Update the firmware on legacy players

 

This page is about updating the player's firmware from HMP Control Center 3.x. See also how to install the firmware in Recovery mode.

Introduction

The simplest way to have the latest firmware version on your player is to update the firmware from HMP Control Center 3.x - by default, the SpinetiX update server is used. If for any reasons (such as bandwidth saving, network security), updating from SpinetiX server is not an option, you can always update the firmware from a USB drive plugged into the player or from your own web server (better when having many players).

The advantage of the incremental firmware update, comparing to an installation from scratch, is that the content and configuration settings are preserved on the player; the disadvantages are that:

• it is possible only to update to a newer firmware version, if one is present at the specified source path, but not to downgrade (this is not recommended anyway);
• it usually takes longer than a full reinstallation from Recovery Console - which is faster, but the player settings are reset and any user content removed;
• the update from a really old firmware may be done in two steps.

Updating via Control Center can take a while depending on many factors:

• The difference between the current and the new firmware versions - the greater the gap, the longer the process;
• Network connection speed in case of updating from an external source, like the SpinetiX server;
• The content playing on the device while updating - restore the default content to speed up the process.

Note:

Optionally, you can enable automatic updates and set at what time the player should check each day the server for updates.

Update from SpinetiX server

Updating the player firmware from the SpinetiX server only requires the player to have Internet connection and be able to reach the SpinetiX update server. Otherwise, one of the alternative firmware update methods, detailed further down on this page, can be used instead.

Control Center - Firmware

Firmware available for update

To check if a new firmware version is available and to update to it, follow these steps:

1. Open HMP Control Center and click on the "Firmware Update" link (under the "Administration" menu on the left).
2. Go to the "Settings" tab
   1. Ensure that the "Server URI" is set to SpinetiX server - depending on the HMP model this could be:
      • HMP200 ⇾ http://download.spinetix.com/hmp200/updates/
      • HMP130 ⇾ http://download.spinetix.com/hmp130/updates/
      • HMP100 ⇾ http://download.spinetix.com/hmp100/updates/
      • Major releases are not published right away on the mainstream update channel; but they are available at http://download.spinetix.com/hmp-next/updates/ .
   2. If the update URI is not set to SpinetiX server, click on the "Reset to Default" button to restore the default URI.
3. Go back to the "Firmware" tab, and set the update source to "From server".
4. Click on the "Check for Update" button.
5. While checking, a progress bar will be displayed. At the end of the check, the page reports the status, which can be:
   • X updates available: Updating now would install firmware version 3.3.x (build 1.x.xxxxx).
   • No updates available: The HMP is using the latest version.
   • Update failed or Fatal Error: See the Troubleshooting section for more details.
6. If there are updates available, press the "Update Now" button to proceed with the firmware update.
   • Make sure that the device is not powered off during the update.
   • During the update, each library is downloaded, uncompressed, verified for integrity and then installed. At the end, the HMP is automatically rebooted.
   • You can monitor this process by pressing "Show update log" during the firmware update.

Update from USB drive

To update the firmware from a USB flash drive, follow these steps:

1. Download the relevant spinetix-***-updates.zip file to your PC.
2. Make sure that the USB drive is formatted as FAT (as NTFS is not supported).
3. Extract this zip archive file into the root of the USB drive - a folder named "updates" is created. The directory structure must not be modified.
4. Connect the USB drive to the HMP and wait a few seconds for the USB device to be recognized.
5. Open the Control Center of that player.
6. Check that the USB drive is correctly detected - open the "Content Settings" page and make sure that the USB drive is detected as "Used for: Updates".
7. Check for update
   • for DiVA players: Open the Operations > Firmware Update page, change the "Update source" to "USB Key" and press the "Check Now".
   • for HMP400, HMP350, and HMP300 devices: Open the Operations > Firmware Update page, change the "Update source" to "USB Key" and press the "Check Now".
   • for HMP200, HMP130, and HMP100 devices: Open the "Firmware Update" page, change the "Update source" to "From USB Key" and press the "Check for Update" button.
8. You will see a message informing you of which updates are available.

Update from your server

Firmware Update > Settings tab

To update the firmware from your web server, follow these steps:

1. Download the relevant spinetix-***-updates.zip file to your PC.
2. Extract this zip archive file into a folder on your web server, accessible via HTTP (e.g., ~/public_html/hmp/).
3. Open Control Center and go to "Firmware Update" page > Settings tab.
4. Under the "Server URI", enter the path to the "updates" folder within (e.g. http://myupdateserver/hmp/updates/).
   • Optionally, you can enable automatic updates and set at what time the HMP should daily check your local server for updates.
5. Click on the "Apply" button to save the modifications.
6. To check for updates, open the Firmware tab, select the update source "From server" and press the "Check for Update" button.
7. You will see a message informing you of which updates are available.

Troubleshooting

Update failed

The most probable source of this error is that the player could not contact the update server. Check that the network settings are correct, and it has Internet connection. Then check out the error message reported in the update log against the ones detailed below:

• failed parsing repository URI

  The updates' website is temporarily unavailable or a proxy server / ISP warning page is being returned instead of the SpinetiX site page. Check the Server URI in a browser on a PC running the same network configuration.

• failed retrieving repository path 'repodata/repomd.xml' (could not connect to server)

  There is a problem with the player connection to the Internet. Fix the connection issue and try again.

• failed fetching 'repodata/repomd.xml' (404 Not Found)

  The update server name is most likely misspelled. Reset to the default SpinetiX server and try again.

• failed fetching 'repodata/repomd.xml' (server or proxy hostname lookup failed)

  Make sure that a network gateway and DNS servers are correctly configured and that the player is connected to the network.

• failed fetching 'repodata/repomd.xml' (403 Forbidden)

  Most probably, the player is configured to use a proxy for Internet access and the proxy is returning the 403 error; either remove the proxy or change the settings on the proxy server to allow the access to our server.
  Otherwise, it could be a transparent proxy or firewall in between that forbids this file - a possible workaround is to use HTTPS instead of HTTP.

• failed fetching '{Filename}.rpm' (400 Bad Request or 403 Forbidden)

  This can happen when using a proxy to connect to the Internet. The download of the repomd.xml was successful, but the *.rpm files are blocked by the proxy. Contact your network administrator or use an alternative firmware update method.

• authentication failed on server

  In this case, contact SpinetiX Support and provide a report from the player.

Fatal error

This is usually the result of a firmware update being stopped during the process, leaving the player in a non-stable state; in this case see how to install the firmware in Recovery mode.