Appendix IV: Updater File Structure¶

As we discussed in the “BrainStem Firmware Management” section, Updater is our new tool updating and recovering your Brainstem modules. After playing around with it a bit you might of noticed that it keeps a history of all the devices it interacts with. In the following appendix I will be explaining the file structure Updater creates on your in or to make things easier on you.

Locating Updater’s files on your machine¶

Updater stores all its files in your home directory under a hidden folder named “.acroname”. In Mac if you would like to find this directory you can open up your terminal window and type the following.

$> cd ~/              #Change to your home directory
$> ls -a              #List files, including hidden files

Now lets enter the folder and look around.

$> cd ~/.acroname/updater

You may have noticed that I skipped over a directory and went straight to the updater folder. Currently there are not any other files/folders in this folder; however, feel free to explore around.

Lets have a look at what is in the updater folder.

$> ls -lah          #List files, including hidden files and permissions

total 0
drwxr-xr-x  7 Mitch  staff   238B Dec  4 10:34 .
drwxr-xr-x  3 Mitch  staff   102B Nov 30 11:08 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff     0B Nov 30 11:10 .history
drwxr-xr-x  5 Mitch  staff   170B Dec  2 11:40 3797E6F8
drwxr-xr-x  4 Mitch  staff   136B Dec  4 10:34 66F4859B
drwxr-xr-x  5 Mitch  staff   170B Dec  2 11:38 71E3928C
drwxr-xr-x  4 Mitch  staff   136B Nov 30 11:08 856C1C03

Exploring the Updater files¶

Now that we have made it into the Updater file structure lets discuss what we see here. In the example above you will notice that there are 7 items.

“.” - Standard directory structure: Current directory

“..” - Standard directory structure: Parent directory

“.history” - System level history (not current implemented).

The remaining four items are all devices (serial numbers) that the Updater utility has connected too previously.

3797E6F8

66F4859B

71E3928C

856C1C03

Exploring the Updater Device files¶

Lets look into device/directory 66F4859B

$> cd 66F4859B
$> ls -lah          #List files, including hidden files and permissions

total 344
drwxr-xr-x  7 Mitch  staff   238B Dec  4 10:58 .
drwxr-xr-x  7 Mitch  staff   238B Dec  4 11:00 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff   1.6K Dec  4 10:58 .history
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff   228B Dec  4 10:58 .settings
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff    53K Dec  4 10:58 130702287.bird
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff    52K Dec  4 10:56 75203177.bird
-rw-r--r--  1 Mitch  staff    52K Dec  4 10:57 99528558.bird

You will notice a similar layout from the previous example, but there are a few new items we will dig into. It is important to remember that we are now inside a folder for a specific device. Thus all the items in this folder are related to that device only.

“.history”¶

As you would imagine the “.history” file includes a history of the device and all the actions we have preformed on it from within Updater. By default Updater will include basic information; however, you can also add your own messages to the history file by using the “-l” parameter. Please see “Using Updater via CLI” for more information. You may also choose to update this file manually. Lets take a look at the “.history” file.

$> vi .history

12:04:17:34:52 | Created device entry
12:04:17:50:56 |     66F4859B  00       02      04 [USBStem     ]   2.1.5
12:04:17:51:48 |     66F4859B  00       02      04 [USBStem     ]   2.1.5
12:04:17:56:36 | Current settings:
12:04:17:56:36 | 	Serial#:[66F4859B, 1727301019]
12:04:17:56:36 | 	Module#:[02]
12:04:17:56:36 | 	Model#:[04, USBStem]
12:04:17:56:36 | 	Firmware Version:  2.1.5
12:04:17:56:36 | Updating device from BIRD file: [/Users/Mitch/.acroname/updater/
66F4859B/75203177.bird]
12:04:17:56:37 | Update successful. Transferred 3 blocks, 57664 total bytes
12:04:17:56:50 |     66F4859B  00       06      04 [USBStem     ]   2.1.3
12:04:17:57:39 | Current settings:
12:04:17:57:39 | 	Serial#:[66F4859B, 1727301019]
12:04:17:57:39 | 	Module#:[06]
12:04:17:57:39 | 	Model#:[04, USBStem]
12:04:17:57:39 | 	Firmware Version:  2.1.3
12:04:17:57:39 | Updating device from BIRD file: [/Users/Mitch/.acroname/updater/
66F4859B/99528558.bird]
12:04:17:57:42 | Update successful. Transferred 3 blocks, 57844 total bytes
12:04:17:57:52 |     66F4859B  00       02      04 [USBStem     ]   2.1.4
12:04:17:58:03 | Current settings:
12:04:17:58:03 | 	Serial#:[66F4859B, 1727301019]
12:04:17:58:03 | 	Module#:[02]
12:04:17:58:03 | 	Model#:[04, USBStem]
12:04:17:58:03 | 	Firmware Version:  2.1.4
12:04:17:58:03 | Updating device from BIRD file: [/Users/Mitch/.acroname/updater/
66F4859B/130702287.bird]
12:04:17:58:05 | Update successful. Transferred 3 blocks, 59292 total bytes
12:04:17:58:12 |     66F4859B  00       02      04 [USBStem     ]   2.1.5

“.settings”¶

Just like the “.history” file the “.settings” file is also self explanatory. Here Updater information in which it needs to communication with the brainstem module. Although you have read/write access to this file it is recommended that you do not make any changes to this file. Lets take a look at what type of information is stored in the “.settings” file.

$> vi .history

FIRMWARE=  2.1.5
LAST_TRANSFER_DATE=Fri Dec  4 10:58:05 2015
LAST_TRANSFER_VERSION=/Users/Mitch/.acroname/updater/66F4859B/130702287.bird
LINK_TYPE=USB
MODEL_NUMBER=4
MODULE_NAME=USBStem
MODULE_NUMBER=2
SERIAL_NUMBER=0x66F4859B

“.bird” Files¶

The remaining 4 items from the device files listed above are called “.bird” files. This is the file type in which we store our firmware. For this particular device I have updated the firmware 3 times and thus have 3 “.bird” files stored under this device.