7.1.3. Updating the WFL firmware

Key information

*Your current firmware version can be found at the top of the Setup | System page of the WFL web interface.

*Note that the Meteo-Pi Ethernet logger has a completely different way of updating firmware from that described here.

The latest WiFi logger firmware (v2.30 at the time of writing) is available from the Support section of the WFL website. Clicking the US or Europe server links, as appropriate, will download a zip file containing a package of firmware files and instructions. The zip file will obviously need unzipping in the usual way before any attempts to update the firmware.

*v2.x firmware makes some valuable changes to memory allocation but also required an important change to firmware update procedures, so the process for updating firmware does vary according to whether you currently have a v1.x or v2.x firmware version.

!V2.x updates are substantially simpler than previously but updating from 1.x to 2.x is a major update which will cause all settings to be lost – it is essential that the update instructions are followed carefully in order to save any existing settings and that the firmware is first updated to v1.24S before any attempt is made to update to v2.x.

As a result, there are three distinct processes for firmware updates:

• Updating from v1.x to v1.24S (the last v1.x version released and a later version than plain v1.24);
• Updating from 1.x to 2.x
• Updating from 2.x to a later version of 2.x

Updating the firmware is a straightforward process but the instructions do need to be followed carefully.

Note that while this overall procedure is termed ‘updating the firmware’ for short, there’s actually more to be done than updating just the firmware. The WFL ‘firmware’ actually consists of two components: there is the firmware itself – code in a .bin file that controls operation of the WFL; and, separately, there are HTML pages (and associated styling files) that determine how the various WFL menu pages appear when viewed in a browser on PC, smartphone etc. For v1.x firmware the firmware itself and each individual html page need to be updated as separate manual steps. For v2.x firmware the process is much more automated.

More detailed instructions for each of these processes is as follows:

Updating from v1.x to v1.24S

The v1.24S firmware will be found in a separate folder within the v2.x zip file download. This update process follows the original detailed instructions for firmware updates, eg as found on p3 of the Prodata WFL PDF instruction manual and so, overall, there are 4 stages to the update:

1. Download and unzip the latest firmware zip file to a known location on your device;
2. Find the WiFiLogger124S folder;
3. Update the firmware itself using the ‘Update firmware’ section on the System menu and pointing the update specifically at the WiFiLogger124S.bin file;
4. Update the HTML files using the ‘Upload HTML’ section on the System menu. This step needs to be repeated for each individual HTML or related file. For a general update all files in this HTML section are updated, but there’s no reason in principle not to update just one or more files (eg if only one such file in the overall set needs updating);

*Note: There is no need to worry about the last step above of updating the HTML files if your only purpose of updating to v1.24S is en route to an update to v2.x.

Updating from 1.x to 2.x

!Note: Updating from v1.x to 2.x firmware is a one-way process – you cannot return to v1.x once an update to 2.x has been made (not that there is any good reason why you might want to do so!).

*The update file seems to be labelled WiFiLogger200.bin even though it updates to a later firmware version (eg v2.15). This naming convention may of course change further over time.

To avoid losing any existing settings, the firmware must be first updated to v1.24S as outlined in the previous section. Detailed instructions for updating to 2.x are given in the PDF (and identical Word document) included within firmware zip file download, but in brief the steps are as follows (assuming that the firmware is already at v1.24S):

• Save the TWO files stationconfig.json and config.json to a known folder location on your local PC/device. These two files contain all the settings that were previously entered into your WFL configuration. Failure to save these files will result in the details being lost and hence the WFL will need to be restarted from scratch.

• Perform the firmware update to 2.x using the ‘Update firmware’ section on the System menu and pointing the update specifically at the WiFiLogger200.bin file. This is a major firmware update and takes substantially longer than usual, eg up to 5 minutes – please be patient until the update has clearly completed.

• When the update has completed then check the firmware version and you should now see a higher number such as v2.15;

• You now need to reload the saved settings as follows: At the bottom of the Setup | System page click the ‘Show local firmware update’ button. Then upload the two saved json files just as if they were html files. (Of course they are json and not html files, but exactly the same upload procedure can be used.)

Updating from 2.x to a later version of 2.x

TBA

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