firmware update process needs alot of improvement

hello,

I've had a doser 2.1 SA for dosing alk/ca/mg for about 6 months now. So far it has functioned without any significant problems (more on minor glitches later). yesterday i received the KH director / doser 2.1 combo pack i ordered. before setting everything up, i decided to update the firmware ( hoping the new firmware would add ability to save and chart alk test results. As stated here in the forum this feature would be coming soon. any updates on this ? )

Let me just say the firmware updating procedure is tedious and problematic. alot of room for improvements here.

1) I first start by opening the phone app, hoping there is a button for firmware update. There is, but it just prompt that firmware update must be done via GCC on the PC. I wrongly assumed since the doser is connected to the internet that firmware update can be done directly without having to go through PC. no problem onto the pc

2) on the pc in the GCC software, I thought it would prompt you there's a new firmware available on the internet. It doesn't. There also isn't a button to grab a new firmware. So I go to the ghl website, firmwares aren't available for download either. So in order to update the firmware, you are forced to uninstall your existing older version of GCC, thereby erasing all your existing settings and reinstall the new version. why ? because the firmware is only packaged in the new version of GCC. why not make the firmware a separate discrete download ? better yet, why not make it a ability in the gcc software or most ideally in the phone app.

3) to be fair, gcc did warn of possibility of losing setting when you press the firmware update button and recommend you to "save" all your settings. I assume by "saving" settings, it meant using the "backup and restore" function. which I did. But I was wrong. It saves only some settings and deleting most. after restoring the backup.par file, I still lost all the level settings for ATO as well as pump calibration settings. So I guess by "saving" the warning message actually wants the user to go through each individual pump settings and use paper and pencil to copy them down. who does that anymore ? So what exactly does backup and restore save ? what is its purpose if it doesn't save ALL settings ? It can be argued that if 99% setting are saved, it still cannot be relied on. because what if that 1% that wasn't saved happened to be some critical info (ie. ato setting, or dosing setting)

4) when restoring .par file, there was a prompt stating the .par file had been made using a older different GCC then the current updated version, go ahead anyway? This seems really silly to me. because of course the GCC version is different because I am forced to install to a new version to update firmware. One would assume the main use of backup and restore is during firmware update, which in this case results in different GCC installation. so seems like it's checking for an error that really shouldn't be an error and should be accounted for because that's the main use for backup and restore

with all due respect, in my humble opinion, GHL hardware is one of the best in the market, but the software can use improvement.

about the minor glitch, why does it take so long for the phone app to connect to the pumps ? and it seems you only have a few seconds for the pumps to be responsive. after that first 15 seconds it becomes unresponsive if you try to connect to another pump. unless you disconnect and connect back in. which is what i do most of the time.

- thank you for reading.

Hi there,

1. Yes that is correct. The updates are done using GHL Control Center. We have a video here which walks you through the entire process, including how to download the new version of GHL Control Center.

2. Since firmware files for ALL GHL devices are included in the GCC download, the newest version of GCC would have to be downloaded in order to access them. Being that there are multiple products with each having their own separate firmware, we find it is more efficient to bundle ALL into one download (GCC) instead of making customers sift through multiple firmware files on the website.

2.1 Your doser settings are stored in the doser, not GCC. Every time one connects to their device, the settings are pulled directly from the device itself, not from GCC. You do not have to uninstall the older version of GCC. If you choose to do so, your doser settings will remain intact.

3. Without knowing what firmware version or GCC version you originally had, it is possible that not all settings will carry over. That is why we always recommend backing up your settings before doing an update. The ability to save all settings was added over 1 year ago. If you backed up with an older GCC version, that could very well be the reason why some settings did not transfer. If you backup now, you will see all settings are stored in the backup file.

4. Correct. This is because not everyone creates a backup file because they updated their firmware. Some choose to do regular backups before making changes to their settings...if they do not end up liking the outcome of their changes, they can always fallback to the original settings.

Regarding the connectivity speed to the doser, that is solely dependent on the connection quality from the router to the doser. If there are wireless interferences nearby, that could also impact connection speed.

KHD charting on a Standalone Doser was added when firmware 1.35 was released.