Upgrading MMDVM board firmware from Pi-Star

 I just recently completed the exercise of upgrading my Pi-Star units with the Dashboard upgrade to 20240309 (9th March, 2024), and the Pi-Star firmware to 1.4.8

I noticed my MMDVM modems were still on 1.4.17, I looked at CA6JAU's GitHub and could see latest version he has was 1.5.2    GitHub - juribeparada/MMDVM_HS: MMDVM HotSpot: firmware for ZUMspot or MMDVM_HS based boards (D-Star, DMR, YSF, P25, NXDN and POCSAG)

but when I actually used the  Pi-Star > Configuration > Expert  > FW function to upgrade firmware, I discovered it was deploying version 1.6.1 for MMDVM_HS_HAT and same version for MMDVM_HS_DUAL_HAT

for my MMDVM HS_HAT modems (JumboSpot and the S56AL clone (Red)) were all same firmware that I upgraded manually a few years back. Below are  extracts from Pi-Star Livelogs, before and after upgrade :

MMDVM protocol version: 1, description: MMDVM_HS_Hat-v1.4.17 20190529 14.7456MHz ADF7021 FW by CA6JAU GitID #cc451c4

MMDVM protocol version: 1, description: MMDVM_HS_Hat-v1.6.1 20230526 14.7456MHz ADF7021 FW by CA6JAU GitID #7ff74ed

for my MMDVM Dual HAT modem, extracts from the Pi-Star Livelogs, before and after upgrade :

MMDVM protocol version: 1, description: MMDVM_HS_Dual_Hat-v1.4.17 20190529 14.7456MHz dual ADF7021 FW by CA6JAU GitID #cc451c4

MMDVM protocol version: 1, description: MMDVM_HS_Dual_Hat-v1.6.1 20230526 14.7456MHz dual ADF7021 FW by CA6JAU GitID #7ff74ed.

I ran into issue when doing the MMDVM_HS_DUAL_HAT modem board, the firmware upgrade stopped with an error, 

So I did a google search to see what to do about it, a few forums mentioned, but explanations were not easily understood, but eventually found the error details I needed, which was basically solder a JP1 solder pad  and solder a wire link into a header position, then I was able to complete the modem firmware task from Pi-Star menus, Configuration > Expert > FW.

From another forum, I learnt some more commandline  commands from Configuration > Expert > SSH Terminal, not so much to resolve, but to interrogate the MMDVM modem, which confirmed a few things.

For the type of MMDVM modems I am referring to above, then here they are:

JumboSpot :

S56AL clone (red coloured) :

MMDVM HS_DUAL_HAT modem :

same modem with OLED display fitted :

and below is the information to unlock the DUAL_HAT modem for upgrading

once the upgrade is complete, you can cut the link and remove solder blob from JP1 pads.

Here are Various Links to Upgrade firmware error discussions :
SOLVED - mmdvm single and duplex firmware update problem - forum.pistar.uk
Zumspot Libre Not upgrading - forum.pistar.uk

Updating MMDVM 1.52 to 1.61 : r/HamRadio (reddit.com)

PiStar MMDVM Upgrade Fix (m7spi.co.uk)    M7SPI covers the SSH commands you can use.

Make sure you upgrade the Dashboard version and Pi-Star software to get the latest Admin functionality.