Also, can you confirm that you did this sequence of operations, Ben (with thanks to Steve Maller for typing in the original): Downloaded and installed newest Mac configurator (1.552) Downloaded firmware update Quit all open Mac apps Started up MōVI M5 with gimbal turned off using DX8 transmitter Verified good battery levels everywhere (MōVI, Mac) Connected to the MōVI Saved current configuration to the Mac Chose "Update Firmware" Confirmed version number (should be 3.08) Began update Sat quietly for 2-3 minutes whilst the progress bar progressed Saw "update successful" window Waited a moment, then reconnected to the MōVI Verified that everything was set to zeros Loaded saved config from above Set "Autotune" to 75 Ran it Andy.
Did you successfully establish contact between the Mac Configurator 1.552 and the MōVI before you got the BBOD (Beachball of Death). That's really odd. Just to confirm, you got the Configurator 1.522 to communicate with the MōVI but saw all the stiffness settings were zero? I'm afraid I'm only a volunteer moderator, so I don't have the details of the cable. Andy.
Can you use Configurator 1.552 to communicate with the MōVI, Fred? If so, what are the stiffness settings? Andy.
No, I dialled the settings down to zero so the movi would not vibrate itself to pieces on the stand. Yes. Progress bar was halfway across. Then the beachball. There were a couple of open apps. Including the instructions PDF which said nothing about, closing all open apps.
Hi Andy, thanks for being a volunteer. But, would be good to hear back from someone who works for freefly. Someone who can fix their obviously flawed firmware update. This is a major issue. And there is no telephone support. Beyond unimpressed right now.
Ben: OK. I think I've got it. You were running Configurator 1.552 to start the firmware update, it started, but beachballed half way through, you left it for 15 minutes but it was still spinning the beachball, so you killed the update, and now cannot use the Configurator to establish contact with the MōVI. I think closing the apps is just a precaution on the offchance they might be using the Bluetooth communications and interfere with the update. I've sent email to FF customer support, but it would be prudent for you to also send a message to support@freeflysystems.com to open up a ticket. I'm afraid I don't know how to reset the gimbal controller and re-establish contact with it without the jumper cable. Frustrating. Andy.
Why is this cable not included with every movi? It's not like these are cheap systems. We buy the top of the line, market leader for a reason. Mistakes like this are not good enough. To reiterate. We would not have begun this update if there was not a time limit on it. Total disaster.
I just ordered a Movi M5 and have it being overnighted to use it for a shoot on Wednesday. I have my current gimbal as a backup but this whole firmware fiasco has me a bit worried. Also I am curious as to what in the previous firmware will cause the movi to cease working by august 1st?
I wonder why this little number cable was not included standard in the kits, or even in the expensive 'emergency repair pouch' that we bought….
When I use auto tune and I let it calibrate, all seems fine if I hold the handle bars but as soon as I hold the top single handle, it starts to oscillate. Any ideas why?
G'Day Adam, Different stiffness setting are required for different holding methods, try using the auto tune with the movi only suspended by the centre handle and I suspect you will get the results you are after. Cheers
Hello Everyone... It has been a long 5 days since we announced the need to load the new firmware. As a company, we understand that as diligent as we are in the pursuit of quality, that sometimes issues happen. We sincerely appreciate the position this has put many of you in and we apologize. The Technical Support Team and our Forum Moderators have been feverishly working to answer all your questions and to help get your issues resolved. I know this is a frustrating time but if you can address your concerns with our support team at support@freeflysystems.com, we can work with you quickly to get your issues resolved. Additionally, I am hoping I can clarify a few of your concerns below: What is the issue that will cause the MoVI to fail on 1 August? The issue is related to a license date calculation. The issue will start occurring on 1 August, it will not impact everyone on 1 August. There is not a clean way of identifying when it will happen to each MoVI (it is based on when the unit was calibrated here in our facility). The issue (MoVI ceasing to work) will occur on the first of the month when the license calculation occurs. So if it doesn't occur for you on 1 August, it could potentially happen on 1 Sep and so on. UNLESS of course, you upgrade the firmware, which resolves the issue. If I don't upgrade and my MoVI stops working on 1 August (or later firsts of the month) will I need the jumper cable to upgrade my firmware at that time? - No, if your unit stops working due to the license calculation error, you will still be able to upgrade your firmware without the need of a cable. The cable is only required if something goes wrong during the upgrade process. By requesting the upgrade by 1 August, we were attempting to be proactive and save folks from having random unit failures. Why did we not include the jumper cable with the units? We have done multiple firmware upgrades since we launched the MoVI and have not had an issue like this. Obviously, with the requirement that everyone upgrade, the potential to have issues increases. We have since started adding the jumper cable with all units. Additionally, we are working to make the upgrade process (which is what the issue is here) more robust. Units that shipped as of Friday, all have the new firmware already loaded. You can check your firmware version if you are unsure, it needs to be 3.08. Again, we understand that this is an extremely trying experience and apologize. We look forward to helping everyone get through this so that you can take advantage of the diligent efforts that went into all the new features that are available in this release.
This happened to me when I about 10 minutes after I powered up my movi M5 with the older firmware about a month ago. luckly I grabbed it before it ripped the sensor cable off! Hasn't happened since. one thing you can try (just in case) is loosen the boom arms and move them back a bit to if it spins the roll bar will stop the camera.
I have been told by Denise, that the cable will be sent to me. I was also told that it is now included for new sales. I asked the question, as to why, if it's obviously such a big oversight, that the cable was not sent out to the 'early adopters' before we bricked our units, or required a reset. Personally, I think this issue could have been prevented if these cables were sent out to existing owners. This has cost many of us time, money, stress, and potentially clients.
I can appreciate how difficult it must be to work through the problems, but wow Freefly. Having just updated the firmware to 3.08 I think it's safe to say that is the worst firmware update procedure I've ever had to undertake. From a users point of view you really need to create an update procedure that is a bullet proof one menu selection run entirely off the configurator. If it wasn't for the risk that our Movi would become an oversize paperweight after 1st August I would not have attempted the upgrade, particularly as we have an extended 3 week shoot commencing and cannot have a Movi die mid way through. Once we were finally able to initiate the firmware upgrade the pucker factor of watching that update status bar slowly creep it's way to 100% was significant. I really feel your pain Ben and hope Freefly can sort this out for you. I also purchased a crash kit and the idea that a cheap firmware cable was not included is perplexing.
I have updated the firmware via PC without any problems. It was a bit stressful but it went fairly well and took just a few minutes to update. Extra note: I just followed the instructions on the manual. I put the Movi just next to my laptop for better bluetooth connection.