Uniti bricked by firmware update

well this is the problem now:  they are not because Uniti lost the IP from the modem/router and it cannot see the router any more let alone be connected to the internet.

It cannot even detect ethernet connection to the router now

The Uniti use as default a DHCP server to get an IP address.

In my opinion, the fw update sets the Uniti back into default mode, and so the Uniti can not get an IP address, because there is no DHCP server.

There are (internal) different steps to update the device. Some steps use the serial/usb interface and other the Ethernet interface.

Activate the DHCP server in your router, and try again.

Good luck.

DHCP is active in the router.  But the router cannot see the Uniti, the LAN port light on the router is off.

PCs have a BIOS Recovery jumper for just this eventuality, which enables a vanilla BIOS to get things going again.  Maybe you'll be lucky and find that the Uniti has one?

I have spoken with Naim technical support.  They suggest to try with different USB/Serial cable converter first as this may be the culprit given the "communication error" I get during and after the firmware upload

-will try tonight - fingers crossed !

You'll miss out on the lovely little clock...

BTW, I successfully upgraded my Uniti with the laptop connected via wireless, but I like to live on the edge.

MADE IT !!!

Last night very helpful Naim technical support suggested to try one more time with different USB/Serial converter cable - before sending unit over to UK.

So I did it, and, shabang (!), it worked.  Somehow the cable I was using first was too slow, I am guessing the simple built in electronics were too slow for the speed of the packets coming from the laptop to the Uniti.

The update itself had two steps, the first one to update the firmware after which the unit restarted and exited the Firmware Upgrade mode (what I sight of relief then followed...), then the second part which updated the streaming/network functionality.

Interesting though that although looking heart stopping at times the update is a fairly robust process.  I switched power off and on on Uniti dozens of times while still working with slower cable and every time the update process was able to resume itself so the unit was not really bricked (as i feared).

The result is quite pleasing, the time & date functionality looks really cool on the display.  It is such a simple thing to have on any electronic device but from some reason it REALLY looks good on Uniti, trust me.

The UPnP is as smooth as silk and addition of workday and weekend alarms is also a cool new feature.

And finally:  who says that cables do not matter ...?

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Many thanks everyone from the forum as well as Naim technical support for helping along.

Bobby

I think the SuperUniti already has the USB port at the back?  Please correct me if I am wrong?

Bobby

It does. Also, on the Meridian comparison, the same issues can and do cause the same problems.

How about building in the option of automatic updates over the internet?  It's quite common for consumer electronics devices to do automatic Over The Air (OTA) updates.

Bobby,

Glad to hear that your problem has been resolved.

I also saw the same problem with my Qute and resolved it by buying a half decent USB to serial cable and trying again.  The super cheap ones off that auction site use knock off chipsets and are unstable, just as you described.

John

I'm experiencing the same problem this evening, get to 99% and fails stating it had 5 retries. I purchased the same cable as advised in a similair post over on a the hifi corner that others had used succesfully.

Not sure what to do now, when i press abort it tells me that the unit will be in a non usefull state do i want to contiue!!

yes, apparently rebooting the unit will not brick it - so keep trying.

and do try it with a different cable.  also check if you have virus protection running. if so, switch it off completely.  when I finally made it, apart from new cable I also switched Norton off.

and it may be not only the cable but the driver for the cable that causes trouble.  make sure you also install different driver when trying different cable

Bobby

Carruthers old chap,

Now this isn't for the faint hearted but I called the bluff of the non-useful state message and everything was fine and hey presto clock function. I had daftly missed out the bit about connecting the pc to the router via ethernet cable. Despite having a functioning uniti, with clock I wasn't completely happy that everything else had been upgraded, so I reran the process properly wired. Can't say I've noticed any differences but there is quite a bit of functionality to the system so something might have been missed on the 'wireless' attempt. 

So in a nutshell

1) Make sure you have a decent usb-rs232 cable connection AND an ethernet connection between between pc and router.

2) If still getting the scary message it might be a bit like 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' signs, intended to put off the casual user.

NB If in any doubt your local dealer is definitely the place to go, or indeed ring the Naim customer helpline.

Andy

Cars and white goods I buy german. Hifi I buy Naim 

thanks guys, will try again when i get chance. Will be tomorrow though.

It sounds to me like the USB to Serial convertors chipset/driver that may be the issue.

Sometimes, things like this work when the host machine is running, because it is in an active running state and therefore able to detect the device being plugged in and therefore loads the driver.

Then, during the upgrade/reboot process, the driver doesn't get loaded until the device has gone through booting (at least as far as a certain stage into booting) - If it is relying upon the device for communication of some kind during this period (i.e. flashing a chip) it cannot go any further.

A sort of "vicious circle"! Basically the machine (PC, whatever) is dependant upon a device being present in order to boot up successfully, but it cannot load the driver for the device until it has booted up!!

(Windows installations used to suffer from this sort of issue with early SATA hard drives, for example)

Does Naim not offer a compatibility list for such cables?

Also, just out of interest, can the FW upgrade not be performed over a standard Ethernet or USB connection? This is usually the chosen method for this type of thing, as there are "generic" drivers available for both that will usually fire up all but the most esoteric of network cards, etc.

Glad you got it sorted though. I used to play around with embedded devices and bricking them was always a worry!

There is clearly a recommendation for the USB/RS-232 adapters from Naim - even with link to the UK online store. I bought the same adapter from Amazon and haven't got any problems with the fw-update, so "if nothing helps, just read the ... manual" ;-)