Firmware Actilino

Free update service for your Actilino

Here you will find the improvements for your Actilino which we have developed as a free service for you. The improvements of the functions of your Actilino build on each other. For example, if your Actilino is still using version 1.6 from 2017, you can get all the improvements up to the current version by updating to the current version.

Below is an overview of the improvement for your Actilino, starting with the current version:

Actilino firmware 3.1 (09.09.2020)

• A bug in the display of file timestamps has been fixed. Times after 16:59 were stored correctly but were not displayed correctly.
• The battery capacity percentage has been corrected to reflect the current capacity more accurately. In particular, 100% is always displayed when the battery is fully charged.
• Increased general ATC sensitivity and responsiveness.
• ATC sensitivity 7 no longer waits before autoscrolling, providing a performance boost for exceptionally quick readers.
• This setup includes the latest manuals for English, German, French and Spanish.

Actilino firmware 3.0 (01.07.2020)

• This is the first version to support both hardware revisions A and B of Actilino.
• Revision B can easily be recognized by its USB C port.
The following features have been introduced by version 3.0:
• Short list of the most important chord commands in the help function, to be activated with Chord h
• Battery capacity is now displayed now reported in percent to a textual descriptor such as "high (86%)", “middle (50%)” or "low(25%)."
• MusikBraille asks on exit if changes should be saved.
• When saving in MusikBraille, if the file already exists, the user is asked if it should be overwritten.
• The default file name of MusikBraille is "music.HMF".
• When ATC is turned on/off in the editor, audible confirmations are issued.
• When a pairing request is made, a message now appears on the Braille display: "Pair (y/n)?" If you reject with "no", further pairing requests from the same source are automatically rejected.
• The Tabli app will show not only the text on the Braille display but also cursor, selection and ATC reading position.
• In addition, the Tabli app will show the output of any screenreader controlling Actilino for easy monitoring.
• Bluetooth pairing has been simplified and now needs to be confirmed only on Actilino, not on the other device (typically a mobile phone).
• Only one Bluetooth pairing process is required for both Braille and audio transfer. This feature requires hardware revision B. For revision A, the behavior is unchanged.

Actilino firmware 2.1 (13.02.2020)

• power button is pressed, a short, subtle confirmation tone sounds, followed by a short startup sound. This startup sound can also be switched off at Options.
• The alarm and reminder tone can now be stopped by pressing any key. If you want to snooze for another 5 minutes, you can select this with the key combination s (Dots 2 3 4) s or by pressing Chord s.
• Snooze works with all timers of the Actilino, e.g. also with the scheduler.
• Blocks started by symbols in extended memory are now properly initialized at boot.
• Actilino will now start up in normal mode with empty or no battery when connected to an external power supply or computer.
• The startup sound has been replaced by a lightweight variant using simple duty cycle frequency modulation to prevent inconsistencies.
• Some localization issues have been corrected. Specifically, our Norwegian customers should now be able to set the time.
• Mass storage transfer to PC prevented while the editor is open. Conflicts when accessing files simultaneously are prevented

Actilino firmware 2.0 (25.05.2018)

• Smart switching has been implemented. Actilino now automatically regards a port as primary when a data connection is opened on it, and it also switches back to internal mode as soon as all ports have been closed.
• New file system: The new file system ensures that the entire storage space on the 16 GB SD card can be used. The previous file system could use internally formatted SD cards only up to 4 GB. The new file system also prevents file corruption in the simultaneous use of many files.
• User friendly names per Bluetooth: When switching between devices, the device name now is displayed, e.g. Sigis iPhone.
• Braille display quick test (Pressing P8 for 10 seconds when switching on)

Actilino firmware 1.9 (01.04.2018)

• The problem preventing Bluetooth from working after wakeup from standby has been fixed.
• The BtComPort module was optimized
• FatFs has been reconfigured to rely on free space information stored on the sd card rather than calculating it when needed.
• Test Mode has been completely rewritten. It can now be started by holding B8 for 10 s when turning on Actilino. Note: B8 needs to be already held down when the power button is pressed. The new test mode contains audible feedback for all key events, audible feedback for ATC, and most testing features from our legacy BRW firmware.

Actilino firmware 1.8 (03.11.2017)

• Added Norwegian player tutorial file. There was previously no tutorial file for the Player menu item in the Norwegian localization. This has now been corrected.
• Fixed keyboard emulation for Bluetooth. In 1.7, input from an external keyboard is not sent via Bluetooth because a line of code for the emulation was commented out as unnecessary. This has now been fixed, so keyboard input and direct transfer are now possible via Bluetooth even though HID has been disabled.
• The file system component (FatFs) has been brought up to the current version R0.13a. Background: Several users of SD cards greater than 4 GB in capacity (mostly 16 GB) reported data loss, with portions of files having bee replaced by zero characters. The paging algorithm of the editor module was suspected to produce those zero characters, but code inspection did not turn up any apparent problems, and the issue could not be reproduced. So in the hopes that the issue was due to a bug in FatFs, that component was updated. The file system interface had to be rewritten to preserve the original behavior of the interface functions from the viewpoint of other modules.

