Particle Device OS Updates Thread

Particle Updates
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Device OS 2.0.0-rc.4 Release Candidate is out on the Web IDE for (Photon/P1/Electron/Argon/Boron/B SoM/B5 SoM/Tracker)

released on October 30th, 2020

Notes about LTS releases

Device OS v2.x is Particle's first Long Term Support (LTS) release branch for Device OS.
Long Term Support (LTS) releases are independent branches of Device OS that are feature-frozen in time. Subsequent releases will contain focused bug fixes and security patches for the features included in the first GA release. LTS releases do not receive updates with new features, API changes, or improvements that change the function or standard behavior of the device. LTS releases are recommended for enterprise customers and customers who value reliability over access to the latest Device OS features and functionality.

You can learn more about LTS releases in our documentation, here.

v2.0.0-rc.4 is the fourth public prerelease for LTS 2.0.x
This release, v2.0.0-rc.4, is the fourth public prerelease and release candidate for Particle's 2.x LTS release line. This release includes all of the functionality that is planned to be included in the 2.x LTS release line. This release may still contain stability issues and be subject to subsequent improvements that will be identified and resolved throughout the prerelease testing periods prior to GA.

2.0.0 release is heavily tested and has higher level of reliability and stability than our previous releases. 2.0.0 branch will be developed into LTS. LTS GA release will be 2.0.x.

Standard release notes and information for this release candidate are included below.

Note: This is a Release Candidate (RC) and is not intended for production yet. We've tested this RC to the best of our ability and we want to know what you think now! Please understand that some care and attention is necessary when testing this RC, and be sure to upgrade to the final release when it's available. This RC will not be available by default. To use you must select the version dropdown from the devices drawer. Downgrading back to the current release info is at the bottom of this post.

Note: OTA or YModem transfer on Electron (sequence required)

  1. First Update to 0.5.5 (if the current version is less than that)
  2. Then update to 0.6.4 (if the current version is less than that)
  3. Then update to 0.7.0 (if the current version is less than that)
  4. Then update to 1.2.1 (if the current version is less than that)
  5. Then update to 2.0.0-rc.4

Note: DFU over USB on Electron/Photon/P1 (sequence not required)

  • You may update to 2.0.0-rc.4 directly first, flash the system firmware (attached above) in order 1,2(,3) to the device using particle flash --usb <system-part.bin>. See the next note about the bootloader if you are offline!

Note: P1/Photon Bootloader
The Cloud will automatically update the bootloader on P1/Photon devices if your device is online. If your device does not connect to the cloud and it is offline, you should flash the bootloader to the device using particle flash --serial <bootloader.bin>. This should be done after upgrading system firmware. The Electron bootloader is applied automatically from it's own system parts.

Note: Argon/Boron/B SoM/B5 SoM
If your device is offline, the bootloader must be manually updated using particle flash --serial <bootloader.bin>. This can be done before or after upgrading system firmware.

Note: Argon/Boron/B SoM/B5 SoM SoftDevice
If your device is offline, the SoftDevice must be manually updated using the CLI. See the instructions below.

Note: Downgrading [Electron/Photon/P1] OTA or YModem transfer:
If you need to downgrade, you must downgrade to 1.2.1, then 0.7.0, then 0.6.3(Photon/P1), 0.6.4(Electron) to ensure that the bootloader downgrades automatically. When downgrading to older versions, downgrade to 1.2.1, then 0.7.0 first, then 0.6.3(Photon/P1), 0.6.4(Electron), then to an older version such as 0.5.5.

Note: Downgrading [LTE Boron and BSoM]:
If you need to downgrade, you must downgrade to 1.5.2 first. and let the device attempt a cellular network registration.

2.0.0-rc.4

ENHANCEMENTS

  • [Gen 3] Enable Network Diagnostics/Vitals #2230

BUGFIXES

  • [Gen 3] Fix a potential crash when using sleep with multiple pins specified as wake-up sources together with BLE #2227
  • [Electron] 2G Electrons with uBlox G350 should use AT+CPWROFF exclusively for powering off the modem #2229

System Binaries (all devices)

https://github.com/particle-iot/device-os/releases/download/v2.0.0-rc.4/particle_device-os@2.0.0-rc.4.zip

Programming and Debugging

You can view specific programming and debugging notes for this version of firmware here.

SoftDevice update

This Device OS release will automatically update the SoftDevice for devices connected to the cloud.

Prerequisites

particle-cli version 2.8.1.

Upgrading OTA

  1. Upgrade to 2.0.0-rc.4
  2. Manually flash 2.0.0-rc.4 bootloader: particle flash <deviceId> boron-bootloader@2.0.0-rc.4.bin
  3. Flash SoftDevice: particle flash <deviceId> boron-softdevice@2.0.0-rc.4.bin

Upgrading using YModem

  1. Upgrade to 2.0.0-rc.4
  2. Put the device into listening mode (blinking blue) by holding MODE button
  3. Manually flash 2.0.0-rc.4 bootloader: particle flash --serial boron-bootloader@2.0.0-rc.4.bin
  4. Flash SoftDevice: particle flash --serial boron-softdevice@2.0.0-rc.4.bin

Upgrading using DFU (--usb only works for SoftDevice, not bootloader yet)

  1. Upgrade Device OS to 2.0.0-rc.4
  2. Update the bootloader to 2.0.0-rc.4 with the OTA or YModem process above
  3. Put the device into DFU mode (blinking yellow)
  4. Flash the SoftDevice: particle flash --usb boron-softdevice@2.0.0-rc.4.bin