Apparatus and method of rewriting firmware

• US 20040068548A1
• Filed: 06/18/2003
• Published: 04/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Original Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko Group)
• Inventors: Sugita, Takatoshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,463 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/208
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A main controller sends a “rewrite mode” command to an engine controller. Receiving the command, the engine controller 12 sends a “roger” status. This switches the mode from a print mode to a rewrite mode. In the rewrite mode, the engine controller 12 serves as a master and the main controller 11 serves as a slave, a communication which is necessary for rewriting of firmware takes place between the two, and the firmware is rewritten.

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a main controller; and

an engine controller, including a writable first memory which stores firmware, for controlling so that an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said main controller is formed in accordance with said signal, said main controller and said engine controller being connected for mutual communications with each other, wherein

it is possible to switch between a print mode and a rewrite mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said first memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware; and

a master/slave relationship between said main controller and said engine controller is reversed in accordance with switching between said modes.

2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein said main controller and said engine controller serve as a master and a slave, respectively, in said print mode;

and

said main controller and said engine controller serve as a slave and a master, respectively, in said rewrite mode.

3. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second memory in which an initial program loader is stored, wherein

at the time of turning on of a power source of said apparatus, whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode is detected based on said initial program loader;

and

said apparatus is guided to enter said rewrite mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

4. The image forming apparatus of claim 3, wherein said firmware contains at least one or more pieces of error detect information;

and said rewrite error is detected based on the content of said error detect information.

5. The image forming apparatus of claim 4, wherein a header and a footer are provided respectively at the beginning and the end of said firmware as said error detect information.

6. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a main controller; and

an engine controller which includes a writable first memory which stores firmware, wherein

said main controller and said engine controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said apparatus as a whole is controlled as a plurality types of commands are sent from said main controller to said engine controller; and

when a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is selected, the number of the types of usable commands is reduced.

7. The image forming apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a second memory in which an initial program loader is stored, wherein

at the time of turning on of a power source of said apparatus, whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode is detected based on a program which is loaded by said initial program loader;

and

said apparatus is guided to enter said rewrite mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

8. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein said firmware contains at least one or more pieces of error detect information;

and said rewrite error is detected based on the content of said error detect information.

9. The image forming apparatus of claim 8, wherein a header and a footer are provided respectively at the beginning and the end of said firmware as said error detect information.

10. A firmware rewriting method for use in an image forming apparatus in which an engine controller, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a main controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said engine controller controls so that an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said main controller is formed in accordance with said signal, said method comprising the step of:

reversing a master/slave relationship between said main controller and said engine controller when a rewrite mode takes over a print mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware.

11. The firmware rewriting method of claim 10, wherein in said rewrite mode, said main controller and said engine controller are set as a slave and a master respectively;

and a writing step is executed at which new firmware is read from said main controller and written in said memory.

12. The firmware rewriting method of claim 11, wherein in said rewrite mode, a program reading step is executed at which a download program is read from said main controller;

and said writing step is executed based on thus read download program.

13. The firmware rewriting method of claim 11, wherein in said rewrite mode, a deleting step is executed at which said firmware which is stored in said memory is deleted before writing new firmware in said memory.

14. The firmware rewriting method of claim 13, wherein in said rewrite mode, a program reading step is executed at which a download program is read from said main controller;

and said deleting step and said writing step are executed based on thus read download program.

15. The firmware rewriting method of claim 10, wherein upon rewriting of firmware in said memory, a re-starting step is executed at which said main controller and said engine controller are re-started.

16. The firmware rewriting method of claim 10, wherein whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode is detected after execution of said rewrite mode but before next execution of said print mode;

and said rewrite mode is executed prior to execution of said print mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

17. A firmware rewriting method for use in an image forming apparatus in which an engine controller, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a main controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said apparatus as a whole is controlled as a plurality types of commands are sent from said main controller to said engine controller, said method comprising the steps of:

setting that only some of said plurality types of commands become usable when a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is selected; and

executing said rewrite mode as said main controller sends those usable commands to said engine controller.

18. A program for rewriting firmware for an image forming apparatus in which an engine controller, comprising a writable memory which stores said firmware, and a main controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said engine controller forms an image corresponding to a signal fed from said main controller in accordance with said signal, said program comprising the step of:

reversing a master/slave relationship between said main controller and said engine controller when a rewrite mode takes over a print mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware.

21. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 18.

19. A program for rewriting firmware for an image forming apparatus in which an engine controller, comprising a writable memory which stores said firmware, and a main controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said engine controller forms an image corresponding to a signal fed from said main controller in accordance with said signal, said program comprising the steps of:

setting said main controller and said engine controller respectively as a master and a slave;

reading new firmware from said main controller with said set master/slave relationship; and

writing said new firmware in said memory with said said set master/slave relationship.

22. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 19.

20. A program for rewriting firmware for an image forming apparatus in which an engine controller, comprising a writable memory which stores said firmware, and a main controller are connected for mutual communications with each other and said apparatus as a whole is controlled as a plurality types of commands are sent from said main controller to said engine controller, said program comprising the steps of:

judging whether a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is selected;

making only some of said plurality types of commands usable, when said rewrite mode is selected; and

sending those usable commands to said engine controller from said main controller and accordingly rewriting firmware.

23. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 20.

