Firmware 4.3 Problems

Your post is conflicting, an NDX does not have mini usb so far as I can find. 

Its a shame your laptop has failed, but its is 14 year operating system, its possible that the drivers you installed were the wrong ones? Boot into safe mode and remove them.

Thanks garyi, I have copied the above bold text above from the Firmware 4.3 update log, as you can see it says these products (NDX quoted) feature a 9 pin to 9 pin RS232 cable. So I now realise there is no RS232 port so am trying to use USB to Mini USB and the suggested drivers have corrupted. I recognise the laptop is getting on a bit but worked fine beforehand. The dealer did not state when I bought the NDX I would need a shiny new laptop from time to time to update Firmware.

Booting into safe mode and removing corrupted files, again, computer speak if I knew how to do that I could probably solve the Firmware conundrum update. 

Surely Naim advise of an update, enter menu on NDX and select update Firmware - simples!

I managed to update the firmware on my recently purchased NDX without any problem but I have to agree that the update process could have been made more straightforward, even for an electronics engineer like myself. Why, oh why, Naim had to design it so that you need the NDX to be connected to the computer both via the network and mini-USB (or RS232 for older models), I will never know. Updating the software on my iPhone, computer and Smart TV is a piece of cake; why couldn't the NDX have been designed to be updated in a similar way?

Older NDX have the RS232 ports,  later units have Mini-USB

If you follow the .pdf instructions step by step,  not overlooking to first download the USB driver,  it is easy.  I've done a load as I've been beta testing,  I just hook up the wires, do a few PC clicks & let it work away.

dsc - unlike your iPhone & computer & their simple www software updates,  this 4.3 is a firmware upgrade.  

hi all

ive raised this over to Naim technical support for attention

Hi,

So are you saying that your laptop won't even boot into safe mode?

Phil

Hi Trevor & Phil,

Can the streamer upgrade the firmware through HTTP in future ?

Cheers,

marcobb

Hi,

No - the streamers *MUST* be updated by Ethernet and USB / RS232...

Best

Phil

The first time I updated it was a PITA, but that was really my own problem.

It seems the problem is really about users:

a) not knowing whether their units have RS232 or miniUSB connectors, this can be resolved by a visual inspection on the rear panel of the device(s) they own.

b) not knowing whether their PC device drivers are up to date or not. Naim provide a link to a suitable driver.

c) not knowing which USB port to plug in to. I always forget which is which, so I mark easily accessible com ports (the ones I use when I need to) with the COMx number given in the dropdown. Trial and error for me the first time.

Having done 3 sets of updates I can now get the update done for all 3 streamers on a 14 year old PC in 35 minutes. I have a mains lead, ethernet cable and USB to miniUSB cable bagged and that COM port marked for the next time.

...you can plug into any USB port on your computer. The COM port number might change but there's no harm in choosing the wrong one if you do pick the wrong COM port.

Phil

True but i have 4 com ports only accessible by humping the computer out from behind the office desk, dragging the rest of the world with! The COM number referring to an unused USB port on the front has never changed (thanks for giving me the good news that it might!)

Agree that should be the case . . . but my Dell running 8.1 will not cooperate on one of the USB ports. That port is fine for any other purpose, but won't do this. With no other changes than using a different port, it works fine. I haven't really investigated as it's easier just to use another port, but it is consistent.

........  hmm strange.  I have a Dell (with 8.1) & its got 2x USB-3 & 1x USB-2

No matter what USB port I use,  & in this respect,  if I do the work on the floor I use one of the side by side USB-3's,  or if I put the laptop on the table then I use the USB-2 on the other side of the laptop.

.........  whatever the Naim installer always gives me only COM3,  I OK that & off we go.  

Exactly same for me!  Only Com3 comes up, but its a straightforward process. 

I should point out that using USB-3 is noticeably faster than USB-2 

...assuming you have a USB3.0 device at the other end of course.

Phil

I noted a time difference when I changed my USB cable from a camera kit freebee to a pukka USB-3 cable.  It was faster on both as a recall but the time diff was not noticeable with the freebee no matter USB-2 or 3 

What is the naim Mini-USB port spec?

USB 2.0 on all our products...

Cheers

Phil

Phil, thanks. Laptop will not start if Ethernet cable connected, no problems beforehand. If I start without Ethernet I get to XP desktop. From there I re-connect Ethernet and ensure USB is connected to NDX. I then run updater and the program then tries to locate NDX on network, nothing found on each of the 20 plus attempts. Switch off NDX and then back on after 10 mins as instructed only to find the same outcome, cannot locate NDX on network. I am obviously concerned at the number of times I am off and on with NDX. 

Unfortunately Phil I am a Fire Officer who can operate Office programs etc with relative ease, this process is not easy for non techie types, Naim should really try to understand this. I bought Naim as I thoroughly enjoy the product and sound quality, this is not helpful and I did not expect to buy cables, understand driver assigning and configure software. As stated earlier, Firmware for all my other 'modern electronic equipment' is achieved via on screen notification and then by Wi Fi. Even my BMW, for its on board computer controlling many systems, as well as the HiFi, is achieved via a simple program download to USB stick and then attach to USB port in car, follow the prompts......done, firmware updated!

Any advice greatly appreciated. I have downloaded all drivers as indicated, drivers from driver update sites in desperation. I now have many drivers that I probably never needed and that has caused the conflict I fear.

I've a NAC 272 now upgraded to 4.3 and seem to have an intermittant server connection problem.

The 272 keeps losing my (wired) QNAP Twonky server link: it'll disappear from the iOS app for a few minutes and then come back again, all the while playing the last selected track (but leaving me unable to see or select a new track).

The server doesn't drop out from my Muso or other network devices, so I believe this is a local issue to the 272 that has only started with 4.3

Has anyone else had this? Any ideas? If not I'll get in touch with Naim tech support.

I doubt its a 4.3 problem,  most likely the app

Have you tried clearing the app UPnP & Images caches, or reset the app ???

Hi,

I do understand your frustration however we do have a very large number of self-admitted non-techie users who - on the whole - don't seem to have issues with running the updater but of course there will always be some issues and that's what we are here to try to help with.

If your laptop won't boot at all with the Ethernet cable connected then the problem isn't anything to do with the USB drivers or the updater software - you *CAN* do the update via WiFi but it isn't as reliable as doing a fully wired update. 

I'm more than happy to log in remotely and see if I can work out what is going on with your update process there - it smacks of not being the correct COM port but I can take a look for that if you wish.

Phil 

...drop me an email to phil.harris@naimaudio.com when you get in and I'll send you a link and instructions for what I need to log in to you remotely and take a look ... done it loads of times for a lot of people on here and I promise I'll be gentle.

Cheers

Phil