Firmware Update CVP-3xx series

[Alain]

Firmware Upgrade for Clavinova CVP Series

This upgrade will allow you to enjoy exciting new IDC services
and features coming soon. It also resolves a few minor bugs remaining in the current firmware version (V1.0). Yamaha highly recommends this upgrade.

New functions
1. Song recording function on the score display.
2. Increased number of compatible LAN adapters.
3. Streaming playback.
4. Remote control of keyboard settings via IDC web browser.
5. Play back of MIDI files embedded in html.

http://www.global.yamaha.com/download/firmware_cvp/

Firmware Upgrade for CVP-30x

Version 1.54
Update 2004/11/30

Alain De Vreese

[Alain]

Have not installed it myself yet ...

[dalgety]

As is the case with many of you, I wish Yamaha had put something more useful than a smartmedia reader. And now that I read the instructions for installing the firmware patch (thanks Alain!), I'm wondering if I need to invest in this technology. The instructions imply you must use smartmedia to install the firmware update.

When I bought the 307, I was under the impression that a smartmedia card would be included (don't recall where I got that impression), but that wasn't the case. Did anyone who bought a 3xx find a smartmedia card included?

-Ross

[ds_1910]

Have upgraded CVP307 from version 1.05 to 1.54 but see no visible changes. Cannot locate the new functions of: Song recording function on the score display, streaming playback, remote control of keyboard settings via IDC web browser. I which Yamaha posted more details on how to use the new functions.

[Tapas]

Ross,

I ordered a Viking 128MB 3.3v SmartMedia card from Amazon.com for $21 last week after a $10 manufacturers rebate.

I agree with you. SmartMedia is much more costly than SD Media or USB thumb drives and is also limited to a maximum of 128MB which is not much by todays standards.

Perhaps Yamaha could give us an OS update that would let you install future firmware upgrades through a USB device.

I see no reason to limit the upgrades only via a SmartMedia.

Tapas

[Sunny]

Yamaha seems to be lagging behind the latest technology. Smart Media has been phased out in most electronic gears, and some stores don't even carry any smart media cards for sale any longer. Because the supply of smart media is no longer plentiful, SM may now be even pricier than the more common SD cards.

Same thing is true with the wireless LAN -- Yamaha seems to support only the older technology -- the slower wireless-b (802.11b) devices. I wonder if this firmware upgrade will support any wireless-G LAN adapter or not? The list of approved LAN devices that will work with IDC didn't seem to change at all with this firmware upgrade.
(see https://music.yamaha.com/servicesTypeIDCUSB.html )
:confused:

[Sunny]

Oh, one more thing...

Does anyone know how to check what version of firmware you have on your CVP-30X? Thanks.

[dalgety]

Shaun,

I haven't tested this, but I'm pretty sure you could use an 801.11g USB adapter. When I talked to the folks at Yamaha, they told me probably any 802.11 USB adapter I picked up would probably work. Typically companies only "support" the subset of devices they have actually tested against.

Where Yamaha are behind is that they only support USB 1.1, so you won't be able to take advantage of the faster g adapter, which requries USB 2.0. It is really surprising to see a company come out with a "new" product line in 2004 that is based on such old technology. The USB 2.0 specification was originally released on April 27, 2000!!! (http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/)

If you have a need for a 802.11g wireless USB adapter for additional use, I'd say buy one and give it a try. If it doesn't work, take it back.

My big gripe is how slow IDC is. I have a broadband connection, and even 802.11b should be good for at least 10 megabits/sec. Something has to be wrong with the browser implementation on the CVP. It doesn't seem to cache images (I see them load one at a time with each new screen), and the time to draw a new screen is painfully slow (I'm talking seconds, not minutes, but still, we're only talking about a few K of data). Is anyone else observing the same? As it is, I get frustrated after previewing only a few songs.

-Ross

[sablair]

As the download pages describes this upgrade:

" This upgrade will allow you to enjoy exciting new IDC services
and features coming soon. It also resolves a few minor bugs remaining in the current firmware version (V1.0). Yamaha highly recommends this upgrade."

So this upgrade ONLY applies to IDC operations and the corresponding upgrades to the IDC site itself are NOT YET in place.

Therefore you should see no immediate change by installing these upgrades right now, other than it fixing some "minor bugs". I conclude from this that there will be no new functionality added to the CVP, when it's OFFLINE.

