The following step-by-step guide explains how to update the firmware on the Mike Lane ‘Dashboard Monitors and Power Boost‘ mod for KITT. Firmware updates can include new product features and additional support for future mods.
We’ll cover how to download and install the updater and how to upload the new firmware safely to the Dashboard Monitors.
Disclaimer: Only use firmware files obtained via the official Mike Lane website that are confirmed compatible with your device. Uploading incorrect firmware to your controller will damage the device and will void its warranty.
Before continuing, you must ensure that all power sources to the model and monitors are disconnected.
Never have batteries or other power mods installed at the same time as providing power to the device via USB-C.
- First, connect your Dashboard Monitors to a Windows 10 or 11 PC via the USB-C port on the side of the device. If you already have the short USB-C extension cable installed from within the Dashboard Monitors kit which connects directly to the side of the device, then you can simply connect your PC via this cable beneath the model. You should see a green LED on the controller indicating that there is power to the device.
- Next, download both the latest ‘updater’ and ‘firmware’ files below:
Please note: This updater currently only supports Windows 10 and 11 installations.
- Unzip both the ControllerUpdater (App) and Mike_Lane_KITT_Monitors (Firmware).
- Run setup.exe within the ControllerUpdater folder.
- On the initial pop-up window, click ‘Install‘. If you have difficulty running the setup file on your PC, try right-clicking setup.exe and clicking ‘Run as an administrator‘.
- Click ‘OK‘ to acknowledge the safety warning. This message reminds you that you should only use firmware files obtained via the official Mike Lane website that are confirmed compatible with your devices controller. Uploading incorrect firmware to your controller will damage the device.
- Click ‘OK‘ to acknowledge the safety warning. This message advises that you should remove all other connected COM devices, such as USB drives etc from the computer before using this software.
- Click the Firmware file button, browse to the downloaded folder and select the Mike_Lane_KITT_Monitors.bin file from the unzipped folder. The path of the firmware file will be displayed beside the button when successful.
- Next, click the ‘Refresh device list‘ button. This should load the Dashboard Monitors controller into the COM list if connected successfully. In this example it loads as COM13, but it may load as a different COM device depending on your setup.No COM device listed? If your COM list remains blank and you’re unable to see your device, it means the software can’t see and connect to your monitors. In most cases this is because your USB-C cable isn’t compatible and only provides power to the device. Not all USB-C cables transit data. Try another USB-C cable, restart the software and try again.
- Click the ‘Update‘ button. It should then indicate that it’s updating beneath. Only click ‘Update’ once and wait patiently for the update to complete.
- The updater will begin updating the firmware on the Dashboard Monitors. The process will only take a few seconds and will be indicated with the ‘Ready to update’ and ‘Updating…..‘ messages beneath the update button.
- Once the process has finished, the updater will report that the update is successfully complete – indicated by the ‘Completed‘ message beneath the button.Your monitor upgrade is only successful if you see this message.
- The final step of updating your Dashboard Monitors to the latest version is to check that you have the latest configuration settings. Remove the MicroSD card from the device and insert into a PC. Open config.txt from the MicroSD card.
The software does not update this file, this is a manual change you need to make. The most up-to-date config file should contain the following default settings. If you’re missing any of these settings you can now copy and paste them to your MicroSD cards config file:
player_y:8,brightness:50,TestMode:off,
