Axiom Home Page Forums AxiomAir Discussion AxiomAir General Discussion Trying to re-start the Kickstarter AxiomAir

We have the original AxiomAir, and unfortunately the initial high kickstarter excitement ended up with the Air unable to update or maintain a connection, so spending many years gathering dust in the garage. But, our many other wonderful Axiom speakers remind us that there's still hope! With a recent Covid home reconfiguration, we have even more need for the AxiomAir, so got excited again about getting it to function correctly.

We decided to check in on updates, and found this very helpful thread about the new firmware: https://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/u...-v-1-097-unable-to-get-update#Post435717

With Ian's excellent detailed instructions, we were able to use etcher to reflash the sd-card to v2.12.3.

The Air is now streaming fine on ethernet, but drops off the WiFi soon after a restart. It sounds like we may need to replace the black Edimax USB wifi with the white one?

1. How can we obtain the white USB wifi device?

2. Ian mentioned a bluetooth module in that post. Is there a particular model that you can recommend please?

Thank you!

Cole

Alternately, after doing some more reading, since the Raspberry PI 3 has onboard WiFi and Bluetooth, would it be better to simply swap out the RPI to the v3 board? More importantly, will the existing AxiomAir firmware work with the RPI 3, including WiFi and Bluetooth?

Thanks!

Cole

Hi Cole,

If you can give me the serial number of your AxiomAir we can send you the appropriate dongles. You can also upgrade to v2.12.4 from the System page.

Thank you for the quick response! The SN on the unit is 47108011603046.

From your reply, am I to assume that a Raspberry Pi 3 isn't compatible with the AxiomAir firmware?

Cole

The Pi3 is not a problem. The serial number tells me which Pi you already have and it is a Pi2. This means you need a WiFi dongle. We do not use the Pi's Bluetooth in the Pi3 so you will need a dongle for that no matter which Pi version you have. But a Pi3 with version 2 code does not require the WiFi dongle. Did you want to replace the Pi or just use a stronger WiFi dongle? Our white WiFi dongle and the Pi3 built-in WiFi are the same strength.

Thank you for the helpful details. Given those details, which means one fewer dongle (WiFi), I'll switch to the Pi3 with the Bluetooth dongle.

How best to send shipping / invoicing information? I'll send you an email with my address, and let me know how to handle invoicing.

Cole

Sounds like a good plan. We will include an SD card with the latest code on it. Do you already have a Bluetooth dongle?

I do not have a bluetooth dongle. Can you recommend one you've tested with?

We will send you one of ours, seems easiest.

Ian/Andrew,

My SD card seems to have died in the Pi from my original Kickstarter Air. Do you have a link to the latest image that I could flash to a new card? I've got plenty of cards - I just need the image.

I've seen Ian's directions for updating the Air's software, but I haven't seen anything that instructs how to upgrade an Air that's getting both a new Raspberry board and the software upgrade. I asked on a tech support ticket a few weeks ago but have heard nothing back.

Has anyone received instructions on how to update the hardware in addition to the software that they might be willing to share?

TIA!

I'm not saying what you're doing is evil but Axiom isn't obliged to give instructions for what you're trying to do. I suppose this is analogous to buying a fridge and wanting to upgrade the compressor. You won't find instructions for that in the manual.

Ian personally sent me the Raspberry board and update. He just didn't give me any instructions at all.

Ian sometimes doesn't completely think things through because he's thinking of too many things. I get what you're saying though. Poor Mark...and Ian.

I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad when I think things all the way through and management says I'm being very negative. The plight of an engineer.

If your good mechanically … then …

The pi is at the bottom of the unit. I’d look at it and try to figure out how it comes out. Keep track of what screws, parts, & connectors go where (take pictures as you go) … so you can put it back together.

One more thing… the pi has a multi-pin connector on it which usually is connected directly (& screwed) to another board.

I would likely be comfortable physically replacing the board; I assume it wouldn't be much different than replacing a card or board in a PC. But I wouldn't be confident that simply replacing the board will allow the unit to boot up normally and allow me to upgrade the firmware.

Some confirmation of the "big picture" would be helpful; the order of doing things, etc.

M

Provided the firmware is already loaded in the board, boot-up won't be a problem.

Be careful how you handle the board. Try not to touch pins or components. Static isn't kind. Discharge yourself on a doorknob and do the work on a wooden or concrete floor with bare feet. Wearing a lime mankini will provide some extra comfort.

That makes sense ... if Ian sent you the board it probably has a sim in it with the software ... check if there a sim card in the sim slot (silver shield thing on underside of the pi ... sim card would stick out a bit beyond the edge of the board)

On the static discharge stuff ... 95% of the time I don't worry about it ... I will if I know I'm handling something expensive, sensitive or if it's one of those days I'm zapping my self left and right ... then I'll use a grounding strap ...

Touching enough grounded stuff while working usually keeps you grounded ... just don't go out of your way to build up charge ... So, don't go shuffling your feet on the carpet or rubbing balloons on your head, ... and you'll be fine