F33 Vortex — Support

Controller
Firmware Upgrade

Flash updated firmware to your F33 Vortex controller using a microSD card. Follow the steps below for your operating system.

Firmware file .img format
SD card 4 or larger
Controller Must be off

Firmware download

💾
F33 Vortex Controller Firmware
.img file  ·  For use with SD card flashing  ·  v4.1.2
Download

Step 1 — Restore the SD card

  1. 1

    Download and open Balena Etcher

    Get the free tool using the link below. It handles writing .img files to SD cards safely and verifies the write when complete.

    Download Balena Etcher ↗
  2. 2

    Insert your SD card

    Use a USB card reader or your computer's built-in slot. Windows may show an "unrecognized drive" prompt — dismiss it without formatting.

  3. 3

    Select the firmware .img file

    In Etcher, click Flash from file and choose the F33 Vortex firmware .img file you downloaded above.

  4. 4

    Select the SD card as the target

    Click Select target and choose your SD card. Double-check it is the correct drive — all existing data will be overwritten.

  5. 5

    Flash and verify

    Click Flash! and wait for Etcher to write and verify the image. This typically takes 1–3 minutes. Dismiss any Windows format prompts that appear during or after.

  1. 1

    Insert your SD card and identify the disk

    Open Terminal and run the command below. Locate your SD card — it will appear as /dev/disk2 or similar. Note the identifier.

    diskutil list
  2. 2

    Unmount the disk

    Replace diskN with your SD card's identifier (e.g. disk2).

    diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
  3. 3

    Write the firmware image

    Replace the path with your .img file location and rdiskN with your disk identifier (note the r prefix). You will be prompted for your password.

    sudo dd if=/path/to/firmware.img of=/dev/rdiskN bs=4m status=progress
    Use rdiskN (with the r prefix) rather than diskN — it bypasses the buffer cache and writes significantly faster.
  4. 4

    Eject when complete

    Once dd finishes, safely eject the card before removing it.

    diskutil eject /dev/diskN
  1. 1

    Insert your SD card and identify the device

    Run the command below and locate your SD card — usually listed as /dev/sdb or /dev/mmcblk0. Confirm by checking the size listed.

    lsblk
  2. 2

    Unmount any mounted partitions

    If any partitions on the card are mounted, unmount them first. Replace sdX with your device identifier.

    sudo umount /dev/sdX*
  3. 3

    Write the firmware image

    Replace the .img path and device identifier as appropriate. The status=progress flag displays write progress.

    sudo dd if=/path/to/firmware.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
    Write to the whole device (e.g. /dev/sdb), not a partition (e.g. /dev/sdb1). Writing to a partition instead of the disk is a common mistake.
  4. 4

    Flush and remove

    Run sync to ensure all buffered data has been written before removing the card.

    sync

Step 2 — Flash the controller

  1. 1

    Make sure the controller is powered off

    Do not insert the SD card while the controller is powered on. Power must be completely off before inserting the card.

  2. 2

    Insert the SD card into the controller

    Locate the SD card slot on the controller and seat the card fully until it clicks into place.

  3. 3

    Power on the controller

    The power LEDs will begin blinking — this indicates the firmware is being applied. The process takes approximately 1–2 minutes. Do not power off the controller during this time.

  4. 4

    Wait for the controller to fully boot

    Once the LEDs stop blinking and the controller completes its startup sequence, the firmware upgrade is finished.

Upgrade complete
  • Remove the SD card from the controller.
  • Reformat the SD card for regular use — either from the controller's built-in format option, or using any computer (FAT32 or exFAT recommended).