How To Recover Room Alert Firmware With The Device Discovery Utility

Download (1) AVTECH’s Device Discovery utility and (2) the latest firmware for your unit from your RoomAlert.com account.

This FAQ shows you how: How To Download Firmware & Software From Your RoomAlert.com Account.

Install the utility on the computer that you’ll connect your Room Alert to, but don’t open the utility yet.

Save the firmware file somewhere on your computer that you can easily find. You won’t do anything with it yet, but you’ll need to have it on hand for later.

If you have AVTECH’s Device ManageR software installed on your computer, temporarily stop the Device ManageR service as it can interfere with the firmware recovery process.

This FAQ shows you how: How To Stop, Start And Restart The Device ManageR Service.

If you’re not sure whether it’s installed or not, follow the first step of the FAQ above—if you don’t see AVTECH Device ManageR in the list of services, you’ll know it’s not installed.

Once you are done with the recovery process, you may restart the Device ManageR service.

You’ll need to set the static IP on your computer so that it can see the Room Alert monitor once it’s connected. What static IP you set depends on your Room Alert’s network settings:

This FAQ shows you what to do whether your unit is on DHCP or has a static IP: How To Assign A Static IP Address To Your Windows Computer.

Disable all other network cards on your computer, except for the one your Room Alert will be using.

This FAQ shows you how: How To Disable Network Adapters On Your Windows Computer.

1. Disconnect your Room Alert Monitor from your regular network and from power.

2. Connect your Room Alert to the Ethernet port on your computer. (Ideally, you’d do this with a crossover cable, but a regular Ethernet cable will probably work as well.)

3. Do not connect the unit to power yet. You’ll do that soon, but not yet.

1. Open Device Discovery. You may open it by navigating to Start→ AVTECH Device Discovery Utility.

2. Connect your Room Alert to power using the AVTECH 5V power adapter that came with the unit. The Ethernet ports on computers do not provide PoE, so you will need to use that power adapter to power the unit.

3. Device Discovery should immediately display the Recover Firmware? dialog box:

If this prompt doesn’t appear, try power-cycling your unit. (Disconnect the power cord for your unit, wait 10 seconds, and then reconnect it.) The prompt should then appear.

4. Select OK. A page of instructions for firmware recovery will appear in your browser.

5. The Enter MAC Address dialog box should then appear.

– In the box, enter your Room Alert’s 12-character MAC Address in this format (including the hyphens): XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX.

You can find your MAC address printed on a sticker on the bottom of your unit.

– Then select OK.

If this prompt doesn’t appear, please see the note at the end of this FAQ.

6. When the dialog box appears telling you to power-cycle your Room Alert, select OK.

Disconnect the power cord from your unit, wait 10 seconds, and then reconnect it.

7. While your Room Alert reboots, Device Discovery displays a message at the bottom of the screen:

8. Once your Room Alert reboots, the Enter IP Address dialog box will appear as shown below:

– You may enter a static IP address or enter 0.0.0.0 to use DHCP.

– Then select OK.

9. When the Saving Network Settings dialog box appears, select OK.

10. Your Room Alert will reboot and appear in the list of discovered devices when AVTECH Device Discovery next scans your network.

11. Once your Room Alert has fully rebooted:

– Disconnect the Ethernet cable from the unit.

– Connect the unit normally to your network.

– Power-cycle the unit again. (Disconnect it from power, wait 10 seconds, and reconnect it to power.)

Update the firmware to your Room Alert unit (even if it’s already on the latest version).

This FAQ shows you how: How To Update Firmware On Room Alert Monitors.

The Device Discovery utility may recover your unit without your having to go through the entire process shown above.

If you get to Step 6, but don’t see the Enter MAC Address dialog box, follow these steps:

1. Close the Device Discovery utility.

2. Disconnect your Room Alert from power and the Ethernet cable.

3. Reconnect your Room Alert to Ethernet first and then to power.

4. Open the Device Discovery utility and select Search to search for devices.

5. If your unit appears with an IP address outside your network’s range:

– Select your unit.

– Select Set IP.

– Assign a static IP address or enter 0.0.0.0 to use DHCP.

– Allow your unit to automatically reboot.

6. Double-click on your unit in Device Discovery to open its web interface and make sure it’s up and running.

7. Update your unit’s firmware. (Step 7 tells you where to get the firmware file and the instructions for performing an update.)