Handy Firmware 3.0.0 Beta 1

Handy Firmware 3.0.0 Beta 1

Hello everyone! It is with great excitement that we announce the release of the first beta release of the new Handy firmware 3 :)

Firmware 3 is still in development and is meant only for advanced users who would like to give us feedback and help with spotting bugs. It is NOT meant for general usage yet. Once upgraded, it is always possible to switch back to firmware 2, but doing so requires setting up a WiFi hotspot from your phone. Ensure you can do it before upgrading.

Changes since FW2

Compared to FW2, FW3 introduces a significant set of new features:

  • Completely new codebase, which will allow us to progressively add new features in the coming years
  • Companion smartphone app for Android and iOS (coming soon)
  • Possibility to set the bottom stroke position by long-pressing the up/down buttons
  • For developers: experimental support for buttplug.io-like protocol via BLE (developer guide will come in the next days)
  • Hundreds of small improvements here and there

What to test

We finally enabled online functionality, which means that you can connect a Handy with FW3 to the online services on handyfeeling.com! This is exactly what we want to test, thus any feedback about it is very welcome.

To use the online services with a FW3 Handy, you need to append “fw3” before your connection key on handyfeeling.com. For example, if your key is “abcdef” you will have to insert “fw3abcdef” on handyfeeling.com after upgrading.

How to upgrade to FW3

Before upgrading, ensure that the Handy WiFi connection is configured properly and note down your connection key. In FW3 these can be configured through the companion app, which unfortunately is not available yet. Until then, it’s better to ensure the configuration is correct before upgrading.

After you’ve done so, follow the next steps:

  • Ensure your handy is configured to correctly connect to the WiFi network of your choice.
  • While keeping pressed the ON button, unplug and then plug the Handy from its electric socket to restart it. Don’t release the button while restarting.
  • When the LED starts blinking WHITE and YELLOW, also press the UP button without releasing it.
  • Now release the ON button, then the UP button. If everything goes well, the LED will start blinking WHITE and BLUE. This means the upgrade is in progress.
  • At the end of the process, the LED will blink GREEN and YELLOW. You can now press the ON button to restart the handy with the new firmware.

How to downgrade back to FW2

If you want to go back to FW2, you can follow this procedure:

  • Set up a WiFi hotspot on your phone with the following credentials
    • SSID: safemode
    • Password: recovery
  • With your phone nearby, plug your handy to an electric socket while keeping pressed the WIFI button.
  • When the LED pulses YELLOW, you are in safe mode and you can release the WIFI button.
  • Keep pressed the DOWN button until the LED begins to fade in a rainbow fashion. This means the downgrade to FW2 is in progress. The handy will automatically restart when the upgrade is successfully completed.

How to upgrade from FW3 to a newer FW3 release

If you have FW3 already installed and you wish to upgrade to the latest release, the procedure is very similar to the downgrade to FW2 explained above. The only difference is that you have to keep pressed the UP button rather than the DOWN button in the last step.

Troubleshooting and Q&A

Q: Why a completely new firmware?
A: The current firmware 2.x is approaching its technological limits and adding new features is harder and harder. This new firmware 3.x is a complete rewrite which will allow us to add new features and maintain them more reliably in the coming years.

Q: When are new firmware 3.x updates released?
A: We try to release a new updates regularly (usually weekly), so keep an eye on this thread.

Q: I found a bug/problem, what do I do?
A: Keep calm, and first check if the problem is already addressed in this Q&A. If not, simply get in touch with us by replying to this thread or via our discord channel.

Q: Shortly after I start the upgrade from firmware 2, the LED blinks RED and BLUE. What is happening?
A: The handy cannot connect to the internet to perform the upgrade. Restart your handy and ensure that you have correctly configured a working WiFi connection.

Q: Shortly after I start the downgrade from firmware 3, the LED quickly blinks RED several times, then turns back to YELLOW. What is happening
A: The handy cannot connect to the internet to perform the downgrade. Ensure that you have correctly configured the WiFi hotspot on your phone. If the problem persists, try to use another phone or a router.

Q: The upgrade/downgrade seems to take forever. Did it get stuck?
A: The upgrade/downgrade should not take more than 2 minutes on a 4g phone network as the download size is less than 2MB. If it takes longer, it is possible that your internet connection is not working properly. Feel free to shut it down to abort the upgrade/downgrade, then retry again with a better internet connection.

Q: I upgraded to firmware 3, I now want do downgrade to firmware 2 but I just realized I cannot setup a hotspot on my phone. What do I do?
A: The firmware 3 simply looks for a WiFi network with the following credentials when downgrading:

  • SSID: “safemode”
  • Password: “recovery”

Any WiFi network with these credentials will do. It can be you laptop, your home router, a friend’s phone. Here are some instructions for the most common devices: