DSCS9 Android 6.0.1 to Android 7.1.2 Upgrade Instructions
- Xibo for Android
- DSDevices DSCS9X/95 Set-up Guide
- Install a White Label or a different Player version on DSDevices
- CEC Screen Power on/off with DSDevices
- Hardware Recommendations
- Philips Signage SoC Monitors
- Sony Bravia SoC
- Managing Storage on the Android Device
- Player Settings
- Players without an Internet Connection
- Remote Administration with SS Helper
- Restart Rooted Device with a Shell Command
- Running Xibo for Android
- Resolving Common Issues
- Error shown when I try to licence my Player?
- Player not updating from the CMS?
- I can see my Licence entry but the Player appears unlicensed?
- Error message - Player is missing dependencies
- My scheduled Layouts are not working?
- Layout won't play? Splash screen plays?
- Watchdog error message
- Troubleshooting for Administrators
- Audit Trail
- Log Information
- Player Logs
- Getting the Player Status
- Request Player Status via CMS - Logged in Players only
- Request Player Status directly from a Device
- Can I use the Xibo name / logo?
- Can I run a Xibo Player on Raspberry Pi?
- How can I increase the upload file size limit?
- How do Players communicate with the CMS?
- How many displays can Xibo support?
- How do I reset the Xibo_admin account password?
- Power On/Off for Players
- Testing with Xibo
- Why do I need a Default Layout?
- Xibo for Android FAQ's
- Autoplaying Embedded Youtube Videos
- Closing to Home screen
- Displaying Images
- Embedded TV
- External SD card not listed when running Banana-Pi
- Helper Command to change Time zone
- HTML5 Video
- Memory Notifications
- Menu not accessible
- SSL Support
- Using Portrait Displays
- Video wont play properly
On this page
- DSCS9 Android 6.0.1 to Android 7.1.2 Upgrade Instructions
DSCS9 Android 6.0.1 to Android 7.1.2 Upgrade Instructions
Check your DSCS9 is compatible
All DSCS9s purchased via Xibo Signage can be upgraded.
A small number of DSCS9s sold several years ago are not compatible with Android 7. To check your device, look at the device with the STATUS and NET LED lights towards you, and the antenna for the wifi on the far side away from you and to the right.
If the two USB-A ports are to the right as you look at it, the device can be upgraded to Android 7. If they’re on the left then unfortunately the device cannot be upgraded to Android 7. Do not try to upgrade a device with USB ports on the left.
Prerequisites
As far as Xibo is concerned, there’s no need to backup any information from the device as everything is pushed down from the CMS in normal operation. If however you have static IP addresses or custom proxy configurations or similar, make a note of those as you will need to reapply those manually after the new firmware has been flashed.
Requirements
To complete the upgrade, you will need:
Hardware:
- A microSD card.
- A Windows 10 PC with a microSD Card slot, or an external card reader for your microSD card.
- A USB Mouse.
- A narrow wooden or plastic stick that will easily fit inside the Audio Jack port on the rear of the DSCS9. A matchstick, cocktail stick or toothpick is ideal. Do not use anything metal or conductive.
Software:
- A copy of the Burn Card Maker Tool, which you can download here.
- A copy of the DSCS9 Android 7.1 Firmware, which you can download here.
Formatting your MicroSD
First we would recommend formatting your microSD card, using your DSCS9. To format your card:
- Insert the card into the microSD slot on your DSCS9.
- Click the app named Settings. This will open a new window named System settings.
- Choose the option named General, followed by the More settings option listed at the bottom.
- You will now be in the Android System Settings. Select the Storage option.
- Click on your SD card. This will open a new window. Choose the Settings option in the top right corner of the screen to reveal the format options.
- Choose Format, do not choose Format as Internal.
- You will receive confirmation that the format was successful.
Once you have formatted your microSD card, your DSCS9 should be powered off and the microSD card removed. The mains power adapter should remain connected to a power source, but not plugged in to the DSCS9. A monitor should also remain connected to the DSCS9 via the HDMI port and the monitor should be powered on.
Unzip Firmware
On your Windows 10 computer, unzip the DSCS9-Android-7.1-20210804-W.zip firmware zip file to a temporary directory. You should have an img file and an ini file:
Make a note of the directory you extracted these files to, as you will need to locate them later.
Install and set up Burn Card Maker Tool
You will only need to install the Burn Card Maker tool once, even If you’re upgrading multiple DSCS9s to Android 7.
