HOWTO: Update E, F, J, K to Standard (A) firmware, if latest version is already installed (v3.04)

[fux]

I finally found a solution to update the firmware of the CGO3+ from Europe (E), Australia / New Zealand (F), Japan (J) or Korea / Indonesia (K) to the Standard (A) version, if you have already the the same version installed.

tl;dr: I uploaded the already patched firmware files, which you can flash directly. Please follow the easy Howto below.

For detailed infos about the patching itself, please have a look at the end of this post.

How to update with the patched firmware from E, F, J or K to A

Update prerequisites

First you have to check, if your installed versions from Gimbal, AutoPilot and Camera matches with the versions below (check "System Settings" -> "About Controller" on your ST16).

Latest firmware version: 3.04

• Gimbal V1.25
• AutoPilot V1.35
• Camera V3.2.34

If the versions match, you can proceed with the update steps below.

Download links

• Firmware 3.04 - E, F, J or K to A - Download from MEGA (Mirror Dropbox)

If you want to revert to E, F, J or K (e.g. when returning to Yuneec for repair), please use one of this firmwares:

• Firmware 3.04 - Revert to E - Download from MEGA (Mirror Dropbox)
• Firmware 3.04 - Revert to F - Download from MEGA (Mirror Dropbox)
• Firmware 3.04 - Revert to J - Download from MEGA (Mirror Dropbox)
• Firmware 3.04 - Revert to K - Download from MEGA (Mirror Dropbox)

Update steps

1. Download the patched firmware from the download link above.
2. Copy the downloaded file in the root directory of your SD card.
3. Insert SD card into the CGO3+ and power on the Typhoon H and the ST16.
4. After the CGO3+ is connected (and you have a live stream on the screen) select "System Settings" -> "About Controller" and hit the second "UPDATE" button (Typhoon-H section).
5. Now the files will be decompressed and the CGO3+ is updated.
6. Wait until the process is done and you get a "Please restart aircraft" message. The CGO3+ is now blinking purple and after a few seconds the camera shuts down. The LED of the CGO3+ should be off then.
7. Power off the Typhoon H and start it again.
8. Now you have the A version installed. You can verify that in the "About Controller" screen on the ST16.

Firmware patching batch script (for Windows users)

If you want to create your own patched firmware (and don't want to use my prepatched firmware file), you can use my Windows batch script, which do the needed steps automatically for you.

The Zip contains a Windows batch script (.cmd) and the needed tools (unzip, zip and md5). And no, there is no Virus, Trojan or something else inside But of course you can scan these files on virustotal.com, before you use the script.

How to use the batch script

1. Download the A version (TyphoonH_Ver3.04_A.bin) firmware from the Yuneec Homepage.
2. Download the attached Zip file in this thread post.
3. Unpack the Zip file and put the downloaded firmware (TyphoonH_Ver3.04_A.bin) inside this folder.
4. Run the batch script, by double clicking the "firmware_patcher_v3.04.cmd" file.
5. The script will output a few informations and a final message: "Done". You can now flash TyphoonH_Ver3.04_A.bin. Have fun!"
6. Continue with the flash Howto above.

Details about the patching itself and how I modified the firmware

First of all: The "binary" firmware update file is a Zip archive

So I unpacked this archive:

$ unzip TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin
Archive:  TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin
inflating: files.zzz
extracting: FILE_MD5.txt

And of course: The file "files.zzz" is also a Zip. I also unpacked this archive and I got the four real update files:

$ unzip files.zzz
Archive:  files.zzz
inflating: TyphoonH_FC_V1.16_27_5_2016.yuneec
inflating: TyphoonH_Flow_V1.04_3_25_2016.yuneec
inflating: cgo3+gb_3.2.07_LC2_A_firmware_30207.bin
inflating: CGO3PLUS_V1.22_2016_5_19.yuneec

With the old CGO3 (Q500) it was possible to update to an A version, when you rename the firmware file to a higher version. Huge thanks at this point to skyhawk75, who reminded me of this possibility!

So I renamed the file

"cgo3+gb_3.2.07_LC2_A_firmware_30207.bin"

to

"cgo3+gb_3.2.08_LC2_A_firmware_30208.bin"

and zipped the files again into the "files.zzz". I also updated the MD5 checksum in "FILE_MD5.txt", which contained the checksum for the "files.zzz" archive. In the final step I've created the final archive with "files.zzz" and "FILE_MD5.txt" inside, named "TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin".

Then I tried to update, and:

SUCCESS! It worked! It updated only the CGO3+, and didn't touch anything else. After the reboot I had the A version installed with the current version 3.2.07. So the modified filename didn't change the installed version number on the ST16, great!

Questions?

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask

Donations

If you like my work, you can donate here. Thank you!

 

[banned user]

I finally found a solution to update the firmware of the CGO3+ from the Europe (E) to the Standard (A) version, if you already have the Europe version with the same version installed.

I uploaded the modified firmware update file, you can download it here:

Have fun!

Great Work...Thanks

 

[Maik]

Perfect! Thank you very much and I am curious how you modded the firmware (not that I do not trust it, but I surely want to know what I am installing on my H).
But again thanks!

