Baofeng DM-X DMR

Amateur Radio
344

It is the same version but it depends on the CPS tool you are using (see the about dialog box of the CPS tool). There is no checking of the firmware so if you use the wrong combination of CPS and firmware, the radio will not turn on and you will have to flash again.

But please note that some people reported problems with 2.02.022 and newer hardware revision -V2 (but if you do not modify the firmware ini file, you should not be able to flash such radio anyway).

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345

Thank you for your answer. I have hardware V1. If I am understood if I wont to use

1702_02_v22-encrypted to flash I must use CPS v1.0.78

But the question is whether there are any benefits of using the encrypted firmware version and CPS 1.0.78 instead of the decrypted version whether it does not matter which version you are using important to remember to use the correct version of CPS v1.0.78 for encrypted firmware.

What do you recommend which version use?

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346

You may know but a group of Italian hams are working on moving OpenGD77 to MD380 which uses similar equipment as DM-X (AT1846S, HR-C6000, STM32405) if they succeed then maybe there is a chance that OpenDMR will be possible an DM-X

But to flash OpenDMR firmware we need to know the key for encryption like was discovered for different radios

347

It is the same firmware, I have flashed the encrypted version (actually the CPS tool does the decryption itself, not the radio as in case of TYT/MD), recorded what was sent over USB and also pulled the firmware back from radio (both were the same). So it is exactly the same firmware.

Concerning OpenDMR - there are several issues with that, as the MD380UV is using same CPU but not the same board/peripherals, so the GPIO pinout is different, it uses different bootloader, the communication protocol over USB is also different, flash memory layout including calibration data is incompatible, etc. So you would have to erase everything from the chip and flash including the bootloader and work from scratch.

348

Hi Ok
But what about GPS if I want play with setup DAPRS it is better supported by CPS 1.0.66 or 1.0.78 ?

349

There are some extra settings for the .022 (maybe also .019) firmware in CPS 1.0.78, I have described them earlier in the discussion how I got working APRS GPS setup. The problem was, that the official 1.0.78 CPS was virus-infected. I did heal the virus from it and published the cleaned version, but some people do not want to use it because of the original infection just in case, so that is why there is the firmware for older version…

350

The retevis rt-72 is definitely the same radio, with a few more capabilities, including csv contact import. Does anyone have a source for this firmware? Could dm-1702 tools possibly spi dump the radio?

351

Hi Pavel,

One question, If I have firmware 2.02.019 and use CPS 1.0.66 and I want set extra parameters APRS as you show above we need use CPS 1.0.78 (healed version) to do this.

OK but next I need use CPS 1.0.78 to write to radio configuration or use 1.0.66 CPS to write configuration to radio with modified config file for APRS setup.

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352

@GraFfiX: Radios with CSV imports have the different bootloader and firmware I have mentioned. They are all built on the same source codebase, with slight modifications (I think they all just get the source code from the same company which provides them boards.

On the other hand, the DM-X firmware is a complete rewrite. There are some common functions, the same (licensed) RTOS and many same libraries used in both of these, but the implementation is much different.

As far as I know, the source code is not available anywhere, even the MD380Tools used binary patches to existing firmware. For instance, the flash memory layout is more flash-friendly in DM-X, on the other hand there is an index for faster lookup of built-in contacts, which significantly limits their number.

@RayPath: Honestly, I thought I managed to set the original settings with 1.0.66, but some people reported they had to edit the configuration CPS file with 1.0.78 (see #317), to make it work using the features only available there (I show how in #249, but note some DMR repeaters may have problems to forward the APRS SMS messages). Once you save the CPS file, you may upload it with any of those two (so for instance, running the 1.0.78 CPS in virtual machine or even on Wine in live Linux will work, but without the USB communication).

353

I was hoping to flash a spi dump from a Retevis rt-72 to the dm-x. Is this not possible?

354

As I mentioned it earlier, I don’t think it is possible without modifications. I will try to explain why:

  1. There is a different bootloader which would not allow you to flash its area unless you switch the processor to direct flashing mode
  2. You would have to flash both the processor and the SPI flash (the SPI flash contains only configuration data, recordings, contacts, …, the code is in CPU)
  3. You would have to do the whole calibration process separately and some of the settings for both types of radios are not easily translatable. Things like the frequency offset, xtal calibration, tone calibration and, more importantly, power levels, are just an example. If you miscalibrate this, you may even burn the PA stage of the radio. Microphone characteristics, its gain, … are also calibrated.
  4. As a part of calibration data for DM-X (and I don’t know if for MD380-like radios), you have a code which is calculated from processor serial number to make sure somebody does not just “clone” the radio
  5. You cannot be sure that the GPIO pins for display, GPS, buttons, etc. are the same ones in both radios. So you would probably end with a non-working radio anyway
  6. GPS uses different chipset with slightly different data that is exchanged between it and the firmware, so it might not work

On the other hand, may TYT/Retevis/other “Baofeng” radios share exactly the same board, bootloader and firmware with just a different branding image and small nuances in what is enabled to edit/change which are from the same codebase. Cross-flashing such radios is possible because of that.

355

I understand completely. When I open a code plug for a rt-72 in a hex editor, it is labeled md-1702, same as the dm-x, I believe this is the exact same board as the rt-72, and the firmware just has everything the radio is capable of enabled.

356

And do you have some RT-72 firmware file? I can probably check it (if it is not encrypted as well). Or if the firmware dump tool works, it could be extracted.

357

I do not. I’ve posted in a few spots looking for someone to attempt to dump their radio with your utility. I will let you know if I find anyone.

358

You are right that the CPS edit tool of RT72 is based on the same SDK as the DM-X one, so probably the firmware will be as well and the memory layout will be compatible. I have manually edited radio ID in my saved CPS .data file and was able to open it in the edit tool. With dumped firmware, block-0, and radio info it should be possible to check if the cross-flashing would be possible or not.

It seems that the firmware is based on the -V2 models.

359

In my DM-X it is only when I set level 3 that the audio can be heard in the speaker but this level is too big. Is it possible to hear the speaker when you set the audio level to 1 or 2?
The second thing many people note is that the audio from the microphone is quiet compared to other radios. Has anyone tried to set the MIC 1 and MIC 2 options in the extend menu?

360

I have download CPS for RT72 https://www.retevis.com/resources-center/ and it looks like CPS 1.0.78 version for DM-X

361

Hello. I have set for me respectively: MIC1> -12bB and MIC2> 15

362

What is the procedure write to radio changed values in EXTRA Menu. I have change MIC2 to 15 in “TEST” window. I have to see buttons “READ” to read data from radio and “SAVE” ??? and button “WRITE” and field “write”

363

It makes sense to read the values first. Then, if you know what to do, change and write and then save. To final-red icon (write)on top .