Standardizing Device Firmware
Version 2.2

VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware

PurposeThis document describes how to standardize device firmware with FiberChekPRO™ in order to maintainfirmware version stability and uniformity across a fleet of deployed devices. By default, FiberChekPRO willautomatically install the latest available firmware when performing a firmware update on a device. However,by standardizing the device firmware, customers can lock into a specific version that will not change, evenwhen new updates are published.

Standardization Process Overview
In general, the firmware standardization process is summarized as follows:
A. Lock the firmware package into the version you wish to standardize onto (the “locked version”).
B. Perform a device System Reset (if necessary).
C. Perform a device Firmware Update to the locked version.

Limitations
Firmware locking is supported by FiberChekPRO version 2.2 or later, and you can only lock into a firmware
version that is greater than or equal to the System Reset version. This is because, in order to downgrade adevice from a version that is newer than the locked version, the device must go through the System Resetprocess (described in section B), and a device cannot be downgraded past the System Reset version. The
following table lists the System Reset versions.

Product Name

System Reset Firmware Version

P5000i2.0.273.3264, 2.0.1213.3264 (depending on hardware revision*)

OLP-82x/HD4ix

Not supported

FVAi/FVDi

2.0.1183.3226

FiberChek

2.0.846.3237

FBPP-WiFi

Not supported

Sidewinder/FVAm

2.0.1776.3236

FVAi-2030

2.1.1373.3501* FiberChekPRO will automatically determine which version to use based on the unit’s internal hardware revision.

Page 2VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware

Terminology
A firmware package is a stand-alone file which is utilized by FiberChekPRO to perform updates to a device.
Each product and version has its own firmware package file.
A firmware package installer is an executable program which is used to place a firmware package file in thecorrect location for FiberChekPRO to use.
Locking is the process of locking a firmware package into the version you wish to standardize onto.

A. Locking Firmware
Once a firmware package is locked:• It will not be overwritten even if FiberChekPRO is updated to a newer version.
• FiberChekPRO will never attempt to download the latest firmware package from the server.
• The package can be unlocked by rerunning the firmware package installer (described in the“Unlocking Firmware” section below).
Follow these instructions to lock into a standardized firmware package version.
1. Visit http://fcpro.updatemyunit.net, scroll to the bottom, and click on “View All Software Releases”.
2. Locate the section titled “All available versions of [device] firmware”, where [device] is the specificproduct name, such as FVAi/FVDi.
3. Under that section, click on the desired version. This downloads a firmware package installer.
4. Double-click to run the installer and click Next to continue.

Page 3

VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
5. If you have only one installation of FiberChekPRO, click Next to continue. Otherwise, click Browse toselect the desired installation of FiberChekPRO, and then click Next to continue.

6. Check the box “Lock this firmware version” and click Next to continue.

Page 4VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
7. Click Install.

8. Click Finish when done.

Page 5VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
9. Start FiberChekPRO. Open the Setup menu, select FiberChekPRO, and then select Firmware on the left
side. Verify that the Local Version for the product matches the locked version, and that the Cloud
Version is NA. (The Cloud Version is the latest version published on the web server. If a firmware
package is locked, it displays NA for the Cloud Version to indicate that it will not pull that version from theserver.)* Actual version numbers may be different.

Page 6VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware

Unlocking Firmware
To unlock a firmware package and resume the automatic updates, rerun the firmware package installer as
described in the previous section, except uncheck the box in step 6.

B. Performing Device System ResetIf a device has a firmware version that is newer than the locked version, then it must first undergo a System
Reset before updating to the locked version. For example, consider the following scenario: The user has adevice with version 3, but the locked version is version 2, and the System Reset version is version 1. In thiscase, the procedure would be:
1. Perform a System Reset (version 3 → version 1)
2. Perform a Firmware Update (version 1 → version 2)
System Reset is the process of reverting a device down to the System Reset firmware version. It alsodeletes all stored results and reverts all settings (including optical settings, profiles, and connector
definitions) to their factory defaults. After the System Reset, then the device may be updated to the lockedversion.

Page 7VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
Follow these instructions to perform a System Reset:
1. Connect the device to FiberChekPRO. From the Setup menu, select the device name, and then selectthe Firmware option on the left side.

2. Note that the Current Version is newer than the Latest Available Version, which is the locked version you
have standardized onto. As such, the Update Firmware button is disabled. If the current version is NOT
newer than the available version, then skip to section C to update the firmware. Otherwise, click System
Reset to start the System Reset wizard.

3. The first time a System Reset is performed for a device family, the system reset package needs to be
downloaded from the internet. Click Next to download the package.

Page 8VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
4. When the download is complete, the wizard shows a warning about the reset process. Note that thefirmware version listed in the dialog is the System Reset version. Click Reset to start the process, which
can take up to 20 minutes.

5. When the system reset completes, click OK to exit the wizard the reboot the device.

6. After the device reconnects to FiberChekPRO, go to step 2 in the next section.

Page 9VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware

C. Performing Device Firmware Update
Follow these instructions to update a device to the locked version you have standardized onto:
1. Connect the device to FiberChekPRO.
2. A dialog box similar to the following will appear. Click Yes to navigate to the firmware setup page.

3. If you just performed a System Reset as described in section B, then the current version will be theSystem Reset version. Click Update Firmware to start the Firmware Update wizard. Follow the prompts
to update the device to the locked version.

Page 10VIAVI//PublicStandardizing Device Firmware
4. When the update completes, click OK to exit the wizard and reboot the device.

5. When the device reconnects to FiberChekPRO, from the Setup menu, select the device name, and thenselect the Firmware option on the left side. Note that the current version is now the locked version which
you have standardized onto.

Page 11

VIAVI//Public