Poly VVX 1500 Upgrade VVX 1500 to UC Software 5.2.0 or later – Important: Read Technical Bulletin 695 before deploying VVX 1500

Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500

The information in this bulletin applies only to VVX 1500 phones running BootBlock version 2.9.0 or earlier.

Caution: Safely upgrade the VVX 1500

The phone might become inoperable and you might need to file a return merchandise
authorization (RMA) if:

 You upgrade VVX 1500 phones using BootBlock 2.9.0 or earlier to UC Software

5.2.0

 The phone loses power at any time during the upgrade process,

To avoid an RMA, it is critical that you read all of this bulletin before you begin the upgrade
process.

Business Media Phone to UC Software

5.2.0

Technical Bulletin 695

This technical bulletin explains how to upgrade a Polycom VVX 1500 phone to Unified Communications (UC)
Software version 5.2.0 or later. The critical issue this bulletin addresses is that the UC Software 5.2.0 release
for the VVX 1500 phone includes an Updater component that is too large for BootBlock 2.9.0 or earlier. The
BootBlock is a small software component that runs on the phone during initial phone power-up. After you
upgrade the phone to BootBlock 3.0.4, you cannot install SIP 3.1.x versions of UC Software on the phone.

To upgrade the VVX 1500 phone to UC Software 5.2.0, you need to make changes to UC Software and
BootBlock software components, and update the BootBlock to version 3.0.4. If you do not make these
changes to the UC software and BootBlock, the phone will become non-operational. The process takes
about 20-30 minutes to complete.

This technical bulletin includes the following topics:

● Verify BootBlock Version

● Upgrade the Phone

● Confirm the Upgrade

● Troubleshoot

November 2014 | 3725-47093-001 Rev A 1

Technical Bulletin 695: Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500 Business Media Phone to UC Software 5.2.0

Web Info: See the Administrator Guide for more information on upgrade methods

For more information on each of these upgrade methods, refer to the section Provision with
Polycom UC Software in the Polycom UC Software 5.2 Administrator Guide.

Verify BootBlock Version

This section shows you how to verify the BootBlock version of your VVX 1500.

To verify your VVX 1500 BootBlock version:

1 Tap > Status > Platform > Phone.
2 On the phone screen, scroll to verify the BootBlock version of the phone.

Upgrade the Phone

You can upgrade the phone using any of the following ways:

● Centralized provisioning Use this method if you do not have direct physical access to the phones

you need to upgrade, or you need to upgrade a large number of phones. This method involves
updating the <MAC address>.cfg or master configuration file 000000000000.cfg—depending on your
deployment—to include a reference to the BootBlock.

● Local device interface If you have direct physical access to the phones, you can use the menu

system or device interface to provision and configure one device at a time. Note that menu systems
and interface settings can vary by device. This method does not require you to update configuration
files.

Upgrade with Centralized Provisioning

If you do not have direct physical access to the phones you need to upgrade, or you need to upgrade a large
number of phones, upgrade the BootBlock software using configuration files on your provisioning server.

To upgrade with centralized provisioning:

1 From Polycom VVX 1500 Support, download and extract the following to your provisioning server:

 BootBlock version 3.0.4
 UC Software version 5.2.0

2 Ensure that you configure the phones to have access to your provisioning server.
3 From your provisioning server, open <MAC address>.cfg or 000000000000.cfg in an XML editor.

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Technical Bulletin 695: Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500 Business Media Phone to UC Software 5.2.0

Caution: Do not interrupt the upgrade process

During the upgrade process, the message ‘Flashing BootBlock. Do not remove power’ displays.
While this message displays, do not move, touch, unplug, or remove any cables attached to the
phone. If the upgrade (flash) process is interrupted, the phone may become inoperable and you
may need to file an RMA.

4 Open the Application_VVX1500 directory and in the APPLICATION_VVX1500

BOOTBLOCK_FILE_PATH_VVX1500 element, add the value bootblock.ld, as shown next.

5 Update the phone’s configuration in one of the following ways:

 To update the phones remotely, use a SIP-NOTIFY (Check-Sync) command.
 To update the phone’s configuration locally, do the following (Note: If you are running UC Software

3.2.x, ignore the following procedure and reboot the phone now.):
i. From the phone’s idle screen, tap and tap Settings > Basic.

ii. From the Basic screen, tap Update Configuration > Yes.
iii. The phone will reboot at least three times and upgrade all of its software components. When

the upgrade completes, the phone’s idle screen displays.

When the BootBlock successfully upgrades (flashes), the phone displays the message ‘BootBlock flashed.’
To confirm that the phone upgraded correctly, refer to the section Confirm the Upgrade.

If the upgrade (flash) fails, the phone will retry several more times. The BootBlock upgrade can fail if, for
example, the 000000000000.cfg file was incorrectly edited or the phone cannot find the BootBlock image file
on the provisioning server. For more information about what to do if the upgrade (flash) fails, see the section

Troubleshoot.

