Flashing
The Silicon Software frame grabber families offer differing functionality.
Check which frame grabber family your frame grabber belongs to, and open the according documentation via the link below.
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What do I flash on microEnable IV? |
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Firmware: To use a new firmware version, you will need to flash your mE4 frame grabber board. Applets: To configure the image processing FPGA with another applet, you do not need to re-flash your mE4 frame grabber board.
Any applet available in the runtime installation (directories |
To flash a microEnable 4 board with new firmware:
- Make sure the new firmware version is available in your runtime installation (directory
[runtime installation directory]/Firmware
). If not available, copy the firmware file into this directory.
- Close microDisplay if open and make sure no instance of microDisplay is open on your system.
- Start the tool microDiagnostics (e.g., directly out of the installation directory [runtime installation directory]/bin/microDiagnostics.exe).
In the microDiagnostics program window that opens:
- Select the microEnable 4 board you want to install the firmware on:
- Click the button Manage Firmware/Applet(s).
In the lower part of the program window, the firmware currently flashed on the board is listed:
If you see the icon: The firmware on the board is older than the firmware version that is available in your runtime installation.
- Click the search button
.
The Select new Firmware dialog opens:
If you want to use the newer firmware version:
- Select the file provided in the Select new Firmware dialog and click Open.
The firmware you selected for flashing is now displayed in microDiagnostics. It is highlighed in yellow to show that it has been selected, but is not flashed yet.
If you are sure you want to use this firmware version on your mE4 frame grabber board:
- Click the Flash Now button
.
The Flash Dialog opens.
- Check if stated selected board and firmware version are the ones you intend to flash.
- Click on Flash.
The flashing Process is started now:
As soon as the flashing process is finished, you get the message Flashing is complete in the Flash Dialog:
- To complete flashing, follow the instructions the Flash Dialog displays:
Afterwards, the new firmware is available on the board:
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Individual Applets |
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If you got an individual applet not in form of an installer, but as a single *.hap file from an external source: Make sure the applet has come to you in a *.zip archive. The applet file (*.hap) has to be transferred from the VisualApplet developers machine savely protected in a *.zip archive. Otherwise, it may get corrupted under way. If you flash your the frame grabber with a corrupted *.hap file, the frame grabber configures its FPGA with the Safe configuration. Use of the Safe configuration is indicated by on-board LED SAFE giving read light. In this case, make sure you get an uncorrupted version of the *.hap file you intend to use, and re-flash the frame grabber. |
Requirements
Before you can flashthe frame grabberwith an applet file (*.hap or *.dll), you need to copy this file to the file system of your host PC. Acquisition Applets that come as part of the runtime (*.dll files) you have probably installed together with the runtime. If you want to flash individual applets (*.hap files), copy them into [runtime installation directory]/Hardware Applets (as described in sectionAdding an Applet Manually).
Flashing
To flash applet(s) onto the frame grabber:
- Close microDisplay if open and make sure no instance of microDisplay is open on your system.
- Start the tool microDiagnostics (e.g., directly out of the installation directory [runtime installation directory]/bin/microDiagnostics.exe)
In the microDiagnostics program window that opens:
- Select the the frame grabber device you want to install the applet(s) on:
Start window of microDiagnostics
- Click the button Manage Firmware/Applet(s).
In the lower part of the program window, the applet
List of applets available on the frame grabber
the frame grabber
offers
You can use any of the applets you flashed onto partitions 1 to 7 for frame grabber (FPGA) configuration. To switch between these applets does not require new flashing. (How to switch, see Re-Configuring the FPGA with Another Applet .
The applets are marked as follows:
Symbol | Meaning |
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This is the currently active applet, i.e., the applet the frame grabber is configured with at the moment. |
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The frame grabber will be configured with this applet at system start (boot partition). 1 |
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This applet is available in the file system (in the same version). No newer version available in the file system. |
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This applet is not available in the file system (or in another version than the one that is flashed on the frame grabber). |
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This is the Safe Configuration. It's a fall back option. In case a problem occurs with the active configuration (i.e., during flashing) , the frame grabber uses this configuration. The Safe Configuration is always stored on partition 0. |
To flash a partition with an applet, or to re-flash a partition with another applet:
- Click the search button.
The program leads you to a file selection dialog.
- Select the applet (*.dll file or *.hap file) you need by clicking on the f ile name.
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Cannot See the Applet You Want to Flash? |
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If you want to flash an individual applet (*.hap file), you need to copy it to the file system of your host PC before you can flash it onto the frame grabber. For instructions on how to do this, refer to Adding an Applet Manually. |
- Click on Open.
The selected file is displayed now for the partition; the selected file is highlighted in yellow.
- Continue and select applets for all partitions you want to flash.
- Repeat steps 3 to 8 for all the frame grabber boards in your system you want to flash.
- Click the Flash Now button
.
The Flash Dialog opens. The dialog lists the partitions you want to flash together with the names of the selected applets:
- Click Flash.
The flashing process gets started now:
Flashing in progress – as displayed in microDiagnostics
One applet is installed after another (per board):
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Flashing Multiple Boards in Parallel |
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You may define more than one frame grabber board for flashing. When you then click the Flash Now button |
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Attention! |
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If you experience any problems, keep the frame grabber powered and call the Silicon Software Support department. |
- Wait until the new applet is completely installed. You will get an according message.
