BCD436HP Firmware Upgrade issues

[codewize]

Hi all I recently acquired a BCD436HP so of course the first thing I wanted to do was update the firmware. Looks like it's on 1.09
I'm using the Sentinal software 2.03 and it looks like it's doing the right thing, but there is no evidence, when viewing the storage, that any file was copied to the SD card.
Upon pressing the power button as instructed, it starts like it's installing the update, then stops with Checksum Error on SD card. Press power button.
How do I fix this?

 

[ToddWilkinson]

Hi all I recently acquired a BCD436HP so of course the first thing I wanted to do was update the firmware. Looks like it's on 1.09
I'm using the Sentinal software 2.03 and it looks like it's doing the right thing, but there is no evidence, when viewing the storage, that any file was copied to the SD card.
Upon pressing the power button as instructed, it starts like it's installing the update, then stops with Checksum Error on SD card. Press power button.
How do I fix this?

Reformat the card using Sentinel software, then redo firmware!

 

[codewize]

Reformat the card using Sentinel software, then redo firmware!

Todd, I saw some talk about having issues with that, like people formatted the card and couldn't get to it to perform any operations.
So the procedure is, format, perform firmware update, then re-write the config / profile / favorites?

Is that correct?

 

[codewize]

Todd, I saw some talk about having issues with that, like people formatted the card and couldn't get to it to perform any operations.
So the procedure is, format, perform firmware update, then re-write the config / profile / favorites?

Is that correct?

OK, I formatted the card, removed User Data. Tried the update again and got the same error. Wrote the profile to the scanner and it's back working on Firmware 1.09.02
So no progress

 

[Ubbe]

OK, I formatted the card, removed User Data. Tried the update again and got the same error. Wrote the profile to the scanner and it's back working on Firmware 1.09.02
So no progress

Then it has to be the firmware file that are somehow corrupt. Download from here and dump it into the firmware folder of the SD card.

BCD436HP_V1_26_00.bin

drive.google.com

/Ubbe

 

[codewize]

Then it has to be the firmware file that are somehow corrupt. Download from here and dump it into the firmware folder of the SD card.

BCD436HP_V1_26_00.bin

drive.google.com

/Ubbe

That worked, thank you

 

[Firebuff66]

Then it has to be the firmware file that are somehow corrupt. Download from here and dump it into the firmware folder of the SD card.

BCD436HP_V1_26_00.bin

drive.google.com

/Ubbe

Just wanted to say a BIG thank you for posting 1.26.00
I upgraded to 1.28.16 and it messed up my P25 conventional decode on UHF
If I held on to the channel it worked fine but if I was scanning it would only decode 10% of the time
Downgrading to 1.26.00 fixed the issue, So thanks again

 

[codewize]

Just wanted to say a BIG thank you for posting 1.26.00
I upgraded to 1.28.16 and it messed up my P25 conventional decode on UHF
If I held on to the channel it worked fine but if I was scanning it would only decode 10% of the time
Downgrading to 1.26.00 fixed the issue, So thanks again

Where did you get 1.28.16? If that's a real thing, can you post a link please?

 

[fxdscon]

Reformat the card using Sentinel software,

.
The Sentinel software can not format the SD card, it does not have any ability to format the card. The SD card should be formatted using this utility (recommended by Uniden in the owner's manual)...

SD Memory Card Formatter for Windows/Mac | SD Association

www.sdcard.org

After formatting, then use Sentinel's "Clear User Data" process to write the necessary operating files to the card.

 

[fxdscon]

Where did you get 1.28.16? If that's a real thing, can you post a link please?

.
The most recent BCD436HP firmware available through Sentinel is v1.28.14

 

[codewize]

.
The most recent BCD436HP firmware available through Sentinel is v1.28.14

Well, for whatever reason, Sentinel will not update my firmware properly so do you mind posting a link to the available BIN file

 

[fxdscon]

Well, for whatever reason, Sentinel will not update my firmware properly so do you mind posting a link to the available BIN file

Other than some early beta versions that UPMan was posting some years back, Uniden only makes the firmware "bin" files available through the Sentinel update process. I'm not sure I'd trust any that were downloaded from other places.

