Topic: 722 Firmware Update (External Power Required?)

[hoyt]

I just looked at my firware version, and I'm a few rev's behind, so I thought I'd update it before a few shows this week.  I noticed in the update instructions it says you have to be on external power.  I only brought two batteries with me, no external power, anyone know why they put this requirement in there?

Thanks!

--Ryan

[su6oxone]

I just looked at my firware version, and I'm a few rev's behind, so I thought I'd update it before a few shows this week.  I noticed in the update instructions it says you have to be on external power.  I only brought two batteries with me, no external power, anyone know why they put this requirement in there?

Thanks!

--Ryan

You don't want your device powering off in the midst of updating the firmware... I guess that can lead to some sort of badness...

[notlance]

I’m a Computer Engineer and I have spent my whole career writing computer firmware, and believe me, you do not want the power to cut out when you are reprogramming the firmware.  What you could end up with is some of the old SW mixed with some of the new SW and the chance of that working together is just about nil.  In the best case you can power up the box and restart the update.  In the worst case you could have a box that is dead and cannot be powered up.  If you ended up with a dead 722, you could send it to Sound Devices and I’m sure they could get it reprogrammed and get it running again, but it would cost you $$.

If you have a known good battery that is charged, and if you HAVE to update the SW now, you could risk updating the SW with just the attached battery.  However, your 722 must work just fine with the old SW, so why not wait to update for when you have internal and external power available?

And here is a dumb question:  Why would you take your 722 anywhere without taking both an internal and external power source with you?  Having redundant power sources is one of the great features of the 722, so why not use it?

[hoyt]

Thanks for the insight.  I'll hold off on the update since I don't need to have anything in the new rev until I get home.

I'm taping shows with batteries only, so I just brought two of those and an external charger.  The power cord that I got from SD when my old one shorted out has a huge brick converter, so I don't feel like lugging that around when I travel.  Whereas the external charger is tiny and even gives me a % charge so I know how close I am to swaping to the second battery when charging them back up.

--Ryan

[JasonSobel]

I can confirm what notlance said.

a few years back, I was borrowing a 722 from Simon (aka sycue), and I was updating the firmware for him.  In the middle of it, I stood up and caught my foot on the power cord, which yanked it out the plug in the middle of the update.  the 722 was dead and needed to go back to Sound Devices for them to reset it and get it going again.

[gmm6797]

Sounds like you need the power cord and a good working battery... scary Jason

[jobseek2001]

Why all this stress about a battery suddenly loosing it's charge?
If a battery is normally charged and shows good voltage, powers the device OK, why would'n't it power the deck through a firmware update?
Is this a hardware design anomaly or just general psychobabble?

[boojum]

I have only used the wall wart once in an update to my SD's.  It is a very good idea to use the wall wart, though.  It is such cheap insurance.  You only need one firmware upgrade to fail to convince you of that.  Check the SD forums for this.  One poor guy had his SD die on him and got to pay the shipping, ~$25 plus the shop fee, ~$225.  I think I might just start using the wall wart for future firmware updates.  Why not?

[JackHenry]

I updated the firmware on my 702 a couple of days ago. It takes about two minutes. If your battery is charged, then there should be no issues with dropping power. I also made a backup of my user settings before updating the firmware, in case they changed. The only thing that did change was the date.

Two minutes. All done. No hassle.

I'm not saying don't use mains power if you can, but I don't think you need to freak out if you're thinking of doing it on battery.

Just be aware of your old firmware version. From the SD site

"If the firmware is being updated from revision 1.74 or earlier, the update process must be completed twice. The first time through updates the "boot block" to a later version. The second time applies the firmware. For updates from versions later than 2.00, this two-step process is not necessary."

[notlance]

I agree, one good charged battery should be just fine for a firmware update, but why take the risk?  Why not just hook up BOTH an internal and external power source when updating the firmware?  Seems like cheap insurance to me.

For that matter, why not always run your 7xx box with redundant power and media?  One of the reasons the 7xx boxes are so expensive is because SD designed them with redundancy in the areas that are most likely to fail.  Since you paid for it, why not use it?

[boojum]

Slightly off topic, but I usually do not record with the wall wart plugged into the unit as I want to isolate the unit from a possible source of interference.  It is probably not ever going to be an issue, but the one time it is could be in a pull I really wanted.  And, yes, you can take that hash out with software, but it takes out everything in that bandwidth.  The sound is never the same.  So I always run on battery if I can.  Except for firmware updates!   LOL  How strange is that.     

[notlance]

I used to be concerned about recording with my 702 plugged into AC, but I've never had a problem.  I record mostly classical and with both condenser and ribbon mics I've not heard any noise added by using the wall wart.  That said, I always carry an external battery so if I did get AC noise (or, more commonly, there is no AC available) I can still have redundant power.

[Rob D.]

That said, I always carry an external battery so if I did get AC noise (or, more commonly, there is no AC available) I can still have redundant power.

Most "tapers" carry external batteries because the 7xx are protables and used in the field for concerts/live music. Outside of the studio, I think of AC as a luxury and not a neccessity.

The one time I updated firmware on my 702 I didn't even think to use the wallwart as I've only ever used to to charge my batteries. But now that it's been brought to my attention...duh! 
Cheap insurance indeed. Now I have two uses for the wallwart