Upgrading HP Jetdirect Firmware Using File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

Steps for upgrading firmware using FTP

This document describes how to upgrade HP Jetdirect firmware. This can be done on 610n, 615n, 310x, 680n, and 280m print servers that have a minimum firmware version of x.22.xx (the "x"s being a letter or number specific for the Jetdirect model, for example, R.22.09). On the Web site link below, locate the model of the Jetdirect to be upgraded (If you do not know the model, print a Configuration page from the printer's control panel or from the TEST button of the external Jetdirect).

Right-click the .dld file name on the Web site and choose Save Target as or Save as. Be sure to save it as a .dld file by selecting All files for Save as type. (The browser may default to save it as a Text file.) Save the file in a simple file path location, for instance, on the root of a drive.

Click here to download individual firmware files

NOTE: The recommended method for upgrading the embedded Jetdirect Inside firmware is to use the printer RFU. See the printer documentation for assistance.

Steps for upgrading firmware using FTP

Type the following commands. (A screenshot of an entire ftp download session follows the steps below)

Type: ftp HP_Jetdirect_IP_address

HP_Jetdirect_IP_address should be the actual IP address of the printer/HP Jetdirect.

Press Enter

Figure 1: FTP example 1

At the prompt for a user name/account, press Enter. (The HP Jetdirect print server will accept all passwords or blanks for the username, so in most cases just press Enter).

Figure 2: FTP example 2

At the Password prompt, press Enter. (The HP Jetdirect print server will accept all passwords or blanks for the password, so in most cases just press Enter. However, If Telnet is enabled and an administrator password is set, the administrator password must be entered at the password prompt).

Figure 3: FTP example 3

At the ftp prompt, type: bin

Press Enter.

Type hash

This command is optional – it will merely show a display of the download progress. However it may be useful if the download takes a few minutes.

Press Enter.

Type: cd DOWNLOAD

This will tell you if the particular version of the HP Jetdirect has a DOWNLOAD directory. If this command gets a reply, “no such file or directory”, skip this command and use the “put” command in the next step.

Press Enter.

Type: put c:filename.dld

"filename.dld" is the firmware image file. Be sure to type in the full path to the file and be sure to type the filename in correctly. For this reason it is easiest to make sure the dld file is at the root directory. This command is case-sensitive.

press Enter.

Wait a couple of minutes. The firmware upgrade is complete when the message, "Transfer complete" is displayed.

If a message is seen that reads, Netout: Software caused connection abort, simply use FTP again to upgrade the firmware a second time.

This is not an error message; the new firmware image is complete and functional with only one firmware upgrade. If the second upgrade is not performed, the HP Jetdirect print server will only have English language for any of the management interfaces (print control panel menus, embedded Web server, as well as the configuration page). Upgrade a second time to get all of the languages installed.

Type bye

Press Enter.

Figure 4: FTP example 4

Using FTP with an Internet browser

Some browsers with FTP folder viewing capability (or enabled in the browser’s options) can upgrade an HP Jetdirect print server.

Instead of typing http:// in the browser as you would for a URL, begin by typing ftp://

Type the IP address of the HP Jetdirect, a space, and /DOWNLOAD

Figure 5: Using Windows Explorer and a browser for FTP

Open Windows Explorer or a file manager window and locate the firmware image file.

Copy and paste or drag and drop the file into the browser window.

Figure 6: Copying the firmware image file

Like the command line FTP, you may see what appears to be an error message when the firmware upgrade is complete.

Figure 7: Apparent error message

The new firmware image is complete and functional with only one firmware upgrade. If the second upgrade is not performed, the HP Jetdirect print server uses only English for any of the management interfaces (print control panel menus, embedded Web server, as well as the configuration page). Upgrade a second time to get the languages installed.

Security

Note the following security conditions:

The FTP download process checks if the file is valid.

If Telnet is disabled, an FTP download is not allowed.

If Telnet is enabled and an administrator password is set, the administrator password must be entered at the password prompt, to gain access to FTP download capability. The username prompt can be left blank, or use one of four valid usernames: root, admin, administrator, or supervisor.

Entering a password is not necessary to print (which preserves backward compatibility), and printing is not affected if the password is set.