Kennrth
Member
Dissertation on TYT Radio D380 - uhf mass confusion
The uhf version of the MD380 has had multiple production runs from it's first year of sales. The radios as far as I can tell all look the same from the outside.
There have been hardware changes internally not disclosed by TYT except for a change in the internal vocoder. Also there have been firmware changes. Lack of documentation makes it very difficult to match the build of the radio with the matching firmware. Also note ; it is not made clear if the CS codeplug software is fully backward compatible. So far it seems it is
MD380 Tools firmware
There have been multiple versions of md380 tool kit.
There is no coherent list of MD380 tools versions. Even worse MD380 tools is widely distributed throughout the internet. Adding to the confusion the same firmware version on several different sites have DIFFERENT FILE NAMES. I suspect some smart guys made some minor changes and changed what the firmware reports what on your radio info menu. And there are different ways to flash you radio. Update.exe will flash your radio but there are different versions in different languages. The firmware was developed under linux operating system. There is an option to acquire and flash you firmware directly from Linux on your windows computer. A bit involved but lets you have the latest firmware and database for call signs. It requires installation of Oracle Virtual Box using a Linux emulator.
https://www.hamdigitaal.nl/download/algemene-informatie/KD4Z-Toolkit-v4-Tutorial-v1.0b.pdf
I know of no md380 tools removal software. You need to go to to
TYT Electronics Co., Ltd. - to find original firmware which will over write md380 tools.
Best to make sure you are not receiving anything during flash. Shut down your hot spot. Some people have reported flash corruption and they traced it to this problem. Radio keeps rebooting after flashing firmware. No sure I agree with this finding.
People reporting flashing firmware bricks there radio .
Mostly because you have loaded the wrong firmware for your radio.
Sometimes the transfer of data during flashing could be corrupted during transfer.
But that would be a rare event,
If your radio is bricked you must go to tyt website and download the correct firmware for you radio. Easier said then done. The latest firmware may not match your old build radio. The tyt package Md380 md390 for USA dated 2019 01 07 has multiple firmware packages. Make sure you flash MD380 not MD390.
If your radio has GPS this is not you firmware. Look further for MD380 with GPS.
There is an older package Radio Vocoder was changed around 2016. Prior to may reqiured older firmmare for md380 before 2016.
How to know what build radio you have.
No indication on radio. You need
USB driver installed for MD380 and CS software installed.
Comes on CD with the radio.
Remember keep the radio off while installing usb driver software.
Using CS software download from the radio.
On the top menu general settings. This is what the radio reports and can not be programmed or change. You can see the hardware version of you radio.
MD380Tools vs 4.5 not functional on Hardware Build 5
Symptoms : After kachunking a static talk group Ex: most talk groups on Brandmeister. There radio receives ok After a 5 sec of quiet the radio stops receiving even though freq being received is active. kachunking wakes up the radio and start receiving again until a 5 sec quit time takes place and the radio goes asleep again.
Even with Option in menu all LED's on. The green busy led never lights up.
Example you kachunk to tg 310 and turn the top knob to a differerent tg .
You will not receive audio if promiscuous mode is off but green led should light up when frequency is active.
There is a fix for the sleep mode but requires the virtual oracle box method of installing user database. Hopefully it will be available to windows users soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixing sleep mode in oracle virtual box
Type in Tweaks brings up the tweaks menu
Carefully Type "Touch ~/nosleep.enable" no quotes. make sure you use ~ character. Puts file /nosleep.enable in the menu directory
Go back to menu using Cntl +D
type ls - lists files , you should see nosleep.enable
now run glv and nosleep patches the firmware.
Radio will no longer go to sleep after you flash your radio
Busy green led still no longer works. no fix yet
MD380 tools ver 2.5 on build 5 reports wrong freq range on General settings in CS software after downloading. Thinks its a VHF Radio. May also be the reason why green busy led not working.
I have sent an email via qrz to call sign of developer. Let them know what I have found 1-11-2019. Hopefully a fix will be coming.
