PrecisionHD Camera Firmware Upgrade

[Michael Souders]

I have 2 cams connected to a few different c60/c90 systems.  What's the best way to upgrade the secondary cameras firmware?  Running 7.3.6. In the past I've just physically moved them to the primary location plugged in and booted.  Hoping there was an easier way.

[Patrick Sparkman]

You have two options:

1. Plug the secondary cameras into the codec as if it were the primary camera, and let the codec update the firmware.
2. Enable DHCP on the secondary cameras and connect them to the network to upgrade them via FTP, see Manually Upgrading PrecisionHD 12X Camera using Ethernet for instructions on how to do this.

[Michael Souders]

Option #2 is the easy way but can't upgrade them without the firmware which I can't pull off the codecs anymore.  Unless you know something I don't.

[Patrick Sparkman]

If you had root access to the codec, you could download the camera firmware from it, see daisy-chain-camera-software-upgrade.  However since root access has been disabled in TC7.1 and later software, you might be able to use the Remote Support user to gain access to the codec's file system, but you'd have to contact TAC to activate that specific user account.  Since contact TAC to get access to the Remote Support user, you're better off just asking them if they can provide the camera firmware.

Another option is to downgrade the codec to TC7.0 to gain access to the root account to download the camera firmware from the codec.

[Shefali Sharma]

Hi Michael,

Another way to perform upgrade on the camera is through 'Manual Upgrade'. 

I am sharing an example over here in which I performed camera (Precision HD 12X) software upgrade for making it compatible with the TC7.3.6 version on the codec.

Download a rover.pkg file (for 12X camera) from a codec running TC7.3.6:
1. Enable the remotesupport user and decode the password
2. From your local terminal write to download the rover.pkg from the codec to your current directory:
           $ scp remotesupport@<codec-ip>:/mnt/base/active/rover.pkg .
           Password:
3. Type in the password and wait for the file to download.
4. Provide this file to the customer.

Upload the rover.pkg to the customer codec:
1. Get the remotesupport user token from the customer codec and decode it
2. Upload the rover.pkg to the /tmp file using a ssh terminal
            $ scp rover.pkg remotesupport@<customer codec ip>:/tmp/rover.pkg
            Password:
3. Type in the password and wait for the file upload.

Log into the customer codec as remotesupport:
1. Type the command: tsh to access the xAPI
2. type sys-f (Note that there is no space between the dash, it is intentional: sys-f)
3. Now you should have access to an extended API, type:
com epappl 0 camera swload /tmp/rover.pkg
4. check that you get an OK in return. If it says the epappl is an unknown FSM try this instead:
            com camvisca 0 swload /tmp/rover.pkg
5. This will force the camera to upgrade and it takes time, maybe 10 minutes + -
6. type: q to quit the sys-f tool
7. Type: bye to exit the xapi
8. Type: cat /var/log/eventlog/all.log - Verify that the upgrade has started and not giving any errors. If there are flash write errors still try to reboot the codec and do the process again. 
9. If the camera is successfully upgraded, verify it with an xstatus that the camera has been upgraded 40084 software.
10. Upgrade the unit to TC7.3.6 to verify camera functionality.

You can let me know if you have any queries related with this. I will be glad to help you.

Best Regards,

Shefali Sharma

[Patrick Sparkman]

Shefali's reply regarding the Remote Support user is the same process mentioned in my last reply, and can be activated from Maintenance > System Recovery > Remote Support User.

Note that in order to activate the Remote Support user and be able to use it, you'll need to contact TAC so they can provide the password based on the generated token.  Also, the account is valid for only seven days, afterward it will need to be activated again by going through the same process of contacting TAC.

[Wayne DeNardi]

the account is valid for only seven days

If you generate the token via the API or command line, you can extend the expiry time of the remotesupport account up to 31 days

xcommand UserManagement RemoteSupportUser Create ExpiryDays: 31

Note: There is no way to "extend" the expiry date of an existing 'remotesupport' account.  The only way to extend it is to delete it and then re-create a new one (and go back through the TAC again for activation).

Wayne
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