GP 9 Installing System Software using AltBoot

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GP 9 Installing System Software using AltBoot

Purpose
CAUTION
The AltBoot procedure will delete all stored data on the System Disk Drive, including email addresses, Xerox Standard Accounting data,
and network configuration information. ALWAYS clone the machine ( GP 13),
13), if possible, before performing AltBoot. If the machine failure
is such that cloning is not possible, ensure that the customer is aware of the data loss.
AltBoot loads machine software. It may be used to load or reload software onto a machine that will not come to a ready state. It can also
be used to upgrade the software on additional options fitted to the machine, e.g., Finishers. See Table 1.

Table 1. SW Loading
Task

Procedure

Upgrade IOT SW

GP 8

Upgrade SBC SW

GP 8

Upgrade Finisher SW

GP9 Forced AltBoot

Upgrade IIT/IPS SW

GP9 Forced AltBoot

Reinstall same version SBC SW

GP9 Regular AltBoot

Downgrade any SW

GP9 Forced AltBoot

AltBoot should be only be used under the following circumstances:

To attempt to reinstall corrupt software

After replacing a HDD

To upgrade machine software without running multiple software upgrades.

To downgrade machine software.

To install finisher software

There are two types of AltBoot; Regular and Forced:

A Regular AltBoot is what the CSE should use to recover from problems with the SBC board (e.g. Disk corruption, general issues). It

will upgrade all software on the SBC board regardless of whether it needs it. Any other peripheral devices that need an upgrade will be
handled by the Power On Upgrade feature after the AltBoot is complete and the machine has rebooted.
Finishers and IIT/IPS cannot be reloaded, upgraded, or downgraded using this method.
The IOT cannot be reloaded or downgraded using this feature.
A Regular AltBoot takes approximately 5-10 minutes.

CAUTION
This feature should be used with extreme caution as it will replace bootcode as well as application code. Power Failure during a
Forced Altboot while programming bootcode may result in certain PWBs (DUI, Finisher) not being recoverable.

A Forced Altboot will upgrade or downgrade every component on the entire machine regardless of the currently-installed software

version. A Forced Altboot is required for recovering from corrupt application code on devices such as Fax, IOT, IIT.
A Forced Altboot should be used if the Finisher software requires upgrade or reloading.
A Forced Altboot should be used if a downgrade of the IOT/IIT is required.
Performing a Forced Altboot may take up to 25 minutes to complete.

Procedure
Obtaining Software
System software is available on the Diagnostic Navigator CD. To load SW onto the USB Flash Drive perform the following:

NOTE:
Post-launch the System Software will also be available via a link in GSN Library # 1096 and on www.xerox.com.
1.

Connect the Flash Drive to a USB port on your PWS.

NOTE:
You should not have an upgrade ( GP 8) folder and an altboot folder on the Flash Drive at the same time.
2.
3.

Create a folder named altboot at the root level of the drive.

Forced AltBoot only: Create a file named FORCED_UPGRADE inside the altboot folder. This can be any type of file, and does
not need to have any content; the AltBoot routine only checks to see that a file with this name is present.

4.

Navigate to the root directory of the Diagnostic Navigator CD.

NOTE:
If you have more than one file with the suffix .dlm inside the altboot folder on the Flash Drive, the latest version will be
automatically selected.

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GP 9 Installing System Software using AltBoot

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5.

Locate the Machine SW folder. Inside the folder will be a file with the name WorkCentre_7700WorkCentre_7700-systemsystemsw#060090009*****# .dlm,
.dlm where ***** is the version number of the software. Copy this file to the altboot folder on the USB
Flash Drive

6.

Remove the Flash Drive from your PWS.

Loading Software
1.
2.

Switch on the machine power and wait for the machine to boot up.
Perform an NVM Save, dC361.

3.
4.

Perform the Network Clone procedure, GP 13.

If possible, complete or delete all pending print jobs. If the prints jobs cannot be deleted, warn the customer that all pending
jobs will be lost.

5.

Before software is loaded, ensure that the machine is in a fully operational condition. Any active faults or jams must be
resolved before starting this procedure.
Switch off the machine

6.
7.

Connect the USB Flash Drive to one of the USB Ports on the Control Unit ( Figure 1).
Figure 1. USB Ports
8. Switch on the machine power.
9.
10.

11.

The UI will display the Software Upgrade screen. Progress bars for each of the software modules will be displayed.
The AltBoot process should complete after approximately 5 minutes. When finished, the UI will display Upgrade Complete.
Remove USB Drive and press 0 in UI.
UI Make sure to remove the Flash Drive before hitting 0 or the machine will restart the
upgrade.
If the AltBoot process fails, the AltBoot failed screen will open. Follow the on screen instructions. Restart the procedure.

NOTE:
Do not switch off the machine until told to do so by the UI. During the next few steps, the HDD is being encrypted. Switching
off the machine can cause only partial encryption of the partitions on the HDD.
12.
13.

The UI displays the Data Encryption/Decryption screen.

The machine will reboot several times before returning to a ready state. In some instances a power on failure screen may
appear. Switch off the machine, then switch on the machine.

14.
15.

Perform an NVM Restore, dC361.

Perform a Network Clone Restore ( GP 13).

If the procedure is not successful . . .

Listed below are possible problems that may stop AltBoot software loading:

Incompatible USB flash drive.

Corrupt.dlm file.

Incorrectly named upgrade directory on USB flash drive.

HDD corruption or failure.

USB port damage

UI failure

SBC PWB failure

+5V supply to the USB ports

pws://file/xerox/edoc/wc7755-7765-7775/chtml/svc.lex2.0000258439.htm

2010/09/18