whacker
Member
This is going to be a long one, so be forewarned: A potential tale of woe!
I may be the last person to try and update their BCD396T to the final firmware version (3.02.02), but I was completely satisfied with v3.01 since I got it (2008?), and that's the last time I've messed with any of this.
Today though, since I've gotten back into it a little bit, I thought, let's do the final update! Since that last update I upgraded my desktop PC from one with an RS232c serial port to the typical all USB (2.0) type with Windows 7. I had gotten a USB to serial adapter somewhere along the way specifically for this purpose, but had never used it or set it up. No need until now.
But I did finally get it out, with the intention of getting FreeSCAN up and running (first time) to make a backup of the scanner before anything further. I was able to find drivers to get the adapter working, and I got FreeSCAN installed and working, and did the backup of the scanner. No problems with it seeing the scanner. Yay, I was two thirds of the way home!
Then it got ugly. I went through the RR wiki to refresh my memory on how to obtain the update from Uniden. I tried going to My Uniden via the link, and definitely couldn't remember my account credentials to log on (been a long time), so I had them e-mailed to me. But even with what they had just sent me, the login failed after numerous attempts. Maybe it's been purged. Anyway, went with the listed alternative links for both the firmware file and the VUP loader.
To shorten, I installed the loader, had the .scn file ready, held down the L/O and 6 keys, plugged in the AC adapter with the batteries out, and... it failed, right after it says "Erasing." Repeated several times without success, and of course the scanner won't revert back to normal after this.
In troubleshooting, I did notice that I had bent the rules a little bit and had not unzipped the files to the Desktop, instead doing the install attempts first from my external hard drive, where I had downloaded the files to (VUP had been installed to the Desktop from the unzipped file). I also noticed in reading further that upon unzipping the VUP program that another folder is created called BCSS. I had an older version of this folder stored and renamed from four years ago, along with older versions of all the install items I had stored on the external HDD from the previous computer's installation of the VUP loader. They should not have been an influence on the current install. I did notice that the newer BCSS folder contained only one file (setup.dll), where the older one had three files.
I did try downloading the .scn zip file again, in case there was corruption that had taken place. No help there.
So I tried a little of this and a little of that, but nothing gets me past the first few seconds of the installation attempt. I tried varying the speed of the (virtual) COM port from what had been set in the scanner during the FreeSCAN session. Obviously this can't be changed in the scanner now, but I was careful to match what I set in Device Manager with BC_VUP's settings. Didn't make a difference. The scanner had been set at its fastest speed (115200) internally, but I assume this has no bearing when doing a firmware update, and I did try this speed (there's only three choices).
Thus I am stuck. Could it be that even though I was able to use my serial adapter successfully with FreeSCAN, the firmware update procedure just doesn't like it, and demands the use of a Uniden USB-1 cable? Any clues or comments are welcome. This model has been around long enough for most all of this to already have been encountered by any number of people, so hopefully y'all will have some good advice for me. At least I hope so!
Edit: Final thoughts before turning in for the night: I actually still have the old XP computer with the serial port, and if I get certain feedback I will attempt the update through that old horse. But I'm wondering, will the current (newest) BC_VUP loader install and run on XP? This of course would save me the cost of a new cable. Also, does it really matter if all the software components originate from the Desktop? I mean sure, the loader's icon will of course be there, but what about the source location for the .scn file? Make a difference?
I may be the last person to try and update their BCD396T to the final firmware version (3.02.02), but I was completely satisfied with v3.01 since I got it (2008?), and that's the last time I've messed with any of this.
Today though, since I've gotten back into it a little bit, I thought, let's do the final update! Since that last update I upgraded my desktop PC from one with an RS232c serial port to the typical all USB (2.0) type with Windows 7. I had gotten a USB to serial adapter somewhere along the way specifically for this purpose, but had never used it or set it up. No need until now.
But I did finally get it out, with the intention of getting FreeSCAN up and running (first time) to make a backup of the scanner before anything further. I was able to find drivers to get the adapter working, and I got FreeSCAN installed and working, and did the backup of the scanner. No problems with it seeing the scanner. Yay, I was two thirds of the way home!
Then it got ugly. I went through the RR wiki to refresh my memory on how to obtain the update from Uniden. I tried going to My Uniden via the link, and definitely couldn't remember my account credentials to log on (been a long time), so I had them e-mailed to me. But even with what they had just sent me, the login failed after numerous attempts. Maybe it's been purged. Anyway, went with the listed alternative links for both the firmware file and the VUP loader.
To shorten, I installed the loader, had the .scn file ready, held down the L/O and 6 keys, plugged in the AC adapter with the batteries out, and... it failed, right after it says "Erasing." Repeated several times without success, and of course the scanner won't revert back to normal after this.
In troubleshooting, I did notice that I had bent the rules a little bit and had not unzipped the files to the Desktop, instead doing the install attempts first from my external hard drive, where I had downloaded the files to (VUP had been installed to the Desktop from the unzipped file). I also noticed in reading further that upon unzipping the VUP program that another folder is created called BCSS. I had an older version of this folder stored and renamed from four years ago, along with older versions of all the install items I had stored on the external HDD from the previous computer's installation of the VUP loader. They should not have been an influence on the current install. I did notice that the newer BCSS folder contained only one file (setup.dll), where the older one had three files.
I did try downloading the .scn zip file again, in case there was corruption that had taken place. No help there.
So I tried a little of this and a little of that, but nothing gets me past the first few seconds of the installation attempt. I tried varying the speed of the (virtual) COM port from what had been set in the scanner during the FreeSCAN session. Obviously this can't be changed in the scanner now, but I was careful to match what I set in Device Manager with BC_VUP's settings. Didn't make a difference. The scanner had been set at its fastest speed (115200) internally, but I assume this has no bearing when doing a firmware update, and I did try this speed (there's only three choices).
Thus I am stuck. Could it be that even though I was able to use my serial adapter successfully with FreeSCAN, the firmware update procedure just doesn't like it, and demands the use of a Uniden USB-1 cable? Any clues or comments are welcome. This model has been around long enough for most all of this to already have been encountered by any number of people, so hopefully y'all will have some good advice for me. At least I hope so!
Edit: Final thoughts before turning in for the night: I actually still have the old XP computer with the serial port, and if I get certain feedback I will attempt the update through that old horse. But I'm wondering, will the current (newest) BC_VUP loader install and run on XP? This of course would save me the cost of a new cable. Also, does it really matter if all the software components originate from the Desktop? I mean sure, the loader's icon will of course be there, but what about the source location for the .scn file? Make a difference?
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