Topcon GP-DX1 Firmware Update?

Are you registered at TopconSupport.com ? I tried to take a look for the firmware but they want a valid Topcon GPS receiver ID#: and they give the following warnings:

1) You must know what type of GPS board is used in your receiver before downloading firmware.
2)You can identify the board type by using PcCdu or Floader.
3) If you have a 112t or 160t board you will have to order a new options file for your receiver(s).
4) Failure to properly follow this procedure may result in an inoperative receiver.
5) Please see the directions on the download page.

> Are you registered at TopconSupport.com ?

> 2)You can identify the board type by using PcCdu or Floader.

I'm not registered with Topcon Support, and I'd be very surprised if they still have firmware available for these things. I don't recall when Topcon switched from Trimble innards to Javad innards, but I think it was around 2000.

If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear about it!

P.S. On a whim, I found firmware for the Trimble 4700 and the associated loader software (WinFLASH). When I connected to the DX1, I got an error message saying that it detected a Trimble product, but not a 4700. That might mean only that it detected something and assumed it was a Trimble product, but in any case it couldn't talk to the receiver. 🙁

If you want to email me the receiver ID# I'll punch it in an tell you what it says.

Emailed. I think. 🙂

I tried the numbers you sent with no luck. I then grabbed my HyperSR as a reference. The Receiver Id is stored on the mainboard and read by PC-CDU or similar. I used the number from my HiperSR to gain access to Topcon's firmware support site and they've got stuff back to the early 2000's for Hypers, Odyssey, Eurocard, Regency, etc. but nothing for the GP-DX1.

I have a dx_1_firmware.zip file dated 2/6/2006. Let me know if you want it.

Tom

> I have a dx_1_firmware.zip file dated 2/6/2006. Let me know if you want it.

I definitely want it. Do you have the loader software as well?

My email address is probably in my profile, but here it is anyway: jhframe[at]dcn.org.

Thanks!

The mail system wouldn't deliver it because they thought it was dangerous. Can I mail it to your gmail account?

> The mail system wouldn't deliver it because they thought it was dangerous. Can I mail it to your gmail account?

Yes, that would be fine. jhframe[at]gmail.com.

Thanks!

> > The mail system wouldn't deliver it because they thought it was dangerous. Can I mail it to your gmail account?

I received both emails, so I guess the initial rejection message from my .org account was a false alarm.

I flashed the firmware on one receiver (I have three), using an old laptop running XP. The loader program is DX1_FLSH.exe, and the firmware I'm loading is in the file named 115FEB21.dx1. The loader is a command-line application, and the instructions are pretty bare-bones, but it seems to work.

One of the options is to dump the internal file system to a file on the computer. I did this prior to the update as a Hail Mary precaution; I don't actually know if I can reinstall from that file or not should something go wrong.

Once the loader completed the upload, I couldn't get the receiver to turn off. Holding the power button down for an extended period didn't do anything. I was afraid I might have bricked it, but after pulling the power plug it restarted after a few seconds. I connected it to TGLOAD, and it looks like it's function.

I'll test it out in a couple of days to see if it fixed the week rollover problem.

Many thanks for the assist, Tom!

> I'll test it out in a couple of days to see if it fixed the week rollover problem.

Bad news: it didn't fix the problem. The receiver still thinks that 2013 is 1994.

The "new" firmware appears to be the same as the one it replaced (nav processor 115.00, signal processor 0.00, boot ROM 1.00). The other two receivers -- which I didn't try to upgrade -- show the same. They also think it's 1994.

Tom: do your receivers output RINEX files that contain the correct date?