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CHRoNiCWiLL
@teksavvy.com

CHRoNiCWiLL

Anon

Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475

Well I've been getting the daily disconnect problems with the Thompson DCM475 as my firmware is still on 02.08.

I've called Teksavvy and the representative told me that my modem is now out of warranty and they will not replace it.

So my question is, is there anyway I can upgrade it myself, or perhaps someone has instructions on how to do so? Or is it possible to still have Teksavvy resolve this issue through other means?
InvalidError
join:2008-02-03

InvalidError

Member

said by CHRoNiCWiLL :

So my question is, is there anyway I can upgrade it myself, or perhaps someone has instructions on how to do so?

Low-level management functions are usually completely locked out by the cableco so end-users cannot mess with the firmware and operating parameters. Unless you are lucky, the only way to upgrade the firmware is to have it pushed by the CMTS.
said by CHRoNiCWiLL :

Or is it possible to still have Teksavvy resolve this issue through other means?

I would hope TSI could at the very least ask the cableco to do a firmware push with the latest firmware the cableco has... shouldn't even have to ask, it should be a one-click operation exposed by the incumbent's wholesale management API for 3rd-party ISPs.

Crowbar10
join:2009-06-23
Toronto , ON

Crowbar10

Member

said by InvalidError:

I would hope TSI could at the very least ask the cableco to do a firmware push with the latest firmware the cableco has... shouldn't even have to ask, it should be a one-click operation exposed by the incumbent's wholesale management API for 3rd-party ISPs.

I believe TSI asked and Robbers said NO

Teddy Boom
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There was already a thread on this ten posts down:
»[Cable] Disconnection issues with DCM475

Keep bugging Teksavvy, if you bought the modem from them, you might be able to convince them to do something for you.
DSMdude
join:2012-06-30
Kitchener, ON

DSMdude

Member

This boggles the mind. You buy a device they fully support, then something on the network changes which requires a simple firmware update and because its past the warranty period you're SOL? I guess thats one advantage of renting but there's no excuse for this. If Rogers wont assist in getting a firmware update sent then at the least they should be replacing your modem. Is it worth losing a customer over? Really??

JenSuisUn
Premium Member
join:2006-02-23
Chatham, ON

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said by CHRoNiCWiLL :

I've called Teksavvy and the representative told me that my modem is now out of warranty and they will not replace it.

Can you send me a PM please. Thanks.
Tristan
join:2006-09-10
Nepean, ON

Tristan to CHRoNiCWiLL

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It is for the whole firmware updating fiasco which has caused me to stop recommending Teksavvy.

Until Teksavvy is capable of pushing updates to the modems, or can provide a mechanism for users to update the firmware through the modem's management interface accessed locally, I am unable to push additional people into Teksavvy's arms. They are actually better off remaining with Rogers. As a few people have mentioned to me, they never had problems with Rogers, aside from high prices.
OTIS3
join:2011-09-29

OTIS3

Member

said by Tristan:

It is for the whole firmware updating fiasco which has caused me to stop recommending Teksavvy.

Until Teksavvy is capable of pushing updates to the modems, or can provide a mechanism for users to update the firmware through the modem's management interface accessed locally, I am unable to push additional people into Teksavvy's arms. They are actually better off remaining with Rogers. As a few people have mentioned to me, they never had problems with Rogers, aside from high prices.

This^^

also when you complain about it they tell you to google it. bunch of clowns.

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

Yeah, the firmware situation for the cablemodems is certainly a worrying issue...

Rogers has the capability and should have no problems to send firmware updates to modems that are accepted to use on its network.

They did it before, I don't get why they wont do it again.

But if TekSavvy wants to maintain a happy customer base, this is something they have to address, either by engaging Rogers or by getting equipment where they can flash the modems themselves, where they can basically swap the customer a modem with new firmware, and then when the customer returns his modem, they flash that one and the cycle continues...
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Gone
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join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

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Re: Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475

said by HiVolt:

Rogers has the capability and should have no problems to send firmware updates to modems that are accepted to use on its network.

