Updating legacy Axia nodes to eliminate Java

Updated by Bryan Jones

Scope

This document applies to Axia (and Telos Alliance branded) Livewire devices that utilize Java to display meters and GPIO status. These devices include:

  • 2001-00251 Axia PowerStation Main I/O board
  • 2001-00252 Axia PowerStation Aux I/O board
Telos officially removed Java from all PowerStation installations as of version 3.0. Please update your PowerStation to 3.0 or higher to remove Java.
  • 2001-00257 Telos VX Analog Audio Interface
  • 2001-00258 Telos VX AES/EBU Audio Interface
  • 2001-00259 Telos VX GPIO Logic Interface
  • 2001-00133 Axia Analog Node (Discontinued)
  • 2001-00135 Axia AES/EBU Node (Discontinued)
  • 2001-00136 Axia Microphone Node (Discontinued)
  • 2001-00007 Axia GPIO Node (Discontinued)

Background

In the devices listed above, Java is used to display audio meters and GPIO status on the web pages used to configure each device. Java version 7u10 introduced the ability to manage when and how untrusted (unsigned) Java applications would run if included on a web page. Setting the security level to Medium would allow these unsigned applications to run. If left at High or Very High, these applications would not run, and you could not view meters or GPIO status.

Beginning with Java version 8u20, the Medium security level has been removed so that all untrusted/unsigned applications will be blocked. This makes it very difficult to allow these applications to run since you must add them to your Site Exceptions list on each machine, and each user must have permission to make such changes to their Java settings. In some situations, user-level security on the PC does not allow these changes to be made.

To address this problem, we have created new firmware versions for the devices listed above that remove Java from the application altogether. As of this writing (Nov 18, 2014), these are officially still Beta versions. Since the products listed here are officially discontinued this version is offered as the final version for these products.

Obtaining the files

Please use the following links to obtain the files specific to your devices

2001-00257 Telos VX Analog Audio Interface (Discontinued)

2001-00258 Telos VX AES/EBU Audio Interface (Discontinued)

2001-00259 Telos VX GPIO Logic Interface (Discontinued)

2001-00133 Axia Analog Node (Discontinued)

2001-00135 Axia AES/EBU Node (Discontinued)

2001-00136 Axia Microphone Node (Discontinued)

2001-00007 Axia GPIO Node (Discontinued)

Some final thoughts

  • Please note that these updates apply only to the devices listed above. Please do not attempt to install these updates on devices other than the ones they were designed for. 
  • The Axia xNode family does not use Java for metering or GPIO status, so no updates are required for these products. 
  • Likewise, Axia QOR-based consoles (iQ, Radius, RAQ, DESQ) do not use Java.

A final note about Beta software: as mentioned earlier, this software is still officially “Beta.” As with any Beta software, there may be issues. If you are risk-averse, please do not install this software.

Let us know how we can help

If you have further questions on this topic or have ideas about improving this document please contact us


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