by cncdrive » Sat Jan 07, 2017 3:36 pm
The UCCNC and Mach3 plugins are developed separately, so the firmwares mostly differ, because the different things requires different codes in the firmware to work and then the firmware must update.
The firmware update happens automatically. If the software (UCCNC or Mach3) see that there is a different firmware version in the controller than what is required for the plugin to run then it updates the firmware.
We often harmonise the firmwares though, mostly when one development cycle ends then we make the UCCNC and Mach3 plugin common and in these cases with these versions there is no need for firmware updates when switching between the softwares.
The bad firmware indication happens if the firmware has a CRC error (The controller checks the firmware vitality every time the controller powers up and also after firmware updates.), and the CRC error can happen if the firmware download process was interrupted or the communication had errors so the firmware download could not complete.
The firmware error is automatically corrected on the next run, the plugin and the software downloads the firmware again if there is a firmware error.