SS4544 SyncroStep Motion Control System
Application Note 106 - Installing the ssLASER or other Firmware
Testra Corporation  1201 N. Stadem Drive Tempe, AZ 85281 Ph:(480)560-6141 Fax:(480)907-2876
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Revised 5/13/10


Installing the Laser Engraver, Router, Plasma, or other Firmware

      Note: Very Important! Make sure your motion parameters are up to date with the application.  If in doubt, reload them using the latest version of ssDEMO.  Read the release notes in ssDEMO for more details. Generally you will get a warning message when starting  ssDEMO if your MPM is out of date with the release you are using.

     After the SS4544 motion parameters have been determined and tested with the diagnostics in ssDEMO, you must save them in the ss4544 parameter flash memory.  This is done by going from the Main Menu to <System Setup>/<SS Setup>.   Make sure that the entry in <Parameters MPM> is the correct name of you MPM you want to load.  The entry in <Parametes>BOX> is what is currently saved in your SS4544 system.  By clicking  on selection PARAMETERS>BOX your MPM file will be saved in Flash memory within the ss4544.  This will not affect your application firmware, and may be done every time you make an adjustment to your MPM (Motion ParaMeter)

    If you neet to install your firmware or the latest firmware file LExxx.HEX, where xxx represents the firmware revision level, you can also now go to the same menu <System Setup>/<SS Setup>.  If you just purchased a new system, the latest LExxx shouldl have already been installed, as well as the latest Autoboot program. Firmware applications should always be first placed in your C:\ss\download directory before executing this function.  In the menu selection <Application>, change the application name to the one you want to load.  For example LE790.   If you now click on System>BOX, everything will be updated automatically including your MPM file.

     In some rare situations you might have to manually load your firmware.  One example would be if you have interrupted the file transfer process while updating, you will be left with an incomplete copy of the firmware in the controller.  When you power up the controller it will try to boot up with bad data and crash.  Therefore you will not be able to get control of the system at this point. If this is the case you will need a terminal emulator program that can do RAW ASCII uploads, such as Windows HyperTerminal.   This may be also done within the ssDEMO program by going from the main menu to <System Setup>/<SS Setup>/<Terminal>, with the selected comm port on the computer you are using connected to the SS4544 system.   Make sure that you have the serial port parameters set to 38.4k baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, NO parity and hardware handshake.  These are the settings that the ss4544 default to when first powering up.  When you do this in ssDEMO you will get a blank blue screen with the following message:

     Ctrl-alt to quit

      You are now connected to the ss4544 system as a dumb ASCII terminal.   Anything you type on the keyboard will be sent directly to the ss4544, and anything sent back in response from the ss4544 will be displayed on the Video display.  To get back to the ssDEMO program you just need to hold down the Control and Alt keys on  your keyboard and release.  Note that the ssDEMO program may hang in places after exiting from the Terminal program, if you have made modifications to the ss4544 system.  If this happens, use the Ctrl-alt to regain control, and exit the ssDEMO program, then restart if you need to.

      The following, which is the procedure for the laser engraver firmware, will be essentially the same for any other application, but with file names changed to match your application and revision level. If your box does not currently have FBOOT Version 12 loaded, you will also have to load that version before any new application may be loaded.

Follow these steps:

Step 1) Connect to the box at 38400bps, no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit. (If you are using ssDEMO this should already be done)

Step 2) Power-up the box.  The bootstrap firmware FBOOT will   display:

      FBOOT Version 12 (ROM)
      RSTEP yy-xxxxxxxx  512KB Flash    (where yy is hardware version and xxxxxxxx is serial number)
                                                                   (the flash size may also be 128k on some systems)

   Then, if autoboot is enabled you will see:

      Autoboot in 3 seconds
      'N' to boot flash now
      '/' for boot menu

   If autoboot is disabled or if you type '/' or 'D' within the 3-second period, you will get this prompt:

      Type '?' for a list of commands
      >

   If autoboot is enabled you need to hit '/' or 'D' quickly to kill the autoboot or you may have to power off and back on the box again in order to do this. If an application is already running and has the serial I/O baud rate set to 38.4KB , you can usually kill it and get to the autoboot menu by hitting the key sequence alt-B Enter.  If you are going to be doing a lot of experimenting you should make sure that your application has its baud rate set to 38.4KB.  This may be done at the systemcontrol panel connected to the ss4544 while your application is running by going to <Setup>/<Configuration>/<Ports> and making the adjustment, then go to <Retain Settings> and do a YES to accept them.

     In the following examples your key entry is underlined for clarity.

   You also may want to disable the autoboot at this point:

      > O
      Disable autoboot.
      Are you sure? Yes
      Autoboot is OFF.
      >

   If your Fboot is not version 12 you should update it at this point, otherwise continue at Step 3.

