Making an indirect connection for Firmware Upgrades

It is sometimes awkward to connect a Platinum systemA "Platinum system" is any system running the Platinum operating system. This includes stand-alone acquisition systems such as EAMs and NAMs, DAS units such as the Affinity and DM24SxEAM and digital instruments with built-in acquisition systems such as the 3TDE, 40TDE or 5TDE., such as an EAM or 40TDE instrument, to the Internet for firmware upgrades. For example: in some cases, the only available Internet access is via WiFi so, if the Platinum system does not have a WiFi interface, direct connection becomes impossible. In these cases, a PC or laptop can be used as a gateway, allowing the Platinum system to contact the Güralp firmware server indirectly, via the PC.

For a full overview of the theory behind this technique, please see the Indirect Platinum Upgrades page. If you are using a Windows PC as a gateway, that page includes a link back here for detailed instructions. If your gateway PC runs Linux, please see the Indirect Platinum Upgrades - Linux instructions page for detailed instructions.

If the Platinum system can be given direct access to the Internet, please use the standard upgrade method instead.

Configuring indirect platinum upgrades for Windows users

To configure a Windows PC to act as an intermediary for a firmware upgrade connection:

  1. If you do not already have PuTTY installed on your PC, download it from this link and install it, accepting the defaults at each stage of the installation process

    If you cannot or do not want to install third-party software on your PC, you can use the Linux command-line instructions in conjunction with the command-line SSH client shipped with Windows 10. (This feature may need to be enabled before use; please see this article for instructions.)

  2. Open PuTTY – the following dialogue is displayed:

  3. Enter the I.P. address of the Platinum system in the "Host Name (or IP address) field, as shown:

  4. Select Connection→Data from the left-hand menu and enter root as the Auto-login username:

  5. Select SSH → Tunnels from the left-hand menu. In this screen (shown below):

    and then click the Add button

    we have used an IP address - 46.43.14.141:873 - rather than a DNS name here in order to to remove a potential source of problems. If you are confident that your PC has a functioning name-resolution system, you can use rsync.guralp.com:873 in place of 46.43.14.141:873. This provides a degree of future-proofing, guarding against a change in the address of the Güralp firmware server.

  6. Check that a new entry beginning R8730 appears in the central list area exactly as shown:

  7. Select Sessions from the top of the left hand menu and enter a name for your Platinum system in the Saved Sessions box above the list of saved sessions. In the example below, we have used the name EAMxxxx but you are free to choose your own.

  8. Click the Save button. Your new saved session should appear in the list below Default Settings:

  9. Click the Open button. The first time you do this, a security dialogue is displayed:

    Simply click Yes (or, in some versions, "Accept") to clear this.

  10. An emulator window then opens, prompting you for the root password of the Platinum system:

    Enter the password and check that you reach the command line.

  11. Once logged in, issue the commands

    echo -e "RSYNC_HOST=localhost\nRSYNC_PORT=8730" >> /etc/conf.d/upgrade.local

    This tells the upgrade system to use a different server and port number for the upgrade files, so that it can access the tunnel that you have created.

  12. Leaving the emulator window open, switch to your browser and visit the web interface of your Platinum system.

  13. Log in as root, using your normal password:

    The standard Platinum web interface log-in screen

  14. Select Tools → Firmware from the main menu:

    The platinum web interface firmware screen

  15. Click The 'Upgrade' button or The 'Advanced options' button, as required, to initiate an appropriate upgrade, using the Linux PC as a port-forwarding gateway. The progress of the upgrade will be printed to the screen.

  16. Once the upgrade is finished, return the upgrade subsystem to its default settings by switching to the PuTTY window and entering the command:

    sed -i -e "/RSYNC_[PH]/d" /etc/conf.d/upgrade.local

  17. Once the upgrade is finished, the SSH connection can be closed by keying Ctrl + D. Close the PuTTY window by clicking the X in the top right-hand corner of the window.

No incoming connections are ever required. It is not necessary or desirable to open the firewall to any incoming connections.

This completes the procedure. In case of problems, please contact for assistance.