Using XPort™Installer
6.4 Upgrade
The firmware of a device (the software running on the device that defines its behavior) may
be changed. The files stored on the device (in Flash) may also be changed. Files are
primarily used for the web server of the device.
Typical reasons for changing the firmware or files are for using newer functionality that
Lantronix may make available since the device was manufactured. Custom applications
may also use specific firmware or files.
The file system of a Lantronix device is similar in function to that of a PC, but is divided into
several partitions to accommodate the layout of the flash memory. The number of partitions
varies depending on the device model. The XPort™ device supports seven. Each partition
is 64K in size and includes both file content and directory entries.
Files may be transferred to a device in one of two ways: either by copying a directory over
from the PC or by copying pre-formed partitions. These pre-formed partitions are commonly
stored in a file format with an extension of “.COB”. The COB file is a Lantronix convention,
and is similar in concept to a zip file. Most web interface updates published by Lantronix
use COB files.To start the Upgrade process, select Files from the Device menu or click the
Upgrade
button on the toolbar.
To transfer files, click on the Format field and choose either COB Archives or Directory from
the list. If COB Archives is selected as the format, click on one of the partitions to display an
browse button. Click the browse button to the right of each field to assign the cob files to
use.
If Directory is selected as the format, click on the Directory field to display the browse button.
Click the button to specify the directory location. Each file within the directory (plus the size
of the corresponding directory entry) must be less than 64K and the total must fit within the
available partitions. The files are automatically organized into partitions consecutively.
A firmware file (with a .rom extension) may be specified in the Firmware field.
6-6
XPort™
User Manual and Development Kit