Some MB PRO2 do have an issue with the front button (the one behind the pinhole below the LEDs) as it remains dead and does not operate as expected. It is a firmware issue, there is nothing broken on the hardware side with these units.
When your "System - Admin" tab shows "32 MB Flash" and "FW 1.3" your PRO2 is impacted by this bug (see picture below). 16 MB flash models or 1.5 FW versions are not impacted.
If you need the button operations that can be triggered by this button (back to factory default, back to LAN DHCP mode, reset password) you can use a USB stick with some shell command copied to it as a work-around. Please find details here: viewtopic.php?p=53557#p53557
Do not forget to remove the USB stick when it has triggered a reboot (to avoid being stuck in a reboot loop).
How to solve issues with a dead front button on MB PRO2
Moderator: Mattk
Re: How to solve issues with front button on MB PRO2
There is a firmware update for impacted MB PRO2 versions. Please read here: viewtopic.php?p=53560#p53560
Re: How to solve issues with front button on MB PRO2
Just for the curious I want to share a bit background on this "dead button" issue.
I get the VoCore2 SOCs which are the heart of the MB PRO2 from a developer in China. In order to reduce my setup effort, they are pre-flashing the chips with my firmware before delivery to me for building up the system. That worked fine over the years. Lately, they upgraded the VoCore2 from 16 MB flash to 32 MB flash. So I had to touch the firmware again for the newer batch of SOCs to adapt to the larger flash size. Unfortunately, this new FW did loose the DTS definitions for the front button for reasons I still don't fully understand. It was clearly my fault, nothing to blame in China. I tested the new firmware but did not test the button operation. Again my fault.
A few days ago I got notice from a MB PRO2 user that the button on his PRO2 is not working. I drilled down into the issue and had to learn that it is not a hardware issue but a firmware flaw.
With the options explained in this thread you can fix it rather simple, in case you are impacted. Unfortunatly, you need physical access to the PRO2, a remote flashing is not possible.
Sorry for any inconvenience this fault might raise on your side. Best thing I could do in this situation is to offer a fix fast and as easy to do as possible.
I get the VoCore2 SOCs which are the heart of the MB PRO2 from a developer in China. In order to reduce my setup effort, they are pre-flashing the chips with my firmware before delivery to me for building up the system. That worked fine over the years. Lately, they upgraded the VoCore2 from 16 MB flash to 32 MB flash. So I had to touch the firmware again for the newer batch of SOCs to adapt to the larger flash size. Unfortunately, this new FW did loose the DTS definitions for the front button for reasons I still don't fully understand. It was clearly my fault, nothing to blame in China. I tested the new firmware but did not test the button operation. Again my fault.
A few days ago I got notice from a MB PRO2 user that the button on his PRO2 is not working. I drilled down into the issue and had to learn that it is not a hardware issue but a firmware flaw.
With the options explained in this thread you can fix it rather simple, in case you are impacted. Unfortunatly, you need physical access to the PRO2, a remote flashing is not possible.
Sorry for any inconvenience this fault might raise on your side. Best thing I could do in this situation is to offer a fix fast and as easy to do as possible.
