COBRA Firmware Version 5.1.2 Stable Release Candidate

5.1.2 is a patch release to 5.1.1 to address a few issues in the 5.1.1 firmware. When upgrading to 5.1.2, please also make sure to update the COBRA Control panel to version 2.1.1.

Temporarily disabled multiple script file functionalities

One of the improvements we made to the recent 5.1.1 firmware release is to support loading multiple script files from the USB drive with any desired filename. Previously, within earlier firmware versions, you could only load one script file, and the name had to be "cobra.csv". If you wanted to load multiple scripts prior to 5.1.1, you had to combine multiple scripts into a single cobra.csv script file. Within that single script file, the first script in the file is the "primary script", which supports unlimited channels/cues. Any other scripts in the script file are called "non-primary" scripts and do not support firing more than two channels in a 0.4s time period.

The key difference between primary and non-primary scripts is that the primary script is uploaded into the modules in advance of the show. The non-primary script is fired through real-time commands from the 18R2. By uploading the script in advance, the modules fire as stand-alone devices based on a light periodic timeclock signal from the 18R2.

With the improvement to 5.1.1 to support loading multiple script files from the USB drive, we believe that customers will accidentally load multiple saved script files from their USB drive into their 18R2 without knowing it. This is because customers can now save files as any filename and will save them to their COBRA USB drive over time.

When placing the USB drive into the 18R2, the 18R2 will "self-select" one of the multiple script files to become the primary script. All other script files will load as non-primary scripts. If the script you desire to fire is not loaded as the primary script by the 18R2, it will fire as a non-primary script, which has the restriction of not firing more than two events that fire within any 0.4s time period. If the user is unaware of this and does not perform a detailed dry-run of their show to notice, any events that violate the timing restriction of non-primary scripts would not fire. This would be a significant failure and one that we believe will happen commonly with the current design with the user unaware of the potential issue.

The following changes were performed to address this issue:

1. The 18R2 no longer supports loading multiple .csv files from the USB drive. However, the filename can still be unique as you do not need to name the file "cobra.csv". If multiple .csv files are detected on the USB drive, Er1 will display on the 18R2, and no script files will be imported. If you wish to keep multiple COBRA .csv script files, we suggest you place them into a directory on your USB drive.
2. The COBRA Control Panel will no longer support selecting a script to become a primary script due to improvements required to the user interface to ensure the script is properly selected and loaded. COBRA will add this functionality back shortly so this feature can be supported by users.

36M/72M in some cases displaying 18R2 signal strength vs. MESH signal strength

The 36M/72M firing modules had a logic issue whereby signal reported from other devices other than the 18R2 were not included when displaying their "best" MESH signal within a defined five-second interval. This means that the 36M/72M would, in some cases, display a signal value worse than what it was actually receiving from the MESH network. This issue was a benign, reporting-only issue and did not affect the module's performance or the overall COBRA system.

Audio box hardware A may play audio slightly early by about 100-200ms

In some cases, the Audio Box A hardware may play the audio slightly early by about 100-200ms. The offset is now correct as the Audio Box A hardware version has been adjusted. We also suggest upgrading the Audio Box B hardware as a much smaller adjustment of about 30ms was performed.