On your Windows 10 computer, unzip the USB Burn Card Maker zip file, and run Burn_Card_Maker.exe. When you first start the application, the user interface will be in Chinese. You can set this to English by clicking the menu option in the top left corner and choosing the second option from the drop down, as shown below:
A new window will open, tick the English Version box and click OK to confirm:
Restarting Burn_Card_Maker.exe will finalise the change of language.
Burn the Firmware to your microSD
Now you can proceed to burn the Android 7 firmware to your microSD card. Insert your microSD card into your Windows 10 PC and make a note of the drive letter for your microSD. Please make sure that you have correctly noted which drive is your microSD card, writing to the incorrect drive could cause data loss and is irreversible once the burning process is started.
The below screenshot shows how the tool should be configured:
- The
Choose Diskoption should be set to the drive for your microSD card. Please note that may be a different drive letter to the one shown in this screenshot. - Ensure
erase_flashis set tonormal. Under no circumstances use any other erase mode. - Click the
Openbutton in theChoose your image filessection and select theimgfile you extracted from theDSCS9-Android-7.1-20210804-Wzip file earlier. - If you previously formatted your microSD card using your DSCS9 as recommended, you do not need to tick the
To Partition and Formatoption. If you did not, I would recommend ticking that option.
When you are certain that you have selected the correct disk, image and other settings, press the Make button to start the burning process. You will receive a confirmation message when it is complete.
Upgrade your DSCS9
Eject the microSD from your Windows 10 PC and insert it into the microSD card slot on your DSCS9. Insert the non-conductive stick into the Audio Jack port on the back of your DSCS9, which will be labelled AV. You should feel a small click when you have pressed the button inside the port.
Whilst pressing and holding that button in, reconnect the power supply to your DSCS9. You should find that instead of booting into Android, you will see a page confirming that the upgrade is in progress.
Once the upgrade is complete and your DSCS9 restarts, you should now be running Android 7.1. Remove the microSD card from your DSCS9.
Configuring the DSCS9
The DSCS9 will boot up as normal into a fresh installation of Android. You will need to do the initial configuration again, as you would for any new Android device.
Connect the DSCS9 to the network (wifi details or plug in the LAN cable). Setup the correct locale/regional settings, timezone and ensure that the date and time are set correctly.
Xibo for Android is pre-installed for you. If you’re using a white labelled version of Xibo for Android, you’ll need to uninstall Xibo for Android and install your white label build instead at this point. For more information, please see this guide here.
If you have any management tools such as Webkey or TeamViewer, now is the time to reinstate those.
Once you’re ready to run Xibo again, launch the Xibo Player.
We now need to reconnect the Player to your CMS. Either enter the CMS Address and CMS Key for your CMS, or use the “Use Code” button for a quicker connection.
Once the Player has connected to the CMS, you’ll see a new Display appear in your CMS, likely called DSCS9-DSCS9.
If you’re attaching the Player to a new CMS, then edit the display, authorise it and perform your normal display setup routine.
If you’re reattaching a Player to a CMS after the Android 7.1 upgrade, then you can use the existing Display record to avoid recreating schedules, display group memberships etc.
Edit the new DSCS9-DSCS9 display and copy the Display's Hardware Key value:
Click cancel and then delete the new Display from the CMS.
Now edit the Display’s original entry and paste the Hardware Key you copied earlier overwriting the one that is there already.
Move to the Advanced tab and tick the Reconfigure XMR box, and then save your changes.
The display will now download any content and begin showing content as normal.
Configuration Changes
DSCS9 devices running Android 7 should have the Use a SurfaceView for Video Rendering? set to On. You can either set this in the Display Settings Profile for your Android devices if they’ll all be running Android 7.
Alternatively you can override the setting for an individual device by editing the Display from the Displays page, and on the Profile Settings tab changing the setting there and then saving.
Earlier Firmware Revisions
DSCS9-Android-7.1-20200428 (standard on devices shipped May 2020 - 17th August 2021) DSCS9-Android-7.1-20210510-W
We recommend the current version above.
Downgrading from Android 7.1.2 to Android 6.0.1
If you want to downgrade from Android 7 to 6 then you can do so by following the instructions above, substituting the Android 7 firmware for Android 6 firmware.
You can download the Android 6 firmware for the DSCS9 here.
Again this firmware is only suitable for devices with their USB ports on the right hand side (see prerequisites section above).