 

[fux]

Perfect! Thank you very much and I am curious how you modded the firmware (not that I do not trust it, but I surely want to know what I am installing on my H).
But again thanks!

As promised: I updated my first post, how I modified the firmware file and attached also a Windows batch script

 

[MwST]

Nice, but what is the bennefit?

 

[fux]

Nice, but what is the bennefit?

For me:

1. The bootup time (until I get a live picture on the ST16) drastically reduced to ~20 seconds (before with the E version it took about 2 minutes).
2. Sometimes the video signal dropped, when I put the landing gear up and I had to wait again 2 minutes to regain control over the camera and the recording.
3. More stable video link (and under good conditions more range).

 

[Fritz]

It works very fine. Thanks a lot!

 

[Maik]

Perfect work fux!
Thanks again!

 

[MwST]

@fux
sounds nice, is there a way back to standard EU firmware?

 

[Sparkorc]

Question for fux has the binary code been written differently for the H by Yuneec, the reason I ask is you could change the firmware on the Q500 4K from EU to Standard straight from their download page, because that's what I did a few months ago, but since purchasing the Typhoon H I noticed you cant now do this it stays the same with a E on the end, at the moment my H is with CS but when it returns hopefully by the end of the week I will try your method to change it, Thanks for working this out.

 

[yuneec53]

I finally found a solution to update the firmware of the CGO3+ from the Europe (E) to the Standard (A) version, if you already have the Europe version with the same version installed.

I uploaded the modified firmware update file, you can download it here:

TyphoonH_Ver2.15_E.bin (45,65 MB) - uploaded.net

I posted the modified firmware file those guys, who don't want to create their own patched firmware. For everybody else:

How I modified the firmware

First of all: The "binary" firmware update file is a Zip archive

So I unpacked this archive:

$ unzip TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin
Archive:  TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin
inflating: files.zzz             
extracting: FILE_MD5.txt

And of course: The file "files.zzz" is also a Zip. I also unpacked this archive and I got the four real update files:

$ unzip files.zzz
Archive:  files.zzz
inflating: TyphoonH_FC_V1.16_27_5_2016.yuneec
inflating: TyphoonH_Flow_V1.04_3_25_2016.yuneec
inflating: cgo3+gb_3.2.07_LC2_A_firmware_30207.bin
inflating: CGO3PLUS_V1.22_2016_5_19.yuneec

With the old CGO3 (Q500) it was possible to update to an A version, when you rename the firmware file to a higher version. Huge thanks at this point to skyhawk75, who reminded me of this possibility!

So I renamed the file

"cgo3+gb_3.2.07_LC2_E_firmware_30207.bin"

to

"cgo3+gb_3.2.08_LC2_E_firmware_30208.bin"

and zipped the files again into the "files.zzz". I also updated the MD5 checksum in "FILE_MD5.txt", which contained the checksum for the "files.zzz" archive. In the final step I've created the final archive with "files.zzz" and "FILE_MD5.txt" inside, named "TyphoonH_Ver2.15_E.bin".

Then I tried to update, and:

SUCCESS! It worked! It updated only the CGO3+, and didn't touch anything else. After the reboot I had the A version installed with the current version 3.2.07. So the modified filename didn't change the installed version number on the ST16, great!

Firmware patching batch script (for Windows users)

I did all this steps on Linux, with all needed tools already installed. But I think the most of you are using Windows. Therefore I've created a Windows batch script, which do the steps above automatically for you.

The Zip contains a Windows batch script (.cmd) and the needed tools (unzip, zip and md5). And no, there is no Virus, Trojan or something else inside But you can of course scan these files on virustotal.com, before you use the script.

How to use the batch script

1. Download the A version (TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin) firmware from the Yuneec Homepage.
2. Download the attached Zip file in this thread post.
3. Unpack my Zip file and put the downloaded firmware (TyphoonH_Ver2.15_A.bin) inside this folder.
4. Run the batch script, by double clicking the "cgo3p_firmware_patch.cmd" file.
5. The script will output a few informations and a final message: "Done". You can now flash TyphoonH_Ver2.15_E.bin. Have fun!"
6. Continue with the following Howto.

How to update with the patched firmware

1. Copy the "TyphoonH_Ver2.15_E.bin" in the root directory of your SD card.
2. Insert SD card into the CGO3+ and power on the Typhoon H and the ST16.
3. After the CGO3+ is connected (and you have a live stream on the screen) select "System Settings" -> "About Controller" and hit "UPDATE".
4. Now the files will be decompressed and the CGO3+ is updated.
5. Wait until the process is done and you get a "Please restart aircraft" is done. The CGO3+ is now blinking purple and after a few seconds the camera shuts down. The LED of the CGO3+ should be off then.
6. Power off the Typhoon H and restart it again.
7. Now you have installed the 3.2.07 (A) version. You can check that in the "About Controller" screen.

Have fun!

