Frequently Asked Questions

Requirements

• VMX Circuit Board (rev. 4.0 or higher)
• PC with USB 2.0 port running Windows 7 or greater.
• Micro-USB Cable

Updating the Firmware

• Download the VMX Tools for Windows latest build.
• Unpack the contents of the vmx-pi.zip file and run the setup.exe program, which will install the tools as well as all necessary device drivers for communicating over USB with the VMX-pi, as well as some additional tools. In addition, the setup program will install the latest firmware at the following location:

[Installing User Home Directory]\vmx-pi\firmware

For example, if you installed the VMX-pi Software while logged in as user name "Robot", the directory name will be C:\Users\Robot\vmx-pi\firmware.

• Within that directory, the firmware file will be named using this pattern:

vmx-pi_X.Y.ZZZ.hex

(X = Major Version Number Y = Minor Version Number Z = Revision Number)

1. Connect a USB-micro cable from a Windows PC to the VMX circuit board. Use the micro-usb connector immediately to the left of the VMX power connector.
2. From your Start Menu, select “Kauai Labs” and then click on the VMXFirmwareUpdater menu item, and follow the directions included in the program.
3. Once you have downloaded the firmware, you can use the “Currently-loaded Firmware Version” tab of the VMXFirmwareUpdater to verify the version number you have just installed.

Troubleshooting

In certain cases, the "Update Firmware" button may not be enabled, even though a firmware file matching your board's generation has been selected.

For the "Update Firmware" button to be enabled, the firmware file has to be selected, and the board also needs to be recognized by the PC as being in DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode.

You can verify that the device is in DFU mode by looking at the Windows Device Manager. After holding down the CAL button and plugging in the USB cable, you should see this:




If the "STM Device in DFU Mode" indicator is present, the device should be accessible, and the "Upload" button should be enabled.

In some cases, users have reported that the DFU drivers aren't getting automatically installed with the navX software installer. This might occur if the permissions are not correct. So if you're having trouble seeing the "STM Device in DFU Mode" indicator, you can try reinstalling the DFU drivers from the dfu subdirectory in the Kauai Labs Program Files directory. This is shown below: