Firmware Version 1.4 Release Notes

Firmware Version 1.4  Release Notes

Last Modified: [last_modified]

[toc title=”CONTENTS”]

Introduction

This release is an update to the previous release B7971 Release 1.2 which was shipped with Driver Boards and Release 1.0 which was shipped with clocks until August of 2010. In Release 1.4, the source code was merged so that all variants could share future improvements. Version 1.4 now supports 5 configurations:

  • Nixie Driver Board Rev A for B7971
  • Nixie Driver Board Rev B for B7971
  • Nixie Driver Board Rev A for IN17x7
  • Nixie Driver Board Rev B for IN17x7
  • Nixie Shield Rev XC (pre A)

To the end-user there is only one major bug fix which might make it worth upgrading from one of the older, pre-August 2010 versions mentioned above. This bug could cause the clock to potentially not change in or out of daylight savings time.

Should I Update ?

If you have a Rev B Driver Board…

..shipped after August 2010, then you already have this version of firmware installed

If you have a Rev B Nixie Clock…

..shipped after August 2010 (identified by blue LEDS), then you already have this version of firmware installed

If you have a Rev A Driver Board…

…which shipped prior to August 2010 (and are no longer made), then you will benefit from this release as it corrected daylight savings time.

If you have a Rev A Nixie Clock…

…which shipped prior to August 2010 (and are no longer made), then you will benefit from this release as it corrected daylight savings time.

How Do I Update ?

Operational Changes

Startup

On startup, all versions will

  • Cycle through individual tubes

  • Show the version (14)

  • Show the build number (2921) (note: clocks shipped with 1.4
    may show a different build number)

Menus

Because of memory limitations the feature sets are different on each configuration. The following section lists the command sets for all variations. Note that the nixie-shield command set for this release is limited to test functions only.

Serial Interface Command Sets For Each Version

 

help_hw_reva_in17x7

 Commands Help
 Entering command name without options alone will display current values

 ala [0..23]:[0..59] |Set Alarm
 bla [0..1]          |Blank Display
 bri [0..15]         |Brightness: [0:off 15:bright]
 cfa [0..1]          |Cross-fade [0:off 1:on]
 chi [0..3]          |Chime [0:off 1:hourly 2:2x/hr 3:4x/hr]
 dor [0..1]          |Date Display Order [0:'mm dd yyyy'  1:'yyyy mm dd']
 dow [1..7]          |Day of Week [1:Sunday 2:Monday ... ]
 dse [0..1] [0..1]   |Daylight Savings Time [Enable 0:No 1:Yes] 
                      [Now In Effect 0:No 1:Yes]
 dst [w d m  w d m]  |Daylight Savings Time [Start-wk/day/mo End-wk/day/mo]
 hel [c,b]           |Help on [c:commands b:buttons]
 oft [0..23]         |Off Time [hours]
 ont [0..23]         |On Time [hours] 
 rep                 |Report all option states
 tfx [0..4]          |Transition Effects 
                      [0:None 1:Blink 2:Fade 3:Wipe-off 4:Wipe-slot]
 tim hhmmss.t [a,p]  |Set Time. For 12h end w/ a or p
 tst a E             |all tubes to cathode element E
 tst j T E           |just one tube T element E
 ver                 |Show Version
 wis [0..4]          |Wipe Style 
                      [0:Right>Left 1:Left>Right 2:Toggle-dir 3:Random
 wir [1..8]          |Wipe Rate [1:Fast 8:Slow]
 ymd yyyy/mm/dd      |Set Year/Month/Day

help_hw_revb_in17x7

 Commands Help
 Entering command name without options alone will display current values

 ala [0..23]:[0..59] |Set Alarm
 bla [0..1]          |Blank Display
 bli [0..1]          |Back-light LEDS
 bri [0..15]         |Brightness: [0:off 15:bright]
 cfa [0..1]          |Cross-fade [0:off 1:on]
 chi [0..3]          |Chime [0:off 1:hourly 2:2x/hr 3:4x/hr]
 dor [0..1]          |Date Display Order [0:'mm dd yyyy'  1:'yyyy mm dd']
 dow [1..7]          |Day of Week [1:Sunday 2:Monday ... ]
 dse [0..1] [0..1]   |Daylight Savings Time [Enable 0:No 1:Yes] 
                      [Now In Effect 0:No 1:Yes]
 dst [w d m  w d m]  |Daylight Savings Time [Start-wk/day/mo End-wk/day/mo]
 hel [c,b]           |Help on [c:commands b:buttons]
 oft [0..23]         |Off Time [hours]
 ont [0..23]         |On Time [hours] 
 rep                 |Report all option states
 tfx [0..4]          |Transition Effects 
                      [0:None 1:Blink 2:Fade 3:Wipe-off 4:Wipe-slot]
 tim hhmmss.t [a,p]  |Set Time. For 12h end w/ a or p
 tst a E             |all tubes to cathode element E
 tst j T E           |just one tube T element E
 ver                 |Show Version
 wis [0..4]          |Wipe Style 
                      [0:Right>Left 1:Left>Right 2:Toggle-dir 3:Random
 wir [1..8]          |Wipe Rate [1:Fast 8:Slow]
 ymd yyyy/mm/dd      |Set Year/Month/Day

help_hw_reva_b7971x8

 Commands Help
 Entering command name without options alone will display current values

 bla [0..1]          |Blank Display
 bri [0..15]         |Brightness: [0:off 15:bright]
 dow [1..7]          |Day of Week [1:Sunday 2:Monday ... ]
 dse [0..1] [0..1]   |Daylight Savings Time [Enable 0:No 1:Yes] 
                      [Now In Effect 0:No 1:Yes]
 dst [w d m  w d m]  |Daylight Savings Time [Start-wk/day/mo End-wk/day/mo]
 hel [c,b]           |Help on [c:commands b:buttons]
 oft [0..23]         |Off Time [hours]
 ont [0..23]         |On Time [hours] 
 rep                 |Report all option states
 tfx [0..4]          |Transition Effects 
                      [0:None 1:Blink 2:Fade 3:Wipe-off 4:Wipe-slot]
 tim hhmmss.t [a,p]  |Set Time. For 12h end w/ a or p
 tst a E             |all tubes to cathode element E
 tst j T E           |just one tube T element E
 txt message         |Display Message on alphanumeric display
 txb [32 hex chars]  |Control Individual Segments of display
 txo [lcr] [fso]     |Txt Message options [l)left c)enter r)ight]
                      [f:fixed s:shift o:one-at-a-time]
 ver                 |Show Version
 wis [0..4]          |Wipe Style 
                      [0:Right>Left 1:Left>Right 2:Toggle-dir 3:Random
 wir [1..8]          |Wipe Rate [1:Fast 8:Slow]
 ymd yyyy/mm/dd      |Set Year/Month/Day

help_hw_revb_b7971x8

 Commands Help
 Entering command name without options alone will display current values

 bla [0..1]          |Blank Display
 bli [0..1]          |Back-light LEDS
 bri [0..15]         |Brightness: [0:off 15:bright]
 dow [1..7]          |Day of Week [1:Sunday 2:Monday ... ]
 dse [0..1] [0..1]   |Daylight Savings Time [Enable 0:No 1:Yes] 
                      [Now In Effect 0:No 1:Yes]
 dst [w d m  w d m]  |Daylight Savings Time [Start-wk/day/mo End-wk/day/mo]
 hel [c,b]           |Help on [c:commands b:buttons]
 oft [0..23]         |Off Time [hours]
 ont [0..23]         |On Time [hours] 
 rep                 |Report all option states
 tfx [0..4]          |Transition Effects 
                      [0:None 1:Blink 2:Fade 3:Wipe-off 4:Wipe-slot]
 tim hhmmss.t [a,p]  |Set Time. For 12h end w/ a or p
 tst a E             |all tubes to cathode element E
 tst j T E           |just one tube T element E
 txt message         |Display Message on alphanumeric display
 txb [32 hex chars]  |Control Individual Segments of display
 txo [lcr] [fso]     |Txt Message options [l)left c)enter r)ight]
                      [f:fixed s:shift o:one-at-a-time]
 ver                 |Show Version
 wis [0..4]          |Wipe Style 
                      [0:Right>Left 1:Left>Right 2:Toggle-dir 3:Random
 wir [1..8]          |Wipe Rate [1:Fast 8:Slow]
 ymd yyyy/mm/dd      |Set Year/Month/Day

help_hw_shield

 Commands Help
 Entering command name without options alone will display current values

 tst a E             |all tubes to cathode element E
 tst j T E           |just one tube T element E
 tst s T E R         |sequence tube T starting with element E at rate R
 tst n               |set tubes to (not-so) random values
 tst r               |ramp brightness up/down
 tst t R             |all same animate at rate R
 tst h               |high voltage : u,i:duty cycle up/down  
                      j,k:freq up/down n,m: MaxV up/dwn 
                      7,8:blankmask up/dwn q:quit
 tst b N             |set all tubes to cathode element N
 tst w N             |set all tubes to cathode element N

buthelp_hw_reva_in17x7

 BUTTONS:

 Button Names: (from top to bottom or right to left): UP, DOWN, SET
 While running normally, pressing any button briefly will cycle through date->time->off
 To set time, press and hold any button until display changes then release. Then
 use UP and DOWN to adjust the time, then press Set. To set options, repeat the same 
 procedure to enter set mode but do not set time. Instead, press SET again to step to option 01.
 You may now press SET repeatedly to cycle through all options. Use UP/DOWN to adjust any option.
 Exit set option mode by pressing and holding SET at any time. Release when normal operation
 resumes.

