Good news for the owners of several Penbex radio models!

I have done some tests with a modified version of the bootloader that is in the radio and the results were great.
The modified bootloader can be loaded as a standard firmware upgrade. After loading this bootloader you can  load the generic KW-1004 firmwares.

The advantage is that you will have a recent 2.x firmware that has various new options like extended support for podcasts and music that continues to play when navigating through the menus.
Ofcourse you get the best results when you take the modified 2.0.0.15 firmware

This bootloader replacement should work on the following models:

• Amitech
• Amitech_R
• Akira
• IPMicro
• Lafayette
• Centrios 1315117
• Logik
• MPMan
• Odys
• Olympia
• Olympia_R
• PBXBoom2
• Penbex Boom
• Sabre
• Vega
• WR-201
• Of course also the many brands like Watson, Goodmans, Neon, ClasOhlson, Proline etc. that are based on one of the above brands. to know the exact model go to the setup/information screen and check the firmware name/model there.
• Possibly some others as well..

This modified bootloader will be available after I have completed some more tests.
Keep an eye on this thread!

Perfect.. you have msn? or can I mail you the loader?

This is caused by an incorrect setting. The radio needs to be told what the format of the stream is, if this is not done correctly the error 11 is displayed.
Usually this happens when a station changed something and the database is not updated.

I have checked and fixed this stream. Have fun listening

No, the limitation is that you need to have a matching firmware file for the IPMicro.
The alternative is to load a new bootloader that will turn the IPmicro into a generic Penbex radio and then you can load thre 2.0.0.15 firmware.

There is one hardware model that is sold under more than 30 different brand names. Each brand needs its own firmware file because of some silly check in the bootloader.
If you have a polular brand you might get a few firmware fixes, if your brand did not sell so well it never gets any fix at all. Also Penbex will not release firmware fixes for older hardware. 
With the new bootloader all different brands will get the same firmware file and of course one that is recent and that contains fixes.

I think the new bootloader is the best solution there is and so far it seems changing the bootloader is without risk and goes in exactly the same way as upgrading the firmware.
I am currently checking out how we can get clear what models can use the new bootloader.

I'm also very interested in either an 2.x IPMicro-Firmware or a way to load some other 2.x-FW to my IPMicro.
I suppose, even the USB-Cable-method will not work with a wrong firmware?!?

Sammy

With a modified bootloader I can load any firmware that I want with my Neon branded KW-1004.
The USB recovery always works if I load a firmware that makes my model crash at bootup or so.

Imagine you load a bad firmware and the radio crashes when it tries to run this firmware.
In that case you reboot the radio and when the bootloader starts you press the right button combination to activate the recovery mode.
This is done before the bad firmware is loaded so always works.

However, to put the radio into recovery mode the KW-1004 has hardware buttons on the radio's front panel. If there is a model that does not have hardware buttons but relies on for example the remote control then it might be a problem because the remote control might be initialized with the firmware and not with the bootloader.

The best way to check is to simply go into recovery mode..

1. Power off the Machine. (remove power from the mains socket)
2. Press the [UP] key and hold.
3. Power on the system again while still holding the [UP] key. (plug power back into the mains socket)
4. You should see [USB upgrade] on the screen.
5. Release the [UP] key once you see that screen.
6. Connect your computer and the Penbex using a 2 port Type A USB cable. (eg. same connector on both sides)
7. If you have Windows or if your Linux automounts disk drives, then it will come up as an 8.3 Megabyte removable disk. (do not format this disk)
* at this point you know you can enter recovery and your cable is correct*
8. Copy the (new) firmware onto that disk.
9. Unmount or eject the drive and it should then switch to the [Upgrade] screen.
    (When using Windows, use the exporer, right click on the drive and select eject! -ejecting the media on the taskbar usually does not work)
10. While the system is upgrading you should see the [Upgrade] screen with its [wait two minutes] message.
11. After it has completed its upgrade it should reboot into the new firmware.

Remember that to do the full recovery you need to have a USB cable with on both ends the same USB (Type-A) plug.
These cables are sold at lots of places and should cost much less than 10 euros/dollars.

The above process is safe to test.
If you decide to NOT load a firmware to the created "removable disk" then a reboot will get the radio back to its normal state.
If you load a bad firmware then the various checks will get it rejected and a reboot will get the radio back to its normal state.

I have not found any drawbacks with the modified bootloader yet. I simply load a working firmware when I tried one that crashed my radio.
I will make some final tests and release the modified bootloader asap.

Best Regards,
William

This has to do with incorrect settings.
The asx file is a playlist. Thats why the stream does not play, it is not recognized. I changed the settings to playlist, that might solve it.

You loaded a new bootloader that is not suitable for the Odys device!
I do not have the Odys bootloader so I can not give a new file to fix the issue.

We would first need to dump the bootloader from an Odys...

Hello,

You have an IPMicro radio. This means you can only load IPMicro firmware files.

After loading the listenlive modified IPMicr firmware you can use the database on this server.
If the station you want are not working then try them on a PC via this site. If they work there, it means there is an issue with the settings. (see post nr.6)
If they also do not work on the PC it means the stream has changed and needs to be updated.
You can enter new streams yourself..

As for updating to the KW1004 firmware, this is only possible when the bootloader is changed first!
However, the IPMicro is not 100% the same as the models that allow the bootloader change so you can not do that.
Luckily there is still hope. I can get you a newer IPMicro firmware. I will look into this.

~William

Maybe in some country lists, but in other country lists its closer to 95% of the streams fully working.
However, I think it is Obvious that I can not do all the firmware changes, site maintenance, answer dozens of (mostly private) questions each week and keep over 50.000 links fully checked.
I never intended to keep the whole database fully up-to-date just by myself.
The website/database act as a replacement/refuge for devices that are no longer or poorly supported.
The main idea behind the database is that we keep it working together asd a community effort and some people really do a very good job with that (my special thanks to those really active people!!!)

So, if you want to see more working streams then start adding/editing streams.
If you do not know how to do that, you can also mail me what stations you really can not miss and I will take a quick look for you. Or you ask on the forum if someone can look into a stream for you.

~W.

Hello,

The normal firmware update procedure is through the settings/options menu where there is a firmware upgrade option to update from SD card/USB stick.

The A-A cable is used only when flashing a firmware failed and the device got bricked. Using the cable is a recovery method.
Note that when you use this method and the firmware file is correct for the device and it is still not taken then in most cases the problem is with how you "eject".
For example, if you connect the Radio via USB to a WinXP machine it is recognized as a flash disk, after copying the firmware you need to eject the flashdisk to start the update process.
If you use the Eject on the taskbar it most of the time fails. You have to go to "my computer"select the flash disk and choose eject there.

If you want to update your IPMicro to the KW1004 firmware, you have to use the first method and update the bootloader (colilo) and the firmware like Marel said, he did this and it is working fine.. (thanks for confirming Marel)

Good question..
Penbex never released a list of changes. It was however the last version right before they went out of business.
It might have fixed Shoutcast.. but that is not working anymore.