N2MAC
The uhf version of the MD380 has had multiple production runs from it's first year of sales. The radios as far as I can tell all look the same from the outside.
There have been hardware changes internally not disclosed by TYT except for a change in the internal vocoder. Also there have been firmware changes. Lack of documentation makes it very difficult to match the build of the radio with the matching firmware. Also note ; it is not made clear if the CS codeplug software is fully backward compatible. So far it seems it is
MD380 Tools firmware
There have been multiple versions of md380 tool kit.
There is no coherent list of MD380 tools versions. Even worse MD380 tools is widely distributed throughout the internet. Adding to the confusion the same firmware version on several different sites have DIFFERENT FILE NAMES. I suspect some smart guys made some minor changes and changed what the firmware reports what on your radio info menu. And there are different ways to flash you radio. Update.exe will flash your radio but there are different versions in different languages. The firmware was developed under linux operating system. There is an option to acquire and flash you firmware directly from Linux on your windows computer. A bit involved but lets you have the latest firmware and database for call signs. It requires installation of Oracle Virtual Box using a Linux emulator.
https://www.hamdigitaal.nl/download/algemene-informatie/KD4Z-Toolkit-v4-Tutorial-v1.0b.pdf
I know of no md380 tools removal software. You need to go to to
TYT Electronics Co., Ltd. - to find original firmware which will over write md380 tools.
Best to make sure you are not receiving anything during flash. Shut down your hot spot. Some people have reported flash corruption and they traced it to this problem. Radio keeps rebooting after flashing firmware. No sure I agree with this finding.
People reporting flashing firmware bricks there radio .
Mostly because you have loaded the wrong firmware for your radio.
Sometimes the transfer of data during flashing could be corrupted during transfer.
But that would be a rare event,
If your radio is bricked you must go to tyt website and download the correct firmware for you radio. Easier said then done. The latest firmware may not match your old build radio. The tyt package Md380 md390 for USA dated 2019 01 07 has multiple firmware packages. Make sure you flash MD380 not MD390.
If your radio has GPS this is not you firmware. Look further for MD380 with GPS.
There is an older package Radio Vocoder was changed around 2016. Prior to may reqiured older firmmare for md380 before 2016.
How to know what build radio you have.
No indication on radio. You need
USB driver installed for MD380 and CS software installed.
Comes on CD with the radio.
Remember keep the radio off while installing usb driver software.
Using CS software download from the radio.
On the top menu general settings. This is what the radio reports and can not be programmed or change. You can see the hardware version of you radio.
MD380Tools vs 4.5 not functional on Hardware Build 5
Symptoms : After kachunking a static talk group Ex: most talk groups on Brandmeister. There radio receives ok After a 5 sec of quiet the radio stops receiving even though freq being received is active. kachunking wakes up the radio and start receiving again until a 5 sec quit time takes place and the radio goes asleep again.
Even with Option in menu all LED's on. The green busy led never lights up.
Example you kachunk to tg 310 and turn the top knob to a differerent tg .
You will not receive audio if promiscuous mode is off but green led should light up when frequency is active.
There is a fix for the sleep mode but requires the virtual oracle box method of installing user database. Hopefully it will be available to windows users soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fixing sleep mode in oracle virtual box
Type in Tweaks brings up the tweaks menu
Carefully Type "Touch ~/nosleep.enable" no quotes. make sure you use ~ character. Puts file /nosleep.enable in the menu directory
Go back to menu using Cntl +D
type ls - lists files , you should see nosleep.enable
now run glv and nosleep patches the firmware.
Radio will no longer go to sleep after you flash your radio
Busy green led still no longer works. no fix yet
MD380 tools ver 2.5 on build 5 reports wrong freq range on General settings in CS software after downloading. Thinks its a VHF Radio. May also be the reason why green busy led not working.
I have sent an email via qrz to call sign of developer. Let them know what I have found 1-11-2019. Hopefully a fix will be coming.
N2MAC
