h a l f b a k e r yRenovating the wheel
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With an Android app available which contains a full user
manual, how-to walkthroughs and diagrams, battery/talk time
display in the phone's status bar, and a lost headset locator
feature, why is it necessary to connect the damn thing to a
computer in order to install a firmware update to the
headset?
It's connected to a smartphone with more gigabytes of
storage and a better processor than my computer. So this
idea is for an app (app plug-in, maybe?) which allows
firmware updates to be installed to the headset from the
phone via the
already-existing Bluetooth connection, and, naturally,
download the update directly to the phone phone thus
eliminating entirely the need for a computer or USB data
cable anywhere in the arrangement.
Answers to possible technical objections:
1) 'Smartphones can't send data over a Bluetooth
connection.' Yes, they can. Androids can send and receive
large data files via Bluetooth to/from other similarly-capable
phones.
2) 'The headset may have to restart itself during a firmware
update, which will disconnect it from the phone.' The app I
referred to in the post, which can locate a lost headset
provided it is powered on, can initiate a connection to the
headset. So if the headset has to do a restart, the app can
automatically rescan 15 seconds or so later and reconnect,
then complete the update.
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//why is it necessary to connect the damn thing to
a computer in
order
to install a firmware update to the headset//
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A couple of reasons. Primarily, you always want to
make sure your
device is connected to a power source before doing
any kind of
firmware update. Also, you want to have a reliable
connection for the
duration of the update, and Bluetooth doesn't
guarantee
connectivity,
whereas a physical USB connection guarantees both
power and
connectivity.
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Particularly with devices that aren't especially
intelligent, a failed
firmware update (either due to loss of power or loss
of connectivity)
can
render your device an expensive brick. More
capable devices, such as
smart phones, are able to do over-the-air updates
away from a
power source because they have a built-in failsafe
mode (e.g., DFU
mode on the iPhone), which bypasses the normal
system software and
loads a hardcoded ROM routine that allows you to
connect to a
computer and do a software restore in the event of
a total system
failure. In the event something goes really wrong,
you're never totally
stuck.
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Also, providing the ability to do Bluetooth firmware
updates would
add
to the complexity of the device, since it would have
to have some
sort
of bootstrapping system to keep the new firmware
in memory while
it
performs the update on the main system. By
connecting the device to
a
computer via USB, it can simply hand control of the
entire device
over
to the computer.
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So there's no technical reason why it /couldn't/ be
done, but there
are
lots of practical reasons not to do so. Given that
firmware updates
are
relatively rare, and a certain percentage of users
would end up
unwittingly damaging their devices by attempting
and failing a
wireless
firmware update, there's no real reason to add to
the complexity,
cost,
and fragility of a device by providing a feature that
saves relatively
little effort in the grand scheme of things.
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//1) 'Smartphones can't send data over a Bluetooth connection.' Yes, they
can. Androids can send and receive large data files via Bluetooth to/from
other similarly-capable phones.//
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Ah, but there's data and then there's data. In order to allow such
transactions, both devices must support the appropriate Bluetooth
profile. If a device such as a headset only supports the Hands-Free
Profile, it's simply not capable of receiving files such as firmware
updates. Most hardware chips for devices such as headsets are only going
to provide the profile necessary for the device to function, in order to
reduce complexity, cost, and power consumption. |
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And if the headset supports A2DP? Streams media just fine?
Asteroid fields do not concern me, Admiral. I want that ship, not
excuses. |
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So what if it supports A2DP? The A still stands for “audio”.
Try initiating a file transfer from your phone to your
headset sometime. Can't do it, right? That's not for lack of
your phone's capability. It's because your headset simply
refuses to accept that sort of data. No software on your
phone could change that fact. Read up on how Bluetooth
actually works if you want to understand the reasons why
this is so.
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Basically, what you want to do could theoretically be done,
but not in software alone. You would need expensive and
fiddly hardware upgrades to the device to solve a) the
bricking problem, b) the device's lack of capability
problem, and c) the bootstrapping problem. Keep in mind
that, unlike with USB, Bluetooth requires the system to be
up and running before it can initiate any data exchange.
Consequently, the only way to solve all of those problems is
to effectively keep a duplicate backup copy of all of the
hardware on the device, and have one running while it
updates the other. Do you really want to increase the cost,
size, weight, complexity, and power consumption of your
Bluetooth headset just to address a relatively minor
annoyance? |
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Yes. Yes, I do. Make it so, Number 1. |
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Well, okay, but given the added bulk you'll resemble the
Borg. |
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Wrong. If it is designed *properly*, I will resemble Lobot, from
whom the Borg were shamelessly copied. I am altering reality.
Pray I don't alter it further. |
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Agreed. The existing app for my Plantronics headset, as I
mentioned already, DOES already display the headset battery
level in the smartphone's status bar when connected, so that
part shouldn't be an issue. While yes, there might be an issue
with a glitch during the update preventing the headset from
establishing a pairing connection after the restart, the app
should be able to
detect such a fault condition (all it has to do is realize that
before
the update was initiated, a connection was established, the
battery level was adequate, and the command to restart was
sent. If it can't find the headset after a known restart delay of,
say, 15 seconds, it knows there must be a fault condition of
some sort) and can direct you to connect it via
USB if/when that happens. At that point, a microUSB to
microUSB cable should allow you to connect it to your
smartphone to perform the rest. There's just no need for a
computer that I can see. |
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Useful for the prolific shoplifter in a sharia law area. |
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So this is Baked to a crisp now, and I still haven't received my first
royalty check. Tad miffed over it, I must admit. |
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