Tried the install with a download of your modified file as posted. Still reads E and takes exactly the same time to boot. I realise you are doing this quite voluntarily and in your own time but any suggestions would be gratefully received

 

[copterfriend]

Can confirm - it works with the file provided via uploaded.net. Building it on my own with the Win Cmd-Script did not work - received the message 'File check failed, update failed'. Guess it may have to do with the MD5 hash ... (is different in both versions) Also can confirm the Camera connect takes now ~25 sec for me. Curious if the landing gear issue will go away - let's see.

 

[MwST]

Can someone confirm whether is possible to go back on the original FW?

 

[fux]

@fux
sounds nice, is there a way back to standard EU firmware?

I see no reason, why it should be not possible. The update is only flashing the file inside the archive. There is no check, which version you do install. Otherwise it would also not possible to flash from E to A.

I can post a prepatched firmware file with the E firmware for the CGO3+, if you want to try it yourself.

Question for fux has the binary code been written differently for the H by Yuneec, the reason I ask is you could change the firmware on the Q500 4K from EU to Standard straight from their download page, because that's what I did a few months ago, but since purchasing the Typhoon H I noticed you cant now do this it stays the same with a E on the end, at the moment my H is with CS but when it returns hopefully by the end of the week I will try your method to change it, Thanks for working this out.

I hope I understand your question correctly: Yes, the "binary code" is different on the H. The Q500 4K files are not packed like the H firmware. That's why you have to uncompress the firmware to rename the firmware file for the CGO3+ and repack it again.

Tried the install with a download of your modified file as posted. Still reads E and takes exactly the same time to boot. I realise you are doing this quite voluntarily and in your own time but any suggestions would be gratefully received

That is strange, because it worked on my H and and also on some other H's here.

Did you get a "Firmware update successful" after you hit "Update" a few seconds later? Then the firmware for the CGO3+ was not updated, there should be a message like "Camera is updating" and a progress bar. (I don't remember the exact lines, sorry) Then there should be a final message "Please restart your aircraft" shown. Only then the Camera update was successful.

Can confirm - it works with the file provided via uploaded.net. Building it on my own with the Win Cmd-Script did not work - received the message 'File check failed, update failed'. Guess it may have to do with the MD5 hash ... (is different in both versions) Also can confirm the Camera connect takes now ~25 sec for me. Curious if the landing gear issue will go away - let's see.

Hm, I quick checked my script: The MD5 hash is correctly generated. Maybe the finale archive was corrupted, after you copied it to your SD card? Otherwise I have no idea, what the problem was.

Can someone else please confirm, that my script worked and created a flashable update? Thanks

 

[yuneec53]

I see no reason, why it should be not possible. The update is only flashing the file inside the archive. There is no check, which version you do install. Otherwise it would also not possible to flash from E to A.

I can post a prepatched firmware file with the E firmware for the CGO3+, if you want to try it yourself.

I hope I understand your question correctly: Yes, the "binary code" is different on the H. The Q500 4K files are not packed like the H firmware. That's why you have to uncompress the firmware to rename the firmware file for the CGO3+ and repack it again.

That is strange, because it worked on my H and and also on some other H's here.

Did you get a "Firmware update successful" after you hit "Update" a few seconds later? Then the firmware for the CGO3+ was not updated, there should be a message like "Camera is updating" and a progress bar. (I don't remember the exact lines, sorry) Then there should be a final message "Please restart your aircraft" shown. Only then the Camera update was successful.

Hm, I quick checked my script: The MD5 hash is correctly generated. Maybe the finale archive was corrupted, after you copied it to your SD card? Otherwise I have no idea, what the problem was.

Can someone else please confirm, that my script worked and created a flashable update? Thanks

I start by saying I offer no sanction against you for this all computer devices can act different. I never got the flash screen offering me to restart the device it just stopped. I then switched it off it then booted up and connected but no quicker. I then shut down and since when I am unable to connect at all. I will keep trying to connect and then attempt to reflash your software again. Fortunately I only live 30 minutes from Yuneec UK and am sort of matey with one of the techs there .

 

[MwST]

Great fux, finaly a working camera connection.

The script doesn't work for me either.
Back to (E) was not possible, this might by important for Guaranty repairs etc.

Curious if the landing gear issue will go away

Made 5 starts today, no problem with loosing connection during landig gear operation.

 

[fux]

Great fux, finaly a working camera connection.

The script doesn't work for me either.

Thanks, I will have a look on the script this evening.

Back to (E) was not possible, this might by important for Guaranty repairs etc.

I think you used the E firmware from the Yuneec homepage. That's why it is not working. You have to also patch the E firmware package. I will upload a prepatched firmware and an update for the script soon.

 

[MwST]

That wouldt be nice.
This Patch made the YTH perfect to me. 30 seconds to get ready for filming, no abortions of connection during the flight so far. Thank's a lot fux.

 

[yuneec53]

I reloaded you firmware and it downloaded then uncompressed and stopped . On looking on the card I know have another bin file xxx. And I am trying to use this to update.

 

[Luckyleaf]

For me:

1. The bootup time (until I get a live picture on the ST16) drastically reduced to ~20 seconds (before with the E version it took about 2 minutes).
2. Sometimes the video signal dropped, when I put the landing gear up and I had to wait again 2 minutes to regain control over the camera and the recording.
3. More stable video link (and under good conditions more range).

Will this work on a Mac also ?