Upgrading BL600 BL620 Firmware - LairdCP/UwFlashX GitHub Wiki

Acquiring BL600/BL620 firmware

Firmware for the BL600 can be downloaded from the BL600 product page and firmware for the BL620 can be downloaded from the BL620 product page, which will comprise of a zip file with the firmware and supporting files.

Extract the .uwf file from the firmware zip file and place it somewhere on your PC.

Setting up UwFlashX

The BL600/BL620 needs to be in command mode with no autorun application present on the module, follow the guides on the BL600/BL620 page to clear the module configuration before continuing with the upgrade process.

Once the BL600/BL620 module is in command mode, open UwFlashX and select the .uwf upgrade file by clicking the '...' button and then selecting the correct serial port for the connected module. Configure the BL600/BL620 specific options by:

  • Changing bootloader entrance method to 'AT+FUP command (smartBASIC)'
  • Setting the application baud to 9600
  • Setting the bootloader baud to 115200
  • Ensuring the 'Send UART BREAK prior to upgrade' checkbox is unticked

Once configured, UwFlashX should look similar to:

UwFlashX_Configuration

Running UwFlashX

Once UwFlashX has been configured, start the upgrade process by clicking the 'Begin Update' button and the upgrade should be applied to the module.

After Upgrading Firmware

After BL600/BL620 firmware has been upgraded, it is important to clear the module configuration from the previous firmware and any old application files (which will be incompatible). To do this, use a terminal utility such as UwTerminalX and send the command 'AT&F*' and press enter, the module will erase the flash file system and reboot. After this has finished, the module upgrade process is complete.

Possible Issues

If you encounter an issue with the BL600/BL620 firmware upgrade process, ensure that the module is operating at 3.3v, 1.8v operation is not supported. If UwFlashX is unable to communicate with the module, ensure that there is no application running on the BL600/BL620 and no autorun applications exist on the module. Applications can be removing by issuing the 'AT&F*' command from a terminal utility such as UwTerminalX before upgrading the firmware using UwFlashX. Note that hardware flow control is required to upgrade BL600/BL620 modules, if a module is on a custom board and these lines have not been fitted, you will be unable to upgrade the module firmware. Upgrading to a firmware with a different softdevice version is not supported, this means going from e.g. BL600 firmware 1.5.x.x to 1.8.x.x is not supported, and a BL600 cannot be updated to use the BL620 firmware or vice versa - a JLINK upgrade is required to perform such an upgrade.