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SERVSWITCH™ WIZARD
5.13 Upgrading the Wizard’s Firmware
Because the ServSwitch Wizard stores most of its firmware (its “operating system,” if
you will) in flash memory, the firmware is upgradable. To fix bugs in existing
firmware, or to add features to your Wizard, Black Box Technical Support might
sometimes recommend that you upgrade the Wizard’s firmware if a newer revision
is available. (Follow the procedure described in
Section 4.2.9
to find out which
firmware version your Wizard is currently running.)
To upgrade the Wizard’s firmware, you’ll need a “host PC,” which must be an
IBM PC compatible computer with an RS-232 serial port. This computer must be
running an operating system that can execute DOS programs, such as MS-DOS
®
or
Windows
®
3.x, 95, 98, or 2000. You’ll also need a DB9 female to DB15 male
firmware-upgrade cable (product code KV6SER) to transfer the firmware files to
the Wizard. (Refer to the
Appendix
for the pinning of this cable.)
Take these steps:
1. Download the firmware-installation/verification program (probably named
“SSW
xyz
.EXE”) and the firmware binary itself (probably “SSW
xyz
.HEX”) from
our Web site at
www.blackbox.com
onto the host PC. If you can’t find these
files on our Web site, Tech Support can help. (In these filenames,
xyz
= the
x.yz
firmware-revision level; for example, “SSW118.EXE” would be the
installation program for firmware revision 1.18.)
2. Run the firmware-upgrade cable from the host PC to the OPTIONS port on
the ServSwitch Wizard.
3. There is an 8-position DIP switch on the bottom of the Wizard. Move
position 7 of this switch (the next-to-the-rightmost one if you hold the Wizard
with its front panel facing the ceiling) to the ON (up) position to set the
Wizard to “upgrade mode.”
4. Do a full reset of the Wizard: Either power it down and back up again, or
move position 8 of its DIP switch to the ON (up) position and back to OFF
(down) to do a warm reset (see
Section 5.12
).
At this point, make
very sure
that the Wizard is receiving adequate power. The
upgrade program monitors the Wizard’s voltage and won’t allow an upgrade to
proceed if the voltage is insufficient. If you’re using the Wizard’s optional power
supply, it’s definitely going to get the power it needs. If it’s being powered by the
attached computers, it’s normally possible to perform an upgrade when the Wizard
is powered by a single computer, but it’s a good idea to power up all of the
computers attached to the switch anyway. This minimizes the possibility that power
will fail during an upgrade due to a sudden brownout, cable disconnection, etc.
Summary of Contents for ServSwitch Wizard SW651A
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