Release Notes PN 93000501 Digi Connect ME 82000856_B EOS September 29, 2003 INTRODUCTION This is a production release of firmware for the Digi Connect ME. The Digi Connect ME embedded device server web and network enables products easily without the complexities of extensive hardware and software integration. The Digi Connect ME provides powerful "plug-and-play", customizable and future-safe features, and performance in one of the smallest solutions available. SUPPORTED PRODUCTS Digi Connect ME ENHANCEMENTS "Reverse Telnet", i.e. making a telnet connection to a serial port, has been added, including RFC 2217 support. A command line interface has been added, accessible via telnet to the standard telnet port (23). The ability to autoconnect to a remote device via telnet has been added. The autoconnect feature has been extended to allow one to autoconnect based on an arbitrary pattern string. TCP socket connections now can be given a configurable idle timeout for connection closure. The "alarm" functionality has been extended to allow one to generate email when pattern strings are present in the data stream. LPD server support has been added. "Socket ID" support (the insertion of a static identifier string into the first transmitted data packet for a TCP socket session or into every datagram carrying data for a serial port over UDP) has been added. The serial over UDP functionality has been extended to allow 64 destinations per serial port. We have updated the Configuration Applet to support these features. You must upgrade the applet on your Digi Connect ME in order to configure these new features from the UI. See the section, UPGRADING THE CONFIGURATION APPLET, for instructions. BUG FIXES CPU utilization reported by the web/applet interface is now more representative of the average utilization of the system. The serial over UDP functionality now correctly handles IP broadcast addresses as valid UDP destinations. The interface now automatically reboots after reverting to factory defaults, as it previously implied it would. KNOWN ISSUES When attempting to upgrade the firmware on a unit which has password authentication enabled, the initial release of the firmware would fail. This current release includes a workaround to this behavior by allowing the user to disable passwords during the time period of the firmware upgrade. If it becomes necessary to DOWNGRADE the firmware from version B (or greater) back to version A, it is necessary to clear the persistent storage BEFORE downgrading because the version A firmware has a defect in the way it handles unexpected data in the persistent storage. Failure to clear the persistent storage during a DOWNGRADE from B to A can result in an unusable unit. The recommended procedure, therefore, to preserve as many settings as possible during a downgrade is to backup the configuration, then clear the persistent storage, downgrade the firmware, then restore the configuration. In order to clear the persistent storage from the CLI one can execute the "boot action=factory" command. The only web accessible method for clearing the storage is available via the reset functionality in the administrative pages at "admin/factory_defaults.htm". When attempting to replace files in the file system, simply overwrite the existing version of the file rather than deleting the file first. Attempting to delete the file first defeats the internal file versioning maintained by the firmware, and can confuse your browser's cache. For the most consistent experience with the user interface, it is suggested that you clear your Internet cache. DOCUMENTATION ERRATA Password authentication can be enabled in this release, but authentication is OFF BY DEFAULT. A security screen has been added to the user interface to allow one to enable username and password authentication. When password checking is enabled, the user will be challenged when accessing the initial screen of the UI, and if the user uses a Digi Device Discovery tool. The user will also be challenged when accessing the "administrative" web pages, except for the page responsible to reset the unit to the factory defaults. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The configuration save and restore tools will save every configurable parameter (including IP configuration) except for those related to password authentication. UPGRADING THE CONFIGURATION APPLET Prior to upgrading the configuration applet, you must remove the existing files. The main reason for this is that the new configuration applet has been split into two parts and thus the filenames are different. If you are simply uploading newer versions of files with the same name, it is not necessary to first delete the files. Removing the existing files: 1. Access the administration web interface by entering the following URL in in a browser's URL window: http://ip-address-of-device/admin/administration.htm 2. Select File Management under the Administration menu. 3. Check the check box adjacent to the files you wish to remove. 4. Click the delete button. You must load the jar and HTML files onto the device (this only has to be done once). When executed, the configuration applet will connect back to the device it was loaded from. Loading the updated configuration applet files: 1. Access the administration web interface by entering the following URL in in a browser's URL window: http://ip-address-of-device/admin/administration.htm 2. Select File Management under the Administration menu. 3. Click Browse. Locate and select the common.jar file then click Open. 4. Click Upload. 5. Click Browse. Locate and select the configapp.jar file then click Open. 6. Click Upload. 7. Click Browse. Locate and select the index.htm file then click Open. 8. Click Upload. 9. Click Browse. Locate and select the config.ini file then click Open. 10. Click Upload. 11. Click index.htm to run the configuration applet from the device (to access the applet directly use the URL http://ip-address-of-device/index.htm). HISTORY 82000856A Initial Release.