Troubleshooting | Core 8 Flex will not downgrade below Q-SYS Designer 9.7

Identify why a Core 8flex is reporting Core firmware validation failed when downgrading below QDS 9.7

Updated at February 5th, 2024

 

Affected Products

Hardware Model/Series
Core 8 Flex
Software
Q-SYS Designer =<9.6

Problem | Symptoms

Newly manufactured Core 8 Flex products cannot downgrade below Q-SYS Designer 9.7.0. This includes downgrading to any 9.4.X LTS version.
When attempting to downgrade with version 9.6 or lower, the Core will look like it goes through the downgrade process but you will receive the following error message.

After pressing OK, the Core will still be at same firmware version it was at before the “Save to core and Run” was attempted.


Causes | Verification

Newly manufactured Core 8-Flex product contain updated/new ICs on the Audio board.  Core 8-Flex product containing these new ICs require Q-SYS Designer 9.7 or later to operate. 


The hardware change was implemented in manufacturing Jan 2023, starting with serial number 21MX2303xxxxxx.

Reference our Serial Number decoder document to determine when your Core was manufactured:  

https://www.qsys.com/resource-files/q_serial_number_decoder_public.pdf

 


Solution | Workaround

Cores manufactured after the 3rd week in 2023  must run firmware 9.7 or newer to operate.

If you have further questions or concerns please create a case with Q-SYS Support.