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Article #: KA-04156
Published: 05/06/2026
Last reviewed: 05/06/2026

Firmware Upgrade for Daisy Chained PDU’s Stall or Fail with USB Drive

 
  1. Introduction
  2. Purpose
  3. Requirements
  4. Procedure
  5. Troubleshooting
  6. Related Articles
 

Introduction


Under normal conditions, firmware upgrades can be performed upon PDU#1 and the daisy chained PDU’s will also receive the upgrade, this article explains how to rectify if this process stalls.

Purpose


The purpose of this article is to explain issues that can occur during an onsite USB firmware upgrade when the existing and target versions differ significantly. In these cases, the upgrade may hang or fail without any clear indication on the iNC. This document outlines a standard upgrade process and provides guidance if the upgrade does not complete successfully.

Requirements


Panduit recognized USP Drive, Sandisk or Toshiba 16GB drive successfully tested but many others will work

Latest Panduit.fw file downloadable here
https://www.panduit.com/en/support/download-center/power-distribution-units.html
Panduit Intelligent Infrastructure Firmware
  • Panduit G6 PDU
  • Panduit G5 PDU

Procedure


It is recommended to run and observe the progress bar upon the oLED screen for PDU#1.
The upgrade will complete upon each daisy chain connected PDU, but if there is no forward progress. There is no expected failure alert.
 
    1. If all chained PDU’s contain the same firmware, you can upgrade the PDU’s using the WebUI method shown below

Choose the extracted pandut.FW item from the most recent downloaded firmware release found in the Panduit Download Center.

Will reboot once complete
 

2. Or the USB method if onsite

USB Submenu


 
  1. The USB submenu allows you to upload the firmware file and download event log or data log.
  2. On the Setup menu, scroll down to highlight USB.
  3. Press Select to enter the USB Submenu.
  4. The user will be asked to verify the want to the enter the USB operation and Configuration Mode.
  5. After you select Yes, the system will reboot into the USB operation and Configuration Mode.

Note: If a USB drive is not present in the USB slot the PDU will enter normal operation.

Note: If you are in USB mode and you want to exit USB mode, you must remove the USB drive before existing USB mode. Otherwise, the PDU will reboot and re-enter USB mode.
 
    1. If the upgrade process stalls, the progress bar sits idle because of a firmware mismatch, complete the below
      1. Remove the USB Drive and reset the controller. As the install failed to complete, this will reset the iNC to the previous firmware.
      2. Remove each PDU from the daisy chain and proceed to upgrade each using the previous USB method. on each PDU
      3. Once each PDU is upgraded, reconnect the PDUs into the desired daisy chain configuration.
      4. Now all PDUs are on the same release, future upgrades can be completed using methods noted in previous points a. and b.
      5. Reset PDU#1 and this will allow the reconnect4ed chain to be recognized. Browse onto the PDU and verify the release for each PDU in the chain

    


 

Troubleshooting

If necessary, using a Torx-10 driver, remove and reinsert the iNC to reboot, if the repression of the reset button does not complete the task. Because the upgrade did not complete, this will revert the controller to the previous firmware installed.

There may be reasons to connect a laptop to the PDU using the related article KA-04074 for instruction
 

Related Articles

 
Direct Ethernet connection for Laptop/PC to PDU
https://techarticles.panduit.com/knowledgebase/article/KA-04074
Keywords: PDU upgrade daisy chain fails, PDU upgrade, Firmware upgrade, daisy chain upgrade, G5 upgrade, G6 upgrade