It would be nice to have the option to manually download and update the firmware for the core module. I helped my brother setup his Yarbo this past weekend and we couldn’t do anything because it needed a firmware update out of the box. We had no way to manually download it and install it. It took creating a support ticket and going through the hassle of waiting until today (4 days) later for support to send out a manual update to the module.
Give the option to have auto updates or manual download/updates.
If you do a full installation and leave the rover powered up, it should contact the mothership and get the update. If not, yes, you need to get in touch with Support.
We sincerely apologize for the delay in support and any inconvenience this has caused. The delay occurred because our support team was unavailable until May 5th, and we completely understand your frustration during the wait.
Regarding manual firmware updates, we regret to inform you that this option is not currently available. Typically, firmware updates are rolled out automatically to all users. However, in some cases, issues—often caused by bugs or other unforeseen factors—may prevent the update from completing successfully, requiring intervention from our support team.
Due to these complexities, a manual update feature would not fully resolve such situations. That said, we fully recognize the importance of a smooth and timely update process, and we’ve shared your feedback with our product team. We are actively working to improve the update experience going forward.
@Greg - Correct. It was more a suggestion for future Forum users who may run into this.
It is unusual that you cannot initiate an update. We’re conditioned as consumers to perform an update when we obtain new devices. Yarbo has two firmwares to update (rover, DC), and each is done differently, which is not expected by most consumers. Plus there’s the App.
Well, Yarbo has taken the feedback to hopefully make this all more seamless in the future.
Yep, this never happened. This is why it would be nice if we could manually do the install in these situations where it never seems to make that connection for the auto update.
Is it possible to add some sort of indicators of progress for the auto update then? In other words something that shows if it’s happening and where it’s at in the process. (5%…10%…etc…)
As the end user we’re left wondering if anything is even happening (which in this case nothing was). It’d be great to be able to check/see the progress.
That already exists at the bottom of the diagnostics. It usually always says 100% after the update. When it’s in progress you will see the progress in real time until it reboots.
This is helpful info. Can you add this clarification to the article that discusses firmware updates? Consider incorporating Bryan’s comment on that page as well.
And to possibly enhance this feature request - Instead of a manual update capability, having a “Request support investigate my firmware update” button would be helpful that auto populates a ticket with the rover info. As a new user who just experienced this issue (and wasn’t able to set up my areas) it was very confusing and mildly frustrating.
Some other considerations:
How long should I wait?
How do I know the rover was online correctly and was in the queue to have an update pushed to it?
How do I know the automatic push failed and I need to reach out to support?
If there was a manual button, with some feedback provided, then these questions could be answered.
It might not be a manual button to update, but there needs to be more than wait for a while and then submit a ticket.
Good points, Greg, because that’s exactly what happened when setting up my brother’s new unit. It wasn’t a good experience initially and then took several days to get it corrected due to international holidays, people out, etc… Couldn’t map, use the unit, nothing, just a paperweight. The other issue is that it appears to be eating into your initial time for the return period with the unit dead in the water until support rectifies the firmware update.
I’ve done a few installs and I can say that this experience is rare, but a little more common than it should be. I’d be curious to understand if it’s just a back end issue or if the update failed and support had to actually intervene.
As I set one up last night and watched, as soon as the rover had internet access from the data center it was downloading and installing the update. It took about 30 mins total and I suspect 10 mins of that was because I had the app open and it wasn’t idle, which is a requirement for the update to happen (usually). I was watching the progress in the app diagnostic screen but closed out at 90% so I wouldn’t conflict with anything.
I often wonder how many times this is happening in the background and someone interrupts the process not knowing but pulling th battery or something in the middle of the update.
I can tell you we didn’t pull the battery after we had it all setup. The only thing I wondered was that my brother kept checking it over and over and I began to think that maybe in one of his times checking it that it interrupted it. Not sure though.
This is the opposite behavior than what’s expected from every other piece of tech, and without any indication to the user that they need to close the app and leave it alone (in my case I left it overnight - still nothing).
You couple that opposite behavior with the fact that there isn’t a connectivity check that I could find for a first time user to tell that it’s connected properly and updates will “come soon” if you just leave it alone and it’s a recipe for frustration.
When I looked at my diagnostic screen it stayed at 0%, so I figured there was a connectivity issue to the rover, since the DC updated fine. I was looking at my firewall rules, network settings, moved the rover next to the DC, restarted, etc. All a waste of time.
Anyways, it’s working now. Hopefully Yarbo will make some usability enhancements with that onboarding and connectivity setup.
Agreed. As someone who’s intimately familiar with the diagnostics data, it’s even hard for me to know sometimes. I agree that it’s not typical and this really needs to be refined and prioritized. The user should be able to manually update at any time and defer or stop automatic updates all together. The app is tightly coupled to the firmware currently it seems so I think this is why it’s forced automatic. But I’m sure that could be refined in the future too and just warn the user to update the firmware before the app will function.