We have been running BlueOS version 1.1.1 on our 900m ROV for about a year and just recently we have had a issue where the ROV reverts back to factory version after each reboot. I’ve seen some posts recommending that bootstrap be updated but I am hesitant to do any major software updates since the equipment is deployed for the foreseeable future.
Is there a reason this issue would just have started happening? We also had a anomaly recently where the network settings reset themselves and we had to SSH into the pi to reconfigure.
Hi @hube268 -
I’d strongly recommend that you update your vehicle to stable 1.3.1, and update the boostrap as well. I understand your hesitation, but you are running a very very old software version with known issues - better to move to a stable and bug-free one! This update is not a “major” one so should not cause any issues.
It’s hard to say what may have started to happen recently, generally the rolling back happens when the system had a particularly bad shutdown, or took awhile booting up - you may want to make sure you have cleared misison logs before updating, as your SD card may be almost full?
This should all easily be resolved by updating and applying the boostrap afterwards!
Thanks @tony-white for the suggestions. I will check the mission logs files and clear those out. I did try going to 1.3 but that never seemed to load properly and I eventually had to restart the ROV multiple times before it just reverted back to default again. I went ahead and just installed the most recent beta 4.0.17 (I think) and that did work but it still did revert back to defaults after a restart. I however did not update bootstrap because I got a warning message that said updating bootstrap is only recommended between stable versions.
My Navigator board firmware is also running outdated v1.1.1. Not sure if that would be a contributing factor or not but that would seem really risky to update remotely.
Hi @hube268 -
I want to help clear up some misconceptions!
You MUST update the bootstrap to fix this issue. The bug of reverting to older versions is only a problem with the obsolete version you are running. It is indeed best to update to a stable bootstrap - v 1.3.1 - and then update to beta if you’d like - the nice thing is it won’t revert back unless there has been a critical error (like something going wild and deleting system files). Sorry that error message scared you away - you’re not the first to take it a touch too seriously.
Your ArduSub version is probably 4.1.1 - this is also quite old. Updating this, even with the vehicle in the field, has 0 RISK! Just like the docker container that runs each process in BlueOS, that makes it inherently safe when things go wrong (falling back to boostrap) - ArduSub is running inside a docker container as well - NOT on the Navigator itself! There is actually no microcontroller present on the Navigator - it is just a breakout for the sensors and output controllers used by the system.
It is worth noting, that when you update you’ll likely get some errors when you next arm the vehicle, and the mapping of your lights and/or camera may be affected. This should not be an issue to correct remotely - it’s simply setting the new parameters (Origin Lat, Origin Lon for auto magnetic declination ) and making sure your Servo function parameters are setup correctly. If you run into issues, download your parameters file and upload it here so we can take a look!
Thanks @tony-white. I was able to switch to BlueOS V 1.3.1 and updated bootstrap successfully. I will keep testing but it seems the revert issue is cleared up (I restarted the ROV a couple of times and it didn’t revert).
Thank you also for the ArduSub update information. I do appreciate your confidence that nothing will go wrong with the update, but I’m also the one responsible for the $25K recovery costs and months of downtime if things go wrong, so I think I will avoid updating unless absolutely necessary or if you can make a compelling enough case to do so. I think I still have PTSD from the old Pixhawk days
Hi @hube268
That’s great news! And likely the deepest software update we’ve ever seen accomplished - congrats! I hope the updates prove beneficial, thanks for the update!
