros are not used in the firmware version.)
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Note: The 9-pin null modem cable is available from your reseller, it is called the ‘PA1000t firmware cable’ part number 8000401, or you may purchase a 9-pin male to female null modem cable from your local computer peripherals supplier.