Diffraction Limited occasionally offers API extensions to our DLAPI compliant product line, and our WiFi enabled cameras need to have their wireless firmware updated when this happens. This document will walk you through the process of obtaining the latest WiFi software, and updating your Aluma camera with it.
Note: while updating your camera’s FPGA firmware does require extra care not to interrupt the updating process(as interrupted or corrupt updates can brick your camera), updating your camera’s WiFi software does not carry this risk. If this procedure fails at any point, restarting from step 3, and ensuring your MD5 checksum is correct, will eventually recover WiFi operation of your camera.
Prerequisites
You’ll need a few things before proceeding:
A microSD reader(or an SD card reader with a microSD-to-SD converter)
Download and install the latest version of Aluma FPGA firmware(NOTWiFi software) from our website(https://diffractionlimited.com/aluma-fpga-firmware) via DLConfig, or MaxIm DL’s Advanced Setup dialog for DL Imaging. Be sure to check its MD5 checksum to ensure it is not corrupted before installation. If you don’t know how to check an MD5 checksum, click here.
To access DL :: Config from MaxIm DL, click open the“Camera Control” window, then click Camera 1’s“Setup Camera” button, select“DL Imaging” from the camera selection dropdown, and click the“Advanced” button.
Open DL :: Config in MaxIm DL and click the“Firmware” button, then(from the“Firmware Management” window) click Browse, select your“labcam_fpga_cclk_revX.bit” file, click Upload, and wait for the process to finish.
DO NOT INTERRUPT FIRMWARE UPLOADS, OR YOU COULD BRICK YOUR CAMERA.
Download the latest version of the Aluma WiFi Software(NOTFPGA firmware) from our website(https://diffractionlimited.com/aluma-fpga-firmware). It should be named something like AlumaWiFiImage_revX.zip. Be sure to check its MD5 checksum to ensure it is not corrupted before installation. If you don’t know how to check MD5 checksums, click here.
Unzip AlumaWiFiImage_revX.zip into AlumaWiFiImage_revX.img. It should be approximately 4GB in size.
Download and install an image etching program.
Insert your microSD card into your SD card reader, and plug it into your computer.
Follow the instructions for your image etcher to burn the downloaded WiFi image file onto your SD card.
e.g. For balenaEtcher, select AlumaWifiImage_RevX.img as your image,
select your microSD card as your target, and click“Flash”
When the process is complete, and the operation has been validated by your software, remove the SD card, and unplug your camera(both from USB and power).
Place your microSD card(with the Aluma WiFi software image) into the microSD upgrade slot in your Aluma camera.
Power up your camera(leaving the USB cable unplugged).
Wait for the status LED on the opposite side of the camera to change from flashing green to solid green(this can take anywhere from 4 to 5 minutes.
IF YOUR STATUS LED IS NOT BLINKING: if it’s possible you’ve disabled your status LED programatically via an API call, and the camera may still be updating. Wait the allotted 4-5 minutes anyway. If not, and your camera is showing no other signs of life, it is safe to unplug the camera and try the process again.
When the LED is solid green(or at least 4 minutes has elapsed), power down the camera and remove your microSD card from the upgrade slot.
Power back up the camera with the USB connection still unplugged and confirm(either via MaxIm DL’s Advanced Setup dialog, or DLConfig) that your camera has been updated to the advertised WiFi software version of the file you downloaded.
Double check to ensure the WiFi Rev matches the file you just uploaded to the camera.
Once you’ve verified the WiFi Rev matches the version advertised by our website, you are free to reconnect your USB cable, and resume normal imaging operations.
If the value reported by DLConfig/MaxIm DL does not match the value advertised by our website, it’s possible the firmware file was either corrupt, or the upload onto your camera failed. Simply try steps 7 - 12 again. If it fails a second time, reach out to us on https://forum.diffractionlimited.com/ for support.
If the value reported by DLConfig/MaxIm DL does match the value advertised by our website, then you’re good to go!
Validating MD5 Checksums
You’ll need a command-line tool like fciv, or certutil. For our purposes, we’ll be using CertUtil. Once you have a file you’d like to checksum, open up a command line in Windows 10, navigate to the file you’d like to checksum, and type the following command(e.g. for a file named AlumaWiFiImage_rev4.zip):
The string of text fc145bad4ba122b268123606d697bfcb is your MD5 checksum. If the file is not corrupted, this value will match the MD5 value supplied on our site. If the file is corrupted(even a single byte incorrect) you will get a wildly different value than the one posted on our site. A simple re-download of the file should be enough to correct the issue, but if you consistently get a different MD5 value from a file downloaded on our servers, then please contact us—as something may have gone awry.
Introduction
Prerequisites
Instructions
Validating MD5 Checksums
certutil -hashfile AlumaWiFiImage_rev4.zip MD5MD5 hash of AlumaWiFiImage_rev4.zip:fc145bad4ba122b278123606d697bfcbCertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.