PB-4s always have the latest firmware installed before they are shipped.
Later versions of the firmware contain all of the changes from the earlier versions so, you only need to install the latest version to get all the fixes/improvements listed below.
Please see the PB-4 documentation for a full description of the update procedure.
The PB-4 firmware is organised into three parts (UI, CPU & Wi-Fi). Each part may be updated separately by uploading the appropriate file to the PB-4.
UI updates are packaged in files called pb4ui-version.zip and can be found here.
CPU firmware updates are packaged in files called pb4-version.fw and can be found here.
Wi-Fi firmware updates are packaged in files called wifi-date.dfu and can be found here.
The version numbers of the firmware you are currently using are shown in the PB-4 About dialog.
The UI and CPU firmware version numbers have the form MAJOR.MINOR. Pre-installed firmware may also have a version number that has a suffix (e.g. 1.2-8). The suffix indicates that the firmware contains some changes since the last published update.
The Wi-Fi firmware version numbers are defined by the manufacturer of the Wi-Fi module.
The tables below show the PB-4 firmware updates available. The column labelled Level provides (on a scale of 1 to 3) an indication of how important it is to upgrade from an earlier version to the new version. The levels are as follows:
| Version | Date | Level | Highlights | Download |
| 2.12-1 | 29/04/2023 | 2 | Work around iOS 16.4 issue that stops the UI files from loading. | pb4ui-2.12-1.zip |
| 2.12 | 04/10/2022 | 2 | Changed how UI files are loaded into browser to work around problem with recent Android releases. Now the best point is chosen from only the visible points in a group. |
pb4ui-2.12.zip |
| 2.11 | 26/03/2022 | 1 | Added Show Related Spectrum button to polar point details dialog. Added UI settings to display "standard deviation ellipse" around selected polar point. |
pb4ui-2.11.zip |
| 2.10 | 25/09/2021 | 1 | Improved style and positioning of spectrum line labels. Added AutoGyro-RH2 profile for use with Mk2 AutoGyro rotorhead sensor mount Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.10.zip |
| 2.9 | 28/02/2021 | 1 | Added Load Move Lines button to load move lines from another job. Added UI setting to specify the locale used for formatting dates and times. Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.9.zip |
| 2.8 | 27/10/2020 | 1 | Rotor mode solution calculation speed improvements. Added UI setting to select which adjustment columns to display. Added checkbox to show/hide all move lines. Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.8.zip |
| 2.7 | 26/11/2019 | 1 | Added prop mode weight site "spider". Added UI setting to display "Save As CSV" buttons. Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.7.zip |
| 2.6 | 19/07/2019 | 1 | Added UI configuration editing dialog. Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.6.zip |
| 2.5 | 27/04/2019 | 2 | Added checkboxes to rotor solution dialog that enable/disable all move lines for specific axes. Added entries (span/chord/pitch) to the Add Move Line menu for the X2 and Y2 axes. Notes defined for a point are now also displayed (in grey) for later points in the list. Spectra notes behave the same and will also display earlier point notes. Misc bug fixes and tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.5.zip |
| 2.4-3 | 24/04/2019 | 2 | Fix Javascript problem with older UI devices (i.e. iPad running IOS 9.3.5). Faster transfer of job data when using CPU FW 2.3 or later. Now defaults to showing visible polar points rather than best. Rotor balance solution quicker to calculate when initial IPS values are large. |
pb4ui-2.4-3.zip |
| 2.3 | 25/01/2019 | 1 | Minor bug fix release: Now rotor solution indicates if an adjustment has hit a limit. Fixed problem with loading many jobs from zip file. Viewer no longer displays data tab (not required). Viewer now hides spectrum tab when simulator active. Misc minor bug fixes/tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.3.zip |
| 2.2 | 03/01/2019 | 1 | Minor feature release: Reduced complexity of polar point list and chart by only displaying "best" points. Added graphical display of rotor balance solution. Added two plane balancing capability. Misc minor bug fixes/tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.2-3.zip |
| 2.1 | 02/09/2018 | 2 | Major feature release: Rotor mode is enhanced to include pitch adjustments so a rotor can be tracked and balanced at the same time. Rotor and propeller mode balancing procedures improved. Rotor mode profiles feature added. Move lines now show arrow heads by default. All data capture options are now enabled by default for a new job. A default config.js file is now supplied. Misc minor bug fixes/tweaks. |
pb4ui-2.1.zip |
| 1.14 | 01/06/2018 | 1 | Minor bux fix and feature release: Can now delete multiple jobs in one operation. Default number of polar points to average increased to 15. Fix UI crash when job data is too large to cache as browser local data. |
pb4ui-1.14.zip |
