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SMH10 Firmware upgrade on Mac

Ken Gillett

May 31, 2012 10:14

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Using Sena Device Manager 1.2, logged in as admin and tried to update to v4, but it ALWAYS fails saying it cannot backup current firmware for restore (or words to that effect). This raises several questions:-

Why is it failing like this? Currently there's just no getting past this.

Why on earth does it disable Bluetooth so you have to restart the Mac afterwards? I know this has been asked before, but no answer has been forthcoming. It has to be answered though since there is NO apparent reason why it has to mess with the Mac's Bluetooth in the first place as it is connected via USB.

Unfortunately this all rather indicates the developers of this software really have no idea what they are doing. I hope I'm wrong and some response from Sena on this subject would help to reassure.

When connected to SMH10, the device manager displays in the top right that it is an SMH10 and below it, "v 3.0". Is that the hardware version or the currently installed firmware version? I suspect the latter, but is that how we establish what version is currently installed?

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21 comments

• 0
  
  Davidahalld200 June 13, 2012 19:33

  I'm having the same issue.  Any solution?

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  Ken Gillett June 14, 2012 07:55

  The problem relates to permissions of the SENABluetoothDeviceManager.app and it's subfolders. Ensure you have read/write access to the .app and also, Show Package Contents and similarly open up permissions for the SENABluetoothDeviceManagerArchive folder. Once it had appropriate permissions, the update ran perfectly.

  I still don't understand why it screws with Bluetooth on the Mac as that has nothing to do with updating firmware (or anything else) over USB. I still think Sena have got all that wrong, but I performed the update on a MacBook Pro so it was irrelevant.

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  Davidahalld200 June 14, 2012 12:50

  Thanks. For those not mac savvy, simply go to finder, and select Applications.  Right click the Sena Device manager, unlock it by clicking on the lock icon at bottom right, then click on permissions, and set all to read/write, then reclick the lock.  This opens permissions for the app and all sub-folders.  Once this is done, the update is straight forward.  Charging unit now and will see how it works with new firmware version.  Thanks Ken!

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  Chris Ogden January 15, 2013 18:34

  >Right click the Sena Device manager, unlock it by clicking on the lock icon at bottom right, then click on permissions, and set all to read/write, then reclick the lock.

  After right-clicking on Sena Device Manager, first click on "Get Info", then the lock icon.

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  Steven B Pool October 05, 2013 23:40

  I still can not get my Mac Book Pro to recognize the device.  I have gone in and changed everything to Read & Write, but it still will not recognize it.  Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong?  Thanks!

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  Robert Swaim October 13, 2013 22:42

  Same as Steve Pool. My iMac won't recognize the SMH10 after it flashes purple. It is the SMH10 version with the micro-USB and not the earlier coaxial connector. 

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  Robert Swaim October 13, 2013 22:48

  One additional item. When I start the SENABluetoothDeviceManager app, there is a sign-in startup orange screen that appears for about one second and then it's gone. The program goes straight to the Device Selection page and the BACK function does not work.

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  Yardsale November 13, 2013 23:57

  Same exact problem here, permissions are all read/write, but unable to update firmware.  Update gets hung up at 3% and error states "cannot claim device." I have this problem every time I upgrade firmware for Sena, very frustrating.

  Sena Device manager 1.9.3

  Mac OSX 10.7.5

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  jeff chasick March 18, 2014 11:40

  same problem here

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  jeff chasick March 18, 2014 11:54

  same problem

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  Steven B Pool March 19, 2014 13:20

  All Mac Users, I basically had to bribe my IT guy at work to put the Sena Device Manager on my PC because I finally got someone to admit it would not work on a Mac.  I have now update the latest update on my headsets on my work laptop and had no problem, BUT I originally bought my Dongle (SM!0) back in August of last year and my dual headsets in October of last year.  I have returned the Dongle now for my 3 one under warranty and my headsets now for my second set and still have not been able to use them one time where they worked correctly since the beginning.  I was however, able to get them to all connect and pair up correctly when I set up everything the other day.  This was a FIRST and I hope that it will work correctly from this point forward.  I will say that the customer service / warranty team has been very helpful and is the ONLY reason I have stayed with them.  I did go to my dealership on Saturday and they said that EVERYONE has returned them.  They even had the Sena rep come out and try to help them.  Sena says that they have the problem resolved with the units.  We will see.  I am trying to use these on a 2013 Can Am Spyder.  I would be interested to know of all of you on this page, what are you trying this with and how many times have you returned your units?  Thanks, Steven

