Hello,
I’m new to this but I have inherited a fleet of 15 robots and laptops, none of which seem to be updated.
I’m having some problems and I think I need your advice on the best way forward.
It started in a school last week when some of the kids could suddenly no longer download programs. This is after many successful downloads with the same laptop - cable - brain. (This is Modkit and Vex IQ btw)
I had opened Modkit Link on all the machines myself and it was still running (I could only see this by checking the active processes - I have never seen the M in the taskbar and I assume this is something to do with the make of laptop?)
This happened to several kids over several days and I was usually able to solve it by doing one of the following:
Closing modkit vex and link and re-opening.
Changing the cable
Changing the robot
Which of these worked seemed random so I brought all the robots home to update them and try to get to the bottom of it.
I started by using th VEX IQ Firmware Update to update a couple of brains and motors. I was downloading a test programme to each one.
Then the downloads stopped working.
I read a bit and updated Modkit Link. (Is it normal for two processes to appear for Modkit Link?)
Then I downloaded VEX os (am I right in thinking this means you no longer need VEX IQ Firmware Update)
I updated some brains and the downloads were working.
Then they stopped again.
I stopped updating the brains because I am now totally confused and also I don’t have the laptops here and I’m going into another school tomorrow and a bit scared that if I put VEX os on all the brains, the laptops won’t talk to them at all ! Stress!
Can you please help me, by giving me a quick overview of how the software links together and what should be done / checked to get the whole fleet working smoothly.
I’m a freelance teacher in the UK having taken over from someone who left our charity in a rush, leaving zero knowledge of VEX behind.
I started last week. I am OK on the coding but these problems are bothering me quite a bit as I can’t find any consistency in what’s going on.
Many thanks,
Loving all this btw - its awesome for teaching all parts of STEM.
Ryan.
Hi Rysci,
We’re sorry that you have encountered this issue. To first help resolve the firmware issue, VEXos has replaced the older VEX IQ firmware. In the older VEX IQ firmware, every device had it’s own version number (such as v1.16 for Robot Brain, v1.05 for Controller, etc). To eliminate this confusion, everything in VEXos is now bundled together, with VEXos 2.0.1 being the latest version for all VEX IQ control system components. VEXos also contains a number of new features and improvements over the previous firmware. You can uninstall the older VEX IQ Firmware Update Utility on your computers, because the VEXos Utility will be used from now on for the current and all future VEXos updates.
Now to help resolve what might be causing the communication issues, there is a limitation in desktop operating systems that only allow one program on your computer at a time to communicate with a VEX IQ Robot Brain. If you have the VEXos Utility, the older VEX IQ Firmware Utility, and Modkit Link open at once, this may cause connection issues. To first ensure that everything is the latest firmware and there are no communication conflicts, please close all other applications except the VEXos Utility, then update your Robot Brains one at a time.
Once your Robot Brains (and their Controllers, Smart Motors, and sensors) are all up to date, please close the VEXos Utility and reopen Modkit. There should only be a single copy of Modkit Link running. When Modkit Link is running, there will be a single M in the taskbar on Windows, or a single M in the menubar on Mac OS. If there are multiple copies, you may need to check to ensure that there are not two different versions of Modkit Link install on your computer - if there are, please uninstall the older version.
If you have verified that that there is only one version of Modkit Link running at a time and download issues persist, you may need to check with your IT department to see if any anti-virus / security software or security permissions are interfering with downloading programs.
If you have any further questions regarding updating the VEXos firmware on your devices, the VEX Technical Support folks would be glad to provide more detailed assistance. They can be reached at [email protected] or by calling +1-903-453-0802 (US) or +44 (0) 1925 251038 (UK). If you have any further questions regarding Modkit for VEX, please contact Modkit here or access their help files at help.modkit.com/#vex.
Regards,
- Art