Vesper Marine firmware upgrade warning

[Norseman447]

I recently checked the Vesper WatchMate 850 website and noticed that the company highly recommended a new firmware update. (IMPORTANT NOTE: We encourage owners to stay up-to-date with the latest firmware. This update is recommended to be applied to all units.)
My WatchMate 850 worked fine, but since it was highly recommended I proceeded to download the new firmware and connected my computer to the unit. Everything went fine, I watched the upload line progress, till suddenly it stopped and the computer screen read: FAILURE. I looked at the WatchMate 850 display and it had turned off.

The unit was dead. I contacted Vesper Marine and explained what had happened, that the unit had turned itself off. My email was promptly answered by Tom Rundle (Vesper Marine Support) and I was advised: "On the 10 pin connector there is a pink wire. This wire is used to put the unit into recovery mode. If you power down the unit, tie this wire to system ground (connect to black wire), then power on the unit again you will be in recovery mode."
Ok, the WatchMate 850 would not power on but maybe by attaching the pink wire it would. No, everything stayed dead. After I advised Bob, of that fact, I did not hear from him again.
Next, I called Vesper Marine in New Zealand on the phone. I was connected to Ivan Steenhuyse (Vesper Marine Support) who explained to me, by email, that, "The upgrade procedure has been tested extensively on all Hardware versions (we keep units of every Hardware version over here to make sure we can test every scenario before a new software is being released), so I really assume it was coincidence that the unit started to fail during the upgrade."….., "and failures occurring during an upgrade are extremely rare."
Ivan continued, "That being told, we really can't accept warranty for a unit which is more than 5 years old, apologies for the bad news I have to bring. If you want to proceed having the unit repaired, then please find the instructions for returning the unit to us:" etc.
The way I read this, is the following: the failure of perfectly good working unit, while uploading our firmware is extremely rare, but it is not our problem and if you want your unit repaired you pay for it.
I post this thread as a caution, that it is probably better NOT to up-date the latest firmware to any unit which is no longer under warranty. If anybody else has had this problem, please let me know.
Regards,
Norseman 447

[travellerw]

Nope.. I have updated my Vesper multiple times without a problem.

I also tend to agree with Vesper in how they dealt with the situation. From your description, its a hardware failure. Hardware failure would not be caused by a software upgrade. Sucks, but it looks to just be a bad coincidence.

P.S. I get a tingly feeling that your unit may not be dead and it may be wiring. I would suggest you pull the unit out and connect it to an independant power supply to see if it powers up.

[Norseman447]

Hardware failure would not be caused by a software upgrade?
Google: "is it possible to permanently damage hardware by software"

[jkleins]

Hardware failures can occur at the same time as software upgrades though. I had a Mac power supply fail during a system upgrade. Things just happen. It sucks that it had to happen to you. Sorry.

[Suijin]

Norseman,

No, a software upgrade would not cause a hardware fault. It might cause the unit to not function properly, but it would not prevent it from simply powering up at all.

The Vesper rep is correct. It was either coincidence that the unit died during the upgrade or there was some sort of user error during the process. It is possible to damage hardware through software but it’s much rarer than a coincidental fault.

It’s always tempting when a fault occurs simultaneously with some other event to blame the event; common sense tells us that they are related from our experience with cause and effect but they can be completely unrelated.

I would just send it in for repair and request a description of the specific fault from the tech that services it.

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by Norseman447

Hardware failure would not be caused by a software upgrade?
Google: "is it possible to permanently damage hardware by software"

Of course its possible to damage hardware with software, I don't need google to tell me that. People brick phones, routers, wifi devices, all the time. However, the upgrade you were applying is a year old. At this point it has most likely been applied to thousands of 850s all over the world without incident (or we would have more threads like this).

I understand you are upset and believe this update killed your unit. While it is possible that happened, it extreamly unlikely. This post will definately not keep me from updating my Vesper gear.

No matter what, Vesper still handled this correctly. You have a unit that is off warranty and they gave you the proceedure to have it repaired if you like.

P.S. Have you actually tried to power it up outside of the boat on a known good supply?

[transmitterdan]

Software update often uses regions of flash memory not previously used. It is wrong of Vesper in my opinion to assume it failed during update. It could have been bad from day one. They should let the user return the unit to see if the Vesper technician can recover the unit. Probably they can. If they can they should update the software and return the unit for the cost of shipping.

Many countries don’t allow manufacturers to hide behind the calendar regarding warranties where a defect is “latent”. This smells like a latent defect. I would call them back and ask to speak to the service manager. Explain what happened and that you don’t want them to “repair” the unit. You just want them to update the firmware to the latest version and send it back. Any good manufacturer of marine electronics should be willing to do that as a minimum.

[Imprezza72]

Try isolating the unit from other inputs. While Vesper tests the upgrade on their versions of hardware there is no way to simulate every configuration of external devices. A device trying to establish a connection would cause interrupts which could effect the software upgrade.

[rthompsona]

My vesper 800B lost Wifi and USB while we were going from Mexico to Belize. NEMA2K communication to the plotter still worked. I emailed Vesper and they walked me through the recovery procedure and the update. It has worked fine since.

[Tillsbury]

Did you buy the unit in new Zealand? If so, the warranty is likely to be much longer than the manufacturer states.