Flir T640 Firmware issue Mark I vs Mark II - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Therm1
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2022, 01:22:41 am
content: Hi, I recently acquired a Flir T640. There are two generations of the Flir T640, MK I (P/N 55901) and MK II (P/N 55903). Per Flir's website, MK I's latest firmware is 2.40.22 and MK 2's is 5.38.8. I have a MK 1 camera with MK 2 firmware installed. With the MK2 firmware, I've lost WIFI and Bluetooth function (hardware conflict I assume). Other other functions appear to work properly. Does anyone have experience with either firmware versions? I'm wondering if I should downgrade (if possible) or if the benefits of the newer firmware outweighs the negative aspects. Bluetooth would be desirable to pair a moisture meter and WIFI for remote control. My prior company had a T420 and I wasn't impressed with the connectivity of the WIFI, so I'm wonder if the T640 would be of similar quality.The MK II firmware appears to be a significant change because it has a new graphic layout. Not sure if it approved functionality or just a graphical change.The ideal solution is to update the new firmware drivers to load the old WIFI and Bluetooth drivers, but I'm concerned about bricking the camera. I'm not a programmer and would need some assurance that I can unbrick the camera if it gets locked up.https://flir.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4406/kw/camera%20update

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2022, 10:03:19 am
content: Take a look at this thread page from the E4 upgrade investigationIt was possible to revert to firmware 2.3 from 2.8 using the process provided. The firmware in your camera is a variant of that used in the Ex and Exx series so may behave the same in terms of version reversion. Your risk though.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/7525/I suggest you revert to the firmware intended for your cameras version but that is your decisionFraser

author: Therm1
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2022, 04:29:10 pm
content: The prior owner had no knowledge of the firmware upgrade, but it was calibrated a few years ago by Flir. I'm thinking Flir upgrade, but I don't know if it was intentional or accidental. Hopefully, someone has some experience with the 640 or the different firmware versions. Any idea of the difficulty of modifying the newest firmware to recognize the old WIFI and Bluetooth hardware? All other functions seems to work fine. Also, has anyone unlocked Ultramax if it wasn't original to the camera? My understanding is it's capable and Flir will unlock it for a special price, which I assume isn't just a few dollars. (Update found a link that UltraMax is a $500 upgrade (in 2018), so it might be worth having Flir doing if any hack is risky)I'm not sure if Ultramax is realistically that useful if your not concerned about precision temperature measurements given every image must post processed in Flir Tools. I would assume that is a very time consuming if you want it done for each image.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2022, 05:20:06 pm
content: That firmware change is not a mistake I can see FLIR technicians making. They always update the firmware to the latest version for a specific model hardware version and then test the camera for correct operation.. More likely someone thought they would try the newest firmware available for the series and ended up with the camera in the current state. I have seen such behaviour a lot and you are fortunate that more is not misbehaving with your camera.

author: Chanc3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 09, 2022, 07:28:10 pm
content: UltraMax only worked on the newer models, as it has different hardware to process it. I should have a copy of the firmware somewhere if you need the original.

author: cuda12
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2022, 12:32:11 am
content: Does the MK1 even have MMX hardware vs the MKII? I didn't think so, if the firmware was reversed you are really really lucky that if even boots up

author: Therm1
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: December 22, 2022, 01:09:16 am
content: I'll check with Flir on the above, but if someone can share the firmware for an MK1 it would be good to have as a backup. Flir hasn't been the best with retaining the original software on many devices I've found. They use it as an excuse that you need to upgrade to a new device.