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  Adi June 06, 2014 21:04

  I had a major issue with my headset to the point that I thought it was dead. It wouldn't turn on. Firmware restore didn't work. The Mac would recognize it (I run virtual machines through Fusion so it would popup a question about where I wanted the USB connection to go) but nothing further. I opened up a ticket and sent the defect log. The response time was good though the answers weren't helpful.. 

  The tech did mention that I needed to shut off bluetooth completely. I didn't pay much attention to this since I had disabled bluetooth on my mac already.. What he meant was that there shouldn't be any bluetooth connections at all. I turned off my other headset, both our phones and my audio receiver.. Then tried again and it worked ! I've got both headsets on v5.0.1 now... 

  I think the BT stack being on/connected/looking for connections messes with the FW upgrade. My FW version was showing up as 0.0 when it was 'presumed dead'... It's all better - for now.

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  Steven B Pool June 09, 2014 16:57

  Adi,

  I am glad to hear that you have had success.  Now I hope your product works.  I have returned my dongle and headsets 2 times because of numerous issues.  I am now having a new issue with my 3rd dongle not charging with 12 volts, but charging with 110 just fine.  I am getting the run around from Sena because they are saying it is my Can Am Spyder.  I have already had my Spyder checked out at the dealership.  The voltage is fine on my Spyder, both in the inline connection and also using the cigarette adapter.  They are giving me a hard time about returning it.  I am headed to the Republic of Texas rally on Thursday of this week.  The only way I can charge the dongle is to take it in at night and plug it into the 110 outlet.  I will deal with it again when I return from the rally.   

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  jeff chasick June 09, 2014 18:16

  I also had to return my headset because I could not get the Device Manager to work on any of my Mac machines.  They replaced the unit for me but I continue to see people having problems trying to update their firmware using Macs... it seems to work fine on Windows machines...

   

  I have not tried the iPhone app yet but hopefully that works without any problems..

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  Gord walls March 19, 2015 05:27

  Works great on the Mac now.

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  Gord walls March 19, 2015 05:28

  Works great on the Mac now. I am using a MacBook Air with 10.10.2 and had no trouble installing the software and updating the firmware on my SMH-10's.

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  Bob Sicoli March 26, 2015 14:06

  Not sure what four walls is doing because this is still an issue.

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  Greg McMurchie May 09, 2015 14:17

  On an Mac OS X Yosemite (10.10.3) 

  Downloaded the latest firm ware updater SMH10-v5.1.1.img. Attempted to launch the image file and I receive a dialog box with this error message:

  SMH10-v-5.1.1.img image not recognized.

  I assume this is because I am on the latest Mac OS X. Would be great to be advised prior to downloading this img file.

  Just getting the dual units charged and set up. Hopefully no issues.

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  Chris Ogden May 18, 2015 00:37

  Greg, if I understand you correctly you are attempting to open the file SMH10-v5.1.1.img using the Finder as if it were a .dmg file? You open the file utilizing the Sena Device Manager software, connect your device and on the FIRMWARE UPDATE Tab, it will be in the box labeled "Firmware to Update", just browse to wherever you downloaded the file, then hit the "Update" button.

  However, I've had no luck getting that to work under Yosemite 10.10.3, I went back to an older Mac running Snow Leopard and it worked fine.

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  Reltonjamba February 20, 2016 22:31

  Wow how frustrating, I follow the steps to do the update and it says "fAILED TO RECOGNIZE DEVICE....YOU ARE A MORON"  with a mac running el capitan.  Tried it every way there is and just keeps coming back and saying you are a frickin moron.  Nothing left to do but be frustrated and throw the damn thing in the garbage.

   

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  Mike Jimenez April 19, 2017 17:45

  I had the same issue firmware updates on MacOS Sierra. The process would get to about 12-13% then error out on updating block device. The headset was unusable. I was only able to recover it after connecting to a Windows machine and then was able to successfully update the firmware.