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Updating Software on an Congo/Cobalt Family Console

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Updating Software on Congo and Cobalt Consoles

Determine which version of software your console is running prior to updating and then follow the appropriate instruction set below.

Note-Icon.png

This article is for console hardware only. Computers (Mac or PC) running either the offline or ETCnomad version of Congo and/or Cobalt software should run the installer directly on the computer.

Updating Cobalt Family Consoles running version 8.x

  1. Download the Cobalt Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Cobalt Family installer file “ETC_Cobalt_#.#.#.#._Lib_#.#.#exe” on your USB flash drive in the root directory or a folder named SOFTWARE (not case sensitive). Please make sure the software file is not inside any other folder or subdirectory, as this will hide it from Cobalt's update function.
  3. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  4. Start the console and touch or click the System Settings option.
  5. Touch or using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the UPDATE tab. Using the drop down menu, find and touch or click to select the current software installer file. Touch or click the INSTALL button. This will run the selected installer.
  6. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.

Updating Cobalt Family Consoles running version 7.x

  1. Download the Cobalt Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Cobalt Family installer file “ETC_Cobalt_#.#.#.#.#.#.exe” or “ETC_Cobalt_#.#.#.#._Lib_#.#.#exe” on your USB flash drive in the root directory or a folder named SOFTWARE (not case sensitive). Please make sure the software file is not inside any other folder or subdirectory, as this will hide it from Cobalt's update function.
  3. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  4. Start the console and touch or click the System Settings option.
  5. Touch or using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the UPDATE tab. Using the drop down menu, find and touch or click to select the current software installer file. Touch or click the INSTALL button. This will run the selected installer.
  6. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.
Note-Icon.png

When updating from version 7 to version 8 software:

Cobalt v8.x software will be installed parallel to version 7.x software on Windows 7 Embedded Console Hardware
(see Is My Console XP or Windows 7 ). Cobalt v8.x software is not compatible with Congo consoles running Windows XPe.
You can switch back to v7.x software on startup by pressing the Down arrow or the F3 key, and back to the v8.x software by pressing the Right arrow or the F5 key continually (or repeatedly) after the mouse cursor appears.
To use v8.x show files in v7.x, you must export the v8.x show files back to the ASCII format. Not all features from 8.x are supported in v7.x software.
Caution-Icon.png Cobalt Software v7.2.0 and newer requires I/O firmware versions 1.6.0.9.0.5 (Congo) and 1.4.1.9.0.3 (Congo jr, Congo Kid, Congo Light Server) or newer to allow DMX and RDM to function properly on the local DMX ports. The installation of this firmware is included in the Cobalt software installer. Please follow the installation instructions within the installer to ensure that the firmware is installed properly.

Updating Congo Family Consoles to Cobalt Version 7.x

Important-Icon.png

It is strongly recommended that your Congo Family console be updated to Congo version 6.4.1 prior to updating to Cobalt version 7.x. 
  1. Download the Cobalt Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Cobalt Family installer file “ETC_Cobalt_#.#.#.#.#.#.exe” or “ETC_Cobalt_#.#.#.#._Lib_#.#.#exe” on your USB flash drive in the root directory or a folder named SOFTWARE (not case sensitive). Please make sure the software file is not inside any other folder or subdirectory, as this will hide it from Cobalt's update function.
  3. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  4. Start the console and touch or click the System Settings option.
  5. Touch or using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the UPDATE tab. Using the drop down menu, find and touch or click to select the current software installer file. Touch or click the INSTALL button. This will run the selected installer.
  6. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.

Updating Congo Family Consoles running versions 5.x - 6.x

  1. Download the Congo Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Congo Family installer file “Congo###.exe" on your USB flash drive in the root directory or a folder named SOFTWARE (not case sensitive). Please make sure the software file is not inside any other folder or subdirectory, as this will hide it from Congo's update function.
  3. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  4. Start the console and click the System Settings option.
  5. Using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the UPDATE tab. Using the drop down menu, find and click to select the current software installer file. Click the INSTALL button. This will run the selected installer.
  6. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.
  7. In some Congo versions, the installer will automatically update your IO firmware. Please answer the question about which type of hardware you are currently updating. The installer will then run a number of programs and display a number of dialogs with buttons in them. DO NOT CLICK ANY BUTTONS as this will stop the automatic installation of the firmware.
  8. Let the installer run until you see a dialog asking you to acknowledge that the system will need to reboot twice - click OK in this dialog. The installer will continue to
    update your console automatically. Let it run on its own until you see the Congo welcome screen displaying the version in the middle. At this point your system has been updated and you can continue working as usual.

Updating Congo Family Consoles running versions 4.2.0 - 4.3.4

  1. Download the Congo Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Congo Family installer file “Congo###.exe" on your USB flash drive in a folder named SOFTWARE.
  3. Rename the "Congo###.exe" file to "Congo.exe"
  4. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  5. Start the console, arrow over to the  System Settings option and press MODIFY.
  6. Using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the SOFTWARE UPDATE button in the Settings dialog. This will run the installer.
  7. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.
  8. In some Congo versions, the installer will automatically update your IO firmware. Please answer the question about which type of hardware you are currently updating. The installer will then run a number of programs and display a number of dialogs with buttons in them. DO NOT CLICK ANY BUTTONS as this will stop the automatic installation of the firmware.
  9. Let the installer run until you see a dialog asking you to acknowledge that the system will need to reboot twice - click OK in this dialog. The installer will continue to
    update your console automatically. Let it run on its own until you see the Congo welcome screen displaying the version in the middle. At this point your system has been updated and you can continue working as usual.

Updating Congo Family Consoles running versions 4.0.0 - 4.1.2

  1. Download the Congo Family Software installer file (See Congo-Cobalt Family Software Version History for links)
  2. Unzip the software and place the Congo Family installer file “Congo###.exe" on your USB flash drive.
  3. Connect the USB memory stick to the console.
  4. Start the console, arrow over to the  System Settings option and press MODIFY.
  5. Using the trackball or an attached mouse, click the ADVANCED SETTINGS button in the Settings dialog. This will open Windows Explorer.
  6. In the navigation bar at the top of the window, click the down-arrow to open the drop-down list of available drives.
  7. Find and click on your USB flash drive (Drive E:/ ).
  8. Find and double-click the Congo##.exe installer file.
  9. In the installer, accept the software license agreement and then follow the instructions in the installer.
  10. In some Congo versions, the installer will automatically update your IO firmware. Please answer the question about which type of hardware you are currently updating. The installer will then run a number of programs and display a number of dialogs with buttons in them. DO NOT CLICK ANY BUTTONS as this will stop the automatic installation of the firmware.
  11. Let the installer run until you see a dialog asking you to acknowledge that the system will need to reboot twice - click OK in this dialog. The installer will continue to
    update your console automatically. Let it run on its own until you see the Congo welcome screen displaying the version in the middle. At this point your system has been updated and you can continue working as usual.
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