Cogeco does it with TPIA providers - in fact, when I connected my DPC3000 for the first time the firmware update happened automatically the moment it attained sync - so the fact that Rogers doesn't is just petty nonsense.

elwoodblues
Elwood Blues
Premium Member
join:2006-08-30
Somewhere in

elwoodblues

Premium Member

But rogers doesn't want you to have a "pleasant experience" with a TPIA provider, they want to provide that experience, and they throw in the lube for free, they can afford it.

HiVolt
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join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

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said by Gone:

said by HiVolt:

Rogers has the capability and should have no problems to send firmware updates to modems that are accepted to use on its network.

Cogeco does it with TPIA providers - in fact, when I connected my DPC3000 for the first time the firmware update happened automatically the moment it attained sync - so the fact that Rogers doesn't is just petty nonsense.


I know it's stupid. Rogers updated the sb6120 and sb5101 modems for tpia
Before.
phi1z
join:2011-06-28
k2p

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said by CHRoNiCWiLL :

I've called Teksavvy and the representative told me that my modem is now out of warranty and they will not replace it.

they told me the same thing, Did you ever come up with a solution? I'm not super ecstatic about buying a new modem but its looking like that's what i'm going to have to do

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

The warranty excuse isn't valid... The modem isn't broken. It simply needs an update.

Marc, if you're reading this, have you gotten any answers on this? We discussed this in another thread and you said you'd look into it...
phi1z
join:2011-06-28
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phi1z

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said by HiVolt:

The warranty excuse isn't valid... The modem isn't broken. It simply needs an update.

Agreed.

I started having this issue a long time ago (i want to say November of last year.. i remember when it started because battlefield 3 had just come out and i kept getting disconnected from the game).

At the time i had opened a support ticket in the direct forum trying to figure out what was going on, there had been speculation it was a firmware issue (I remember a huge thread something about Brampton 475 disconnects) but at the time i figured that if that was the case it would be a simple fix.. upgrade the firmware no more issue.

Flash forward to a few months ago I'm still having the issue (coming to the conclusion the problem is not likely to fix its self) i open a new ticket. At this point the 2.16 is confirmed to fix the problem but my modem was now out of warranty.

I didn't even initially buy this modem. I bought a Motorola modem when i signed up that turned out to be defective (just stopped powering on shortly after purchasing it) which teksavvy replaced with the 475 because the Motorola was out of stock.. Only problem is now this modem is having these constant disconnects.

What really angers me is instead of offering a solution to the problem, they told me "the modem worked when we gave it to you". I find it mind boggling that they deem this to be an acceptable response to the problem... Live with the disconnects / Buy a new modem / or go to bell/rogers is what it feels like they are saying.
mlord
join:2006-11-05
Kanata, ON

mlord

Member

It's not like there are only one or two of us with these modems -- Teksavvy probably deployed 10,000+ of them. And now gradually each of us is having cable issues, and TSI tech "support" plays dumb in each case, and nothing gets resolved until we break down and purchase yet another new modem from them.

Ugh.

And what of those 10,000+ modems that are now landfill bound?
What a pathetic waste.
graniterock
Premium Member
join:2003-03-14
London, ON

graniterock

Premium Member

The least they could do is acknowledge the problem on the phone. This would stop people from having to bang their heads against a wall as much. I had a DVR with flakey firmware, when that company told me it was the firmware it saved me from having troubleshoot hours on end to find a problem out of my control. I appreciated the honesty and lived with the problem for a considerable time until an update was pushed.

Teddy Boom
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Teddy Boom

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said by graniterock:

The least they could do is acknowledge the problem on the phone. This would stop people from having to bang their heads against a wall as much. I had a DVR with flakey firmware, when that company told me it was the firmware it saved me from having troubleshoot hours on end to find a problem out of my control. I appreciated the honesty and lived with the problem for a considerable time until an update was pushed.

For the VAST majority of Teksavvy customers (all TPIA customers, actually), firmware issues are bureaucratic and not technical. The root of the issue is that Rogers refuses to look at trouble tickets if they are filed stating an unsupported firmware.

This problem is complicated by the way Teksavvy agents have been handling customer calls recently. For whatever reason, Teksavvy agents have been emphasizing firmware version, and checking firmware version as an early step in troubleshooting. This allows them to say "unsupported firmware, buy new modem" and end the call even when firmware has nothing whatever to do with the actual problem. I complained about this practice here:
»[Cable] Attn Marc: Cable modem firmware and TSI technical suppor
Hopefully TSI Andre is going to improve the handling of those cases. That still leaves lots of issues with the way Rogers handles it though. It is still true that there is no point opening a ticket with Rogers if you have "unsupported firmware", even if the firmware in question is actually perfectly functional.

