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Update Process Question

 

I am in the process of updating my main/HC firmware to these latest versions.? In the past, I have not been able to use the GFU successfully as I always get the "Timeout" message when trying to flash/reboot (Gemini is direct connect via 175' of Cat5e ethernet. Verified IP address is correct. Not sure what else to check.).? However, it did update the HC firmware and this time, it looks like the current "NewGem.bin" file is on the SD card (see attachment).? ?On the second attachment under the "Select firmware image", I can see this "NewGem.bin" file as a choice option (couldn't capture the dropdown box with a screenshot). Am I correct that I can select that file (NewGem.bin), hit "Flash Firmware" and that will update the firmware?
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HC did update to v1.63 upon reboot.
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Chris
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¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Chris,

It's worth a try.

Btw: Have you already used the HC firmware (looking at the main screen) with the mount being near the Western Safety Limit (an hour or less)?

¸é±ð²Ô¨¦



Am 15.10.24 um 21:35 schrieb criscopenneys via groups.io:

I am in the process of updating my main/HC firmware to these latest versions.? In the past, I have not been able to use the GFU successfully as I always get the "Timeout" message when trying to flash/reboot (Gemini is direct connect via 175' of Cat5e ethernet. Verified IP address is correct. Not sure what else to check.).? However, it did update the HC firmware and this time, it looks like the current "NewGem.bin" file is on the SD card (see attachment).? ?On the second attachment under the "Select firmware image", I can see this "NewGem.bin" file as a choice option (couldn't capture the dropdown box with a screenshot). Am I correct that I can select that file (NewGem.bin), hit "Flash Firmware" and that will update the firmware?
?
HC did update to v1.63 upon reboot.
?
Chris
?
?
 

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Chris, you have an illegal file name file M:Curr_Gem.bin.
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That file is preventing normal operations on the SD card. You¡¯ll need to delete this file (not easy) or reformat the SD card before you can update your firmware.
?
Regards,
?
? ? -Paul?

On Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 03:35 PM, criscopenneys wrote:
I am in the process of updating my main/HC firmware to these latest versions.? In the past, I have not been able to use the GFU successfully as I always get the "Timeout" message when trying to flash/reboot (Gemini is direct connect via 175' of Cat5e ethernet. Verified IP address is correct. Not sure what else to check.).? However, it did update the HC firmware and this time, it looks like the current "NewGem.bin" file is on the SD card (see attachment).? ?On the second attachment under the "Select firmware image", I can see this "NewGem.bin" file as a choice option (couldn't capture the dropdown box with a screenshot). Am I correct that I can select that file (NewGem.bin), hit "Flash Firmware" and that will update the firmware?
?
HC did update to v1.63 upon reboot.
?
Chris
?
?
 

It's all coming back to me now.? When I attempted to update to L6.02 earlier this year, same thing occurred and the culprit ultimately was that M:Cur_Gem2.bin file (there is a thread on this).? I had to reformat the SD card and you (Paul) provided me with a file, "combined6.02.zip" that I loaded onto the SD card via Windows Explorer then everything worked.?
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Is this file supposed to be on the SD card (M:Cur_Gem2.bin)?? If not, any idea why it keeps showing up on my system?? This original L6.0 card came from Losmandy as part of their upgrade kit.? Maybe someone would be kind enough to post a screenshot of their SD card webpage so I can see what this SD card should look like.
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Is the only way to remove this "M:" file to reformat??
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Edited

On Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 09:26 PM, criscopenneys wrote:
It's all coming back to me now.? When I attempted to update to L6.02 earlier this year, same thing occurred and the culprit ultimately was that M:Cur_Gem2.bin file (there is a thread on this).? I had to reformat the SD card and you (Paul) provided me with a file, "combined6.02.zip" that I loaded onto the SD card via Windows Explorer then everything worked.?
?
Is this file supposed to be on the SD card (M:Cur_Gem2.bin)?? If not, any idea why it keeps showing up on my system?? This original L6.0 card came from Losmandy as part of their upgrade kit.? Maybe someone would be kind enough to post a screenshot of their SD card webpage so I can see what this SD card should look like.
?
Is the only way to remove this "M:" file to reformat??
I don't know how that file gets generated, but I've seen it on some SD cards from L5 days. I found no simple way to remove it, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Deleting it through a card reader, FTP, or Windows explorer did not work for me. Seemingly because the ':' is normally treated as a special character in Microsoft file systems and isn't considered part of the file name. Even Mac software failed to delete it when I tried. Gemini isn't using Windows, yet this file seems to cause problems for Gemini itself, maybe because the SD card is formatted as FAT or FAT32. Unfortunately, the only way I know of clearing this up is to format the SD card.
 

OK.? It looks like I will have to reformat, because, yeah, no way to get rid of that M: file.
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I assume I need to copy all the files on the current SD card except that "M;" file to a safe place before I reformat.? Then I reformat and load all those files back onto the SD card, reinsert the SD card then flash the firmware? Is that correct?? I wish I could remember how I finished up the L6.02 update.? This time I'm going to take notes!
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Looks like I can format the SD card from the webpage??? Will that work in this situation?
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Paul, Chris,

Please don't worry about this "M:..." file, it doesn't hurt. It is created by the trusty, reliable boot loader once it finds a "HGM_Gem2.bin" file that it flashes and renames (not to flash it again). Every Gemini board comes with this boot loader since the start, so this is very old firmware using very old middleware. Again, just ignore this file, besides this the boot loader works very well.

Having said this: The way proposed by Chris to reformat the card works well. I've just tested it using FileZilla. I've created an empty directory on my PC, connected to Gemini, selected one directory after the other on Gemini and selected "Download" using the right mouse button. If you don't have PEC trained, you could omit the PEC directory, there was a problem with colons in the file names in the past, otherwise just download the files you want from there (CurrPEC.pec). The Video directory takes some minutes.

Having downloaded everything you can format the SD card from the G2 SD card web page. Your browser will show rudimentary but working SD card page and main page, if selected, most other pages will return HTTP error 404. Don't worry about this, as soon as you've uploaded your language directory (EN/FR/ES/DE) the pages will show up normally again.

My proposal is to use the Firmware web page (or the HC) to save your configuration in the CONFIG directory using "Store SRAM". L6 has extended the number of settings (4x mode, motor control, ...) so it is good to have a current configuration.

You can also flash a new firmware (Newgem.bin or another filename) with the Firmware page. Be aware: The browser will loose the TCP connection and won't update the page after displaying the Wait message. The best way is to close the browser after pushing the "Flash Firmware" button and restart it a minute later.
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I've just tested all this (again) and all works well... But you don't need to do this. Just use Paul's great GFU and ignore this M: file! 8)

¸é±ð²Ô¨¦


Am 16.10.24 um 03:38 schrieb Paul Kanevsky:

On Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 09:26 PM, criscopenneys wrote:
It's all coming back to me now.? When I attempted to update to L6.02 earlier this year, same thing occurred and the culprit ultimately was that M:Cur_Gem2.bin file (there is a thread on this).? I had to reformat the SD card and you (Paul) provided me with a file, "combined6.02.zip" that I loaded onto the SD card via Windows Explorer then everything worked.?
?
Is this file supposed to be on the SD card (M:Cur_Gem2.bin)?? If not, any idea why it keeps showing up on my system?? This original L6.0 card came from Losmandy as part of their upgrade kit.? Maybe someone would be kind enough to post a screenshot of their SD card webpage so I can see what this SD card should look like.
?
Is the only way to remove this "M:" file to reformat??
I don't know how that file gets generated, but I've seen it on some SD cards from L5 days. I found no simple way to remove it, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. Deleting it through a card reader, FTP, or Windows explorer did not work for me. Seemingly because the ':' is normally treated as a special character in Microsoft file systems and isn't considered part of the file name. But even Mac software failed to delete it when I tried. Gemini itself isn't using Windows, yet this file seems to cause problems for Gemini itself, maybe because the SD card is formatted as FAT or FAT32. Unfortunately, the only way I know of clearing this up is to format the SD card.
 

On Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 11:49 PM, Rene Goerlich wrote:
But you don't need to do this. Just use Paul's great GFU and ignore this M: file! 8)
First off, thanks for all this great info.? I'm going to screen snip this and keep it for future reference.? I would like nothing better than to use Paul's GFU but I keep getting the "timeout" error message when the utility tries to do the SRAM Reset and Reboot steps.? I have had this happen with every update - 5.21 to Beta 5.22, (L6 I bought the chip from Losmandy), 6.00 to 6.02 and now this update.
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You can also flash a new firmware (Newgem.bin or another filename) with the Firmware page. Be aware: The browser will loose the TCP connection and won't update the page after displaying the Wait message. The best way is to close the browser after pushing the "Flash Firmware" button and restart it a minute later.
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I tried again to flash the firmware from the "Firmware" webpage and this time closing the browser as you suggested.? Attempting to restart the webpage after 3 minutes I get this message:
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After rebooting and restarting Gemini and the PC, I can connect to Gemini but the firmware is still on 6.02.?
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So, it looks like I have no choice but to reformat the SD card and reload the files.? Unless someone has something else I can try or some setting I can check.....
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BTW: I have not trained PEC yet (was going to this full moon cycle after this update) so I will omit the PEC file.
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?
 

On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 06:59 AM, criscopenneys wrote:
After rebooting and restarting Gemini and the PC, I can connect to Gemini but the firmware is still on 6.02.?
?
So, it looks like I have no choice but to reformat the SD card and reload the files.? Unless someone has something else I can try or some setting I can check.....
Trust me, Chris :) I've gone through this a number of times: just reformat the SD card. You can do this from the web page or from GFU directly, and then upload the full firmware file using GFU (do the L6.02, since that's the latest one available there). Don't worry if you get a timeout on reboot, that's just Gemini taking too long to restart. Everything that GFU needed to do was already done, so the timeout at that point doesn't hurt anything. For good measure, turn off and then on Gemini to make sure everything is reset properly. After this, you can try to apply later firmware files.
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Regards,
?
? -Paul
 

On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 06:59 AM, criscopenneys wrote:
The best way is to close the browser after pushing the "Flash Firmware" button and restart it a minute later.
Also, if you use a fixed IP address then you need to use the Hand Controller and reset the Gemini-2 IP address manually and uncheck DHCP on the new default factory image.? It's the address you used in your /windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts file for gemini.
 

I've just spent the last 2 - 3 hours trying to do this update.? Partial progress.? I did use the GFU Utility to reformat the SD card and load 6.02.? Both the Flashing and Reboot gave me the timeout messages? ?Powered off and turned back on Gemini. It appears that 6.02 did load and that M: file is gone. I then went to the "Advanced" tab and loaded the current file.? Once again, I got the timeout messages during Flashing and Reboot.? I powered off and powered on Gemini but 6.02 was still there.? I then went to the Firmware webpage and attempted to flash the firmware from there.? Got the? "Hmmmm...." message (see below).? Powered off and on Gemini but still on 6.02.??
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I must have something set up wrong with my Ethernet connection somehow since no one else seems to have this difficulty.? The computer is an Optiplex 9020 that I have had less than a year.? Direct connection from computer to Gemini. Below is a screenshot of some of the properties.? I normally have Gemini out in the observatory about 200' away but I have it indoors now connected by a standard 3' patch cable to the computer so distance shouldn't be a factor.? If anybody sees anything, let me know because I'm stuck and I'm not a network expert.
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On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 10:17 AM, criscopenneys wrote:
connected by a standard 3' patch cable to the computer
A direct connection, such as a LAN (Local Area Network), necessitates being on the same network. There are three basic classes of networks, with Class C being the most common for home use, typically represented by a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask, which allows for 256 addresses. Without a router on the LAN, I cannot use other addresses within the network, to establish a direct connection.
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With these musings in mind, I need to know the IP address the PC uses.? I'd open a "CMD" window (Windows_Key+R, CMD) and type > ipconfig.? ?The IP will list for the Ethernet support for the motherboard or dongle if powered and active (maybe a few).
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C:\Users\Doug>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
? ?Connection-specific DNS Suffix ?. :
? ?IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
? ?Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
? ?Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
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For the direct wire connection at Gemini-2 I enter the same address used to access the controller modifying the last number.? I pick "192.168.1.100".?
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If you did not change the PC-side then any IP other than the laptop's IP suffices but if you defined the prior IP in the PC Hosts file, then look up and use that one or reset this.? Otherwise type the IP to access the controller and not the NetBIOS name of "gemini".
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As an example, using my iPad beside me, but the same concepts (I'm not moving the controller as you did, very nice).? I end up at the sign in screen of the controller using the IP of the controller for the browser address in this example.
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After stepping away for a time to clear my head, I went back to the Gemini 2 site to read about how to connect Gemini directly to a computer (gotta start with the basics since I haven't looked at this for awhile).? If I'm reading this section correctly and since my (new computer) ethernet port speed is 100mbps, it looks like I need a crossover cable versus the standard cable that I am using.? Could that be what is causing the timeout errors and all my subsequent headaches??
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Gemini has always functioned correctly with the standard cable.? I only have had issues with the updates.
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¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

No, you probably don¡¯t need a X-over cable.? Almost all ethernet ports these days will auto-detect that.

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You need to ensure:

  1. That both the computer and Gemini are on the same subnet (e.g.192.168.1.???)
  2. They both have different IP addresses.
  3. If direct connecting, make sure that DHCP in the Gemini is OFF.

?

D.

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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of criscopenneys via groups.io
Sent: 16 October 2024 17:12
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Gemini-II_io] Update Process Question

?

After stepping away for a time to clear my head, I went back to the Gemini 2 site to read about how to connect Gemini directly to a computer (gotta start with the basics since I haven't looked at this for awhile).? If I'm reading this section correctly and since my (new computer) ethernet port speed is 100mbps, it looks like I need a crossover cable versus the standard cable that I am using.? Could that be what is causing the timeout errors and all my subsequent headaches??

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Gemini has always functioned correctly with the standard cable.? I only have had issues with the updates.

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The founders gave us "ping" on the Gemini-2 server, try type typing > ping 192.168.0.111 (the Gemini-2 definition) in the command window when patched together.
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If an issue, check on the attempt that the PC does not also use another Ethernet port (unplug) or the home WiFi (turn off).? ?I did not turn mine off but less is best when testing.? I connected as you suggested and also used a straight patch cable.? Tested with an inexpensive dongle on a USB-A port at the PC to the Gemini-2.?
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Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.22631.4317]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\Doug>ping 192.168.0.110
Pinging 192.168.0.110 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.110: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.110: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.110: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.0.110: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.168.0.110:
? ? Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
? ? Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms
?
 
Edited

On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 12:11 PM, criscopenneys wrote:
Gemini has always functioned correctly with the standard cable.? I only have had issues with the updates.
If it works fine to access Gemini with the standard cable then the network configuration is fine.
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One thing you could try is to extract the NewGem.bin file from the L6.05 zip archive, rename it to HGM_Gem2.bin?on the PC hard disk.
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Then, using Gemini web pages SD Card screen upload this HGM_Gem2.bin file to the top folder on the SD card. Once uploaded, restart Gemini, let it boot up fully, then check to see what firmware version it shows. Also check and post a screen shot of the SD Card screen. I want to see if the HGM_Gem2.bin?gets properly renamed, as it should be during a normal bootloader flashing process.
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Regards,
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? -Paul
 

Wayback...
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My connection at the PC from the G2 is at the ethernet port of the PC.? There is no dongle.? Internet is obtained via WiFi from a USB device but I never have that device plugged in unless I am doing a software update.
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The result of the "Ping" test is attached.
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If the "Sign In" page is supposed to appear after the test, it did not.
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Gemini Ping 192.168.0.111.jpg

 

To Paul:
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Should I remove the NewGem.bin file from the SD card and replace with the HGM_Gem2.bin file?? I can easily do that using my card reader and place the "HGM" file on the card at the same time.
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