Update or reinstall a demo
Demos change. Warblet does not currently record which release went onto a board, so it cannot tell you whether yours is the latest — and it says that rather than guessing.
The running version is unknown
A board that answers the handshake tells us which demo it runs. It does not tell us which build of that demo, and nothing on your account records what was installed. The catalog knows the latest published release; the board does not say what it is carrying.
So nothing in the product will describe a board as up to date or out of date. If you want the current release on a board, install it — the outcome is the same either way, and this page is about what that costs.
Three things setup can do
| Choice | What is written | What survives |
|---|---|---|
| Keep the firmware | Nothing. Only the setup line goes down the cable. | Everything on the board, including its stored settings. |
| Install the demo | The latest published build of that demo. | Depends on the image. Where the demo publishes one built for a board already running it, stored settings are kept; otherwise they are erased. The review says which before you press. |
| Reinstall from scratch | The image built for a board that is not running the demo. | Nothing is promised. Stored settings and other files may not survive. |
The Firmware row of the review names which of the three this run is, and adds Stored settings will be erased. whenever that is true. Nothing is written until you press the button.
Keeping the firmware you have
When the board announces the demo you have selected, setup leaves the firmware alone by default and only sends the setup line. That is the fastest and safest route, and it is the right one when you want to change a network rather than the code.
Selecting the demo again in Edit firmware writes the current build over it. Keep current firmware is only offered when the board itself said it is running that demo — a link, a matching chip or a spec on your account are not evidence about what is actually executing.
If an install is interrupted
- Before the write. Nothing reached the board. Everything up to that point is account work, and pressing the button again resumes from where it stopped.
- During the write. The board carries part of one build and part of another. Its firmware is unknown — not blank, and not usable. Press the button again; it restarts at the write and repeats none of the account steps.
- During the file push. Some files were replaced. The main program is written last on purpose, so a board that did not finish does not boot into a half-updated program.
- After the write, before setup was confirmed. The firmware is there and the board may hold its previous settings or the new ones. Retry sends the setup line again; sending it twice changes nothing.
Getting the files without flashing
Every demo's source, decoder and README download as one zip from its setup card, and the same bytes are available on a browser that cannot reach a serial port at all. That is the route for updating a board over your own tooling.
If a board goes quiet after an install, that is usually a network or sending problem rather than a bad build: No data yet walks it.