[hpsdr] Firmware Version Confusion

[Joe Martin K5SO]

Mike,

1)  The answer to your question about how to determine which firmware  
set is required for each app is that such information should, and  
normally is, specified by the developer in the release notes for the  
app, or (in my particular case) in obvious notices that are present on  
the download page for the app.


2)  I agree that the dynamic nature of this HPSDR experimenter's  
project does sometimes result in rather confusing sets of software and  
firmware being available as various "official" and "un-official" HPSDR  
projects are being developed, as you noted in your message.

It is a challenge for developers and users alike to keep abreast of  
changes in software and firmware as they occur.  Sometimes, during the  
development of specialized capabilities for the HPSDR board set, it is  
convenient for a developer to modify the "official" set of firmware in  
order to accommodate the new capabilities of a project.  The approach  
I have taken with exploring coherent multiple Mercury board operations  
when I run into situations in which the current "official" firmware  
set is inappropriate for my project is to create a temporary, modified  
set of firmware for the project to allow its development without  
affecting the status of the "official" HPSDR firmware set and assign a  
new version number to it.

Usually, when I do this I intentionally make the version numbers for  
the temporary firmware dramatically different from the current HPSDR  
firmware version numbers so that the user of the temporary firmware  
set will realize when using it that this firmware is in some way quite  
different from the current "official" HPSDR firmware set and may or  
may not be compatible with existing programs that use the current  
official HPSDR firmware.  Later, if it is possible, I endeavor to work  
with other developers to try to incorporate the firmware changes into  
a new official firmware set that is compatible with the software of  
all the present software for HPSDR.  This is exactly what has occurred  
with the firmware versions you reference; namely Metis v6.7 and Mecury  
v6.7.  These "test" firmware versions have been superseded by the  
current "official" HPSDR firmware set

Metis v1.6
Ozy v2.1
Mercury v3.1
Penelope/PennyLane v1.6

The current "official" firmware set noted above accommodates the  
changes that I found to be necessary for coherent multiple Mercury  
board operations in a way that is, we think, compatible with earlier  
software programs that use single Mercury receivers and multiple  
receivers on a single Mercury board.  This is true, except for being  
compatible with Doug W5WC's very latest "multiple receiver" version of  
PowerSDR in which independent frequency and independent control of  
"pre-amp" on multiple Mercury boards is needed.  There is a new  
firmware set that is being developed to accommodate those new  
requirements, so it won't be long before the "official" firmware set  
is once again changed from what I note above.  This continuous  
changing of firmware and software is simply a reflection of the fact  
that the HPSDR project as a whole continues to be dynamic and alive,  
as was intended from its outset, of course.  If you can think of a way  
to make the process less confusing please feel free to suggest it!

73,  Joe K5SO

On Dec 21, 2011, at 10:50 AM, Mike F wrote:

> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
> I am running Psdr 2.2.3,  When I look under the HPSDR setup tab I  
> see that the firmware versions I installed in early November are:
>
> Metis 6.7
> Mercury 6.7
> Pennylane 1.5
>
> Neither Metis or Mercury have revisions anywhere near as high as 6.7  
> on the download page.
>
> I ran into this problem when trying to verify that I had the latest  
> firmware.  I suspect that these came from (maybe) W5WC's or K5SO's  
> site.  Is there an easy way to determine which firmware versions are  
> required for each app configuration (ie. 2.2.3, Ghpsdr3, Kiss,  
> multiple mercury, multiple receiver, etc.).
>
> Thanks
>
> Mike Fager, K7SR
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