Typically, Oasis boards are shipped from factory with the correct flash configuration to successfully operate the intended hardware. As such, they do not generally require reprogramming by end-users, and would usually be undertaken by systems resellers or Objective Imaging staff where necessary.
Modifying the flash memory configuration can lead to problems with control of hardware, and should not be undertaken without prior knowledge of these functions. When in doubt, discuss with your systems reseller before changing Oasis flash memory configuration.
The flash memory of the Oasis controller holds numerous onboard settings, including:
- motor currents
- microstepping units
- lead screw values
- limit switch configurations
- and more
For some users or systems resellers it can be useful to obtain a flash memory backup of the Oasis board.
Corrupted Flash Memory
Under some circumstances the Oasis flash configuration can become corrupted, perhaps after performing configuration changes to an Oasis board, or power failure, or flash write failure etc, and restoring from backup can avoid much reconfiguration.
One way to recognize corrupted flash memory is when most of the memory values are 65535 or 255. You can see this by running the Oasis Flash Configuration application:
If this occurs, the board will need to be reconfigured or restored from a previous flash backup.
Saving a Flash Memory Backup
To save a backup of flash memory, run the Oasis Flash Configuration application and select File menu > Save Flash Block to File, as shown below:
You can then save the .ofb file to disk and retain for future:
Restoring a Flash Memory Backup
To restore a flash memory backup from file, run the Oasis Flash Configuration application and select File menu > Load Flash Block to File, as shown below:
Select the file from disk and click Open:
The application will take a few moments to complete processing of the flash memory, and then the board can be used.