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Possible Effects of Flashing an Active Partition |
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Flashing an active partition on one the frame grabber board will result in the following system behavior if the Siso Generic Service (gs) is used to manage camera connections:
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After flashing non-active partitions
If you flashed only partitions that did not contain the currently active applet, you will get the following message: Flashing Done.
In this case, you are done with flashing and can continue with other activities, e.g., with configuring the FPGA on the frame grabber (Re-Configuring the FPGA with Another Applet ).
- Close the Flash Dialog.
You can now see the applet selection that is available on the frame grabber:
After flashing the active partition
If, on the contrary, you flashed the partition that did contain the active applet, and if your host PC supports live reconfiguration2 of the FPGA (see chipset lists below), you get one of the following messages (A, B or C) after flashing:
A) Restarting Applications:
Flashing Done. Please restart all applications using the board.
The applets have been flashed successfully.
- Close all applications of the Silicon Software runtime environment (microDisplay/microDisplay X, microDiagnostics, GenICam Explorer).
After re-opening the runtime programs, the programs will provide access to the applet you just flashed onto the active partition of the FPGA. You can continue with configuring the applet via microDisplay X (see Initial System Test) or via SDK.
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PCs supporting Live Reconfiguration, Behavior A |
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High-end mainboards with server level chipset support this behavior. The following chipsets are known to support FPGA live configuration without reboot in some mainboards:
We do not guarantee behaviour A with the aforementioned chipsets. |
B) Optionally rebooting host PC:
Flashing Done. You should reboot your computer for the changes to be completed.
The applets have been flashed successfully, but due to the new applet on the active partition of the FPGA, the PCI speed is reduced3 after flashing. To get the full PCI bandwidth4 when using this applet, you need to reboot your host PC:
- Reboot your host PC to get the full PCI bandwidth.
After re-boot, you get the full bandwidth on the PCI interface. The runtime programs will provide access to the applet you just flashed onto the active partition of the FPGA. You can continue with configuring this applet via microDisplay X (see Initial System Test) or via SDK.
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PCs supporting Live Reconfiguration, Behavior B |
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High-end mainboards with server level chipset support this behavior. The following chipsets are known to support FPGA live configuration without reboot in some mainboards:
We do not guarantee behaviour B with the aforementioned chipsets. |
C) Rebooting host PC:
Flashing Done. You must reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.
The applets have been successfully flashed, also the one that has been flashed onto the active partition of the frame grabber. To configure the applet on the active partition, you need to reboot your host PC.
- Reboot your host PC.
After re-boot, the runtime programs will provide access to the applet on the active partition. You can continue with configuring this applet via microDisplay X (see Initial System Test) or via SDK.
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PCs Requiring Reboot, Behavior C |
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The following chipsets are known to require a reboot after FPGA configuration:
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Individual Applets |
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If you got an individual applet not in form of an installer, but as a single *.hap file from an external source: Make sure the applet has come to you in a *.zip archive. The applet file (*.hap) has to be transferred from the VisualApplet developers machine savely protected in a *.zip archive. Otherwise, it may get corrupted under way. microDiagnostics will tell you when the applet has become corrupted. In this case, get an uncorrupted version of the applet (*.hap) file you intend to use, and re-flash the frame grabber. |
Requirements
Before you can flashthe frame grabberwith an applet file (*.hap or *.dll), you need to have this file available in the file system of your host PC:
- Standard Acquisition Applets that come as part of the runtime (*.dll files) you have probably installed together with the runtime. They need to be stored in [runtime installation directory]/DLL.
- If you want to flash individual applets (*.hap files), copy them into [runtime installation directory]/Hardware Applets (as described in sectionAdding an Applet Manually).
To install an applet on the frame grabber:
- Close microDisplay if open and make sure no instance of microDisplay is open on your system.
- Start the tool microDiagnostics (e.g., directly out of the installation directory:
[runtime installation directory]/bin/microDiagnostics.exe
)
In the microDiagnostics program window that opens:
- Select the the frame grabber device you want to install the applet on:
- Click the button
Manage Firmware and Applets.
The applet that is currently flashed onto the board is displayed:
- To flash the board with another applet, click on the search button
.
In the dialog Select new Firmware, all applets that are available for the board in your runtime installation are displayed:
- Select the applet you want to flash the board with, and click Open.
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Cannot See the Applet You Want to Flash? |
If you want to flash an applet (*.hap file) onto the frame grabber, you need to have it available in the file system of your host PC .
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The selected applet is now displayed in microDiagnostics. It is highlighed in yellow to show that it has been selected, but is not flashed yet.
To actually flash the applet to the SPI/BPI flash memory on the frame grabber:
- Click the Flash Now button
.
The Flash Dialog opens.
- Check if stated selected board and applet are the ones you intend to flash.
- Click on Flash.
The flashing Process is started now:
As soon as the flashing process is finished, you get the message Flashing is complete in the Flash Dialog:
- To complete flashing, follow the instructions the Flash Dialog displays:
The applet that has been flashed is available now in the SPI/BPI flash memory of the frame grabber.
It is displayed in microDiagnostics:
m
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Possible Effects of Flashing |
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Flashing on the frame grabber board will result in the following system behavior if the Siso Generic Service (gs) is used to manage camera connections:
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