Neato Firmware Upgrades Discontinued! :(

[tkane2000]

I wanted to upgrade my Neato Robot XV Signature from 3.2 to 3.4, but couldn't find the download page. After contacting Neato, they replied with this message:

Firmware updates are no longer available. After an extensive review, it has been determined that routine cleaning and maintenance will address many of the concerns our customers are experiencing.

I guess you have to buy a new one to get the latest. ...very disappointing, especially because I'm already having issues with battery life and my robot is only a few months old.

If anyone knows a trick to download the firmware update, please let me know!

Thanks!

[glnc222]

See other thread links to off-line files http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewto ... 44#p134144
Should be used only when familiar with firmware flashing micro controller systems. Mistakes can damage systems.
There are no important additions beyond v3.1/3.2 reported, just minor tweaks.

[edit] The reported statement by customer service is inconsistent with the originally advertised purpose of firmware updating, which is not to "solve customer problems" but make available to owners advances in the software technology in operating the robot most effectively. Such updating is advertised by Dyson, for example, in its new robot, using WiFi. It will be interesting to see if Neato's German partner (and majority interest investor) Vorwerk Kobold is adopting the same new policy.

[glnc222]

The Vorwerk Kobold software update website is still operating. Vorwerk has had their own system maybe better than the Neato Robotics website.

[rvc]

Neato's German partner

Hardly...This VC firm controls the voting stock in Neato.
And I think they only ponied up about $12M, the rest came from placements.
You can bet it will IPO in the billions just like GoPro did.

This VC crap is getting out of control.
A German unicorn invest in a US start up, then sells the non voting company stock to the US public through an IPO, and the overpriced stock ends up in the retirement accounts of working class americans.
And the go forward value of the company ends up in German Pockets.
And a windfall goes into the employees pockets.

Probably one in a thousand understand what I am talking about and that in and of itself is pathetic.
Americans have become so uneducated I don't know that they would get it even if you spelled it out in for them.

If they were smart they would buy an iRobot vacuum simply because iRobot is watched by the SEC (through filings). But even the SEC has fallen pray to the political influence of the unicorn class.

ANYBODY Capiche?

[glnc222]

Nothing unusual in the foreign participation in stock market IPO's and venture capital. Continue in the "off topic chit chat section. A lot of financial commentary has been directed at the activity in IPO's etc. recently. There is a thread on "size of the robot market" with business issues, or add another.

Exactly how Vorwerk and Neato work together has been mysterious as terms of their deal private. Two separate teams were mentioned by one poster.
The big mistake I see is the failed bearing design for the brush on the Botvac subject to damage from fiber debris. The replacement Botvac-D brush is from the Vorwerk VR200 German version of the Botvac which was already on hand. So why the German brush design was not used in the first place is peculiar. It is like they don't communicate or have different opinions.

Larger firms have entered the market, Dyson and Samsung (who even makes the battery cells, and well regarded in many product lines from smart phones and tablets to washing machines in American appliance stores). 2016 will be a different market.

[tkane2000]

Thanks for the info @ginc2222! Sounds too risky to use the "offline" files. I did hear that it fixes some battery issues though

[glnc222]

They are always hyping some minor tweaks in firmware when they made recent releases after 3.1 with a real advance in corner maneuvers. No user reports of big differences. Some users prefer to go back so it covers the rooms in the same way as before.

Run time may actually be slower with 3.4 because they may have increased the reserve for returning to base. This makes less likely the peculiar stoppage just in front of the base when the battery is too low. A reserve is required to pull off the base in case of bad connections as these can heat up during charging. Very long returns to base with obstacles increasing loads could exceed their estimated reserve.

There are also risks of damaging the units when updating online, depending on how elaborate is the hardware, probably not. For example, does it have a backup OS in ROM in case the flashed memory is updated incorrectly?
The problem is bad updating can ruin the capacity to update again, without hardware to support the whole process.
All sorts of online connection problems have affected the updates (separate thread top on main page).
Unlike a PC or smartphone there is not a ton of different software requiring bug fixes and security enhancements requiring periodic updates.

Some firmware differences can exist just for technical reasons of updated components on the system board, different cpu IC's etc., just software internals, port addresses, voltages and what not, unrelated to cleaning operation. Component makers are constantly improving products and system boards get remade without functional differences.

[edit] Maybe they discontinued updates because the person who writes the advertising hype quit and they don't know how to sell them anymore.

[eelton]

I have an XV11 that keeps giving an error message that a software update is available. I assume that’s some kind of corruption (it has no way of knowing what’s available), but I had hoped that updating it would reset the error. But now there are no more software updates!

I e-mailed customer service about this two weeks ago, but they never replied. I think it's time to give up on Neato.

[Padinn]

Are there updates for the D85 series?

[vic7767]

So far there have been no Botvac firmware updates offered by NeatoRobotics.

[djos]

Good news for those who want a safe and really easy upgrade process for their XV series Bot, I figured out a much better way and wrote a guide:

http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewto ... 20&t=19005

[VoronServer]

In fact they included some USB host OTG cable in BotVac Connected bundle for firmware updates (suitable for plugging a USB flash drive). Thus I suspect they will have some firmware updates but via downloads and flash disks. To me it is safer if device will flash itself. Nothing should go wrong since it has it's own batteries.

[Weinman]

This sucks. On the box, in the FIRST section of bulleted highlights, it says "gets smarter... software upgrades let you take advantage of new features as they become available." How can they simply stop offering upgrades?

[JEfromCanada]

This sucks. On the box, in the FIRST section of bulleted highlights, it says "gets smarter... software upgrades let you take advantage of new features as they become available." How can they simply stop offering upgrades?

Which version are you referring to regarding the comment on the box. This is an old thread, referring to a legacy product that hasn't been sold in some time.