Keeping your pi-top [4] and peripherals up-to-date
Your pi-top [4] has a microcontroller inside of it that is responsible for everything that the Raspberry Pi does not manage directly. This includes the management of battery, fan, etc.
From time to time, we will release firmware updates that provide bug fixes and new features, so it is important to keep this up to date.
This is also true of pi-top Maker Architecture (PMA) plates.
In order to update, make sure that you have installed `pt-firmware-updater`. This package will monitor for valid I2C connections to your pi-top [4] hub and plates from the Raspberry Pi, and check for updates. If an update is found, a notification will appear on screen offering to update. Agreeing to the notification will install the update.
Early firmware versions of the plates will require disconnecting and reconnecting to load the new firmware, while newer versions do not require this. When you are updating your pi-top [4], a full system shutdown is required. The hub will power itself back on when it has finished, so it will behave as though it was a restart. This is the default behaviour of selecting "Reboot Now" from the notification when the update is complete.
To check the firmware version of your connected pi-top devices, you can run the `pi-top devices` command.