I read on the SCTFlash website that a firmware update is expected in August to allow limited data logging on the SCT2 and for "User Adjustability". Is this update something that can be done via a download or will the SCT2 need to be sent back for the update. I'm planning on getting an SCT2 with the Troyer custom tune but if there is an imminent update coming out I'll probably wait a few more weeks.

Thanks,
Mark

 

Hi. The whole point of this device is that it is firmware upgradable, via a download.

You should never have to send it back to your Dealer unless it's for VIN unlocking.

Cheers!
Vic

 

There’s no telling when those firmware updates will actually be released by SCT but when they are, as Vic has said, the XCal2 firmware will be updateable via email attachment and from what I gather, the firmware updates are going to be an ongoing process to include many new end-user features. What I’m getting at is, don’t wait, and get the XCal2 now!

 

I saw there was already a firmware update on the sct site when I downloaded all the live link and live update programs. I havent accually tryed it yet since I wasent sure what it was updating

 

If you just read what it says, the answers are all right there, basically.

I would not count on any specific date of those changes to be made, even though SCT says they hope to have it out by August - they are FAR more concerned with getting those changes RIGHT instead of rushing them out and then having a problem, and having to release yet another update - these guys at SCT are working their butts off providing us with a world-class product that has no equal whatsoever. SO let's just give them the time they need, I suggest.

And as anyone who actually owns a 9400 (XCalibrator 2) already knows, it's a simple firmware download via the Internet - nobody has to send any unit back for that update.

The 1.3 version firmware update does nothing that affects any of you in any meaningful way, and every single one of our Troyer Performance customers already has it! We updated every one before it ever left here - it's just one of the many things we do for our Troyer Performance customers.

Last - the upcoming update does NOT suddenly allow the XCalibrator 2 to datalog - it has ALWAYS had that ability. If you read what it says in detail, you will see that what it does it now allow you to datalog without having got use a laptop or other PC to RECORD the data. The XCalibrator 2 has ALWAYS been able to datalog by using the free SCT-provided software, LiveLink - just as every one our lour Troyer Performance customers knows because we include that information in our documentation, too.

For anyone that really wants to datalog anything worthwhile from a tuning standpoint, such as to provide us with proper info upon which we can base tuning changes, you are still better off doing that via the fantastic LiveLink software that SCT provides.

I hope that clears up some of this for you guys, & thanks for your post!

 

Sorry for my confusion but where I work firmware is considered something that is hard coded into the electronic device and can only be updated via the replacement of the component that contains the program code. Basically the code is permanently written into memory and cannot be changed. If something can be reprogrammed via a software update then it's not firmware. I guess I was stuck in a strict interpretation of the term firmware and didn't understand SCTs broader usage of the term. What really matters though is that I hope to be able to order my XCal2 next week.

 

It is as much firmware, as other devices such as a cisco routerand other lan components that have updatable firmware. I guess you could consider it more like a bios of a pc. It is more hardcoded than a simple software update.

Ryan

 

Basically. The firmware is burned into some sort of PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory). Most of these devices are burned from the factory with a specific firmware version. The type of memory used in these devices allows it to be "reburned". What is done is the program is erased from the memory, and then it is flashed with the new firware. It is too complicated to get into what it does down to the logic, but you get the drift. Pretty much anything with firmware can be updated, (XCAL2, PC devices, etc, etc.)

Hope this helps in a better understanding of firmware.

 

Hi. Think of it this way ( finally - a topic I actually know something about ;-)):

If you own a digital camera, MP3 player ( non-hard drive type), etc.. those devices all have a type of memory component called 'Flash' memory. No biggie - that's just a fancy name for the property it has - electrically eraseable, and reprogrammable ( depending upon device type, either 1000-100,000 times before there are 'drops' or intermittent memory loss - they DO wear out, but most people never reach that number of cycles).

Another class of devices ( which appeared before 'flash' devices) are write-once components - the write process actually 'burns' small links on the chip die to record data. Once done, it's irreversible. That's the device that MReynolds referred to.

Both types above retain data even with no power applied - thank goodness for that ;-)). Good old RAM memory in pc's, etc, do not.

It's the code that is really the 'firmware' - 'firm' being the idea that it is resident but can be altered.

No, I don't own an X2 ( yet) - doesn't mean I can't comment on the underlying principles and technology ;-)).

Ooops - I forgot.. I was gonna go stand in the corner! ( long story).

Cheers
vic

 

Hi MReynolds,

Firmware is firmware, and is *always* updatable, and always has been - in any kind of equipment, that's part of the definition of "firmware" - firmware is not "hardware, and perhaps that is where you are getting confused, maybe (just guessing?).

Now there may still be some antiquated pieces of hardware out there that force you to remove a ROM chip to update it, but if so that is extremely old technology. Now another possibility is that it may be a security issue, for example - you may be working with gear or at an employer or in an environment where what to us would always be considered a simple flash ROM as something that cannot be implemented in that manner from pure security concerns in "your world" - heck, I suppose anything is possible!

I'm not young by any means, but I haven't seen any kind of hardware, military (INSCOM) or otherwise that could not be updated by a simple firmware update - worst case by swapping the ROM chip manually (and immediately), are in some cases via a simple ribbon cable connection - or for anything made in the last 8-10 years, via a simple USB connection.

The bottom line is, firmware is NOT hardware - firmware is firmware, is is always updateable without having to send a unit in - that would be a *hardware* update, not a firmware update. Firmware would be like the BIOS chip of your PC - not replacing the mainboard of your PC, I guess is one way to explain it.

For the types of devices we're talking about here, it's all straightforward classic firmware, so they don't have to be sent in, nothing has to be desoldered or removed, it's a simple file download/upload via a simple USB connection, nice & easy!

I hope that helps to clarify a bit, & thanks for your post!

 

Hmm.... My Xcal2 that I just received last week sez....FW= 1.10

Tried firmware update and....

I choose the "xcal2-v13.luf" update and it says backing up critical data then I get this error "Data frame length mismatch" then this one "Loopback #1 failed"

Please advise......

TIA...

Race

 

Hi Race,

You can thank SCT's naming scheme for that - what they call version 1.3 firmware is OLDER than the current 1.1 - and it will not allow you to go backwards, it will only allow you to update.

So do NOT attempt to update your firmware, as you already have the latest, which is labeled 1.1.

What SCT *should* have done was to label what they call 1.3 as "1.03" instead - and I think that it was most likely just a typo somewhere internally that is the reason it;s not.

 

I'm familiar with typos....

Thanks bro.....

BTW....The drag tune is AWESOME!!

Race

 

It is more of a version number.

Major version 1, version 3

Where 1.10 is Major version 1, version 10

Ryan