Update the Player OS
- BrightSign TechDocs
- Stephanie Mulqueen
There are multiple ways to update the player’s OS as well as several customization options.
If you have trouble updating the OS, make sure your microSD card is formatted for FAT32 or try a different microSD card. If you are copying the OS to your player manually, make sure the update file is in the root folder of the microSD card (not a sub-directory) and that the file name ends with *-update.bsfw.
Update Using BrightAuthor:connected
Create a Setup
Navigate to Admin > Setup.
In Player Settings > BrightSignOS Update find your player and choose the OS.
When the Setup is applied to your player, the new OS will be applied and the player will automatically reboot.
In the Remote DWS
Access the Remote DWS.Â
Navigate to the Advanced tab.Â
In BrightSign OS Update > Update Options select your desired OS option and click Update. This will send the OS to the player and it will reboot.
In Schedule
In Schedule, navigate to Options > BrightSignOS Updates and select the OS.
When you select Publish, the OS will be sent to the player and it will reboot.
Manual Update
To update the OS manually, follow these steps:
Power down your player.
Select your player model and copy the appropriate .bsfw (firmware / OS) file to the root directory of a microSD card or USB stick. It must be the only file with a .bsfw extension.
Insert the microSD card or USB stick into the player.
Power on the player. The player will automatically upgrade itself, remove the file from the microSD card, and reboot into the new OS version.
Rescue Mode (Safe Mode / Secure Boot)
If the OS update process was prematurely interrupted or if the OS file has been corrupted, you may not be able to update the OS on a player using the above methods. In these cases, you can perform an update using rescue mode:
Copy the .bsfw update file onto the root directory of the microSD card.
Power down the player.
Insert the card into the player.
Press and hold the SVC button.
Power on the player while holding the SVC button.
Hold the SVC button until the Pwr LED begins to flash. On older models, the Upd LED will turn on instead.
Release the SVC button.
Allow several minutes for the OS update to complete.
Once finished, the player should reboot and display the BrightSign logo, along with the new OS version of the player.
The rescue mode process does not work with OS version 6.2.94 on exFAT formatted cards. To perform rescue mode with 6.2.94, format the card using FAT32.Â
Customizing an OS Update
By default, the .bsfw update file will delete itself from the local storage once the OS update is complete and the player reboots, but you can append text to the name of the file to change the default behavior. This only works if you are updating the OS using local storage (a microSD card or USB drive).
Text to Append | Behavior | Example |
|---|---|---|
_save.bsfw | The update file will not be deleted after the update is applied. The player will not automatically reboot after applying the update until the storage device containing the update file is removed. | Update_save.bsfw |
_newer.bsfw | The update will only be applied if the OS file is newer than the installed player OS. The file will not be deleted after the update process is done. If the player is booting up in Safe Mode, the OS update will always be applied because the OS version of the player cannot be checked beforehand. | Update_newer.bsfw |
_different.bsfw | The update will only be applied if the version of the update file does not match the current OS version of the player. The file is not deleted after the update process is completed. | Update_different.bsfw |
Viewing the Current OS Version
You can view the current BOS version in BrightAuthor:connected by displaying the OS Version table column:
If you are not using BrightAuthor:connected, you can power on the player while it is connected to a monitor with no microSD card or other storage device inserted. The OS / firmware version number will be displayed on screen once the boot process is completed.
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