All that said, the one common firmware that does seem to cause technical issues for a small but significant group of customers is the DCM475 with STAC.02.08.

The thing I really don't understand about all this is the process of approving firmwares and modems, and then later delisting them. For example, if Teksavvy pays Rogers the $8000 modem testing fee, does that guarantee the firmware approved under that process will always be "supported"? Judging by the SB612x situation, I have to think it does not. When can Rogers say a firmware that was tested is now unsupported? Does Rogers have to offer a substitute firmware or does Teksavvy have to pay again? And so many other questions about that process, it is just bizarre.
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mlord
join:2006-11-05
Kanata, ON

mlord

Member

Re: Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475

Yup. Okay, so you're just clipping the JTAG thingie onto the flash chip, and extracting the contents over SPI, right? I'll see if I have something here to do that.

But yes, best would be for someone in Toronto to let you at their DCM-475 w/01.16 for ten minutes or so. Anyone? Teksavvy themselves? (ha ha).

Cheers

Teddy Boom
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said by mlord:

Yup. Okay, so you're just clipping the JTAG thingie onto the flash chip, and extracting the contents over SPI, right? I'll see if I have something here to do that.

Yes, exactly. Anything that can read an SPI flash is good enough. Then there is a little work figuring out which part of the flash dump is the actual firmware, which should be very simple.

Technically, I don't know for sure that the DCM475 is SPI, but every other D3 modem I've seen is--sometimes 8 pin, but mostly 16 pin.
mlord
join:2006-11-05
Kanata, ON

mlord

Member


Flash chip from dcm475 02.08

chip markings
Here's the flash chip, 16-pins:
mlord

3 edits

mlord

Member

Best link I've found thus far for something resembling a datasheet for it:

»www.spansion.com/Support ··· A_00.pdf

Edit, yeah that's the part all right.
3.0V 32mbit SPI NOR flash memory chip.
mlord

mlord

Member

I don't have any SPI masters at hand that I'm familiar with, but I do have a spare Arduino board here which undoubtedly groks SPI.

Otherwise I've got some USB->GPIO dongles that I can program to do the transfer. That might be quicker for me, because I've not bothered to learn the ins/outs of Arduino yet.

Teddy Boom
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said by mlord:

I don't have any SPI masters at hand that I'm familiar with, but I do have a spare Arduino board here which undoubtedly groks SPI.

Otherwise I've got some USB->GPIO dongles that I can program to do the transfer. That might be quicker for me, because I've not bothered to learn the ins/outs of Arduino yet.

Might be a fun project, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort

What we really need is somebody in Ottawa, and another in Kitchener/Waterloo, willing to do the flashing for other TPIA cable customers. Those people could be set up with a full set of equipment at reasonable cost. That would reduce this entire issue to annoyance level.
mlord
join:2006-11-05
Kanata, ON

1 edit

mlord

Member

That's more or less what I've got in mind. Once I get it working here, I have several friends with 02.08 modems that will likely need upgrades soon. And I'd be willing to take on any others that are needy and aware enough to find me.

Curiously, the modem has a 4-pin header and a 4-pin socket near the flash chip, but it appears to be a 3V serial port for the processor rather than SPI for the flash. I should hook it up and see what it does at some point.

Doing a bit of simple math, my USB->GPIO adapter will be much too slow for the 32mbit flash contents, so I think I'll have to program the Arduino board to do it for me. They have a handy SPI library and tools, just gotta learn to use them. Might take a few days before I'm ready.

Cheers
AtomicVGZ
join:2011-10-03
Orleans, ON

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Sign me up!

Teddy Boom
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said by mlord:

Curiously, the modem has a 4-pin header and a 4-pin socket near the flash chip, but it appears to be a 3V serial port for the processor rather than SPI for the flash.

Two different 4 pin ports?! Certainly one is a serial port. The firmware you are running will have locked console, but you'll be able to see some output from it. If there is a second.. I've no idea what that would be. Maybe an unused USB location...