Does Obi202 do automatic firmware updates?

[Studly]

Does Obi202 do automatic firmware updates, or do I need to turn that function on? I saw in the Obi FAQ that you can turn on auto updates but it seemed like that was for the earlier models of the Obi.

Is there any reason you wouldn't want to have auto updates to get the latest version of the firmware?

[pc44]

Hi Studly,

From what I can tell, the Obi202 does not have automatic firmware updates by default.  I say this based on another forum user whose Obi202 was apparently connected, online, and functioning -- but who was still running an older (not the latest) firmware version.

However, you should be able to enable automatic updates via the following location inside the Obi202:
System Management -> Device Update -> Auto Firmware Update -> Method

Regarding your second question, there are all sorts of reasons for (Pro) and against (Con) using auto updates.  Some cite security/privacy concerns in opposition to the idea, and some cite reliability (new problems instantly or quickly fixed automatically) in favor of the idea.  If you browse around the forum or simply do a google search, you will find more info regarding The Great Auto Update Debate.

Hope it helps,
pc44

[JohnBowler]

I think the raw device default is that it does automatic updates, however as soon as it is configured via www.obitalk.com the option is reset to not do the update automatically.

It's the difference between "Disabled" and "Periodically" in "Auto firmware update" (System Management/Auto Provisiong).  While the interfaces suggests that "Disabled" is both the device and Obitalk default I noticed that it got set to "Periodically" after a hard reset (when Obitalk wasn't available.)

I don't know how the firmware updates are managed.  Other companies newer devices are failsafe, because they install the firmware to a separate area then do a swap which only gets made permanent if the swap seems to succeed past a reboot.  I don't know that the Obi does this, so it's safer to do updates as infrequently as possible; if the power goes out during an update there is a chance of having a non-functioning ("bricked") OBi.  The only way to avoid this is to have the OBi on a UPS and do the update manually, the alternative strategy (which is not fail safe) is to simply do it as infrequently as possible.

John Bowler <jbowler@acm.org>