About the Firmware Images

The NexDome Control Suite comes with several firmware images that may be uploaded using the build-in Firmware Update Utility, which is accessed via the Setup Dialog of the ASCOM driver.

Firmware images provided are:

• TA.NexDome.Rotator.hex
• TA.NexDome.Shutter.hex
• TA.XBeeFactoryReset.hex (diagnostic use only - see Troubleshooting)
• TA.NexDome.EraseSettings.hex (diagnostic use only - see Troubleshooting)

The files are precompiled firmware images that can be directly uploaded to an Arduino single-board computer (NexDome uses Arduino Leonardo).

Image Details

Each firmware image is described in detail.

TA.NexDome.Rotator.hex

This is the firmware for the rotator module. It controls dome rotation, monitors the Home Position sensor, monitors the Rain Sesnor and forwards shutter commands to the shutter module (if present).

TA.NexDome.Shutter.hex

This is the firmware for the shutter module. It controls shutter opening and closing, monitors the open/closed limit sensors, monitors and reports the battery voltage and accepts commands forwarded from the rotator unit via the wireless link.

When to Use It

Both the Rotator and Shutter modules should use the version of firmware that was supplied withthe ASCOM driver, and they should normally report an identical version number.

TA.XBeeFactoryReset.hex

This image resets the XBee radio module to factory default settings, then stops.

When to Use It

In normal use, this image should not be used. It is not needed for normal firmware operation because the firmware already contains code to reset the XBee to factory defaults at every reboot.

Older firmware does not reset the XBee module so may not work once newer firmware has been used. This firmware image was created to facilitate downgrade to older firmware during alpha and beta testing. It should not be used for any reason other than to downgrade to older firmware.

Please note: downgrading to old firmware is not supported because it is known to cause issues. If you do so, you are on your own. Please see Troubleshooting for more details.

TA.NexDome.EraseSettings.hex

This firmware clears the EEPROM (nonvolatile) memory. The firmware stores settings in the EEPROM memory so this has the effect of clearing the firmware settings to factory defaults.

Note: If the firmware is updated and there is a change in the major version number, this will also clear the settings to factory defaults.

When to Use It

This firmware image should not normally be used. During testing, we encountered a rare situation where EEPROM corruption could cause the firmware to behave erratically. In that situation (EEPROM curruption) sometimes clearing the EEPROM can recover a stuck board. See Troubleshooting for more information