Actilino firmware 1.7 (19.10.2017)

• Bluetooth configuration optimized for iOS. iOS 11 introduces a problem with Bluetooth devices exposing the HID and SPP profiles, which is exactly what Actilino is doing. So in this version, HID has been deactivated completely on the Bluetooth protocol. From Active Star we ported the code to send input from external keyboards via Bluetooth as emulated Braille input, so that at least rudimentary support for external keyboards with iOS devices remains in place.
• Direct transfer corrected for modified buffers. When in a modified file in the internal notetaker, direct transfer could put the buffer into an undefined state which could, due to memory allocation problems, even lead to crashes. This has now been corrected. The state of the buffer after successful direct transfer should now be exactly as before the transfer.

Actilino firmware 1.6 (31.08.2017)

• The Bluetooth connection is indicated at the start message with the letter “b” on Braille cell number 10, directly following the charging status of the batteries.
• Within 15 minutes after the Actilino was switched on you can establish a new Bluetooth connection. After pairing a Bluetooth device like the iPhone the “b” will show an additional dot 7. If two Bluetooth connections are active then it is signaled by dot 7 and 8, for a third connection dot 6 will be added to the Bluetooth status indication.
• improved reading with ATC. When reading read only text like the context sensitive help (? on Braille cell 16) or when browsing the manual (Chord h within the editor) the cursor is shown with dot 7 and 8 not blinking. With ESC (triple action left middle) it is now possible to directly close files. The last reading position is saved.
• By default we have set the ATC sensitivity to high (level 7 (max)). The dot firmness is still by default set at medium.
• The Bluetooth audio connection of the Actilino can be directly switched on and off within the PC mode. This is done by Chord 2 5 7 8 (lowered x) this comes in handy if you want to use the Actilino to make phone calls or talk on Skype.
• When using the internal function of the Actilino, you can start the audio player with Chord 1 4 7 8 or by selecting the new menu item “player”. Within the internal mode you can also, for example when writing notes, call the audio player using Chord 1 4 7 8, for example to skip a song. With ESC the player is closed and you will directly jump back to the last position within the notes you have been working on.
• When you press the cursor routing above “Play”, songs of your iPhones playlist will be started and paused, press the cursor routing above the + to increase and - to decrease the volume. Press the cursor routing above the > symbol to skip to the next song and the < symbol to play the previous song. The player can also be controlled with the control stick with up to increase and down to decrease the volume, left to skip to the previous song and right to skip to the next song, the center push will start and pause the song.
• HTSYS folder no longer displayed when the option to display system files is turned off.
• Reset received on primary port triggers pc mode. When a screen reader begins talking to Actilino now switches Actilino to pc mode so that interaction with the screen reader is immediately possible.
• Default ATC sensitivity is now 7. This is the maximum ATC sensitivity.
• Player menu added. Previously, the only way to enter the Bluetooth audio player was to press chord+1478. Now the player has its dedicated menu item in the main menu.

Actilino firmware 1.5 (02.08.2017)

• Emergency shutdown for very low battery no longer triggers when battery is calibrating

Actilino firmware 1.4 (20.07.2017)

• Programmatically increased Bluetooth power to maximum allowed by module.
• Modified battery voltage thresholds to reflect hardware setup.

Actilino firmware 1.3 (15.05.2017)

• Bluetooth audio was consistently disabled in menu mode. Now it ducks under all internal sounds, but then returns to normal.
• Startup sound no longer plays when confirmation tones were turned off.
• Internal sounds now worked on all devices.
• No slight latency for the first internal sound in a sequence.

Actilino firmware 1.2.1 (04.04.2017)

• Output to midi chip is now buffered.
• Output to midi chip now waits until the chip signals it can take data.

Actilino firmware 1.2 (30.03.2017)

• Exiting menu no longer preserves the menu position. We always start back on "File."
• Bluetooth indicator in status display now contains additional dot 6 for three active connections.
• It no longer takes two button presses to turn on Bluetooth audio because it "thought" it was already on.
• Changed Bluetooth audio player command to chord+1478.
• Changed Bluetooth audio toggle to chord+2578 and made it work in PC mode.

Actilino firmware 1.0.1 (01.02.2017)

• Removed unnecessary Bluetooth menu items.
• ESC now exits from read-only files.
• Presentation mode always starts at maximum volume.
• Bluetooth did not power on for some devices.
• Changed presentation mode command from chord+d with dots 7 and 8 to chord+p with dots 7 and 8.

Actilino firmware 1.0 (15.01.2027)

• This is the initial version.