I tried to update two Notecards with firmware version 9.3.1.17434 via the USB interface… both gave me the same results. I had another Notecard NOTE-NBGLN with version 7.x that worked correctly.
WORKAROUND - I was successful in using the Notehub (over the air firmware update). I prefer the USB because it takes about one minute versus the 15 minutes to do this over the air.
I am posting this mainly so Blues will be aware of this issue and a “workaround” that works so it may help others who encounter this issue as well.
From USB
firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
~ Sent notecard-u5-10.1.1 (LTS 10 Release Candidate) firmware to the Notecard in 22s (42 KB/s).
~ Notecard is now updating and will restart soon.
S02:03.08 encrypt: generating key (could take up to a minute) …
S02:06.82 encrypt: key generation completed
S02:06.83 config: writing permanent configuration
S02:06.89 sync: request: resetting session ID because we need to resync notebox
S02:06.89 sync: request: get notebox change summary
…
S02:24.81 sync: network: LWIP terminated (sent:0 rcvd:0) {socket-ip-term}
S02:24.82 sync: wireless: modem disconnect requested {cell-disconnect-begin}
S02:24.82 sync: wireless: idle {disconnecting} {transport}
S02:24.82 sync: wireless: idle {disconnected} {transport}
S02:24.83 sync: wireless: connected {connected-closed} {transport}
S02:24.83 modem: waiting for shutdown
S02:24.84 sync: wireless: modem disconnected {cell-disconnected}
S02:25.45 sync: network: LWIP terminated (sent:0 rcvd:0) {socket-ip-term}
S02:25.45 sync: wireless: modem disconnect requested {cell-disconnect-begin}
S02:25.46 sync: wireless: idle {disconnecting} {transport}
S02:25.46 sync: wireless: idle {disconnected} {transport}
S02:25.47 sync: wireless: connected {connected-closed} {transport}
S02:25.47 modem: waiting for shutdown
S02:25.47 sync: wireless: modem disconnected {cell-disconnected}
S02:25.48 sync: next wake-up due in 24h 0m 0s for housekeeping
T02:26.10 lwip: IP deactivated to conserve energy
{
“version”: “notecard-9.3.1.17434”,
“device”: “dev:861059067973499”,
“name”: “Blues Wireless Notecard”,
“sku”: “NOTE-NBGLN”,
“ordering_code”: “EB0WT1N0AXBA”,
“board”: “5.13”,
“cell”: true,
“gps”: true,
“body”: {
“org”: “Blues Wireless”,
“product”: “Notecard”,
“target”: “u5”,
“version”: “notecard-u5-9.3.1”,
“ver_major”: 9,
“ver_minor”: 3,
“ver_patch”: 1,
“ver_build”: 17434,
“built”: “Oct 16 2025 14:29:26”
}
}
- Lost connection to device. Attempting to reconnect…
~ Trying to reestablish lost connection…
~ Connected to serial
~ Sync Status Monitor enabled
~ DeviceUID dev:861059067973499 (NOTE-NBGLN) running firmware 9.3.1.17434
Hi @DanHarding,
Thanks for sending this report. Sometimes when I’m manually updating Notecard firmware using the In-Browser Terminal interface via USB it does take more than one try. To be honest I’m not 100% sure of the root cause, but usually trying again works just fine. If possible for your scenario, I’ve also found that issuing a card.restore/delete:true request before updating firmware helps, but that could be just a coincidence.
Rob
Ok, I will give your recommended remedy a try and see if it works for me and let you know.
I always update the Notecard firmware to the latest LTS release as part of my final configuration and test procedure before I pack up the Stemco gate reader for shipment. It would be nice to have something that work reliably the first time (I have tried the OTA (MD5 error), the side loader program (never got it to work even once) and the In Browser Terminal with USB (works after many attempts)). Sounds like this is a common issue that could use more attention from the Blues team.
I plan to stick with the In Browser Terminal with USB for now as even four attempts is faster than one OTA cycle.
First attempt
resulted in an error message (but I didn’t send your card.restore/delete:true command first but will on the second attempt).
firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
- Error installing firmware: Error: card.binary.put error: terminal timeout in 9000ms on "{"req":"card.binary.put","cobs":261…
Hint: Try again or see Notecard Firmware Releases.
