Upgrade Parrot CK3000 Evolution with a Max232 chip

In order to make the CK3000 work well with Android phones you will need to upgrade it to version 5.25c. You could do get this done by a professional, or you could buy a rather expensive official cable. I'm making the cable myself with the help of other people who made a similar one first.


This is a simple application of the Max232 chip i have:

I used the original data and power connectors for the upgrade. The data connector has a kind of appendix to which i connected the data wires (not very professional).

I also connected the required wire between pin 9 & 10 (not showing in this pic):

The actual setup on the protoboard.
I used a standard 5V AC/DC adapter.
The capacitors are 1uF 50V (10 cents each):

And now the software process. I used a laptop and a USB-to-serial adapter.

I started using an inverter (DC-to-AC adapter) and it faild almost always. Later i switched to a wall socket and it went better.

* Update process and symptoms:
- Select CK3000 Evolution.
- Select Serial update.
- Select 115200 baud.
- Wait for "XPRAM downloading". Progress bar should not move yet.
   - If progress bar moves there may be something wrong.
   - If it says something like "Cannot set baud rate" probably the wire between pin 9&10 is not ok.
   - If it says something like "Cannot open port" disconnect the usb device, click back and next.
- Power on the parrot. After 1 to 5 seconds progress bar will start moving. It will take about 10 seconds to finish.
   - If you get an error like "Cannot send data" there may be a bad cable.
   - If the bar loops over and over something is wrong. Better try again.
The rest of the process is relatively fast except the "Flash programming" which takes more than one minute.
It can randomly stall or throw the "Cannot send data" error at any time. If it happens try again.
* Myths:
- "If you put two CK3000 close to each other they update the firmware automatically". It didn't happen to me.
- "You can do a wireless update with a bluetooth virtual serial port". I wasn't able to create a serial bluetooth connection. Parrot officially only supports cabled upgrades for the CK3000.