Thursday 7 July 2016

Yamaha RN-301 Networked Amplifier Firmware Upgrade

08:30 Posted by G No comments

I thought I’d post this article as it wasn’t very straight forward how to do this.  I didn't even know that the firmware was out of date (I was running version 1.02) which I think introduced the Spotify capability.



Anyway Airplay had stopped working for me, so being a computer nerd, I thought I'd get it up to the latest firmware (as this is what all tech support people say..). Checking the Yamaha site doesn't yield anything useful (link), and I couldn't find anything useful on the typical AV forums, so as a last resort I read the manual (!).  Deep within the manual are steps to upgrade the firmware.  

Page 41 has the advanced options, the key to success is starting the Amp in advanced mode.  To do this turn the amplifier off.   Then (with the amp off) hold the return button, and at the same time press the power button.  This should then show you 'advanced' (or something similar) on the front of the amp.



At this point you can follow the instructions in the manual (link) and it's relatively straight forward (you need to make sure that your amp is connected to the internet to be able to download the firmware.  It didn't take too long, maybe 10 minutes ?

A couple of oddities; I don't know what the current firmware (1.04) gives me, I can't find any release notes ??  also I only found out there was a firmware update available by connecting to the amp from one of the mobile apps (iOS or Android) if you have these installed, going to the more options button will show firmware version and there should be some text saying either 'firmware up to date' or 'firmware update available'.

Secondly it is possible to connect to the amp via a web browser, find the machines IP address either by the network menu on the device, via the mobile app, or your routers DHCP reservation list.  Once you connect to it, there's very little you can usefully do. It's possible to change the friendly name (you can also do this via the front panel/remote or the mobile apps [much easier]), but there's also an option to upgrade the firmware via this web control panel, however you need the firmware file to do this, which I've not been able to find, so I don't recommend this route at all !  use the method described above (and in the manual)

UPDATE :  I tweeted Yamaha AV UK yesterday, and they've kindly replied, when they do post the release notes, I'll update this article

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