This page hosts the Bantam Tools Serama firmware downloads, for the following machines:
- Bantam Tools ArtFrame™
- Bantam Tools EggBot™
- Bantam Tools HandWriter®
- Bantam Tools WaterColorBot™
Two update solutions are offered: Updates via USB, and On-Device Updates, where you copy the relevant files onto a microSD card and update on the machine itself.
(If you are looking for firmware for AxiDraw or Bantam Tools NextDraw™, please see here instead.)
Updater Applications for Mac and Windows
Our Serama Firmware Updater applications for Mac and Windows are a recommended way to update your firmware.
The machine has a USB-B jack. If you have a USB cable to connect to your machine, then use the USB option to update the machine. Alternately, you can use the Serama Firmware Updater application to save the update files to a microSD card for On-Device updates.
Download the updater for your computer:
- Windows Firmware Updater (1.5 MB .zip file)
- macOS Firmware Updater (2.2 MB .dmg file)
To update your machine over USB:
- Connect the machine directly to your computer with a USB cable.
- Power on the machine.
- Open the downloaded firmware updater:
- On Windows, double-click the downloaded .zip file to extract it.
- On Mac, double-click the downloaded .dmg file to open it, and drag to your Applications folder.
- Then open the Serama Firmware Updater application.
- Click to select which machine type you have.
- Leave the Also update machine configuration checkbox selected.
- Wait for the updater to display Device connected at the top of the window.
- Click Update over USB to begin the update.
- Leave the machine connected and powered on while the update is in progress.
- Wait for the updater to report that the update completed successfully. The machine will restart automatically.
To update your machine via microSD card:
- Open the downloaded firmware updater:
- On Windows, double-click the downloaded .zip file to extract it.
- On Mac, double-click the downloaded .dmg file to open it, and drag to your Applications folder.
- Then open the Serama Firmware Updater application.
- Click to select which machine type you have.
- Click Save for microSD card... to save the files.
- You can save the files directly onto a microSD card, or
- You can save files to your computer and copy them to the card later.
- Follow the instructions in the sections below, under On-Device Updates, to update your firmware and Config file.
On-Device Updates
Instead of updating over USB, you can copy the relevant files onto a microSD card and update on the machine itself.
Getting the files:
You can use the Updater Applications, listed above, to save the firmware (".bin") and config file (".yaml") to a microSD card. You can also download them individually, here:
- Firmware download (1.8 MB .bin file)
- Config file download (13 kB .zip file)
The Config File download includes all machine configuration files, so unzip the bundle and copy only the one that you need onto your microSD card.
- For machines other than Bantam Tools ArtFrame™, there is a single Config File.
- For ArtFrame, if your machine has a sheet metal cutout, above the display, for the Pen Height Setup Tool, then you have a "Rev D" ArtFrame. Select the model and revision for your machine.
We recommend updating the firmware first and then the Config file to avoid any incompatibility issues with the firmware and config.
Flashing firmware or configs other than those released may cause your machine to become non-functional.
To update your Firmware:
- Place the files on a microSD card.
- Insert the microSD card into the microSD card slot on the machine.
- Navigate to and Click to select the Settings icon (gear) on the home screen of the OLED.
- Scroll down to the “Update Firmware” option and Click to select.
- Select the firmware binary you placed on the microSD card to begin the update.
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The machine will reboot after updating the firmware.
To update your Config File:
- Place the files on a microSD card.
- Insert the microSD card into the microSD card slot on the machine.
- Navigate to and Click to select the Settings icon (gear) on the home screen of the OLED.
- Scroll down to the “Update Config File” option and select.
- Select the Config File (".yaml") that you placed on the microSD card to begin the update.
- The machine will reboot after updating the Config.
USB Firmware Recovery
If updating from the microSD card does not work, or the machine is not responding, there are recovery tools built into the Serama Firmware Updater, so you will need a USB cable.
The updater automatically checks whether the machine is responding normally. If it is not responding, the updater will use its built-in recovery process when you select Update over USB.
If standard USB recovery does not work:
If necessary, open the Options menu in the Serama Firmware Updater application and enable Erase All Flash, then select Update over USB again.
Important: Erase All Flash deletes the machine's existing configuration. After the firmware update finishes, open Config > Update Config and select the configuration that matches your machine. The machine will restart after the configuration is installed.
Do not disconnect the USB cable, turn off the machine, or close the updater while firmware or configuration data is being installed.