HK 635/435 firmware upgrade experience

My upgrade seemed to go off without a hitch. My previous FW was 4.05 and is now 4.12.

The entire process (from initially downloading file to re-running EzSet/EQ) took less than 15 minutes. When I re-ran EzSet/EQ in auto, it still set all of my speakers to large. I changed them to small, set cross-overs and re-ran in manual and received results very similar to what I had before the upgrade. After adjusting the new surround option to "last", L7 stays no matter the source.

It took longer than we all wanted, but so far it looks like the wait was worth it.

If anyone sees any change (reduction) in the "pumping" phenomenon (where voices obviously bounce from the front soundstage to the rear and return) using Logic7, please let us know. Thanks

Straight through RS232 cable uses pins 2,3, and 5 on a 9-pin connector. Null modem crosses pins 2 and 3 internally.

I'll second this, and mine is also 4.05 -> 4.12. Thank goodness it's over with!

For future reference, when the 435 update comes out, is a standard D-sub monitor cable a serial cable?

A follow up is that I noticed some changes with EzSet - it must have different calculations - the microphone position is different than my old firmware. Near fields are done at 2 feet instead of 3, and the initial mic position is at ear level rather than 3 feet above. Something has changed although it's hard to hear with the ears if there is a discernible improvement.

Just completed the upgrade (I think?). I went from V 4.05 to V 4.12. I only upgraded the CPU, as I could not find the DSP file. Is that right or am I missing something here? The instructions say to upgrade the DSP as well.

Hi Ryan,

Unfortunately, they are not interchangeable. The package is currently being worked on now. Realistically, I would say within the next couple of weeks. The upgrade itself is ready. The installation tool and software are is now being ironed out.


For those 435 owners, this is the latest

Update experience was very good. I especially like the user interface, and I am not sure why they don't make that available as a software package. It would be awesome to have an lcd touch panel display connected to the AVR so that you could control everything through the serial port. The only display I have in my theater is a AE700 projector. I hate having to fire that up every time I want to play around with the OSD menu on the 635. It would be easier for me to justify buying a small lcd monitor if I could also control the 635 with it.

Anyhow, I didn't notice much difference in EZSet, and it gave me about the same results after the upgrade. Works well, I am pleased with the system.

Should have kept my old laptop that had a serial connector.

My five-month old laptop doesn't have an RS-232 port (that I can find anyway). Like bubbawilly, I guess I'll have to bring the desktop computer over to the HK. I wish Dell had left the serial port, or HK had made the upgrade USB compliant.

C'mon moving a computer takes me like 10 min max. Its not that bad. Next time don't buy a Dell

Hope it goes well for you!

I use a 5" b&w $40 Radio Shack tv, running a compositie video cable to it. (I keep it near the couch and can easily take it out to access the HK osd.)

Shelly

That is probably what I will end up doing as well. I found a 5" B&W CRT tv at CVS for $25. I did not hook up to a monitor/tv when I did the upgrade, so there were a few of the buttons on the firmware console that I wasn't sure what they did ( OSD-LT, OSD-RT). Anyone know what those are? I was able to use all the other buttons on the screen and they seemed to work fine.

As for the serial cable, RS-232 is spec'd for 100ft, but our company has used it up to 300' successfully. If you want to build your own serial cable, you can get the d-shells and cabling at the Ratshack if you need more than the standard 10 ft you get with pre-made cables.

Although HK did not recommend USB to RS-232 converters, we have successfully used them in our company to do firmware upgrades on our equipment. Some work, some don't. Perhaps none work with the HK635, so it would be up to the user to try it. Could be data transfer related issues, I dunno.

Ran the update on mine last night after hearing the complaints about Logic7 kicking in and out. The upgrade went quick and smooth without issue. Just picked the receiver up Monday night and hadn't set it up until after the upgrade, so can't comment on any differences.

Here is one gripe I have with the unit though. It is actually with the remote. I configured it to work with all of my equipment and setting that up was easy. But why isn't there a play button for the DVD\\CD player?

Wow - I totally forgot about upgrading the DSP after I ran the CPU upgrade. Has anyone done the DSP upgrade?

I couldn't find a .dsp file in the extracted folder, so I just assumed that there was a typo in the instructions. I downloaded from the website twice, just to make sure I wasn't missing something. All I could find was the various .cpu files. If someone finds the .dsp file, let the rest of us know.

There is..
Check the pad where the volume Up/Down are located..
To its upper right is the Play function....
Be sure that you configured the remote both on the DVD device page and by default the DVD player is programmed for the punch-through functions while on the AVR page.

No DSP changes are required..
So there is only a single file (hex) which is for the AVR control firmware..

Any word on the 'refinements to the EZSet/EQ' that were added in thissoftware upgrade? Is this similar to the EZSet 2 that is offered on the 740? Any idea what the "remote" icon in the upper lefthand corner does?

Clarify what icon are you referring to..

Perhaps the DSP upgrade instructions are left over from the 630/430 firmware upgrade??

Anyone confirm this with HK??

HK is notorious for not proofreading. Virtually every product manual they've written has info left over from previous models that no longer applies.

<<Although HK did not recommend USB to RS-232 converters, we have successfully used them in our company to do firmware upgrades on our equipment. Some work, some don't. Perhaps none work with the HK635, so it would be up to the user to try it. Could be data transfer related issues, I dunno.>>

Programs which write directly to the serial port hardware rather than using Windows serial port 'hooks' won't work with USB->RS232 converters. If software was originally written for MS-DOS and casually (poorly) re-written for use with Windows, it usually won't work. Only way to find out is to try...

Tried that and it didn't work. I didn't try too hard though. Didn't get it set up til late.

The icon in the uppermost left corner that is labeled "remote" under it. It is left of the icon that is labeled "CPU upgrade" in the Harman Kardon Receiver Operating Console V2.0. (The firmware update program).

Edit: Perhaps 'menu button' is the correct term for this, not icon.

Perhaps this is for connecting to and configuring the remote through the hole under the plug that is there for future use, that we should not remove.