Upgrading FieldPoint Firmware

This document tells you how to check if you need to upgrade your firmware and how to download and install new versions of firmware. You may need to upgrade your firmware when you add new modules to your FieldPoint system. Another occassion in which you might need to upgrade your firmware is when you are troubleshooting your system. Upgrading your firmware is a simple process and should only take a few minutes.

The first section will describe how to use Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX) to upgrade the firmware.

If you are using FieldPoint Explorer, please refer to the subsequent sections.

Upgrading to Latest Firmware Using MAX

In order update the BIOS on your controller using Measurement & Automation Explorer (MAX), follow the instructions below. If you are using FieldPoint Explorer, skip to the section below. 

1. Make sure your controller is running in normal mode (not Safe Mode) and all the DIP switches are in the Off position.
   
2. Expand your target in MAX, right-click Software and select Add/Remove Software.
   
3. Select Update BIOS... in the lower left corner of the screen:
   
   
   
4. The next dialog box will show you what version of BIOS is currently installed on the target and what newer version (if any) is available on the host:
   
   
   
5. Read through the confirmation dialog box and select Yes
   
6. Formatting may take several minutes, after which you will get a confirmation dialog box.

Checking Which Firmware You Are Currently Using

Follow these steps to check which firmware you are currently using:
1. Launch FieldPoint Explorer.

2. Click the + next to IA Server with OPC Server. Continue expanding the tree until you find your network module.

3. Right-click your network module and select Edit this device.

4. In the Device Configuration dialog box, the firmware revision should appear in the lower left corner in the form of Firmware Rev. xxxx, where xxxx represents the firmware revision number as is shown in the following dialog box.



If the firmware revision does not appear in the lower left corner of the dialog box, continue to step 5. If it does appear, continue to the next section, Determining Which Firmware You Need.

5. If the firmware revision does not appear in the lower left corner as shown in the previous dialog box enter revision in the Name field. The firmware revision appears in the upper right corner as shown in the following dialog box.

Note Do not press <Enter> after entering revision. Do not click OK. Pressing <Enter> or clicking OK renames the module revision which you do not want to do. Click Cancel to exit from the Device Configuration dialog box.



You have now determined the firmware revision you are using. Continue to the next section, Determining Which Firmware You Need.

Determining Which Firmware You Need

The following table shows the minimum firmware revision required for each of the FieldPoint I/O modules. Find the I/O modules you are using in your FieldPoint network. Use the following table to compare the minimum firmware requirement to your current firmware revisions which you found in the previous section, Checking Which Firmware You Are Currently Using.

If the firmware revision you are using does not meet the needs of your I/O modules, you need to upgrade your firmware. Continue to one of the following sections, depending on which network module you have: Downloading Firmware for the FP-1000/1001 or Downloading Firmware for the FP-1600.

Downloading Firmware for the FP-1000/1001

Caution To protect your FieldPoint system when downloading firmware for the FP-1001, isolate your FP-1001 and your computer from the rest of your FieldPoint system.
Follow these steps to download the most current firmware for the FP-1000/1001:

1. Launch your internet browser. Go to the NI Software Library on the National Instruments Web site.

2. Click All Drivers and Updates by Application.

3. Click FieldPoint. Select the system you are using.

4. Click Update. Select FP-1000/1001 Firmware and Update Utility. Click continue the download process.

5. If you have not done so already, log on to our Web site as prompted. Download FPupdate.zip. Unzip it into your FieldPoint directory.

6. Make sure that you have closed FieldPoint Explorer. In your FieldPoint directory, navigate to the file, FPUpdate. Double-click FPUpdate which brings up the FP-1000/1001 Update dialog box as shown in the following window.



Caution Do not interrupt the download to the module.

7. Click Browse and navigate to the firmware to which you are upgrading. In this example, the firmware is fpware0.030. Set the address and baud rate to correspond with the settings on your FP-1000/1001. Click Download.

8. You have now upgraded your firmware. Confirm that you have upgraded your firmware by following the steps in the previous section, Checking Which Firmware You Are Currently Using.

Downloading Firmware for the FP-1600

This section assumes that you are using FieldPoint Explorer 3.0.0 or higher. The steps are slightly different if you are using an older version. Follow these steps to download the most current firmware for the FP-1600:
1. Launch your internet browser. Go to the NI Software Library on the National Instruments Web site.

2. Click All Drivers and Updates by Application.

3. Click FieldPoint. Select the system you are using.

4. Click Update. Select FP-1600 Firmware. Click continue the download process.

5. If you have not done so already, log on to our Web site as prompted. Download the firmware file. Unzip it into your FieldPoint directory.

6. Launch FieldPoint Explorer if it is not already open. Right-click the comm resource of your FP-1600 and select Edit this device.


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7. In the Comm Resource Configuration dialog box, click Browse.

8. In the Remote System Explorer dialog box, right-click your FP-1600 and select Install/Upgrade Software.

9. In the Upgrade Firmware dialog box, click Browse. Navigate to the .fpf firmware upgrade file you downloaded from the NI Web page in the beginning of this section.

Caution Do not interrupt the download to the module.

10. Click Update.

11. You have now upgraded your firmware. Confirm that you have upgraded your firmware by following the steps in the previous section, Checking Which Firmware You Are Currently Using.

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Reader Comments | Submit a comment »

Where is the information for using MAX?
It is rather difficult to get the FieldPoint unit functioning properly when most of the documentation provided with FieldPoint and on the web all talks about the FieldPoint Explorer instead of MAX. How do I determine if I need to update the firmware of my FP 2015 using MAX?
- Apr 1, 2005

add MAX firmware finding guide
This page would be more useful if it had a link to finding the firmware revision using MAX as well as the older Fieldpoint explorer.
- russell ladkin, BAS. rsla@pcmail.nerc-bas.ac.uk - Oct 22, 2004

not actual. it's of no use with MAX and FP ver.4.0
- johannes.tschumi@dsm.com - Nov 7, 2003