# New KL25Z Setup

This procedure will set up your KL25Z with the Pinscape firmware.

If you have any other KL25Z's plugged in to your system other than the one that you want to set up, this would be a good time to unplug them! We don't want any confusion over which one we're going to initialize.

Before we begin, is this a new, factory-fresh KL25Z that you just took out of the box, or have you installed Pinscape on this KL25Z before?

It's brand new!

I've installed Pinscape previously on this unit

## I've installed Pinscape previously on this unit

Great, that makes this easier. We only have to copy the firmware onto the device.

Proceed

## It's brand new!

For a brand new KL25Z, we might have to update the core "boot loader" firmware before we can install Pinscape. Let's check your KL25Z to find out if this is necessary.

Please plug a USB cable into the programming port on the new KL25Z as shown at right, and plug the other end into a USB port on your PC.

Warning: More than one KL25Z is plugged in! It would be a good idea to unplug all of them except for the new one you want to set up. The installation process will erase any existing data on the device, so we don't want any confusion over which one we're initializing.
(No devices have been found yet. Your KL25Z should appear here when you plug it in as shown in the diagram.)

We'll now walk you through the process of updating the boot loader firmware on your KL25Z. This is a one-time procedure that you'll never have to repeat in the future for this device, no matter how many times you want to reinstall the Pinscape software.

Start

The whole point of this update is that the old factory firmware isn't compatible with modern Windows versions. The update will permanently fix the problem for this unit, but it creates a Catch-22 if you're using Windows 8 or later...

Warning!

This procedure will fail on Windows 8 OR LATER. It won't work on ANY LATER VERSIONS:

Windows 8 - FAIL
Windows 8.1 - FAIL
Windows 10 - FAIL
Anything else later than Windows 7 - FAIL

You must perform these steps using Windows 7 or earlier: XP, Vista, or Windows 7 will work, and only these versions will work. This is due to a bug/limitation in the KL25Z factory firmware.

After the upgrade, your KL25Z will work on all Windows versions.

You don't have to install or run this config program on the older machine! The only thing the config program does is to list the instructions. Just display or print the instructions now, so that you can refer to them on the other machine.
Are you out of your Vulcan mind? It's ! I don't have an XP or Win 7 machine!!!!
Got it, let's go!

To upgrade the factory firmware, follow these steps:

1. In your Web browser, go to http://pemicro.com/opensda/.
2. Find the section OpenSDA Firmware (MSD & Debug). Click on the Firmware Apps link. You'll be asked to create a free account or to provide your email address to receive a download link. Choose the option you prefer and download the file.
3. Unzip the downloaded file to a local folder on your hard disk.
4. Unplug all USB cables from your KL25Z. If you have any other KL25Z cards already installed, unplug all of those as well.
5. Open the My Computer window on your Windows desktop, so that you can view attached disk drives.
6. Press and hold the KL25Z reset button.
7. Keep holding the reset button while you plug a USB cable into the programming port on the KL25Z, and plug the other end into a USB port on your computer.
8. Release the reset button.
9. You should see a new thumb drive icon appear in the My Computer window, with a name like BOOTLOADERAPP. This represents the KL25Z's programming port.
10. In the PEMicro software you downloaded above, find the file BOOTUPDATEAPP_Pemicro_v111.SDA. (The digits at the end are the version number, so they can vary.)
11. Drag and drop that file onto the KL25Z thumb drive.
12. Wait for Windows to finish copying the file, then unplug the KL25Z.
13. We're now going to repeat the steps above with a different .SDA file. As before, press and hold the reset button on the KL25Z, and plug in a USB cable between the KL25Z programming port and your computer. Release the reset button. In the downloaded files, find MSD-DEBUG-FRDM-KL25Z_Pemicro_v114.SDA, and drag it onto the thumb drive. (As before, the digits at the end might vary.) Unplug the USB cable after Windows finishes copying the file.
14. To confirm that everything worked, reconnect the KL25Z programming port to your PC without pressing the reset button. The thumb drive should appear again, but it should now be titled FRDM-KL25Z. You should also see a steady (non-blinking) green LED on the card while it's plugged in.

    It doesn't look right!

    If any of this doesn't match what you see, the update might not have worked. If you attempted the upgrade from Windows 8 or higher, that's probably the problem. The original factory firmware is incompatible with Windows 8-10 and will fail silently and mysteriously (with no error messages) on these systems. If you did the update from Windows 7 or earlier and it still didn't work, it's possible that the procedures have changed since this writing. Try looking for instructions (.txt and/or .pdf files) in the downloaded ZIP to see if there's any information on new procedures.

15. If all went as expected, your KL25Z is now ready to use! With the updated firmware in place, the device will now work on all versions of Windows from XP onward, so that earlier warning about Windows 8-10 no longer applies.

    We're now ready to proceed to the next step, which is to install the Pinscape Controller software onto the KL25Z.

    Important! In the future, DON'T press or hold the Reset button while plugging in the KL25Z. Doing so triggers the boot loader update process, which you've now finished! This normally won't ever have to be repeated for the same card.

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