Update your COBRA equipment with COBRA Reprogramming Software 4.1 (BETA)

This guide shows how to update the firmware on your COBRA equipment using COBRA Reprogramming Software (CRS) 4.1 on a Windows PC. The steps are the same for every device. A few devices have one or two extra steps, and those are listed in section 5.

The screenshots show example devices and version numbers. Yours will show your own devices and the versions available to you.

1. What you need

• A Windows PC with COBRA Reprogramming Software installed.
• Your Wireless Reprogrammer, plugged into a USB port on the PC. A front USB port works best.
• The COBRA devices you want to update, close to the Wireless Reprogrammer.
• Your COBRA account. CRS asks you to sign in the first time you open it.

2. Install or update the software

If CRS is already on your PC, it checks for a newer version each time it opens and offers to install it for you. If you install a new version yourself, run the installer and install it over the top of your current version. CRS 4.1.x can be downloaded at http://cobrafiringsystems.com/crs_beta.

Please do not uninstall CRS first. Uninstalling also removes your saved logs and reports. Installing over the top keeps them.

3. Start CRS

Open COBRA Reprogramming Software from the Start menu. The Home screen has four choices:

• Update firmware
• Calibrate an 18M LiPo
• Recover a device
• Settings

At the top of the screen, check that Wireless Reprogrammer shows connected. If it does not, unplug it and plug it back in.

4. Update your devices

Step 1. Choose your device and version

1. On Home, select Update firmware.
2. Select the picture of the device you want to update. It shows Selected when you have picked it.
3. On the right, choose a firmware version. Stable versions are released for everyone. Release candidates and Beta versions are listed separately and are marked.
4. Select Start updating.

You can update one type of device at a time. To update a different type afterwards, start again from Home.

Step 2. Put your devices into program mode

The Update screen shows the steps for your device on the left. Follow them for each device. For the 18M, they are:

1. Turn the 18M off. Hold SYNC.
2. Turn it on. Let go of SYNC when the display shows P.
3. Repeat for any additional 18M modules.

Keep your devices close to the Wireless Reprogrammer, with the antennas up. Other devices have different steps. See section 5.

CRS keeps looking for devices in program mode, so you can turn on more at any time while the update runs.

Step 3. Watch the update

As CRS finds each device, it lists it with its address and hardware, and updates it one at a time. Each device shows one of these in the Status column:

• Waiting for its turn
• Updating, with a progress bar and the time left
• Updated to the new version
• Already up to date, when the device already runs that version

The line above the list shows how many devices CRS has found, how many are updated and how long the update has run.

Please keep CRS open and the Wireless Reprogrammer plugged in until the update is finished. Pause stops CRS from starting any more devices. A device that is already updating still finishes.

Step 4. Finish

When every device you turned on shows Updated or Already up to date, select Finish.

If a device is still updating when you select Finish, CRS asks whether to finish after it or keep going. Choose Finish after this module to see your report as soon as that device is done, or Keep going to carry on updating.

Some devices need one more step after the radio update. If so, the button says Next instead of Finish. See section 5.

Step 5. Read your report

The Report screen lists every device, the firmware it now runs and the result. Reports are saved on your PC.

• Copy copies your support code. Every report has one, and support can use it to find your update.
• Export CSV saves the results as a spreadsheet file.
• Send a support request sends the report to COBRA support.
• Done closes the report.

5. Steps for specific devices

CRS shows the right steps for the device you chose. They are also listed here so you can prepare. If your device is not listed, use the 18M steps in section 4.

Putting each device into program mode

The USB step (18R2, 36M/72M and Audio Box)

These devices have a second part to the update that uses a USB drive. After the radio update, CRS shows a USB screen. Plug a USB drive into the PC, choose it in the Drives list, then select Copy to drive. Take the drive to your device and follow the numbered steps on the screen. When the steps are done, select Next.

The steps depend on the device. For the Audio Box they are:

1. Power off your Audio Box.
2. Insert the USB drive into the Audio Box.
3. While holding SYNC, power on your Audio Box.
4. The Audio Box SYNC LED will start flashing, then let go of the SYNC button.
5. The Audio Box SYNC LED will stop blinking. Click "Next".

The 18R2 and 36M/72M have their own versions of this list. Follow the one CRS shows for your device. If your 18R2 or 36M/72M shows Er6, it was switched on too early. Do the USB step now.

If the LEDs are all red when you power on, your USB drive may not be compatible. Try a different USB drive. A small USB 2.0 Sandisk drive works well, or you can use a COBRA-approved drive from cobrafiringsystems.com/usb_8gb.

6. If something does not look right

• "No module found yet." Check that each device shows it is in program mode, that it is close to the Wireless Reprogrammer, and that the Wireless Reprogrammer is in a front USB port.
• "Wireless Reprogrammer not connected." Plug it into a USB port on the PC. If it still shows not connected, unplug it and plug it back in.
• A device dropped out part way. Put it back into program mode. CRS finds it again and carries on.
• A device was left alone. If CRS does not recognise a device's firmware, it leaves the device alone and shows a Recover this device button. See "Recover a device" below.

Check my setup. On Home, select Settings, then Test my SnapStick and drivers. CRS checks your Wireless Reprogrammer, drivers and connection and shows each result. Select Copy diagnostics to send the results to support.

Chat with support. You can chat with COBRA support from inside CRS. Support can see your support code and the devices you updated, so you do not need to repeat them.

7. Other things CRS can do

Recover a device

Use this when a device did not update cleanly or will not start. Select Recover a device on Home, choose the device and the firmware to install, and select Continue. Switch on only the device you want to recover, in program mode. Nothing is written until you press Recover and confirm.

Hardware type detection

Use this to find out which model, hardware revision and firmware version a device has, without changing anything on it. Select Settings on Home, then Hardware type detection.

1. Turn on a device in program mode. The steps are in section 5.
2. Select Detect. CRS looks for devices. This can take a minute or two.
3. CRS lists each device it finds with the last four characters of its address, its model, its hardware (A or B) and the firmware it is running. If the firmware is not one CRS knows, the Firmware column says "Not a version CRS recognises".

CRS only looks. It does not change anything on the device. If you see "No module answered", make sure the device is turned on, in program mode and close to the Wireless Reprogrammer, then try again.

Calibrate an 18M LiPo

Select Calibrate an 18M LiPo on Home and follow the steps on each screen. CRS calibrates each 18M LiPo, then installs the firmware you choose on it. If a device must wait before it is switched back on, CRS counts down so you know when to continue.

Need more help?

Use Chat with support inside CRS, or contact COBRA support at help.cobrafiringsystems.com.