[Sunny]

Ross,
Sounds to me some Yamaha dealers are more like snake-oil salesman (either that, or they are just technically inept) -- they will tell you anything which they have totally no idea about! First they told us we'd got to have the USA edition software, but when asked about the differences, they couldn't explain them. (BTW, the myth about the USA edition has been debunked in other threads). Now they told you ANY wireless 802.11 USB adapter would work?!

Come on -- I had a first-hand experience with even a 802.11b USB adapter that didn't work! I bought a NetGear MA111 USB adapter (which I thought was on the approved list of wireless LAN devices), but it didn't work on my CVP. I double-checked the list, and noticed that the approved USB adapter was a "version 1", but the one I had was a NetGear MA111 v.2. (It seems to be just a subtle difference, but again Yamaha just doesn't seem to keep up with NEWER technology -- what a surprise :D ). I emailed Yamaha technical support in my attempt to find out if I could just install the v.2 driver on my CVP (which is what I would have done on a laptop PC), but the only reply I received was just a simple "please refer to the approved list of USB LAN devices". What kind of "technical support" is this, when they couldn't even speak a single word of technical lingo to me?!

I ended up getting a DLink DWL-122 USB1.1 adapter, which is on Yamaha's "approved list". :rolleyes: I didn't even bother trying out any wireless-g devices, since none of them are listed on their "approved list". :D BTW, I checked with at least 2 electronics stores, and all the NetGear MA111 adapters they carried were v.2 (none of them had the version 1).

[Sunny]

Hi, ds_1910,

Just a question -- when you upgraded your CVP307 from version 1.05 to 1.54, did you have to back up all your files and re-install them after the upgrade?

I'm afraid that a firmware upgrade may wipe out everything -- including the USA edition files. If that's the case, please alert all of us here to back-up our files first before we lost them. Thanks.

[elliottpd]

I just installed the upgrade on my CVP305, and it made no changes to the user files.

[dalgety]

Shaun,

Sorry for the misleading post. Nobody told me for certain that any 802.11 device would work - but someone at Yamaha did tell me that he wouldn't be surprised to find that any adapter I picked up off the shelf worked fine. Sorry to have not been more clear.

I am also using the D-Link DWL-122. I had no problems getting it to work - once I remembered I had set up my router to only accept connections from registered MAC addresses (I remembered this fact, BTW, only after reading a post from a fellow cvpug member!).

Still pretty disappointed with the performance of IDC, though I suspect it is because the CPU in the CVP is just very slow.

-Ross

[ds_1910]

Before the firmware upgrade I did backup any custom user files to a thumb drive. The protected builtin songs I was not able to copy and those remained intact after the firmware update. From what I could see it did not wipe out any user files but I only had a couple of song downloads. Unfortunately I did not have the US Edition applied at the time so I cannot speak to whether any of the US Edition V3 changes would be wiped out.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

I find this highly suspect, if not insulting.

We've all registered our instruments, so why do we not get told officially that there is a firmware upgrade?

The upgrade pages give no information on how the new functions work (and apparently seem to not be there such as the song recording on the score display, which they clearly promise and has nothing to do with IDC).

You don't get a SmartMedia card with the instrument, but then suddenly it is required?!

Assuming that this upgrade is for IDC only (which the download page doesn't say it is), then why doesn't the IDC updates page (http://music.yamaha.com/servicesTypeIDCDownload.html) have it? It still just has a blank page saying "From time to time, Yamaha may introduce new Internet Direct Connection features or services that will require you to download a file. This page will contain instructions and information regarding all updates."

I find this shameful.

Brgds

Danny

[ds_1910]

When I had called U.S. Yamaha Clavinova support, they did not even know of the firmware update. I had to refer them to the Web site link. Support said that if everything was running fine they did not recommend it. They did not have any details on what the new features were probably because they were seeing it for the first time ...

[dunaj]

Originally posted by Sunny
Oh, one more thing...

Does anyone know how to check what version of firmware you have on your CVP-30X? Thanks.

FUNCTION
UTILITY
OWNER SETUP
hold OWNER NAME 2-3 sec.

TO ALL: Please refer Your FW Version. Thanx

[dbjorck]

Hi!

Great to know! I have 1.05, so obviously there is a lot that has happened in order to arrive at 1.54!!! I will go and hit my dealer over the head.

Brgds

Danny

[dalgety]

My 307, which was ordered mid-December, came with 1.54 installed. As for the new functionality, I don't have anything to compare against, but here are a couple thoughts:
[list=1]
Record on score display: My CVP matches the documentation. Not sure I see anything different.
LAN adapter support: We'll have to wait for Yamaha to publish the extended list.
Streaming playback: When I preview a song on IDC, it does seem to start playing before the whole sample is downloaded, but the only way to know for sure would be to use a network sniffer.
Remote control of CVP settings from IDC: Not sure I've experienced this. Of course the CVP plays midi from IDC, but this seems to imply we'll be able to click on a link to somehow configure our CVPs. There could be some interesting uses here, I suppose.
MIDI embedded in HTML. I tried to test this last night. I know when I click on a MIDI file in Internet Exploder, it pops up a small sound control and plays the file through the CVP. But I went looking for a page with an embedded MIDI file and couldn't find one right off. Normally, I really hate it when people embed MIDI files. Last night was my first experience actually looking for one! I'll have to just write one tonight and try it out, though this may only work when the html file is loaded by the CVP, and not by a host computer connected to the CVP.
[/list=1]
-Ross

[Andreas]

The firmware update, which seems only to change some IDC aspects is from the Yamaha Global gateway. But I only come to this site through the link, which alain gave at the beginning of this thread. When I try to come to this update on the Yamha global gateway, I don´t find any download site at all. Yamaha people themselves don´t know of this, nobody of the registered owners got to know of it, only the brandnew CVP307 of Ross did have the new version. I found out, that my 307 (which was the demonstration model of my dealer delivered in August 2004) has version 1.04 but besides the IDC functions, there seems to be no use of this unofficial upgrade. I asked the german staff at Yamaha, probably they can give an answer on this strange kind of updating...:confused:

[Andreas]

The german staff of yamaha answered my question concerning the firmware update. In 2 weeks time there will be an official update of the firmware for the 307 on www.yamaha.de , but it will bring no new functions, so what ....?

[Sunny]

My CVP-307, which was purchased in early December, came with only version 1.04 firmware. :mad:

Since I don't have a SmartMedia card yet, I thought I'd try with my USB thumb drive first...

With the thumb drive on the USB port (and with the extracted 5 files on the root directory), I turned on the CVP while pressing [START/STOP] button, and the message said: "Please insert the installer card".

Well, this confirms that the SmartMedia slot must be used for firmware upgrades... (until we can figure out a way to change the default drive to the USB port).

[Andreas]

You can get a smartmedia card with 128mb for 16,99Euro here over in Germany, a SD card with 512mb costs 39Euro, so where is the problem?

[dalgety]

You can hire a horse-drawn buggy for a pleasant ride around the city for around 17Euro here in Salt Lake where I work. I've never done it, but I think people do it for nostalgia, rather than as a means of transportation.

Nobody is saying that the price of a single SmartMedia card is prohibitive - only that some of us would NEVER buy one, except that it seems it will be required for firmware upgrades. It's somewhat like a PC manufacturer today only including a 5.5" (US inches) floppy drive for doing OS upgrades.

Respectfully,

Ross

[willjohn]

How does one attach a smartmedia card to a computer? Is this an additional expense?

Willjohn

[Sunny]

Andreas,
The point is NOT whether we could afford to buy an inexpensive SM card or not. The point is (for most techies, anyway) -- why would we want to use an older technology which is close to being obsolete?

Would you go buy an 8-track tape (the term is so ancient to me that I'm not even sure if I'm using the correct terminology) to listen to your favorite music TODAY?

WillJohn,
You'll need a SM card (or a multi-card) reader/writer attached to your USB port of your PC. Yes it's an additional expense, even though it's very affordable. But would you want to spend that extra money if you don't have to?

[Midi Magic]

Hi

Well, to do an upgrade I think they should provide

1 A computer
2 A smart card
3 A Smartcard reader
4 An Internet connection with Broadband (as it is over 6Megs as it would take forever over dialup)


How can I do an upgrade without any of these?
Maybe the dearler would give you a home visit?

Maybe, someone should speak to Yamaha and ask them to send out a smartcard with the upgrade on, claiming to NOT owning any of the above.

I wonder what they would say.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

That's exactly what I told my dealer over a week ago. He has been silent ever since, which he normally isn't, so I assume he is checking with Yamaha how to handle the firmware upgrades when you don't have a Smartmedia Card.

I will let you know the outcome.

Brgds

Danny

[dalgety]

Danny, if you walk away with a new laptop, that's it - I'm moving to Denmark, close to your dealer! ;-) All I got thrown in were a cheap set of headphones, a mediocre microphone for the kids to goof around with voice effects, a few discs of demo stuff, and one of those quick start DVDs. But a laptop for doing firmware updates??? That would take the cake!

-Ross

[Martyn]

I too had the problem of not having a SmartMedia reader on my PC which would have enabled me to copy the necessary 5 PRG files from the PC to the SmartMedia card.

I do however have a 256 mb memory stick which I find much more convenient for transfering files between the Clavinova and the PC. Of course, as has been pointed out in other posts in this thread, the firmware upgrade doesn't work from a memory stick - only from the SmartMedia card.

I had already copied the PRG files onto the memory stick and had attempted to move them to the SmartMedia card using the Clavinova song copy function, but that didn't work as they were invisible, not being midi files

My next attempt was to use the MusicSoft Downloader utility (which I already had on the PC, but I don't use much for song transfers as it is slower than the memory stick method).

I moved the files from the folder where I had extracted them to on the PC, to the Temporary Area in the top window of MusicSoft Downloader, using the Move arrow. But when moving them on to the CARD which was visble in the Clavinova window, the program complained that some of the PRG files were too large. So only the smaller files were transfered.

I was about to give up when I accidently hit upon a solution. The memory stick was still plugged in to the Clavinova and showed up as USB1 in the Clavinova window. I found that I could select the PRG files and drag them directly to the SmartMedia card, without having to use the Temporary Area window. That made sense as there was no actual tranfer going on between the PC and the Clavinova - only moving the files from one storage area to another on the Clavinova.

After switching off/on whilst holding down the Start/Stop key the install utility started and the udgrade was performed without problems.

Good luck!

Martyn
:D

[dunaj]

Very nice Martyn! But PC card reader cost 10 USD:D

[dbjorck]

Hi!

Dalgety; sorry I wasn't clear in my earlier reply. I was referring to your last statement "Maybe, someone should speak to Yamaha and ask them to send out a smartcard with the upgrade on, claiming to NOT owning any of the above."

So what I've asked for is a SmartMedia card with the upgrade. Not the four items you listed. They day they'll provide that, is the day when Yamaha freezes over.
:p Much like they don't even provide a new house large enough to house the instrument. :D

No reply yet by the way.

And I didn't get headphones, microphone or DVD. Just a bench which I specifically bargained for. But I did get a hefty rebate though.

Brgds

Danny

[Sunny]

For those who would like to have other options to use your existing collections of media card formats, you may consider a
"Smart Media Card Reader Adapter".

If you have xD-picture cards, you may use the xD-cards on the SmartMedia slot on the CVP-30x. See new thread at http://www.cvpug.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=919

[willjohn]

I was just playing around with Musicsoft Downloader and downloaded a zip file to my 307's User Song area. It appeared to download successfully but wouldn't display in the song folder I transferred it to (as would be expected since it wasn't a MID or other song-type file). I then transferred it back not wishing to have it take up memory in the 307 (My choice of a zip file was arbitrary. I just wanted a non-music file.)

"So what", you're probably saying.

Well, couldn't the 5 firmware files be transferred to a SmartMedia card in the Clavinova the same way? If so, it would eliminate the need for a SmartCard reader on the CPU.

Would somebody be good enough to try this and post results in this thread. I don't have a SmartCard or I'd do it myself.

Thanks in advance.

John

[Martyn]

John,

Look at my post earlier in this thread (1-18-2005) that might answer your question.

As I said, you can't download the PRG files directly using MusicSoft Downloader as some of them are too large, but the workaround I described works, as long as you have the files on a USB storage device already connected to the instument.

[jake]

I have just upgraded my firmware to V1.54. Like many of your posted messages, I have not noticed any difference. I am very intrigued by the US edition of the firmware and wonder if anybody knows how I can get a copy to install on my CVP309?

Does anyone know how to print the built-in scores so that one can play without relying on the screen?

Has anyone managed to connect the machine to a VGA monitor? there seems to be an analogue video connetcion but not VGA? (I can't imagine resting a TV on the piano!!! shock horror!).

Thanks for any responses

Jake

[sablair]

Hi Jake-
If you go to the following thread on CVP Music Finder Files, you'll find the US files that you're after. You'll need to read thru the entire thread to know what's up.

Note: these files are not a "system" or "firmware" upgrade, just some "goodies" to make your instrument more fun.......such as more voices, more songs, and more Music Finder Files.

http://cvpug.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=839

Enjoy!

[pbir]

Hi.

I have updated everything else. Thanks for the links.

Any idea on how I could update the color quadrant screen ? The new colors look nice.

Paul.

[sablair]

Try this:

http://home.pacbell.net/sablair/ColorScreen.bmp