 For more information options do a 'help cmds'. 
 The equivalent cli command are in ()'s 

 01 : Alarm Hours (ala)
 02 : Alarm Mins (ala)
 03 : 12/24 Hour Mode:0=12h 1=24h 
 04 : Year (ymd)
 05 : Month (ymd)
 06 : Day of Month (ymd)
 07 : Day of Week (dow)
 08 : Brightness (bri)
 09 : Cross Fade (cfa)
 10 : Date Order (dom) 
 11 : Transition Effect (tfx)
 12 : Wipe Style (wip)
 13 : Wipe Rate(wir)
 14 : Display Cycle (dcy)
 15 : Chime (chi)
 16 : On Time (ont)
 17 : Off Time (oft)
 18 : DST Enable (dse)
 19 : DST In Effect (dse)
 20 : DST Start day of week count (dst)
 21 : DST Start day of week (dst)
 22 : DST Start month (dst)
 23 : DST End day of week count (dst)
 24 : DST End day of week (dst)
 25 : DST End month (dst)

buthelp_hw_revb_in17x7

 BUTTONS:

 Button Names: (from top to bottom or right to left): UP, DOWN, SET
 While running normally, pressing any button briefly will cycle through date->time->off
 To set time, press and hold any button until display changes then release. Then
 use UP and DOWN to adjust the time, then press Set. To set options, repeat the same 
 procedure to enter set mode but do not set time. Instead, press SET again to step to option 01.
 You may now press SET repeatedly to cycle through all options. Use UP/DOWN to adjust any option.
 Exit set option mode by pressing and holding SET at any time. Release when normal operation
 resumes.

 For more information options do a 'help cmds'. 
 The equivalent cli command are in ()'s 

 01 : Alarm Hours (ala)
 02 : Alarm Mins (ala)
 03 : 12/24 Hour Mode:0=12h 1=24h 
 04 : Year (ymd)
 05 : Month (ymd)
 06 : Day of Month (ymd)
 07 : Day of Week (dow)
 08 : Brightness (bri)
 09 : Cross Fade (cfa)
 10 : Date Order (dom) 
 11 : Transition Effect (tfx)
 12 : Wipe Style (wip)
 13 : Wipe Rate(wir)
 14 : Display Cycle (dcy)
 15 : Chime (chi)
 16 : On Time (ont)
 17 : Off Time (oft)
 18 : DST Enable (dse)
 19 : DST In Effect (dse)
 20 : DST Start day of week count (dst)
 21 : DST Start day of week (dst)
 22 : DST Start month (dst)
 23 : DST End day of week count (dst)
 24 : DST End day of week (dst)
 25 : DST End month (dst)
 26 : Backlights (bli)

buthelp_hw_reva_b7971x8

 BUTTONS:

 Button Names: (from top to bottom or right to left): UP, DOWN, SET
 While running normally, pressing any button briefly will cycle through date->time->off
 To set time, press and hold any button until display changes then release. Then
 use UP and DOWN to adjust the time, then press Set. To set options, repeat the same 
 procedure to enter set mode but do not set time. Instead, press SET again to step to option 01.
 You may now press SET repeatedly to cycle through all options. Use UP/DOWN to adjust any option.
 Exit set option mode by pressing and holding SET at any time. Release when normal operation
 resumes.

 For more information options do a 'help cmds'. 
 The equivalent cli command are in ()'s 

 03 : 12/24 Hour Mode:0=12h 1=24h 
 04 : Year (ymd)
 05 : Month (ymd)
 06 : Day of Month (ymd)
 07 : Day of Week (dow)
 08 : Brightness (bri)
 11 : Transition Effect (tfx)
 12 : Wipe Style (wip)
 13 : Wipe Rate(wir)
 14 : Display Cycle (dcy)
 16 : On Time (ont)
 17 : Off Time (oft)
 18 : DST Enable (dse)
 19 : DST In Effect (dse)
 20 : DST Start day of week count (dst)
 21 : DST Start day of week (dst)
 22 : DST Start month (dst)
 23 : DST End day of week count (dst)
 24 : DST End day of week (dst)
 25 : DST End month (dst)

buthelp_hw_revb_b7971x8

 BUTTONS:

 Button Names: (from top to bottom or right to left): UP, DOWN, SET
 While running normally, pressing any button briefly will cycle through date->time->off
 To set time, press and hold any button until display changes then release. Then
 use UP and DOWN to adjust the time, then press Set. To set options, repeat the same 
 procedure to enter set mode but do not set time. Instead, press SET again to step to option 01.
 You may now press SET repeatedly to cycle through all options. Use UP/DOWN to adjust any option.
 Exit set option mode by pressing and holding SET at any time. Release when normal operation
 resumes.

 For more information options do a 'help cmds'. 
 The equivalent cli command are in ()'s 

 03 : 12/24 Hour Mode:0=12h 1=24h 
 04 : Year (ymd)
 05 : Month (ymd)
 06 : Day of Month (ymd)
 07 : Day of Week (dow)
 08 : Brightness (bri)
 11 : Transition Effect (tfx)
 12 : Wipe Style (wip)
 13 : Wipe Rate(wir)
 14 : Display Cycle (dcy)
 16 : On Time (ont)
 17 : Off Time (oft)
 18 : DST Enable (dse)
 19 : DST In Effect (dse)
 20 : DST Start day of week count (dst)
 21 : DST Start day of week (dst)
 22 : DST Start month (dst)
 23 : DST End day of week count (dst)
 24 : DST End day of week (dst)
 25 : DST End month (dst)
 26 : Backlights (bli)

buthelp_hw_shield

 <not yet implemented>