Sunday, January 13, 2013

Kodak Wi-Fi Firmware Update

If you're like me you bought a Kodak wireless printer thinking "Wow! This'll be great! No cables for all my printing and scanning needs!" only to find out that the wireless feature absolutely does not work. Kodak's printers are fine, but their software is absurdly bad.
The problem is that on the stock firmware any time the printer goes to sleep (a maximum of 4hrs idle) it will lose all connectivity with your PC.

So needless to say I was excited to see that the latest firmware from Kodak includes "Improved Wi-Fi stability." I clicked "update firmware" and when I saw the words "update complete" I was relieved. I was so very mistaken.

My printer behaved exactly the same, except now it would notify me I needed a firmware update every day.

"A firmware update is available for your printer
Current Version: 2.2
Latest Version: 4.4"

It was constantly telling me to update my firmware from 2.2 to 4.4. If I told it to update it would tell me it had updated successfully, and then shortly after tell me I was running firmware 2.2.

So I dug around and was able to find the following help page: Printer firmware version stays the same after an upgrade
As it turns out Kodak just never fully supported 64-bit Windows. If you are using a Windows PC less than 5 years old the firmware updates will not work. So I had to follow the workaround on that page.
Still, the Kodak directions make it seem easier than it is, which is why I'll post the correct details here:

*note: if you have access to a Mac you may find the Mac firmware update process (ESPC310/ESPC315) to be more straightforward. The following steps should work regardless of your operating system.
  1. Backup and format all the contents of an SD card.
  2. Download the latest Kodak firmware for your printer from the "mobile devices" page (ESPC310/ESPC315)
  3. Save the firmware (ESPC31xA.rbn) as the only file on your SD card. If you did not format the card the printer may not allow a firmware update.
  4. Safely remove the SD card from your PC.
  5. Insert the SD card into your printer.
  6. Dismiss the "No viewable pictures found on memory card." by either pressing OK or waiting for it to disappear.
  7. Hold down the OK button and while it is held down press the Back button.
  8. Follow the on-screen directions to begin a firmware update. Once the update has begun do not remove the SD card or turn off power to the printer until the update is completely finished.
The printer display should tell you the firmware is updating, then when it is done it will restart and open the default menu. At this point it is safe to remove your SD card.

If everything was successful you should be able to use the Kodak AiO home software on your PC to consistently connect to your printer wirelessly and be able to configure Google Cloud Print.

You can verify your firmware version by using the printer's menus to go to Maintenance -> Print Test Page. If the update was successful it will print on line five "05. Firmware Version: . . . RC4.4"

Hope this helps somebody. I know I was struggling with this for over a year.

Disclaimer: with any project to modify firmware there is a very real risk of leaving your device in an unusable state. No one should follow these directions if they are uncomfortable with the process. It is highly recommended that you put in the time to research the solution before embarking on this project and understand each step presented. The reader accepts full responsibility for any consequences of following this tutorial.

 References:
Printer firmware version stays the same after an upgrade
Kodak AiO Home Software (required for wireless features)
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5 comments:

  1. Unknown9/22/13, 2:13 PM

    Hi, thanks very much for posting this. I've been wondering why the printer never updated. Now I know!!! Your instructions worked first time. thank you again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EUbrainwashing8/28/14, 5:02 AM

    I have done the job and my printer now has v.4.4 on it - at last - yippee! I hope this new firmware version may also help overcome my C310's ink-drinking problem - but then I am a habitual optimist.

    I have an Apple computer on my network so I went through the steps first on that machine, before then using your successful SD card method, but, whilst it all appeared to update, just the same as with my 64bit PC, the new version failed to take root.

    So thank you for this item - well done, good job.

    I have started refilling my ink cartridges which requires also replacing the micro-chips on the cartridge. The chips do not directly show how much ink remains in each cartridge but rather how much use the machine has had and when they say the ink has run-out they cannot be used again! So when refilling original cartridges with ink the chips need to be replaced too - but it is still a good saving.

    I think the machine uses ink even when it is not printing, whenever it goes through one of it numerous head-cleaning cycles, and that accounts for its rapid ink consumption. Far from being the economical device as advertised it is a thirsty little so and so. I am hopeful this new firmware addresses this issue too but I fancy I am going to be disappointed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PT Joy1/29/15, 11:04 AM

    I tried this several times and it just doesn't work! Once I've put the SD card Into the printer it says "firmware upgrading" alright but just stays stuck on that for hours! Nothing else happens.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown5/8/15, 4:19 PM

    i cant get this to work....i have held down ok and pressed the back key and it does nothing!
    help!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown7/29/15, 11:52 AM

    Thank you for sharing this, it worked well first time, i'm now on FW 4.4 at last. hopefully no more messages (well until 6.6 comes out)

    ReplyDelete

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