Updating Elite on Windows 10

[www.mixturesweb.com]

Morning All

I've tried updating my Hornby Elite for the first time today from V1.0 to V1.41 however nothing seems to work as it is explained to in the instructions.  I have noticed that the instructions state for up to Windows 8.1 so is there anything that should be different in 10?

Cheers

[Chrissaf]

however nothing seems to work as it is explained to in the instructions

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In what way....be specific?

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To date there is very little experience of the contributors on here performing the Elite firmware update using Windows 10. The reason being, is that firmware 1.42 is quite old now and Win 10 quite recent. Windows 10 and Windows 8.x use the same Elite software driver file name, so in theory any issues with Win 8.x would be expected to be similar in Win 10.

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Windows 8.x has been problematic when upgrading Elite firmware. Although some users reported upgrading the Elite firmware on Win 8.x worked for them, the bulk of the majority (me included) could not get the Elite firmware updater software to complete successfully using Win 8.x, in many cases resulting in the Elite being 'bricked' (completely unusable) as was mine.

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Windows Vista & 7 and in particular XP seem to perform the Elite upgrade without issue. The XP version easily recovers a previously bricked Elite. In my case, I borrowed an old XP desktop from a neighbour to recover my bricked Elite.

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Try and borrow someone's PC / Laptop with Windows 7 or earlier to perform the upgrade. If you just do not have any access to a borrowed machine, then get Hornby (use phone number in link below) to perform the upgrade for you. Some users here have reported that Hornby did theirs F.O.C apart from P&P costs. Rumour has it that Hornby keep an XP machine on standby in the workshop for this very task.

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https://www.hornby.com/uk-en/contact

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PS - It is very important to follow the instructions absolutely to the letter regarding plugging and unplugging leads, pressing buttons and waiting for the stated time delays in the instructions. The update process is extremely finicky and needs to be followed meticulously.

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One observation that is consistently reported by users, is that if the updater progress bar moves quickly, the update will fail. If the update progress bar moves slowly (taking about 30 seconds or more to reach 100%) then the update will be successful.

[Fishmanoz]

Hi Crossforth, welcome to the forums. 

 

Unlike Chris, I can't remember anyone being successful using 8.x.  There may have been a couple trying 10 but it would have been very early on when RM was having trouble working with 10.  This latter issue is now resolved.

 

My understanding of the issue is one of getting the correct driver running, and our resident expert on these matters is Augustus Caesar (AC).  In the absence of his advice, I'd try the following approach:  connect up your Elite to your PC and install the latest version of RM from the link at the top of the RM forum.  Don't worry if you don't intend to run RM, the installation of it will install the correct driver for Elite under W10.

 

Now run the Elite firmware upgrade installation software, skipping the part that installs the driver, that not being need as you already have the correct driver running. Then run the remainder of the firmware update, being meticulous as Chris has said, and see how you go.  If not successful the first time, try again a number of times.  When I did it, it only worked on the second try  

 

Then please do report back.

[Chrissaf]

Oh and one other thing. If you do get the Elite firmware upgrade to complete successfully then check to ensure that the word "Standard" appears in the Elite LCD display during power up. If it says 'Classic' instead, then you will need to revert the Elite configuration back to "Standard" else you will get other unexplained issues. How to change the mode from "Classic" to "Standard" is in the Elite user guide.

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PS

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Although some users reported upgrading the Elite firmware on Win 8.x worked for them

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AC (referred to by Fishy in his reply) being one of them.....

[Fishmanoz]

Was that using his convoluted driver uninstall/reinstall Chris?

[Chrissaf]

Possibly.......or maybe even probably.

And if I recall correctly any others that reported success, probably used his documented process too.

[96RAF]

I went through quite a long trials process with AC trying to determine why Wins 8 to 10 would not update the Elite reliably and we never bottomed out on a standard procedure that was guaranteed to work, unlike XP which I find is fireproof.

 

I never got the AC  'convoluted' method to work at all.

 

Having updated my 3 Elites more times than I've had hot dinners for various reasons, including dragging HCC into the mix, I still revert back to my old XP laptop to do updates, although I always give Win 10 another chance before inevitably bailing.

 

Win 7 also has a fairly guaranteed success rate, but with Wins 8 to 10 it either does or it doesn't depending upon your particular pc/laptop make/model.

 

As Chris says the update bar progress rate is a sure fire method of anticipating whether it will succeed or fail.