Home I received notification of a firmware update for the review Sprint Overdrive D-79. As I’d just posted a review on the device, I decided to test the installation process.
I’m not a big fan of doing firmware updates unless I’m having the specific problem that an update addresses, however since this is a review unit, I thought I’d give it a try. It never hurts to have additional battery life or improved connectivity. The firmware update addresses:
Improved Wi-Fi operation and throughput.
* Improved performance for customers who experienced Windows XP issues.
* Auto Update enhancements to improve download reliability.
* Fix for when device stays in offline after upgrade.
* Note: The 1.06 firmware update released on 1/28 was designed to improve battery life and connectivity to the 4G network.
I chose to download the file and install directly from my computer. It’s about 37Mb and can be run directly over the connection, but I prefer having a copy on the computer in case I need it at a later time.
First time seemed to be working OK until suddenly my computer rebooted. Checking the error codes didn’t really tell me much other than the system had shut down unexpectedly. Even though nothing pointed to the firmware update or the device, I mention it here just in case someone else might experience something similar..
When I went in to check the version, it showed as 1.07 (updated firmware), so I decided to try to reinstall to see if I could reproduce the reboot. This time, everything went as it should. The Overdrive showed the progress successfully and the reconnection went perfectly. The only thing I noticed was that the unit itself got quite warm during the update, but cooled off almost immediately on reconnection.
The download can be found here : http://www.nextel.com/en/software_downloads/mobile_broadband/sierra_overdrive.shtml
If you have a Sprint Overdrive D-79, then don’t be afraid to do the update.