O Canada! > Canadian > TekSavvy > Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475

The modem with older 02.31 firmware may have issues with channel-bonding, depending upon exactly what Rogers does to the cable system in your area. Or it may behave nicely.

In any event, you'll likely have trouble getting it reactivated if you ever switch ISPs.

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-05 19:42:30 ·

MrMazda86

join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

Good to know. I think I'll be taking it to Teddy Boom to have it upgraded. I don't want to run into problems if they can be avoided and would much rather upgrade the existing modem, rather than be at the mercy of Rogers to have to buy a new one.

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-05 19:43:46 ·

Teddy Boom
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Toronto, ON
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MrMazda86, in general, if everything is working well, you should leave the firmware as is. Only upgrade when you have problems.

Now considering you are so far away, it might make sense to work on the upgrade the next time you come by this area, or Ottawa, regardless of problems. I wouldn't go to any special effort at this point though. Just file it away for later
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electronicsguru.ca

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-06 11:38:33 ·

evox_85

join:2013-02-05

reply to MrMazda86
I just took my modem to Teddy Boom's house yesterday night and it was a very fast fix took him only 10min. Thank You for helping me! Everything works fine and well now!. Firmwire is now up to date, thank you!.

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-06 12:00:08 ·

MrMazda86

join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

reply to Teddy Boom
I will keep that in mind. I may end up making a special trip anyway because of circumstances beyond my control that will be coming up in the spring so as to avoid any possible issue when I'm not around for a while. What is the cost for this upgrade (if any)?

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-06 17:24:41 ·

Teddy Boom
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I charge $10.

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-06 17:27:17 ·

MrMazda86

join:2013-01-29
Kitchener, ON

said by Teddy Boom:

I charge $10.

Sweet deal. From the sounds of it, you offer stellar service at a reasonable price.

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-06 17:35:22 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews:

reply to mlord

said by mlord:

said by abcjak:

what is the latest version for the dcm476 would the benefit be of flashing to a different version? I have 2.50 also.

That's the version that Rogers wants for anyone on their cable system, Stac.02.50. But some modems still have only the older Stac.02.31 on them, and need updating.

Now here's an interesting discovery, and a bit of a conundrum for us firmware-updaters.

Today I got hold of a DCM-475 that's approved for use on ElectronicBox in Quebec (are they on the Videotron system?) . First odd thing: the flash memory is in the same layout as the DCM-476, rather than previous DCM-475 modems.

Second odd thing, it has two firmware images inside: AC.55.04 (expected 55.01, but okay), and AC.02.31. That 02.31 image is 100% identical to the 02.31 that is in one partition of my DCM-476 modem.

So both the DCM-475 and DCM-476 can run the same 02.31 firmware. And probably also any current later firmwares. The modem strings in the firmware itself say DCM-47X rather than a specific model name.

The conundrum is, will this modem, with the new flash layout, still work with older 02.16 firmware required for Rogers' system? Gotta try it, I guess.

And similarly, will a DCM-475 with the older layout work with the newer 55.04 firmware image from this modem?

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-08 13:52:51 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews:

The

Whew.. for a minute there I thought I'd finally bricked a modem. But just a bug in the latest code for the flashing rig.

Here's a new (for me) screen on the DCM-475 with the 55.04 firmware. I've not seen this screen before on my own modems with Rogers approved firmware.

Oh, and yes, this modem does sync up on Rogers' system, with 8/4 bonding. I have no idea what the other differences are between this version (55.04) and the more usual 02.16 firmware.

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 00:16:07 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews:

And firmware 02.16 appears to work just fine when flashed in place of 55.04 on this modem, whilst retaining the "new" layout. That's good to know.

Now I need to find out if a modem with the "old" layout on 02.16 can be flashed to run 55.04 on the same "old" layout. If that works, then people can shuffle modems back and forth across the Quebec/Ontario cable systems with a simple firmware update.

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 00:43:27 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews:

Yup, that works too.

I found an old "original" image of my normal modem, saved back in September, with the 02.08 firmware and my MAC address etc. Flashed the entire image (4MB) into the new spare DCM-475 modem, and then updated it from 02.08 to 55.04. Then unplugged my normal modem, and powered this one up in place of it.

It happily booted and connected to Start.ca with 8/4 channel bonding.

So this proves that a modem with the old layout can run newer firmware ripped from a modem with the new layout. And vice-versa as well, from my earlier posting.

Happy days!
Now it's time to restore the original flash contents (firmware, layout, MAC, ..) to this second modem.

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 01:12:46 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews:

After a moderate battle against dwindling RAM in the Atmega238p chip, I've now updated the flashing rig firmware such that it can autodetect and deal with both modem flash layouts when programming firmware.

I've also extended the rig functionality to automatically rip firmware from a modem when the SDcard does not have the required "firmware.bin" file present.

These two changes simplify dealing with various firmware versions and differing flash layouts for the DCM-475 and DCM-476 modems. The latter change also makes it easier to hand-off this rig to an ISP for their own use. If they receive modems with newer firmware, then they can just hook up the rig with an empty SD card, and it will rip the new firmware from the modem automatically.

Then just copy/rename the file to "firmware.bin" on the SD card, and it will program that image into both partitions within whatever modem they subsequently hook it up to.

No buttons, no switches, no computer.
Just six pin clips and some blinking LEDs.

Next up, clone the rig in a form suitable for mailing to a specific, interested ISP.

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 12:15:44 ·

Teddy Boom
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Toronto, ON
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Very nice!

I was about to send a long pm, but after rereading the above I think you covered everything :P

(you did have an extra f in the memory map you pm'd me though )

said by mlord:

I've also extended the rig functionality to automatically rip firmware from a modem when the SDcard does not have the required "firmware.bin" file present.

Ideally you'd rip both image0 and image1 in this situation, I think..
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electronicsguru.ca

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 14:58:09 ·

Teddy Boom
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Toronto, ON
kudos:5

reply to CHRoNiCWiLL

Re: Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475

And I've just done my first DCM476. Looks to have worked perfectly. Thanks for the firmware image mlord!
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electronicsguru.ca

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 16:01:17 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
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Reviews:

reply to Teddy Boom

Re: Upgrading Firmware on DCM-476 modems

said by Teddy Boom:

said by mlord:

I've also extended the rig functionality to automatically rip firmware from a modem when the SDcard does not have the required "firmware.bin" file present.

Ideally you'd rip both image0 and image1 in this situation, I think..

Yup. The auto-ripper actually saves three files: all.bin, fw1.bin, and fw2.bin. The "all.bin" is a full 4MB image of the entire flash chip, so that it can be restored to pristine state later on if something gets messed up (used that already!).

Cheers

to forum · permalink · 2013-02-09 17:29:07 ·

mlord

join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:9

Reviews: