Ashtech ProFlex 500 Week Rollover?

[JackL]

Hello, everyone. I’ve just become involved with GPS systems at other than end-user level in the past couple of weeks, and among other things I’m now trying to keep the Week Rollover issue from turning an Ashtech ProFlex 500 into a brick at midnight on April 6-7.

More specifically, I’m trying to upgrade the receiver’s firmware from version 4.2:S763G124 to the Minimum/Recommended version, 4.5.S767G224, using the bz2 archive dowloaded from Trimble (currently on a USB HDD) and the procedure from manual ProFlex500_RM_D_en.pdf, page 705. So far the receiver just shows an "Upgrade failed" message. Several attempts have had the same result, despite the receiver recognizing the drive as being connected and containing a correct number of files.

I may be missing something embarrassingly simple, but am kind of stuck for ideas at the moment so anything pointing in a promising direction would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Nuvi-Nebie]

I have no knowledge of the ProFlex 500 so the following suggestions are just general observations :-
1) Re-download the upgrade in case the first one is corrupted
2) Ensure it is possible to write to the USB device (used for file un-compressing)
3) Ensure that the USB device has free space for temporary file storage
4) Use a different USB device
5) Power the USB HDD from a separate supply if it is currently being powered from the ProFlex

 

[JackL]

Thank you.

Items 2, 3, 5 check out, and the first download appears identical to a subsequent one. That leaves #4. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[JackL]

Here’s a follow-up, on general principles and just in case.

After a lot of trial and error we figured out a way to beat this glitch consistently, and confirmed it by upgrading several Proflex 500s successfully.

Briefly: As per the manual, start the receiver by holding down both the ON/OFF and SCROLL buttons. You can probably let go of the ON/OFF control after 10-20 seconds. From this point on we deviate from the written procedure.

Keep holding down the SCROLL button. At some point the “Upgrade Failed” message appears. Still hold the SCROLL button down while the receiver restarts. Before too long, the “Upgrade in progress” message appears. We found it advisable to still hold down that SCROLL button and keep an eye on the drive activity light until it was obvious that the receiver was writing consistently to the USB drive. At that point it’s OK to finally let go of the SCROLL button and allow the upgrade status messages on the P500 LCD display to entertain you for the next 20-30 minutes.