Status light on RoboRio flashing constantly

[Dilbert1234*]

The RoboRio will not run labview software and when i tried to reimage it I get that the firmware is unknown.  I cannot update the firmware and it will not go into safe mode. I have read and tried all the suggestions in these forums to no avail.  I saw where you can give me a file to run off a flash drive that can fix the problem.

[BoKnows]

Just a quick verification.

When you start up the roboRIO, it will run normally with a correct status LED.  But, it'll show unknown firmware in the web interface.  If you try to hold the power button to enter safe mode, you see the continuously flashing LED.

Is that correct?

[Dilbert1234*]

Yes that is correct. However we have two other RoboRio who’s status light blinks continuously upon initial start up. 

[BoKnows]

I'll send you a direct message with instructions for the recovery utility.

Though, it's a tad concerning we're seeing 3 roboRIOs in this state.  While it's not uncommon to see the issues on a troubleshooting forum, they're generally rare with respect to how many we see each year versus how many roboRIOs are out there.  If there are 3 at one site with the issue, there's something happening there contributing to this that we'd ideally want to help you understand so we can help you avoid getting into this state.

Is there any chance you know what was happening with the roboRIOs when they moved into this state?  Was it during imaging?  Updating firmware?  Power loss?  etc?  If I have an idea of what's happening there, I'll do my best to share theories on what's getting you into the state to help you out (though, the tool should help you get out of it quickly once I can get it to you)

[Dilbert1234*]

Two of the units were back in a drawer that I dugout when the first one failed.  So I do not know the history or how long ago they had issues.  The other one was one were have used for a year and a half.  We were modifying code and using the Phoenix Tuner when we started having problems.  We would load the Labview project to the RoboRio and we would get indication on the Driver Station the the code was present but when we enabled Teleop it would immediately say there was no code.  It was after that that I tried reimaging, thinking it might solve our problem.

[BoKnows]

My best guess there is you also looked at updating the firmware.  I tend to recommend sticking with the 5.0.0 version of the firmware.  It's a stable enough firmware that FRC hasn't updated the minimum requirement above that version.  Most of the issues I've seen related to the 7.0.0 firmware (and our developers have explicitly hidden that one in the roboRIO Imaging Tool to help avoid using it).

The utility I messaged you about should restore the roboRIOs to their initial factory settings.  That'll replace the firmware to I believe a 2.x version as well as repair the Safe Mode.