User`s guide

12. Upgrading Firmware

The firmware (program) that runs on the Orangutan SVP’s auxiliary processor can be upgraded with bug fixes or

new features.

Version 1.01 of the firmware fixes some bugs with the quadrature encoder support on the auxiliary

processor. If you use the auxiliary processor to read quadrature encoder outputs, we recommend

that you upgrade to this version so that these bugs will not cause you any problems. If you do not

use the auxiliary processor to read quadrature encoder outputs, then you do not need to upgrade.

Firmware Release Notes

Firmware version 1.00 is the original firmware for the SVP’s auxiliary processor, released in November 2009.

Firmware version 1.01 was released on January 15th, 2010. This version contains bug fixes related to the

quadrature encoder support that would occasionally trigger an encoder error and cause two encoder counts to be

lost.

Determining your firmware version in Windows

To determine the firmware version of the auxiliary processor using a Windows computer:

1. Connect the Orangutan SVP to your computer via USB.

2. Open up the Device Manager.

3. Double click on the “Pololu Orangutan SVP Programmer” entry in the “Ports (COM & LPT)” list.

4. In the Details tab, select the “Hardware Ids” property in the dropdown box.

5. The first value displayed should be something like USB\VID_1FFB&PID_0087&REV_0101&MI_00. The

number after the REV_ is your revision code. You can determine your firmware version by inserting a decimal

point after the second character of your revision code. If the revision code is “0100” then you have firmware

version 1.00. If the revision code is “0101” then you have firmware version 1.01.

Determining your firmware version in Linux

To determine the firmware version of the auxiliary processor using a Linux computer:

1. Connect the Orangutan SVP to your computer via USB.

2. Run the following command: lsusb -v -d 1ffb:0087 | grep bcdDevice. This should output a line

that has your firmware version number on it.

Upgrading firmware

To upgrade the auxiliary processor’s firmware, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version of the firmware here:

◦ Firmware version 1.01 for the Orangutan SVP [http://www.pololu.com/file/download/

org06a_v1.01.pgm?file_id=0J317] (27k pgm) — released January 15th, 2009.

2. Connect the Orangutan SVP to your computer via USB.

3. Turn off the power to the Orangutan SVP’s AVR. The blue power LED should be off. You will have to

remove the VCC-VUSB jumper if it is present.

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