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Technical Bulletin 695: Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500 Business Media Phone to UC Software 5.2.0

Caution: Do not interrupt the upgrade process

The phone displays the message ‘Preparing to flash the BootBlock.’ for a few seconds, and
then displays the message ‘Flashing BootBlock. Do not remove power.’ While these messages

display, do not move, touch, unplug, or remove any cables from the phone. If the upgrade
(flash) process is interrupted, the phone may become inoperable and you may need to file an
RMA.

Upgrade From the Local Device Interface

If you are upgrading a few phones, and you have direct physical access to the phones, upgrade the
BootBlock software manually on the device interface. Before you begin a manual upgrade, ensure that your
provisioning server is running.

To upgrade manually:

1 From Polycom VVX 1500 Support, download and extract the following to your provisioning server:

 BootBlock version 3.0.4
 UC Software version 5.2.0

2 Reboot the phones:

a From the phone’s idle screen, tap and tap Settings >Advanced.
b On the Password screen, enter your password (the default is 456), and tap the Enter soft key.
c From the Advanced screen, tap Reboot Phone > Yes.

The phone reboots. After several seconds, the phone displays the ‘Starting Application’ screen and
displays a Cancel soft key.

d Press the Cancel soft key.

The ‘Welcome’ screen displays the Start, Setup and About soft keys for about 6 seconds.

e While the Welcome screen displays, press the following key combination:

+ + + .

Note that the key combination works only when the Welcome screen displays. To display the
Welcome screen again, reboot the phone.

3 Enter the administrator password (the default password is 456), and then tap the OK soft key.

The message ‘You are about to reflash the BootBlock, loss of power will render the phone unusable.
Do you wish to continue?’ displays.

4 Tap the Yes soft key.

When the BootBlock successfully upgrades (flashes), the phone displays the message ‘BootBlock flashed.’
To confirm that the phone upgraded correctly, refer to the section Confirm the Upgrade.

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Technical Bulletin 695: Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500 Business Media Phone to UC Software 5.2.0

Note: Verify the BootBlock upgrade

Ensure that the BootBlock upgrade is completed and verify that it is correct before upgrading to
UC Software 5.2.0. If you do not verify that the BootBlock upgrade is correct, the phone installs
UC Software 5.2.0 and may become non-operational. See the section Verify BootBlock

Version.

Note: View your phone’s BootBlock and UC Software versions

The BootBlock and UC Software versions are listed in the phone’s log files on your provisioning
server.

If the upgrade (flash) fails, the phone will retry several more times. The BootBlock upgrade can fail if, for
example, the 000000000000.cfg file was incorrectly edited or the phone cannot find the BootBlock image file
on the provisioning server. For more information about what to do if the upgrade (flash) fails, see the section

Troubleshoot.

The rest of the upgrade proceeds automatically and involves at least two reboots. When the upgrade
completes, the phone’s idle screen displays.

Confirm the Upgrade

Confirm that the phone contains the correct BootBlock and UC Software versions.

To confirm that the phone is using the correct software versions:

1 Tap > Status > Platform > Phone.
2 On the phone screen, scroll to confirm that the following BootBlock version is listed:

 BootBlock: 3.0.4

3 On the Home screen, tap > Status > Platform > Application > Main.
4 From the Main screen, confirm that UC Software version 5.2.0 is listed.

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Technical Bulletin 695: Upgrading the Polycom® VVX® 1500 Business Media Phone to UC Software 5.2.0

Issue

Do the following...

When I confirm the upgrade, the BootBlock
version is incorrect.

The BootBlock was not updated. Confirm that you
downloaded BootBlock version 3.0.4 to your provisioning
server. Do not download UC Software 5.2 until you confirm
that BootBlock 3.0.4 has been correctly downloaded as
shown in the section Confirm the Upgrade.

After I upgrade the BootBlock, the phone enters
a reboot loop.

The new UC Software is not compatible with an earlier
BootBlock version. Confirm you downloaded BootBlock
version 3.0.4 to your provisioning server. Examine the <MAC
address>-boot.log file to diagnose any errors.

The message ‘Flashing BootBlock. Do not
remove power. Try <number of attempts> failed,
retrying.’, displays.

The BootBlock upgrade (flash) has failed and the phone is
trying again.

If all attempts fail, the message ‘BootBlock failed to flash all
times’ displays. For more information, see the next
troubleshooting item.

Upgrading (flashing) the BootBlock has failed
multiple times. The message ‘BootBlock failed to
flash all times’ displays.

All attempts to upgrade (flash) the BootBlock have failed.
Before you tap the Reboot soft key to try again, make sure
your provisioning server is running, the BootBlock is
downloaded to the provisioning server in the right location and
the reference files are pointing to the BootBlock file correctly.

Troubleshoot

The following table lists common issues and possible solutions.

Issues and Solutions

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