Aiiii, fook, bricked my GOV2

Guess what happens if you apply a Geek Out V1 firmware update to a V2? That'll teach me to pay frickin' attention.

I'm kind of pissed that the updater even allowed it (and the process even indicated success), but since its LH Labs it's not really surprising. So of course now the unit doesn't show up at all. There is a teensy power light, but that's about it. I've opened a ticket but I don't have high hopes of anything coming from that. I hold some tiny hope they can provide a widget to reflash it here...we'll see.

I'm mostly actually happy to send it on its way...that shitty case and dodgy-ass LH Labs backing I can walk away from in a heartbeat. It just pisses me off because it sounds so good.

Oh well, I'll rock the Dragonfly and wait for the next cool gadget. It's kinda nice to be on the lookout again.

 

Frankly this is also LH Labs fault. They could have programmed in a sanity check to prevent such user error from even happening.

All other electronics manufacturer(Intel, Nvidia, Asus, ASRock, Gigabyte, Linksys, IBasso, VIA, Seagate, WD, Sony)that have any kind of firmware flashing won't even allow for you to use non-valid files.

 

Weren't there warnings on the download page? Why isn't that enough?

 

You know it was Honda's fault, too, when I filled my tank with diesel.


Of course, I'm being facetious.

 

thanks obama

 

Because it's easy to make mistakes. Any good software should have guards against possible fatal failure modes like this.

How would you like it if the password prompt on your computer used gets to store the password input and just had a warning not to exceed X number of bytes? Makes sense, let the idiots screw themselves; won't affect me.

 

Lol. Not quite the same. There was no language where the meaning would only be known to those technically inclined like your example. Besides, if I saw a warning like that, and I didn't understand it, I sure as hell would have sought out the meaning first. "Don't use this firmware on this device" is pretty simple to understand, especially by someone who is trying to seek out and update the firmware. Hell, the OP even admitted it was his mistake because he didn't pay attention. I understand that their software could have been better, but at a certain point, one where we obviously disagree, people need to take personal responsibility for their actions. I have made uncountable mistakes in my life, many of them preventable by other people, but I won't blame a single person for any decision I have made. I have much more personal pride than that.

 

Good to see we can get into an argument over a matter of principle. It's just software, not driving drunk. There's no reason that it shouldn't have a safeguard against mis-installation especially considering that doing it wrong will brick the device.

 

I thought you were open to it with your sarcastic response. Plus, I like principles and like to talk about them.

 

Me too. That's why I said "Good to see".

 

Cool! So, do we disagree on the whole personal responsibility thing in general, or just the amount of hand holding necessary by companies/governments/societies to protect people from themselves? I'm not a technical person, so I like to keep it high level.

 

I believe as much hand-holding should be applied as is necessary to keep corpses from blocking my driveway. However as a developer I'm unimpressed by laziness, which is what the LH labs people are for not implementing a proper firmware update tool.

 

I like you, SSL. Seriously. Great answer. Enough to get me to contentedly shut up.

Although, I do think LHLabs is more incompetent than lazy.

To the OP. Sorry you borked your GOV2, they really do sound good for the money. Will be tough for something new to completely blow it away.

 

Well, I've been emailing back and forth with support and it seems the only option is to ship it back fro a full reflash to see if that works. Given I'm in South Africa and our postal service is dodgy at best, that's about $75 round trip by courier and $50 for LH Labs' time...and then we may still have a brick.

In the meantime I've pulled the trigger on a Mojo instead. I've not had a chance yet to do any critical testing, but from a pure subjective impression standpoint it's impressing me. Certainly in GOV2 territory, and the only reason I don't say clearly better is I respect I probably have some confirmation bias going on and I can't a/b since the Geek is toast.

The lights are a bit finicky, but overall the functionality is well thought out. Build is nice and solid. At $50 less than a GOV2+ Infinity it's a no-brainer for my uses.

 

You may be able to fix it yourself if you open it up. I assume the reason it's not able to flash V2 firmware is because the USB firmware also got borked. You can probably flash it manually using a serial connector of some sort.

Also, I would argue like hell with LH Labs on the $50. Like SSL I'm also a developer, and this is a software problem. Flashing an incorrect device should never be allowed, it's sheer laziness that they didn't implement a check. Software with such a gaping problem would never make it out the door of any reputable software company. A competent company designs defensively, and anticipates that users will make mistakes.

 

Check current software,
Check update intended.
Possibilities:
1. The version on the device is the latest. No update needed.
2. The version on the update is incompatible with the device.
3. The version on the device can be updated. Would you like to proceed?
4. Etc etc.
It's kinda simple, or is it not?

 

This occurred to me, too - I actually installed the XMOS community dev tools to see if by some wild chance that could 'see' the Geek through the USB port without it registering on the bus, but no dice. Subsequently LH Labs (to their credit) has offered to put me in touch with a tech, we'll see how far they're willing to help. Of course I'll have to crack the case open, but that also opens up the possibility of recasing it which may be a fun project...mount it acrylic for desktop use.

I agree that ultimately it's a crappy implementation - all the support is there in the XMOS stuff for managing safe reflashing, I can see it in the config files. The reason I take accountability is because I have a technical background and should have known to check twice, given the rep LH has. But from an ethics standpoint they should put themselves on the hook for this.

 

Even technical people don't always operate at 100%, 100% of the time. It's naive to assume your user will be perfect 100% of the time.

 

In this case my guess is plain lazy and disorganized.

 

That's what customer service is for.
Maybe they'll do it for free, minus shipping costs.