   Note: You only need do this if Fboot12 is NOT installed yet!

   Hit the PageUP key.  Then type in fboot12.dnl as follows:

    File to upload? fboot12.dnl
    ..............................
    L

    Upload complete

     FBOOT Version 12 (Download)
     RSTEP 08-0089247  512KB Flash                 (Will vary based on Flash Size)
     Type '?' for a list of commands
     >

     Next type U to update the flash with this new bootstrap version.

     >U
     Update flash boot
     Are you sure?  Yes
     Updating FLASH copy of FBOOT...
     Update complete,  rebooting...

     FBOOT Version 12   (ROM)
     RSTEP 08-00089247   512KB Flash            (Will vary based on Hardware Level and Flash Size )
     Type '?' for a list of commands
     >

Step3) Next type 'E' to erase flash and 'Y' to confirm in preparation for the upload:

      > Erase firmware 10000-1FBFF and 74000-74FBFF   (Will vary based on Flash Size)
      Are you sure? Yes
      Erasing sector: 29 30 31 4 5 6 7                                  (Will vary based on Flash Size)
      >

Step4) Next type 'H' to tell FBOOT to load the hex file and instruct your terminal emulator to transmit the LE4xxx.HEX file in RAW ASCII format.

      > H
      Upload HEX file now.  ^Z to abort.

       {the HEX file is loaded here}
       {If you are using the Dumb ASCII Terminal feature within the ssDEMO program you hit the Page-UP  key then enter the path to the LE4xx.HEX file as follows:.

        File to Upload? LE790.HEX (or your application filename in upper or lower case)
                                                       (Otherwise send it according to your terminal emulator operation}
 

 You will see a series of periods coming back as the file is uploaded to the ss4544 Box.

...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
..................................

      EOF

      576  records skipped  (the numbers here will vary depending on application size.)
      6145 total records

Step5) The laser engraver can now be booted using the 'N' boot option if you are still experimenting, and going back and forth between ssDEMO and ssLASER. Otherwise first turn the autoboot back on with an 'A' first.

   > A
      Enable autoboot.
      Are you sure? Yes
      Autoboot is ON.

 Note: The control panel needs to be properly connected to the RS-485 bus of the ss4544 system, or the system will hang after the Booting Flash message, waiting for the panel to be plugged in.

      > N

      Booting flash

      LASIO yy-xxxxxxxx   (where yy is the hardware version and xxxxxxx is the serial number)
      Panel initialized           (the system will hang before this message if no panel is plugged in)
      xxxxx bytes                 (where xxxxx is the size of the application)
      1 zeros sent                  (the number of zeros may vary)
      RACE is running

      Engraver xxx               (where xxx is the version number)

      Initialized

      . . . .                             (the application will generally periodically output dots every five seconds or so to indicate that the application is active and idle. Other messages may be output by the application including errors. If debug flags have been turned on, extensive coded output may occur during operation

Step6) If you want the laser engraver to start up automatically at power-up you can enable autoboot.  If your terminal emulator is capable of generating <BREAK>, you can stop the engraver and return to the FBOOT menu using the sequence <BREAK><CR>.  If you are using the terminal in ssDEMO, you can stop the engraver and return to the FBOOT menu using the sequence Alt-B Enter if you have your application baud rate set to 38.4KB.  If not, you can reach the FBOOT menu by turning the box off and back on.  Then type 'A' to enable autoboot and 'Y' to confirm:

      > A
      Enable autoboot.
      Are you sure? Yes
      Autoboot is ON.
      >

   Once the engraver is installed and autoboot is enabled,  the powerup sequence will look like this at the terminal:

      FBOOT Version 12 (ROM)
      RSTEP 08-00089247  512KB Flash               (Numbers Will vary based on Flash Size and application, etc.)

      Autoboot in 3 seconds
      'N' to boot flash now
      '/' for boot menu

      Booting flash

      LASIO 08--00089247
      67640 bytes
      1  zeros sent
      RACE is running

      Engraver 790

      Initialized
      .

    The SS4544 Box is now ready to operate with the Control Panel and the TestraPlot printer driver in Windows or the TestraMW Cad/Cam software, or other compatible applications. 

    If you need to make additional motion parameter changes, you may do this without interfering with the saved LExxx  application.  You do however have to be careful with the serial I/O baud rate, since you must first get the ssLASER application turned off before you can reload ssDEMO in order to setup and save new parameters.  If you keep the baud rate set at 38.4k baud while doing your changes, you should not have a problem.  When the ss4544 FBOOT12 program starts up, the baud rate is set to 38.4k baud, but as soon as the application boots up it could change the baud rate to something else.  See App Note 107 - Saving Motion Parameters.


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Testra Corporation   1201 N. Stadem Drive  Tempe, AZ 85281  Ph. 480-560-6141  Fax: 480-907-2876