DFU Wiring Schematic

Hardware
1

Hello

I am having trouble understanding the web-based data sheets.

I understand newer Notecards come with dedicated DFU pins, however, it’s not obvious which cards these are and which are not. Both types of cards link to the same DFU instructions where the AUX pins are specified.

I assume that, while some cards may have dedicated DFU pins, ALL Notecards support the use of the AUX_RX / AUX_TX / AUX3 / AUX4 pins for DFU.

(According to another Forum post, the AUX_EN pin is not required for DFU)

So for a project that aims to be compatible with pretty much all DFU enabled Notecards, am I correct in assuming that only the AUX pins are required?

I can leave the ALT_DFU pins disconnected and still perform DFU updates.

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Attached DFU MVP screenshot.

Notecard_MVP
Notecard_MVP1317×1120 124 KB

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Hey @OGDeveloperNZ, welcome to the forum! Please see answers to your questions below:-

I understand newer Notecards come with dedicated DFU pins, however, it’s not obvious which cards these are and which are not.
[YS] You are correct, all of the newer Notecards come with dedicated Outboard DFU pins (ALTDFU). This means that the cards that don’t have these dedicated pins are the legacy Notecards, NOTE-WIFI, and NOTE-ESP. You can scroll through the list of Notecards in the datasheets page to see which Notecards have the ALTDFU pins and which don’t. As of this writing, this is the list:-

Notecards with ALTDFU pins

  • NOTE-MBGLN
  • NOTE-MBNAN
  • NOTE-NBGLN
  • NOTE-NBNAN
  • NOTE-WBEXN
  • NOTE-WBNAN
  • NOTE-MBGLW
  • NOTE-MBNAW
  • NOTE-NBGLW
  • NOTE-NBNAW
  • NOTE-WBEXW
  • NOTE-WBGLW
  • NOTE-WBGLWT
  • NOTE-WBNAW

Notecards without ALTDFU pins

  • NOTE-NBGL-500
  • NOTE-NBNA-500
  • NOTE-WBEX-500
  • NOTE-WBNA-500
  • NOTE-ESP
  • NOTE-WIFI

Notecards that don’t support ODFU

  • NOTE-LORA v1.4
  • NOTE-LORA v2.1

Please note that this list will change as we introduce more Notecards.

I assume that, while some cards may have dedicated DFU pins, ALL Notecards support the use of the AUX_RX / AUX_TX / AUX3 / AUX4 pins for DFU.
[YS] This is correct, apart from the LoRaWAN notecards that don’t support Outboard DFU.

(According to another Forum post, the AUX_EN pin is not required for DFU)
[YS] Yes you’re right, AUX_EN is only needed to use AUXTX and AUXRX outside of Outboard DFU. These pins will always be enabled internally when Outboard DFU is taking place.

So for a project that aims to be compatible with pretty much all DFU enabled Notecards, am I correct in assuming that only the AUX pins are required?
[YS] Yes you are correct. The general recommendation is that if you are using a Notecard with ALTDFU pins then use those as they are dedicated for the Outboard DFU functionality and this will free the other AUX pins to be used for something else. However, if you want your project to work for legacy and WiFi Notecards, then you need to use the AUX pins (which is what our Notecarrier F does).

I can leave the ALT_DFU pins disconnected and still perform DFU updates.
[YS] Yes.

Thanks
Youssif

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Thank you for the detailed explanation!

Much appreciated.

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