Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

[Mark Bbb]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

I will always update firmware on service contracts, and only sometimes on no-contracts when the problem is complex.
I'm not going to studie what has been updated, why and when,...
I think that must be the worries of the engineers. That's where we pay them for...

[mikadonovan]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

I just do an update without thinking. Thinking only starts when a problem occurs

Lol. I'm just the opposite. I think before I work on a machine because problems start when not thinking occurs.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

Hi there,

picking this up again...

Had to update an 4055ASP and did the firmware update through the service menu. This updates the package firmware. It took a while but eventually finished.

Back at the office I made myself an table to verify, with the column "Firmware in Technical Website", "Firmware in Package" and "Firmware on Device after Package Install".

Now I'm even more confused. Sometimes the firmware from the website is newer, sometimes the package is newer (e.g. System/Copy is 1.20 in Web, and 1.22 in Package).

Some modules are not updated in the package at all (ok I knew that beforehand that stuff like SPDF isn't included...), I can't even find all of them in the SMC list to know which firmware I have. There's stuff in the package I can't find on the technical site...

...and then I still remember I actually have to check the update notes in each firmware that tell me which dependencies there are... ?

Who could afford spending a whole work day just to sort out firmware updates?? Why does this have to be so complicated or am I just making it complicated?

Thanks.

Best regards,

Trommel

New package firmware is not created every time a firmware module is updated. Here in the US the Package download zip file also contains a text document, Package All readme.txt, that lists all the modules and their versions in the package. That can be compared against the listed individual modules on the download site and this modules that are newer can be download and updated separate from the Package.

One other thing to remember, SD cards do go bad and formatting them can actually make them worse. The ability to retain the data stored more than a couple of hours is what goes bad. If you are going to reuse a card that is more than about 6 months old I prepare it right before I use it. T hat the data is still fresh.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

I will always update firmware on service contracts, and only sometimes on no-contracts when the problem is complex.
I'm not going to studie what has been updated, why and when,...
I think that must be the worries of the engineers. That's where we pay them for...

Many times problems are not because of out of date firmware. Many times they are because of corrupted firmware which unless, the corrupted module is also out of date, Package will not replace. That is why I normally re-flashed using individual modules and selected everything.

[Trommel]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

...so I guess I'm putting too much thought in it... ? Meh! I just wish it would be easier, I don't see why it has to be this complicated. I mean shouldn't it be in the interest of ricoh to get the new software too all machines asap!?

New package firmware is not created every time a firmware module is updated.

That makes sense, but I've noticed the opposite as well... as said the package firmware was actually newer than what it offered on the support site.

Here in the US the Package download zip file also contains a text document, Package All readme.txt, that lists all the modules and their versions in the package. That can be compared against the listed individual modules on the download site and this modules that are newer can be download and updated separate from the Package.

After unzipping I had an PKG File, but I could unzip this one as well and had a compo.txt. That helped me a bit already these days.

One other thing to remember, SD cards do go bad and formatting them can actually make them worse. The ability to retain the data stored more than a couple of hours is what goes bad. If you are going to reuse a card that is more than about 6 months old I prepare it right before I use it. T hat the data is still fresh.

I haven't had such huge issues with SD cards so far (to be fair I'm not using them as much in my work apart from copiers) but I do prepare them before with the SD-formatter anyway.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

With Ricoh-usa we have rfgesource. It is the repository for ALL downloadable files. If I searched for all SD card firmware for a specific the results would be listed with the newest at the top. That was very seldom a package. TSRC, the primary service portal often was days behind on listing updates. The listings on TSRC were links to esource and were not automatically created when files were added to esource. It required a person to take the time to update the list on TSRC.

[tsbservice]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

I just do an update without thinking. Thinking only starts when a problem occurs

Lol. I'm just the opposite. I think before I work on a machine because problems start when not thinking occurs.

There are 2 main approaches(mainframes) - to update or to not update.
Same applies here
Sometimes I feel adventurous and do like Mark Bbb but usually think twice before I make my move.

[copier tech]

Re: Ricoh Firmware Update Discussion

On the Ricoh training course they advice us to update the firmware each visit, so thats what I have done for years.

During 'PM' visit, the key word here is 'preventive' maintenance, update the firmware & resolve any issues before you know you had one!

Most issues arise when a tech updates a machine that has firmware on many versions old, so updating regularly & you're less likely to run into issues.