Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I tried what aaalegre said and no joy. File on the card with folders, file just on the card, tried formatting on MAC and PC as FAT16. I'll go and and buy another 2-3 makes of SD card in the hope one of those work.

OK was able to update both of mine. I will write up the process so incase anyone else is also stuck.

The problem lies not with the Einstein unit but in the format of the microSD card. In many cases the card will ship with FAT-DOS32 and therefore the light will not be able to read it.

Sorry but I only have the steps for a MAC for the moment;
1. Insert your SD card into your computer and open a terminal window
2. Run the following command "diskutil list"


Studio1-MacBook-Pro:~ andy$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Hybrid HD 399.0 GB disk0s2
3: Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP 100.8 GB disk0s3
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *2.0 GB disk1
1: DOS_FAT_32 BUFF 2.0 GB disk1s1
Studio1-MacBook-Pro:~ andy$

This command shows you that disk1 is the SD card. It is very important you choose the right one otherwise you might format your MAC disk!! So please be careful!! As you can see disk1 is actually FAT32 we need to format to FAT16

3. Issue the following command replacing the /dev/yourdisk with whatever name you need
diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk1 1 MBRFormat "MS-DOS FAT16" "BUFF" 1000M
Started partitioning on disk1
Unmounting disk
Creating partition map
Waiting for disks to reappear
Formatting disk1s1 as MS-DOS (FAT16) with name BUFF
Finished partitioning on disk1
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *2.0 GB disk1
1: DOS_FAT_16 BUFF 2.0 GB disk1s1

Once you have done this follow PCBuff instructions to update the firmware. i.e. copy files, insert (VERY CAREFULLY) into light etc.

Hope this helps people

I believe any 2GB or less Micro SD card that is not marked HD or HC comes from the factory formatted to FAT16 and all you have to do is put the update files on.

Trying to format to FAT16 on a Mac is difficult, as described above.

Still no luck, I'm starting to think it's the SD Card brand... Maybe PCB should come out with their own line of SD Cards for the Stein... Going to purchase a Sandisk this afternoon.

Give tech help a call . . . . it's easy to get the files in the wrong folders on the card . . . done it myself.

My local Staples and Best Buy didn't have anything so i ordered one from Amazon. Should be here on Monday, I'll give this one more shot before i contact Tech Support. Thanks Luap

If you have access to a PC for formatting, that would likely be the easiest. Also be sure the file path is PCBUFF>EINSTEIN>CONFIGS,FIRMWARE,LOAD. Macs like to open things for you when they unzip, so you may have to rebuild the outer folders. Also, when saved, be sure none of the folders are marked -1, -2, etc. if there are multiple folders with the same name. The folder names have to match exactly.

For what it's worth I had the same problem with power up/down cycle on a previous firmware update and it ended up being the card (transcend in this case). I am on Mac also and did a FAT16 format through terminal. I could mount them and transfer files to them, but they just wouldn't work for the firmware updates. I returned the cards and got Kingston cards and all is well. For me it wasn't file/folder structure because I had both brands of cards still here before returning the Transcends and format and file structure were the same on both.

After being patient about all this, I finally have all my units updated. SanDisk is the only way to go for me and my units. Thanks for all the help and input... Have a great week!

Okay, used a brand new 2GB SanDisk Micro SD card which was then formatted for me to MS-DOS (FAT 16) by an Apple tech. The FAT 16 format was confirmed on two other Macs prior to proceeding. The v.26 PCBUFF>EINSTEIN>CONFIGS>FIRMWARE>LOAD file was dragged to the card. Everything looked perfect. After inserting the card properly and plugging in the unit the fan began a rising and falling cycle. The screen stayed black the entire time. After about 5 minutes time I turned the unit off, removed the SD card, and powered it up again. The unit still showed v.22. I tried it twice more from start to finish. Still no luck. Then I tried just loading the Firmware folder by itself as someone had suggested. That didn't work either. What now?

Mike