| 1.13 | 18/10/2017 | 1 | Minor bux fix release: Fix small UI regression. |
pb4ui-1.13.zip |
| 1.12 | 26/09/2017 | 1 | Minor feature release: Now displays points from Y and Y2 axes as squares rather than as circles. |
pb4ui-1.12.zip |
| 1.11 | 14/08/2017 | 1 | Minor bug fix and feature release: Added angle labels to polar waveform display. Fix problem with displaying some 512 line spectra. Update checkboxes now set/cleared as appropriate when RPM becomes zero or non-zero. |
pb4ui-1.11.zip |
| 1.10 | 15/06/2017 | 1 | Minor feature release: Added ipad/iphone home screen icon. Fixed polar chart rings not reaching to corners. Stop spectrum RPM labels overlapping when spectra contains 512 lines. |
pb4ui-1.10.zip |
| 1.9 | 15/05/2017 | 1 | Minor feature release: Added new Point Smoothing polar option to allow user to adjust how many readings are averaged per point. Renamed Number Of Weight Sites option to Weight Sites. Polar chart ring labels move to become visible when chart origin is scrolled out of sight. |
pb4ui-1.9.zip |
| 1.8 | 05/01/2017 | 1 | Minor feature & bugfix release: Stop move line tick labels having too many digits (again!). Waveform display scaling can now be fixed. Waveform display options now preserved within session. Can now edit any move line without changing primary axis. Width of spectrum "red region" reduced and it reduces further when zoomed in. Misc minor bug fixes/tweaks. |
pb4ui-1.8.zip |
| 1.7-1 | 17/12/2016 | 1 | Minor feature & bugfix release: Stop move line tick labels having too many digits. Reduce density of move line tick labels when they overlap. Now draws move lines on top of the points except when chart is being panned. Date shown on printed polar chart is when the last point was captured. Stop panning polar chart when mouse leaves chart. Spectra list now shows notes from recent polar points if spectra do not have notes defined. Misc minor bug fixes/tweaks. |
pb4ui-1.7-1.zip |
| 1.6 | 03/10/2016 | 2 | Feature release: Spectrum display can now be zoomed and panned just like the polar chart. The UI Javascript & CSS files are now cached in the browser which makes subsequent reloads of the UI much quicker. |
pb4ui-1.6.zip |
| 1.5-1 | 29/09/2016 | 3 | Fix bugs in calculation of balance weight amounts which are displayed when prop balancing. Don't allow the number of weight sites to be less than 3. Don't allow the default job to be renamed (but it can be copied or deleted). Add new spectrum line labels feature. Fix problem with move line tick labels that sometimes caused too many digits to be shown. |
pb4ui-1.5-1.zip |
| 1.4 | 07/08/2016 | 1 | Fix issue with browser back button & modal dialog. Fix issue with job options sometimes not being saved before connection is closed. Now indicates progress when saving/restoring job data to/from zip files. Misc minor tweaks and fixes. |
pb4ui-1.4.zip |
| 1.3 | 13/07/2016 | 2 | Polar, spectrum & waveform images no longer have transparent backgrounds. Polar chart visual tweaks. Added menu to set spectrum display vertical scaling. When changing job, the job name list can now be sorted either alphabetically or by job age. Job data zip file names now include the current date/time. Misc other invisible tweaks and fixes. |
pb4ui-1.3.zip |
| 1.2 | 20/06/2016 | 2 | Added low battery indication. Inhibit firmware upload when battery is low. Added points table to printed polar chart. Points and spectra list improvements. Browser back button no longer exits UI. Misc tweaks and fixes. |
pb4ui-1.2.zip |
| 1.1 | 22/05/2016 | Initial release. |
| Version | Date | Level | Highlights | Download |
| 2.6 | 01/10/2022 | 1 | Disable WiFi 11n mode to enhance connection quality. Now resets idle timeout when capture button is used. Misc small improvements/fixes. |
pb4-2.6.fw |
| 2.5 | 10/09/2020 | 1 | Additional configuration memory integrity protection. Updated build process/libraries. Misc small improvements/fixes. |
pb4-2.5.fw |
| 2.3 | 18/04/2019 | 2 | Speeded up transfer of job data. Now detects and restores corrupted configuration memory. |
pb4-2.3.fw |
| 2.1 | 02/09/2018 | 2 | Improved quality of polar points for both propeller and rotor modes. | pb4-2.1.fw |
| 1.5 | 18/10/2017 | 2 | Improved quality of propeller mode polar points. If you install this, please also install UI firmware 1.13 or later. | pb4-1.5.fw |
| 1.4 | 15/06/2017 | 2 | Double frequency range of spectra when using less than 100 RPM per line. Fixes for a couple of problems that could occur after the WiFi connection was broken due to poor signal or UI device going to sleep. |
pb4-1.4.fw |
| 1.3 | 16/02/2017 | 2 | Fixed bug that could corrupt the polar angle when using the capture button while the UI was connected. Misc minor tweaks and fixes. |
pb4-1.3.fw |
| 1.2 | 20/06/2016 | 1 | Added low battery detection. | pb4-1.2.fw |
| 1.1 | 22/05/2015 | Initial release. |
| Version | Date | Level | Highlights | Download |
| 1.5.0-93/5/0/5 | 30/09/2022 | 2 | Manufacturers update. | wifi-30092022.dfu |
| 1.3.0-3/5/2/5 | 10/05/2016 | Initial release. |
Please contact support@smartavionics.com if you have any queries regarding upgrading the PB-4 firmware.
Copyright 2016-2022 Smart Avionics Ltd.