Gateware updates#

Here are the files and instructions to update the Open Ephys FPGA module inside the Acquisition Board.

Note

This is only for boards that use the new Open Ephys FPGA (Dec 2022 onwards). We always ship the boards with the latest version of the gateware and we don’t make changes to the gateware often, so you will typically not need to update it. Previous versions of the system that use the Opal Kelly FPGA do not require this.

Latest version#

The latest available gateware is version 1.0.

Determining current gateware version#

In the Open Ephys GUI#

After dragging the OE FPGA Acquisition Board plugin to the signal chain, a message in the console will appear, with the current running gateware.

../_images/GUI-message.png

In Bonsai#

After creating the Source/OpenEphys/AcquisitionBoard node, the properties at the right of the window will contain a GatewareVersion field.

../_images/Bonsai-version.png

If the version does not appear or appears as N/A when creating the node, it will be properly updated after acquisition starts.

Instructions to update the gateware in case you don’t have the latest version#

Warning

Do not attempt to update the board gateware while the GUI or any other software using the board is in use. Do not open any software that uses the board while an update is in process.

  1. Be sure that the device drivers are already installed

  2. Download the Latest version of the gateware

  3. Extract the contents of the file

  4. Connect the acquisition board to the computer via USB 3.0 and connect it to power using the power supply provided

  5. Run the updater

    • On Windows: Double click on the file UpdateFPGA_v1_0.bat

    • On Linux or Mac: Execute the file UpdateFPGA_v1_0.sh

  6. Wait a couple of minutes for the process to finish.

Note

The programmer might appear frozen at some percentages, but it is working. In the rare case that something went wrong and it got stuck for more than 5 minutes it is safe to try again, just by unplugging the board from power and usb, plugging it again and executing the updater.

Notes on Mac#

Some security features on mac might prevent the updater from running. A message indicating that libftd3xx.dylib is not signed might appear. The steps to solve this are:

  1. Go to system settings

  2. Go to the Security and Privacy section

  3. Unlock the page by clicking on the lower-left padlock icon. It will ask for your password

  4. Near the bottom of the page, the library error will appear, click on allow

  5. Run the updater again, if a window appears, it will have an open option now