Software Auto Updates

    Do people generally install these updates? How do you know which version you can update your controller to? I've never been told by anyone in integration or by Fanuc, but it would make sense to me that you would always want the latest version.

    Never update unless you have a specific need to.


    If it ain't broke don't fix it. Updating software is not risk free.



    You can install any minor rev update. So if your controller is v8.x then you can update to any other 8.x but not 9.x.

    The only thing I've been asked by the customer is to have all the robots with the same revision, even if old, but at least they are the same.


    I agree If it ain't broke don't fix it. Updating software is not risk free.

    Retired but still helping

    HawkME and Fabian both mention risks and I am curious as to what issues you two have seen when performing software updates. The CRC seems to push the software updates to solve problems for which they can't find a straightforward answer. In my experience, I had one update that couldn't complete; I reloaded an image I took before the update and all was good. It ended up that a corrupt file on the controller caused the original problem and also caused the update to fail. Have you two experienced worse than this? Thanks in advance for your responses.

    The last auto update I attempted on an R30iB+ the controller froze during the image back up!
    I turned the controller off then back on after it was froze for an hour.
    Once it restarted it was STILL stuck on the same screen on the same IMG backup progress. I was not able to get to any other screen or stop the image backup process at all. The pendant was not responding to any key presses.
    After about 3 or 4 power cycles I was able to get the controller to turn back on to normal operation WITHOUT the update or the backups being completed.


    This process took me HOURS and I got nowhere in the end. But I was able to turn it back over to production.

    The worse I have seen is software become corrupted which was solved by re-loading a good Image backup.


    One risk is if a corruption happens and the person looses or accidentally deletes their image backup and then cannot get the robot back to a good state. Another risk is that the machine is down longer than what production anticipates costing the company money.


    If you are careful about saving an image backup then you should really be fine. But my question is what do you have to gain? If the machine is running correctly with no issues, then at best case you have labor and downtime to do a software update. Worst case you corrupt the software and lost your image backup.


    Sometimes you need to do a software update in order to install a new feature or Fanuc directs you to during troubleshooting. All I am saying is I don't recommend doing it unless you have a specific reason to.

    Quote from stare284


    The last auto update I attempted on an R30iB+ the controller froze during the image back up!
    ...
    This process took me HOURS and I got nowhere in the end. But I was able to turn it back over to production.


    Exactly! In my experience making changes to Fanuc software is not a fun process and always takes way longer than you expect it should. I have wasted entire days with Fanuc software changes and that is why I have my current philosophy of only doing them when really necessary.

    Edited once, last by HawkME ().

    Hello.

    I have r-i30b plus with V8.30P/20 software.

    Can install V8.30P71_Auto_Update or V9.40P46_Auto_Update?


    To install V9.40P46_Auto_Update must install before the previous versions of V9.40 or can i go directly from V8.30 ?


    (I have already 3 different AOA & image backups for safety)

    Good news auto update success with

    V8.30P71_Auto_Update.

    Also i have installed some free software options from update files without having original installation usb.

    Which is the most recent version of V8.X software?

    If you attempt the auto update or auto update multiple controllers with same USB you must delete the 00 folder that is created during the backup sequence or your second auto update will fail. You can auto update for example v8.20/1 to any auto update v8.20/**


    If you want to update from v8.20 to 8.30 you can do this also but not from an auto update media. You must use a core load from 8.30 and perform the auto update.

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