I connected it from a workstation USB port directly to the miniUSB port on the node
okā¦ I worked before with that tool but with an rn2483 connected through an usb 2 serial module
that worked ā¦ sometimes, on 9600.
I can imagine that the uart connection between the processor and the rn2483 should be broken to prevent problems during upload
2 Likes
Thanks BoRRoz,
May be is a protection as you imagine, but how could I update firmware to avoid battery drain ?
Is the only way the one with a programming adapter as show in post 8 ?
- hope to find out myself because I will receive same node end of the week
I also hope that in some way it will possible to find something to update the node firmware.
Itās a pitty that a Lora demo device wasnāt able to demonstrate one of the most important features of the technology(in my opinion), the low consumption.
This is my experience till now:
When I bought the Node I have to discover myself that there was some high consumption problem, then Iāve received a suggestion (from Microchip ?) to verify the firmware version (but how ?) because the issue should be solved with the last firmware version.
And now I have to find how to update it with a software tool that sometimes work and often donāt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yorVpfTO2k&t=123s)
Not really an easy way to get started with a demo device that I imagined was ready to demonstrate the strong point of LoRa ā¦
There are several factors for the powerconsumption in this device.
- the choice of the processor, in this case 32U4
- the buildin radio module, here the RN2483
- the software the user uploads
- possibly the firmware version of the radio module
The firmware java tool is from Semtech and not from TTN, as far as I know there is no dedicated TTN update tool.
I agree that in a perfect world a LoRaWAN node can work up to 10 years on a little battery, in reality thatās not true (understatement)
I hope to come back to this subject when I had the chance to do some more research on TTNās node.
These nodes are studymaterial, how do you connect a node to the network, how do you program a node ect
* the firmware version could/should be an output from ttn.showStatus();
I agree with you, ten years are probably unreachable, but ten days are really a short time (The Things Node Battery consumption).
The main problem seems that till version 1.0.1 the sleep function doesnāt work fine (The Things Node Battery consumption
1.0.2 Release - Fixed an issue that impacted the current consumed in sleep mode) and for that reason the āsimplyā firmware update could probably resolve the main problem.
It isnāt. The tool is written to be used with a device where the controller forwards USB data transparently to the RN module, not to talk to an Arduino bootloader.
You need to create a sketch that reads USB serial data and forwards it to the RN module and takes the RN module output and sends it to USB, then you might be able to use this tool to update the firmware.
1 Like
Thanks kersing,
for sure I wonāt not able to build this software, but this help me to understand whatā s happening.
Iām afraid I will remain with my old firmware version ā¦
If you have any free Arduino Zero or ESP32 available you can upgrade with this tool and some basic wiring.
2 Likes
Charles do you think is it feasable to update the TTN node through USB only ?
build everything in one sketch
2 Likes
@BoRRoZ, love you question, I wondering if, but not, CPU on node does not have enough flash to handle microchip firmware.
It should be possible with dedicated sketch acting as passthrough between USB and Module, but need to write code on computer side. Amazing we canāt update node Lora RNxxxx firmware easy way 
1 Like
You have to load the āserial passthroughā sketch onto the TTN node to map the serial connection to the RN2483 chip in order to upload the firmware.
I successfully updated āthe things nodeā RN2483 to version 1.0.3. Instructions here: HowTo: Update RN2483 Firmware on āThe Things Nodeā to prevent excessive battery drain
3 Likes
Thanks, really a great work!