24. An information processing system comprising:

a host apparatus; and

an image forming apparatus, including a writable memory which stores firmware, for forming an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said host apparatus is formed in accordance with said signal, said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus being connected for mutual communications with each other, wherein

it is possible to switch between a print mode and a rewrite mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware; and

a master/slave relationship between said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus is reversed in accordance with switching between said modes.

25. The information processing system of claim 24, wherein said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus serve as a master and a slave, respectively, in said print mode;

and

said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus serve as a slave and a master, respectively, in said rewrite mode.

26. An information processing system comprising:

a host apparatus; and

an image forming apparatus including a writable memory which stores firmware, wherein

said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus is controlled as a plurality types of commands are sent from said host apparatus to said image forming apparatus; and

when a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is selected, the number of the types of usable commands is reduced.

27. A firmware rewriting method for use in an information processing system in which an image forming apparatus, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a host apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus forms an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said host apparatus in accordance with said signal, said method compri sing the step of:

reversing a master/slave relationship between said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus when a rewrite mode takes over a print mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware.

28. The firmware rewriting method of claim 27, wherein in said rewrite mode, said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus are set as a slave and a master respectively;

and a writing step is executed at which new firmware is read from said host apparatus and written in said memory.

29. The firmware rewriting method of claim 28, wherein in said rewrite mode, a program reading step is executed at which a download program is read from said host apparatus;

and said writing step is executed based on thus read download program.

30. The firmware rewriting method of claim 28, wherein in said rewrite mode, a deleting step is executed at which said firmware which is stored in said memory is deleted before writing new firmware in said memory.

31. The firmware rewriting method of claim 30, wherein in said rewrite mode, a program reading step is executed at which a download program is read from said host apparatus;

and said deleting step and said writing step are executed based on thus read download program.

32. The firmware rewriting method of claim 27, wherein upon rewriting of firmware in said memory, a re-starting step is executed at which said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus are re-started.

33. A firmware rewriting method for use in an information processing system in which an image forming apparatus, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a host apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus is controlled as a plurality types of commands are sent from said host apparatus to said image forming apparatus, said method comprising the steps of:

setting that only some of said plurality types of commands become usable when a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is selected; and

executing said rewrite mode as said host apparatus sends those usable commands to said image forming apparatus.

34. A program for rewriting firmware for an information processing system in which an image forming apparatus, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a host apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus forms an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said host apparatus in accordance with said signal, said program comprising the step of:

reversing a master/slave relationship between said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus when a rewrite mode takes over a print mode, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware.

37. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 34.

35. A program for rewriting firmware for an information processing system in which an image forming apparatus, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a host apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus forms an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said host apparatus in accordance with said signal, said program comprising the steps of:

setting said host apparatus and said image forming apparatus respectively as a master and a slave;

reading new firmware from said host apparatus with said set master/slave relationship; and

writing said new firmware in said memory with said said set master/slave relationship.

38. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 35.

36. A program for rewriting firmware for an information processing system in which an image forming apparatus, comprising a writable memory which stores firmware, and a host apparatus are connected for mutual communications with each other and said image forming apparatus forms an image which corresponds to a signal fed from said host apparatus in accordance with said signal, said program comprising the steps of:

judging whether a rewrite mode for rewriting firmware is select ed;

making only some of said plurality types of commands usable, when said rewrite mode is selected; and

sending those usable commands to said image forming apparatus from said host apparatus and accordingly rewriting firmware.

39. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 36.

40. An image forming apparatus comprising:

a writable first memory which stores firmware; and

a controller which executes a print mode or a rewrite mode selectively, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said first memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware;

wherein

said controller detects whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode.

41. The image forming apparatus of claim 40, wherein said controller detects whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode after execution of said rewrite mode but before next execution of said print mode;

and

said controller executes said rewrite mode prior to execution of said print mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

42. The image forming apparatus of claim 40, further comprising a second memory in which an initial program loader is stored, wherein

at the time of turning on of a power source of said apparatus, said controller detects whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode based on said initial program loader;

and

said controller guides to enter said rewrite mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

43. The image forming apparatus of claim 40, wherein said firmware contains at least one or more pieces of error detect information;

and

said controller reads said error detect information and detects said rewrite error based on the content of said error detect information.

44. The image forming apparatus of claim 43, wherein a header and a footer are provided respectively at the beginning and the end of said firmware as said error detect information.

45. A firmware rewriting method for use in an image forming apparatus in which a print mode or a rewrite mode is executed selectively, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said first memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware, said method comprising the step of:

detecting whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode.

46. The firmware rewriting method of claim 45, further comprising the steps of:

detecting whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode after execution of said rewrite mode but before next execution of said print mode; and

executing said rewrite mode prior to execution of said print mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

47. A program for rewriting firmware for an image forming apparatus in which a print mode or a rewrite mode is executed selectively, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said first memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware, said program comprising the step of:

detecting whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode.

49. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 47.

48. A program for rewriting firmware for an image forming apparatus in which a print mode or a rewrite mode is executed selectively, said print mode being for forming an image corresponding to said signal based on said firmware stored in said first memory, said rewrite mode being for rewriting said firmware, said program comprising the steps of:

detecting whether a rewrite error has occurred during execution of said rewrite mode; and

executing said rewrite mode prior to execution of said print mode upon detection of said rewrite error.

50. A recording medium which stores a program according to claim 48.