Firmware/Library Upgrades

In general, configuration files are usable with different firmware and library revisions (i.e. older configuration files will generally work with newer versions of the firmware and library). The meiConfig utility will transform older configuration files into the current format. See Appendix B for details.

IMPORTANT: Configuration files are not portable across major MPI release versions. For example, MPI 03.00 configuration files are not compatible with MPI 04.00.

When downloading an older configuration file, it is recommended that the –mods option be used. This will provide a record of all configuration elements that have been affected by the download.

To upgrade to a new version of the MPI library and/or XMP firmware while retaining custom configuration, perform the following steps:

meiConfig -flash get all.cfg
Install new library and firmware.
meiConfig -flash -mods -set all.cfg > log.txt
Examine the log.txt file. Look for errors, warnings, and unexpected modifications. See Expected Results.
Save the log.txt file. It may be useful when trying to debug an application to know what has been changed on the controller.

Expected Results

The –mods flag will cause all configuration elements that have been modified from their current state on the controller to be dislplayed. Here is a sample output:

     MODIFIED: Control 0.MPIControlConfig.enabled.axisCount
     Old value: "8"
     New value: "4"

There may be hundreds of these modification messages.

Other than modification messages, meiConfig may also display warnings concerning missing elements in the config file. Below are examples of two such warnings:

Missing object: Control 0.Axis 2.MPIAxisConfig.estopModify
Missing property: Control 0.Axis 2.MEIAxisConfig.userLabel

These are warnings that certain elements are missing in the config file. The configuration for missing elements will remain unmodified, so usually these warnings can be ignored. If the file was generated using a previous version of meiConfig, it is likely that these elements did not exist in the older version of the MPI.

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