QUADRAFIRE MT.VERNON VACUUM SWITCH PROBLEM-HELP! I'M COLD

[jtakeman]

jtp10181, I'm curious... is there no way to flash these boards in the field? I remember mention of a USB port on the control board; never sought it out though. Does Quadrafire not offer any tools to do this using a laptop?

There is, but that equipment is not available to dealers, only to the traveling field techs from HHT (Quads parent company). I got to watch it once.

Can you imagine an average fireplace tech with a laptop, home made usb cable that hooks to the main board, and crude flashing software.... They would fry just as many boards as they upgrade.

I agree but not completely. I work in IT and field flashing has become relatively harmless and a regular part of the job. USB cables are fairly standard so finding a cable should not be a problem. The only missing piece in my opinon would be Quadrafire providing the drivers, connectivity software, and the fllash binaries. With a small webinar and test, Quadrafire could easily train dealers to do this.

It sounds like Quadrafire likes to keep this field repair close to their chest. Too bad....

I think its more to keeping the firmware proprietary. There is only one stove that I know of that has there firmware open and changable Bixby! Everyone else keeps it a secret.

 

[mainegeek]

I think its more to keeping the firmware proprietary. There is only one stove that I know of that has there firmware open and changable Bixby! Everyone else keeps it a secret.

Possibly, that's what I was kind of thinking when I said they are keeping it "close to their chest". Maybe they're afraid that the more hands they allow the proprietary binaries into the more likely hood of reverse engineering.

lol, I suppose they wouldn't want a re-flash of linux controlling their stoves. Maybe, Ubuntu Stove edition? Even if that would be possible that would SO void the warranty.

I just feel technicians today should be equipped with everything they need to service a device and not need backend support to solve something as simple as a known bug fix.

jtp10181, please do not take any resentfulness in my post; you seem extremely knowledgable and have been very helpful in many posts I've seen.... I just wish Quadrafire was a little more open to field firmware flashing through dealers. Especially when a technician with experience can trace a possible fix back to a firmware flash.