(From http://community.upc-cablecom.ch/pos...t=181&stop=195, dated 02.08.2012)

upc cablecom have released the new firmware STBA.01.50 (v1.50) for their white Thomson WiFi-cable modems. This replaces the previous version which was v1.39.

The new firmware fixes the corrupt-file download bug, which primarily hit Apple users and their DVD downloads or OS updates...

The update is for this modem:


They say all customers will automatically get updated, but it will take until the end of September 2012 before all customers are done (because they do them in batches).

If you want to update now, switch off the cable modem, wait 10s, then switch on again. When booting up the modem will get the new firmware. Be patient, and don't interrupt the process, or you might kill the modem! The update is finished when the Power, DS, US and Online lamps are all on steadily (i.e.: not flashing)

I just did mine about 10min ago. I also did a Factory Reset afterwards to ensure everything was set back to default. If you do a factory reset, don't forget to change your username and login, and best set your own SSID as well.

Enjoy!

Took me slightly longer. Many thanks for this much awaited upgrade. Time will tell.

I re-started my router 3 times since reading this thread, and I am still on 1.39

I did remember to physically disconnect my Ethernet from the router port right after issuing the command to reboot, restart the router, wait for the LEDs to stabilise, and then logon to verify the upgrade after about 15 minutes.

I just switched mine off, left it 30 seconds and let it reboot. Worked like a charm.

Try doing a factory reset - hold down the reset button for 15s, then let go once the modem starts winking and blinking. Then wait,

Cool... Finally I got OSX updated and had no idea why the update file kept being uploaded as corrupted. I had given up until your post

Thanks for sharing...

PS. The update worked fine here in Villars-Sur-Glane (Fribourg)

I have been having the apple updates problem for some time now, unaware of the thomson problem.

I was rearranging furniture at the weekend, and unplugged my modem. when i plugged in again I still have the problem.

After some hours wasted on the weekend researching this issue, I found out about disabling something on the switch mode, which solved the problem.

I am not sure if I now have the latest firmware or not. I guess so, but its strange that after restarting I still had the problem.

I really think UPC should have sent out an email to all its customers advising them of the potential issue. As a normal customer, it isnt up to me to be an IT expert and receiving buggy download after buggy download is just crap for the money we pay them each month.

Hold your horses there krlock3. When it comes to things like this, it is not always as straight forward as one would think and should UPC send out a mail each time something like this happens for any given software, you would be seriously pee'd off, and be even more furious, with all their "spam" mail explaining what to do, errors etc

Thanks to people like FriendlyKiwi we're all happy

I actually find the internet subscription (cost v speed) top notch so no complaints from here. While in Dublin, I hated UPC with a passion just to put things in perspective

this has been driving me nuts! been trying to update OSX for ages now, and almost given up hope - will give it a shot this eve. had similar problems with MS Office download.

i would never have thought that the modem was the route(r) of the problem (i'll get my coat).

mucho thanks to the OP !



is it possible, then, to change from the standard ID/password info that comes bundled with the modem (found under the modem) ?
what are the benefits of doing so?

How come yours is all nice and white? Mine has turned nicotine yellowish and no one smokes inside (or outside) my place

Nope, Im letting the horses go thanks all the same. I work long hours during the week and spent about 4 hours on sunday trying to figure out why I couldnt install apple updates.

I was trawling google for invalid checksum problems, and scouring the apple support forums for reasons. As the updates DO actually download but DO NOT install, i didnt think that my thomson router was to blame.

After following various bits of advice on the internet, at various points during the day you would have found me crouching at all angles (with my bad back) behind my furniture trying to unhook modem cables, or repairing disk permissions several times in the disk utility, or starting up in safe mode to clear caches and plists and god knows what. You would have seen the pained look on my girlfriends face as she sat observing these curious movements and various expletives issued forth into our apartment. This after spending at least part of several evenings in the last few weeks trying to re-download the software updates to no avail.

What you didnt find me doing was enjoying the fresh air, taking a cappucino in my local cafe, swimming in the lake, or updating to mountain lion as I wanted to do.

IF cablecom had sent a memo at any time in the last months to say "hey theres a potential problem with the thomson router which might affect your ability to download. You can fix it by following the instructions at the following link or you can wait for the fix we are working on which should be out soon" ...

would that not be a bit better?

Friendlykiwi surely deserves thanks for bringing it to our attention here, as he does for all his UPC related posts. No one is criticising him.

Yes, of course

If you leave everything at default, you leave the doors more open for hackers (not wide open, but more open)
For example: having an SSID that starts with UPC00..... is a sure fire sign that says "I'm with UPC" and "I've got a Thomson TWG-870U modem".

I always recommend changing the SSID to something anonymous - ie: you cannot be identified by it - and changing the admin logon and password as well.
To do all this, connect to the router with an Ethernet cable and go to 192.168.0.1, default logon is <blank>, password is "admin"

I first found about the problem with a google search. Searching for "cablecom corrupt file download" takes you straight to the horses mouth: the community forum on cablecom where the problem was discussed in detail, including feedback from knowledgeable cablecom staff.

The problem affects pretty much only MAC users, the PC users in my house were not affected.
Given that MAC have 5% market share, upc cablecom would scare 95% of their users unnecessarily, telling them about a problem with only impacts 5% of their user base.

If I was running a large company, I would think very very carefully about how to communicate and handle such a problem, when 95% of my customers were not affected.

Thanks :-)

PS: I updated a friends modem at their house this morning (they also have a MAC), and everything went really smoothly.

Mine is in a cool shady corner of my lounge, it never has sun shining on it...

Anyway, that's not my modem, I just stole the pic from the Internet somewhere

I'm pretty annoyed about this. I'm a PC user with an iPhone and I bet that accounts for more than 5% of users.

I spent weeks trying to upgrade my iPhone to IOS 5 or whatever it was. When 5.1 came out I didn't even bother. And I've had other applications that I've tried to download that kept getting "download failed". Very frustrating.

My wife works at Cablecom and she's getting an earful when I get back home. Ofcourse she isn't to blame directly, but that's just tough :P

edit: Thanks for the heads-up FriendlyKiwi

Oh man, that means I have to enter all my settings into the router again? (passwords, port forwarding, SSID, etc) I see there's a way to back-up settings and store them in a file, but I didn't seem to have luck with that for some reason (maybe I'll try it again). But would settings made on 1.39 be able to load to a router running 1.5?

I'm not sure I understand this. If a file is corrupted, it's corrupted. It shouldn't matter what the OS is. Can you explain a little more how it only corrupts MAC files, but not PC ones? (And what about Linux? Since MAC is built on Linux, I would assume Linux users would also be affected?)

5% refers to desktop OS, ie: iPhones are not included

Normally (and I say normally because I know of no PC user that has been affected) the Windows OS doesn't get hit by the checksum problem, only the MAC OS gets hit by it. I've done many iPhone OS updates over my Windows PC and the Thomson modem, and they all worked fine.

My Thomson is very corrupt. It smokes Camel's and drinks Jim Beam all day. If I try to reboot it, it kicks my ass. Not sure how I'm going to install this patch.

You can hack into it with one of these hacker tools: