Why firmware gets updated and how often
What causes a firmware rebuild, and how to tell whether your image is current. Why updates are not on a schedule, and the honest answer to whether a build lasts forever.
Short answer
Firmware is rebuilt when the thing it has to look ordinary to changes. That means an anti-cheat driver update, a new scan or detection vector, or a board revision. Nothing in this stack lasts forever. Treat firmware as a maintained thing with replacement cover. It is not a one-time purchase.
On this page9
Firmware is a moving target by construction
A firmware image has one job: present an identity that is unremarkable to whatever is looking. That is a relative goal, and the other side of it changes. An anti-cheat vendor ships a driver update, adds a scan, or starts reading a field nobody read before. An image that was unremarkable last month may no longer be. Nothing about your card changed. What changed is what counts as ordinary. This is why firmware is versioned and why replacement cover is part of the product rather than a courtesy.
What triggers a rebuild
Five triggers, and what each one actually asks of you. Note that only two of them start with something you did.
| Trigger | What changed | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Anti-cheat driver update | The code doing the looking has new checks, or reads fields it previously ignored | Watch the status board for your game, then follow the instructions in your order ticket. Do not reflash speculatively |
| A new detection vector becomes known | Some property that used to be invisible is now read — a capability entry, a timing behaviour, a descriptor detail | This is the case replacement cover exists for. Open the order ticket and say which game and which build you are on |
| Board revision or a new PCB | The hardware the image targets is not the hardware you have, even at the same FPGA class | Send a photo of the silkscreen when you order or when you change cards. Class alone is not enough information |
| You changed cards | A different FPGA means a different DNA, so the bound image no longer matches | Read the new DNA ID and request a rebuild in the same order ticket |
| Reader or tooling version change | Nothing in the card changed. The software talking to it did | Match the reader and driver versions your order specifies. This is usually a software fix, not a flash |
Game patches are absent from this list on purpose. A game update alone does not touch the card. An anti-cheat driver shipped alongside a game update is a different matter.
How to tell whether yours is current
There is no version string on the card you can read at a glance, so this is a records question rather than a diagnostic one.
- Find your order and note the exact image filename you were issued and when
- Check the status board for the game you play and read the current state for that product
- Compare against your order ticket, where build and reissue notes for your card live
- If the status board shows a state change since your build date, ask in the ticket rather than assuming
- Keep the filename and date somewhere you can find them, because this check is only as good as your records
Where update state is published
Three places, with different purposes, plus one row that is not a source at all. A third-party video or a forum post about somebody else's card is not on this list.
- Status board
- The current published state per product. Check this first
- Your order ticket
- Anything specific to your card: the build, the DNA it is bound to, reissues
- Downloads resource
- Tools, drivers and the reader builds your order expects
- Not a source
- A stranger's video, a mirror, or a file from another seller labelled with your FPGA class
Warning
Will this last forever? No
It will not, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling. The honest description is that a firmware build has a useful life rather than an expiry date. It does not stop working on a clock. The flash content is stable and the card keeps behaving identically. But the environment around it moves, and at some point the profile needs revisiting. How long that takes is not something anyone can predict for your specific game. A seller quoting you a number is quoting a number they cannot know. What is knowable is the policy: what the tier commits to, how replacement works, and how you request a rebuild.
What replacement cover actually means
Every tier on this site carries free replacement cover. The length is the main thing that separates them. Emulated covers six months, Slotted twelve and Slotted v2 twenty-four. Signature and Sovereign are lifetime, with Sovereign first in queue. Sovereign additionally carries a written patch commitment, quarterly re-testing against the supported anti-cheat stack and the listed refund policy. Read cover as the route by which a rebuild reaches you when a trigger above fires, not as insurance against outcomes in game.
Keeping a build current without churn
Five habits. The first two prevent most confused tickets.
- Keep a note of your image filename, your DNA ID and your build date
- Check the status board before you play after any large game or platform update
- Read announcements for your game rather than general chatter about other people's cards
- Keep your reader, driver and tool versions matched to what your order specifies
- When something changes, ask in the order ticket first and flash second
Tip
Do not chase updates you do not need
Reflashing is not free of risk. Every write is a window in which the flash holds neither the old image nor the new one. The most common self-inflicted brick in this whole stack is an interrupted write during an unnecessary reflash. If your build matches the published state and the card works, leave it alone. Update when there is a reason, verify afterwards, and treat the flash tool as something you use deliberately rather than routinely.
Update questions
How often does firmware get updated?
There is no schedule, because the triggers are external. Rebuilds follow anti-cheat changes and board revisions, which arrive when they arrive rather than on a cadence anyone controls.
Do I have to reflash after every game patch?
No. A game update on its own does not touch the card. Check the status board, and only act if the published state for your product changed.
Is an update automatic?
No. Nothing pushes a new image to your card. A rebuild is issued in your order ticket and you flash it yourself, or arrange help in that ticket.
My build is a year old and still works. Should I update?
Not on age alone. Compare against the published state for your game and ask in the ticket if it has moved. An unnecessary reflash carries more risk than an old but current image.
Does a rebuild cost money?
That depends on your tier's replacement terms, which are listed per tier. Ask in your order ticket — it is a policy question and the answer is specific to what you bought.
Sources
This page is our own policy and bench experience. No published document says when a build needs rebuilding, so we cite none.
Read next
Still stuck? Open a ticket on Discord
All guides