We comment on iSeries firmware

[copier tech]

Okay I'm going to shit on KM being lazy again:

Region might matter. (But why would they go though all that trouble to change all that code? I guess that could be the opposite of being lazy... )

Perhaps things have changed over the years; however, I have never read anywhere that the latest "Special Firmware" incorporates the prior special firmware fixes.

Moreover, there is no mention of this scenario: Does a base firmware released in 2020 incorporate a special firmware's fixes from--I dunno--2015. One would assume it doesn't as the special firmware and base firmware are still on a separate area as noted by srvctec.

This is program updating 101 stuffs. Ultimately, if legacy firmwares are incorporated into the new firmwares then all this is unnecessarily convoluted. There might be some scenarios where coding conflictions arise, but if there are, there should be at least a footnote about it in the release notes.

I will send KM an apology letter if someone can clarify this.

OK so KM bring out base firmware, then as times passes engineers & customers report certain issues or reoccurring faults once KM realise the issue they release 'special' firmware as you call it quite often there maybe 5 separate 'special' releases, each one is included in the latest one.

Then when the next mass production firmware comes out all these are included in that.

[tsbservice]

OK so KM bring out base firmware, then as times passes engineers & customers report certain issues or reoccurring faults once KM realise the issue they release 'special' firmware as you call it quite often there maybe 5 separate 'special' releases, each one is included in the latest one.

Then when the next mass production firmware comes out all these are included in that.

+1 on this. I still may be wrong but that makes sense to me.

There are special cases when KM releases customized FW versions for specific customers environment and they shouldn't be used widely unless one have that exact conditions.

I will follow up on this lately.

[Synaux]

OK so KM bring out base firmware, then as times passes engineers & customers report certain issues or reoccurring faults once KM realise the issue they release 'special' firmware as you call it quite often there maybe 5 separate 'special' releases, each one is included in the latest one.

Then when the next mass production firmware comes out all these are included in that.

I hope this is correct and if true is how it should be done.

But the fact that over the years I have had multiple questions along these lines and never got a definitive answer is a communications blunder that requires one sentence in the release notes. One of my side hustles is computer and phone repair that requires the same stuffs, nothing has ever been so unclear... ever. I won't get started on the ridiculous file names. Anyways I guess I just hijacked this post...

More ISeries talk, go!

[copier tech]

I hope this is correct and if true is how it should be done.

But the fact that over the years I have had multiple questions along these lines and never got a definitive answer is a communications blunder that requires one sentence in the release notes. One of my side hustles is computer and phone repair that requires the same stuffs, nothing has ever been so unclear... ever. I won't get started on the ridiculous file names. Anyways I guess I just hijacked this post...

More ISeries talk, go!

It makes perfect sense to me, all other manufactures are the same, you simply update to the latest available firmware this will contain all previous bug fixes etc, simple.

[Synaux]

It makes perfect sense to me, all other manufactures are the same, you simply update to the latest available firmware this will contain all previous bug fixes etc, simple.

Well, the fact that special firmware is located in a different download area, one might conclude that they are not included in the newer base firmware. And it is not simple. The documentation does not support or deny this. When you have two categories of FW and neither mention anything of the other in their respective documentations, the whole matter is muddy. I have made allusions to this several times in the past and never got a definitive answer.

A very old version of this is that there was a special FW for the c650s that stopped the color IUs from operating during K only prints/copies. Are you telling me that the latest Base FW implements this? I do not have the time to confirm or deny this and probably never will. I always defaulted to installing the special FW.

For example, I just reviewed my database for the c650 et al.
The largest "special firmware" file is not the latest. And it is 12mb larger than a version released after it. To further justify this speculation, all the other special FWs are within 278kb of each other with one of the other biggest files being the oldest.

File size is not a definitive answer to this; however, if you are stacking fixes you tend to expect more code. This suggests larger file sizes. So I am going to maintain that the special FWs do not include prior special firmware fixes. Until someone learns Japanese and reports a definitive answer, I will ponder this.

[copier tech]

Well, the fact that special firmware is located in a different download area, one might conclude that they are not included in the newer base firmware. And it is not simple. The documentation does not support or deny this. When you have two categories of FW and neither mention anything of the other in their respective documentations, the whole matter is muddy. I have made allusions to this several times in the past and never got a definitive answer.

A very old version of this is that there was a special FW for the c650s that stopped the color IUs from operating during K only prints/copies. Are you telling me that the latest Base FW implements this? I do not have the time to confirm or deny this and probably never will. I always defaulted to installing the special FW.

For example, I just reviewed my database for the c650 et al.
The largest "special firmware" file is not the latest. And it is 12mb larger than a version released after it. To further justify this speculation, all the other special FWs are within 278kb of each other with one of the other biggest files being the oldest.

File size is not a definitive answer to this; however, if you are stacking fixes you tend to expect more code. This suggests larger file sizes. So I am going to maintain that the special FWs do not include prior special firmware fixes. Until someone learns Japanese and reports a definitive answer, I will ponder this.

He's my theory when the issue with wannaCry & SMB v1 first happened there was special firmware to enable SMB v2/3 however without updating using this specific 'special firmware' but the next 'special' firmware released a few months later still enabled SMB v2/3.

Any weird issues I have had in the past I always simply update with the latest firmware without even reading the note file 99% this resolves the issue so back up my theory that each latest release contains previous fixes.

This is the case with many other manufacturers, Ricoh, Canon & Kyocera for example.

[Synaux]

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[Bix]

Hi, I inform you that the G00-B6 firmware is out in all iSeries models in Europe.

[KMFLT3CH]

Be careful when upgrading to G00-B5 firmware on the color I-series, you may need to do a logical format of the storage board afterwards, as well as reload the movie data - See bulletin below.

Personally I stay away from the newest firmware releases for a few months as KM has a long history of pushing out buggy firmware.

KBA00061103 Updated.pdf

[emujo2]

Just had a tech update a C360i to B5. He was just being procative..E301 errors as soon as f/w applied..SSD format has not helped, but he also did not bring the new Movie Data file with him..Will try a data init after we load up the correct movie file..FYI..no good deed goes unpunished..E