- Lost connection to device. Attempting to reconnect…
~ Trying to reestablish lost connection…
~ Connected to serial
~ Sync Status Monitor enabled
~ DeviceUID dev:861059067973820 (NOTE-NBGLN) running firmware 11.1.1.17494
Second attempt
It doesn’t accept the command you sent me
firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
- Error installing firmware: Error: card.binary.put error: terminal timeout in 9000ms on "{"req":"card.binary.put","cobs":261…
Hint: Try again or see Notecard Firmware Releases.
Third attempt
Had a lot of error messages in the status bar about failing to sync and modem off…eventually after about 2 minutes appeared to crash and reboot.
Full power cycle
Fourth attempt – It finally worked.
Hi @DanHarding,
I have a few other thoughts/suggestions:
- It seems unlikely, but quality of the USB cable you’re using can matter (especially when you’re using a USB-A or C to Micro USB cable).
- The command I sent you was just shorthand for this:
{"req":"card.restore","delete":true}.
- What you’re seeing in terms of “error messages” in the terminal can be disregarded during the firmware update process.
I guess I’d be most curious if using that card.restore request and a different/better USB cable changed anything?
Rob
When starting from version 7.5.2.17004 the command
firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
seems to work well the first time via the In Browser USB terminal.
When starting from version 9.3.1.17434 sending this command
{“req”:“card.restore”,“delete”:true}
first before the firmware install command seems to work… it will print out about 100 or so messages like this but I guess they can be ignored as the firmware update does work.
S02:05.88 encrypt: generating key (could take up to a minute) …
S02:09.62 encrypt: key generation completed
S02:09.63 config: writing permanent configuration
S02:09.69 sync: request: resetting session ID because we need to resync notebox
S02:09.70 sync: request: get notebox change summary
So I had about 9 other boards here that I could try this method out on…
I did switch to a new 1 foot long USB cable and sent your recommended command
`{“req”:“card.restore”,“delete”:true}```
``
`So far the first 2 worked correctly on the first attempt ``😊```
`The third one failed with “Notehub sync failing – Connected” and “`Notehub sync failing — Modem disconnected...” I let is run for about 10 minutes and put it aside until later.``
``
`A weird thing is it still outputs the SO# dialog with about 100 lines of messages so I have no idea what that craziness is all about… bottom line is it works so I am happy to ignore this gibberish.```
S02:05.88 encrypt: generating key (could take up to a minute) ...
S02:09.62 encrypt: key generation completed
S02:09.63 config: writing permanent configuration
S02:09.69 sync: request: resetting session ID because we need to resync notebox
S02:09.70 sync: request: get notebox change summary
On two of the boards, I got this message and had to power cycle and start the process again before it would firmware update successfully, on one of them it took three attempts to get it through.
> firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
* Error installing firmware: Error: card.binary.put error: terminal timeout in 9000ms on "{\"req\":\"card.binary.put\",\"cobs\":261…
Hint: Try again or see [Notecard Firmware Releases](https://dev.blues.io/notecard/notecard-firmware-releases/).
{
"err": "cannot interpret JSON: unable to decode byte 0xff {io}"
}
{
"err": "cannot interpret JSON: unable to decode byte 0xf3 {io}"
}
{
"err": "cannot interpret JSON: string or '}' expected near 'jV' {io}"
}
{
"err": "cannot interpret JSON: unable to decode byte 0xf2 {io}"
}
* Lost connection to device. Attempting to reconnect...
~ Trying to reestablish lost connection...
~ Connected to serial
~ Sync Status Monitor enabled
~ DeviceUID dev:861059068078686 (NOTE-NBGLN) running firmware 9.3.1.17434
Works everytime even without the card.restore command when the Notecard starts with Notecard firmware version 7.5.2.17004… feels like the issue is related to version 9.3.1.17434 as all the SO stuff doesn’t appear when the starting version is 7.5.2.17004
`{"req":"card.restore","delete":true}```
firmware install notecard-u5-10.1.1
Thanks for the help… hope you have a great weekend.
Hi @DanHarding,
It sounds like there is some improvement, but likely more we can look into on our end. To be clear, you can safely ignore all of the “trace log” chatter you see during a firmware update (even what appear to be sync errors with Notehub).
We do have some ideas for what could be causing those card.binary.put error messages and will be looking into that this week.
Thanks,
Rob
