I spent some time this weekend with the firmware updater, and I have a few ideas that might smooth out the process.
1) Allow the user to select COM port manually. This saves loads of time when you're having problems or just have a lot of virtual COM ports. It could be buried in a configuration page somewhere... I just want to set it!
2) A quick read/write test to make sure the connection is decent. The reason I spent so much time with the updater this weekend is because I inadvertently left the GPS attached to the system, creating a lousy but not broken link (the cause wasn't apparent until MUCH later). After trying to upgrade firmware quite a few times, the unit stopped responding entirely
.
A simple random-data pass check at the beginning of the update procedure would have alerted me to the problem before beginning the update. (ie "Testing link... Warning: 43% of the data is not getting through your connection. Would you like to check your connections and try again later? [Try again later] [Update anyway]")
1) Allow the user to select COM port manually. This saves loads of time when you're having problems or just have a lot of virtual COM ports. It could be buried in a configuration page somewhere... I just want to set it!
2) A quick read/write test to make sure the connection is decent. The reason I spent so much time with the updater this weekend is because I inadvertently left the GPS attached to the system, creating a lousy but not broken link (the cause wasn't apparent until MUCH later). After trying to upgrade firmware quite a few times, the unit stopped responding entirely
.A simple random-data pass check at the beginning of the update procedure would have alerted me to the problem before beginning the update. (ie "Testing link... Warning: 43% of the data is not getting through your connection. Would you like to check your connections and try again later? [Try again later] [Update anyway]")