SMSL D400 Pro Balanced DAC Review

[Kiko1974]

I am really sorry I did not provided more detailed instruction as I promised. I found firmware 2.2 and decided to upgrade, then I realize that I forgot how I did it previously and started to search this thread to remind myself what to do. This time I took screenshots, so it should be easier - steps this time were:

1. install usb driver for Allwinner FEL mode (as shown in SMSL instruction) using "Zadig" tool - please follow instruction/explanation on https://linux-sunxi.org/FEL/USBBoot in section "Mandatry USB driver" (please use "Zadig 2.9" tool linked on mentioned page)
View attachment 480090
Left side of the above picture is Instruction - right on my execution of Zadig 2.9 tool - during driver installation D400PRO was in FEL mode (press knob and turn-on power - pressing still knob for 5 seconds) and connected to my laptop - you have to choose from the list device with USB ID 1F3A EFE8 - if it is not clear which is the right one - please try one by one untill you will see expected USB ID - if it is not on the list, than your D400PRO is either not in FEL mode or not connected proprly using USB cable.

1a. (optional) test if usb driver installation was successful by checking in Windows Device Manager - start D400PRO in FEL mode (press knob and turn-on power - pressing still knob for 5 seconds) and check if you see in Device Manager new device having VID 1F3A and PID EFE8 and assigned the driver you just installed
View attachment 480091
After proper driver installation you should be able to find your D400PRO connected in FEL mode in Windows Device Manager (most likely under "Universal serial bus controller" tab) - the name of the device will be the same as in Zadig tool during installation (so not necessarly "FEL" as in my case) - in device Properties you should see similar texts/values for Driver details.

2. download newest sunxi-tools (also linked on mentioned page) - unzip files - copy sunxi-fel.exe insted of the version received from SMSL
It was mandatory step for me - after extracting sunxi files you should see following programs:
View attachment 480093
visible above sunxi-fel should be used for the test in next point

3. start D400PRO in FEL mode (press knob and turn-on power - pressing still knob for 5 seconds), open command prompt, change directory to the one where you have sunxi-fel.exe and test if the tool properly "see" D400PRO using commans:
sunxi-fel -l
(it should list available devices - ideally just one)
View attachment 480095
first time it was executed without Zadig driver loaded - second time it was executed with Zadig driver properly loaded - if you have "Allwinner F1C100s" reported than you are ready for firmware upgrade.

4. I used this time commands taken from .bat file and slightly edited. -d parameter value was taken from "sunxi-fel -l" output - you will notice that with every restart of D400PRO in FEL mode reported device number will change - just before commands execution it was reported as 001:009

sunxi-fel -d 001:009 -p spiflash-write 0x0 "..\firmware\boot0.bin"
sunxi-fel -d 001:009 -p spiflash-write 0x6000 "..\firmware\LOGO_SMSL.bin"
sunxi-fel -d 001:009 -p spiflash-write 0x50000 "..\firmware\SMSL D400PRO_Soc_V2.2.bin"

, with following results:
View attachment 480097
As mentioned earlier downloaded sunxi-fel.exe was copied instead of the one provided by SMSL. Third command on the screenshot failed because of mistake in the path - after correcting the path it was executed successfully as last command. After proper execution of all three commands you can turn-off D400PRO - it is already upgraded.

I hope it will help.

Thanks for your help. Despite having updated tons of devices firmware, I find this one tricky. I don't know if my Knowledge about computers (I've always used Windows based computers) is enough to do this.
I'll give It a try next week.
I don't know why SMSL doesn't provide a more straightforward way to update this DAC. I updated my former SMSL DO400 and It was pretty easy.

 

[A Surfer]

That's absolutely ridiculous to require of customers. I would never purchase a device that is so poorly supported. SMSL could compile an updater program executable.

 

[AdrianusG]

How weird. I own a Sony UBP X-8OO M2 (and an X-800 in mint dondition that I used before and I keep as spare player) and none of them have a display.
I just open the tray, put the disc on, close the tray or just press play and the disc plays.

How to know that physical media are going "the way of the Dinosaur"... when major companies who produce BLu-Ray players don't even think it's worth their time and effort to equip them with a basic displays anymore, shameful really

 

[Kiko1974]

How to know that physical media are going "the way of the Dinosaur"... when major companies who produce BLu-Ray players don't even think it's worth their time and effort to equip them with a basic displays anymore, shameful really

I agree with you, it's a shame that a disc player doesn't even have a display.
I like my disc Player, even if it is an UHD BD player to have a display. It's not really necesary to play BD or UHD BD discs, but the Sony UBP X-8OO M2 also plays CD's, SACD's (DVD-AUDIO and BD-AUDIO don't count as you need your TV set on to navigate through menus), and both are pure audio discs with no video content at all, and we've been used to play optical audio discs with a display for over four decades. I don't get UNUSED to play audio discs without a display, maybe because I'm an old fashioned 51 years old Guy.