The mcDongle allows Over-The-Air programming of mcModule devices.

It is required for updating the firmware on your mcModules and the mcGateways. These firmware updates provide increased functionality and are used to keep your platform up to date.

IMPORTANT: If you are purchasing a mcModule, ensure you have the mcGateway and the mcDongle. All three products in tandem work to create the mcThings platform.

Before starting, we highly recommend you refer to this guide, which details each characteristic of the mcOTA tool. Also, if your are a visual learner, check the video below for a quick overview of mc-OTA.

 1. Download and install the latest version of the mcOTA tool. 

2. Download the latest version of the firmware image of the device desired to be updated. The images can be simply found in the download page here.

3. Plug the mc-Dongle into a USB port of your PC, and wait until the USB driver installation is done.

 NOTE: Windows should automatically detect and install the appropriate drivers. If not, you can download the correct drivers here

4. Launch mcOTA updater tool. Once the tool is opened it will automatically search for the mcDongle-Bootloader device. 

Once the mcDongle-Bootloader device is found, it will say “Ready”.  In case the mcDongle-Bootloader cant not be found, it will say “No mcDongle-Bootloader found”, to know how to find it or troubleshoot further please refer this guide.

5. Check the “Filter by Serial Number” checkbox and enter the 8-character hexadecimal value serial number found on a sticker of the device. 

In case you lost the sticker, don't worry! You can also leave it as a wild card (“00000000”) and the mcOTA will detect any compatible device automatically. 

NOTE: If multiple devices are powered, it will connect to the lowest value serial number.

6. Search and choose the desired firmware image; the file format must be a .bin file. 

After selected the image desired, you need to search the device. To do this, just press the "Search Device" button but keep in mind that the device that is being updated must be POWERED OFF.

After pressing the "Search Device" button, TURN ON the device to be updated. At this point, the device will be detected by the mcDongle and all the information related with this device will be detected and appear in the "Device Information" box.

7. Once the mcOTA updater has found a compatible device, “Start Update”, “Erase mcScript” and “Cancel” button will be Enabled and device information will be shown.

8. Click “Start Update” to initiate the firmware update. The progress information will be displayed at the bottom of the window.

As you can the bottom of the image below is showing the progress of the uploaded process:  

9. Once the updated has finished, the Device will automatically disconnect and run the new version of firmware.

10. [OPTIONAL] If desired, you can double check if the device has the desired firmwere by putting the mcOTA updater to “Search Device” mode again and power cycle the device. Once the device is detected it will re-populate the updated Device information for each field.

Now your mcDevice or mcGateway are running with the latest version of the firmware.

Now it’s time to start with Ubidots & mcThings using your mc-Module and mc-Gateway to deploy smart and problem solving IoT Solutions.

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