Upgrade and Recovery

WiConnect is part of a larger sophisticated application framework installed on all ACKme modules. The framework provides a hardened bootloader, read/write file system, safemode recovery mechanism, and secure over-the-air (OTA) upgrade capability.

Secure OTA Upgrade

ACKme manages a secure online OTA server that offers each ACKme module with the ability to securely upgrade individual files, applications or an entire firmware bundle. The OTA command is used to upgrade module firmware using the OTA server on this port.

The OTA process is secured by industry standard TLS1.0/HTTPS using server and client certificates that forces

ACKme devices to verify the identity of the ACKme OTA server; and
the ACKme OTA server to verify the identity of each individual ACKme device.
Each ACKme device is uniquely identified by a 128-bit hardware universally unique identifier (UUID).

HTTPS is the same security your web browser uses to make secure transactions with your bank over the internet. ACKme adds an additional layer of security, since the ACKme OTA server checks the unique security certificate and hardware UUID of each ACKme device that requests an upgrade.

If an OTA upgrade fails to complete for some reason, you can resume it later. Rejoin the network and run the ota command again.

Safe Mode

Safe mode operation is guaranteed in the unlikely event the module is configured in a way that causes repeated and/or unexpected reboots. The bootloader automatically switches to safe mode after eight exceptions occur with the offending boot application. Safe mode is indicated by the system.safemode variable.

It is easy to return the module to normal operation when the module is in safe mode. Follow the command sequence in the following table and your module will be back to normal in no time.

WiConnect Commands Description

WiConnect Commands	Description
`get system.safemode faults_print faults_reset faults_print reboot`	`<- Check if the module is in safemode? 0 = no, 1 = yes <- Print a list of faults (8 faults should print) <- Reset faults counter <- Check there are no more faults after reset <- Reboot the module`


get system.safemode
faults_print
faults_reset
faults_print
reboot


<- Check if the module is in safemode? 0 = no, 1 = yes
<- Print a list of faults (8 faults should print)
<- Reset faults counter
<- Check there are no more faults after reset
<- Reboot the module

In some cases, a misconfigured module may quickly return to safe mode since the module may be inadvertently setup to invoke a fault. If this occurs, we recommend the module is returned to factory reset.

Once in safe mode, the module runs the upgrade application. The upgrade app provides the ability to upgrade the firmware, or switch back to WiConnect using the upgrade_app faults_reset command and system.boot_app variable.

For a detailed discussion of recovery procedures, see the Recovery from Safemode application note.

Commands and Variables Available in Safe Mode

In safe mode a subset of the commands and variables is available.

Safe Mode Commands

Command	Abbr
factory_reset	fac
faults_print	faup
faults_reset	faur
file_delete	fde
format_flash	format
get	get
ls	ls
ota	ota
reboot	reboot
save	save
set	set
version	ver

Safe Mode Variables

Variable	Abbr	Access
bus.data_bus	bu d	get/set
bus.log_bus	bu l	get/set
bus.mode	bu m	get/set
network.ca_cert	ne c	get/set
network.dhcp.enabled	ne d e	get/set
network.dhcp.timeout	ne d t	get/set
network.dns	ne d	get
network.gateway	ne g	get
network.ip	ne i	get
network.netmask	ne n	get
network.status	ne s	get
ota.host	ot h	get/set
ota.port	ot p	get/set
spi.master.active_gpio	sp m g	get/set
spi.master.active_level	sp m l	get/set
static.dns	st d	get/set
static.gateway	st g	get/set
static.ip	st i	get/set
static.netmask	st n	get/set
system.boot_app	sy b	get/set
system.cmd.buffered	sy c b	get/set
system.cmd.echo	sy c e	get/set
system.cmd.header_enabled	sy c h	get/set
system.cmd.mode	sy c m	set
system.cmd.prompt_enabled	sy c p	get/set
system.cmd.timestamp	sy c t	get/set
system.print_level	sy p	get/set
system.safemode	sy s	get
system.safemode_disabled	sy d	get/set
system.uuid	sy u	get
system.version	sy v	get
tcp.client.connect_timeout	tc c t	get/set
tcp.client.local_port	tc c p	get/set
tcp.client.retries	tc c r	get/set
tcp.client.retry_period	tc c w	get/set
uart.baud	ua b	get/set
uart.data	ua d	get/set
uart.flow	ua f	get/set
uart.parity	ua p	get/set
uart.stop	ua s	get/set
wlan.antenna	wl a	get/set
wlan.hide_passkey	wl h	get/set
wlan.join.retries	wl j r	get/set
wlan.join.timeout	wl j t	get/set
wlan.mac	wl m	get
wlan.passkey	wl p	get/set
wlan.rate.protocol	wl r p	get/set
wlan.rate.transmit	wl r x	get/set
wlan.roam.threshold	wl r t	get/set
wlan.scan.active_dwell	wl s a	get/set
wlan.scan.channel_mask	wl s m	get/set
wlan.scan.home_dwell	wl s h	get/set
wlan.scan.num_probes	wl s n	get/set
wlan.scan.passive_dwell	wl s p	get/set
wlan.scan.retries	wl s r	get/set
wlan.scan.type	wl s t	get/set
wlan.security	wl c	get/set
wlan.ssid	wl s	get/set
wlan.tx_power	wl t	get/set

Factory Reset

Factory reset returns the module to a known state.

The module may be factory reset by GPIO or by the WiConnect factory_reset command.

After a successful factory reset, all variables are set to factory defaults and the module reboots.

Factory Reset GPIO

The factory reset GPIO is GPIO 0 on all ACKme modules. To perform a factory reset by GPIO, hold the factory reset pin high for more than 10 seconds through a hardware reset.

GPIO 0 is wired to Button 1 on the Wallaby and Moray evaluation boards. To manually reset an ACKme WiConnect evaluation board, hold down Button 1, press the Reset button, then continue to hold Button 1 for 10 seconds.

Note: GPIO 0 always acts as the factory reset GPIO. GPIO 0 may be configured to initialize to another GPIO function, but the factory reset function takes priority over other functions.

Factory Reset Command

Use the factory_reset command to perform a factory reset.

To avoid accidental factory reset, the Wi-Fi MAC address must be provided when calling the factory_reset command.

Web App Recovery

In the event that the Web App does not work, due to a damaged file structure or misconfiguration, you can use the Web App Recovery system to regain access to the network and restore the Web App files. See the Web App Recovery application note.