If you have the latest version of Sentinel (v2.03.00) and are still getting the checksum error when attempting to upgrade your firmware as described in your post #9, reformat your SD card with the utility linked in post #17... Sentinel can not format your card. Be sure to choose the "Overwrite format" option when using that utility to check for corruption errors on the card.

Then use the Sentinel "clear user data" process on the newly formatted card (check the box that says "display all drives" and be certain the SD card is highlighted there). When that finishes, use the firmware update process in Sentinel, select the BCD436HP, and follow the prompts there.

Note... the firmware "bin" file that is downloaded to your SD card during Sentinel's firmware update process is deleted from the card as soon as the firmware is written to the scanner when it reboots.

 

[codewize]

Other than some early beta versions that UPMan was posting some years back, Uniden only makes the firmware "bin" files available through the Sentinel update process. I'm not sure I'd trust any that were downloaded from other places.

If you have the latest version of Sentinel (v2.03.00) and are still getting the checksum error when attempting to upgrade your firmware as described in your post #9, reformat your SD card with the utility linked in post #17... Sentinel can not format your card. Be sure to choose the "Overwrite format" option when using that utility to check for corruption errors on the card.

Then use the Sentinel "clear user data" process on the newly formatted card (check the box that says "display all drives" and be certain the SD card is highlighted there). When that finishes, use the firmware update process in Sentinel, select the BCD436HP, and follow the prompts there.

Note... the firmware "bin" file that is downloaded to your SD card during Sentinel's firmware update process is deleted from the card as soon as the firmware is written to the scanner when it reboots.

I did that. I used the recommended SDFormatter utility.
I overwrote the format
I deleted / cleared User Data using Sentinel
I tried to update firmware at that point and got different errors, I don't recall the exact message but it said something about no files on SD card or something. And would not update anything.

Ok, that's good to know about the file being deleted.
So, if the only correct way to do this is to use Sentinel and that does not work, what are my options?

 

[fxdscon]

So, if the only correct way to do this is to use Sentinel and that does not work, what are my options?

.
At this point I would try a new SD card. And can you post the exact wording of the error message you're getting?

 

[Firebuff66]

Where did you get 1.28.16? If that's a real thing, can you post a link please?

It's as real as a Doughnut

Sentinel updated it for me

BCD536HPFirmwareUpdate < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

info.uniden.com

 

[fxdscon]

It's as real as a Doughnut

Sentinel updated it for me

BCD536HPFirmwareUpdate < UnidenMan4 < TWiki

info.uniden.com

.

This thread started off talking about the BCD536HP firmware in June of last year which was 1.28.14 at that time, but is currently at v1.28.16

@codewize was asking about the BCD436HP firmware version which is currently at v1.28.14.

 

[KevinC]

This should have been its own thread from the beginning. Moved all the 436 post to their own thread.

 

[codewize]

Very annoying they don't just let you download files

 

[Ubbe]

When Sentinel downloads a firmware upgrade it saves the file in the firmware folder of the SD card. Before doing a scanner restart you can use Windows file explorer and copy the file to a folder on your PC as a backup.

If you have a scanner that are just a couple of years old then it can have new hardware and any older firmware can make the scanner unusable that needs Uniden to repair it to set it back to a working state.

/Ubbe

 

[codewize]

When Sentinel downloads a firmware upgrade it saves the file in the firmware folder of the SD card. Before doing a scanner restart you can use Windows file explorer and copy the file to a folder on your PC as a backup.

If you have a scanner that are just a couple of years old then it can have new hardware and any older firmware can make the scanner unusable that needs Uniden to repair it to set it back to a working state.

/Ubbe

Ahh Nice, so maybe it's not 'ready' for 1.28 or something but I was able to capture the file now.
Thanks I take in Uniden doesn't really do tech support and i'll never hear from them?