A few months ago, I wrote a post about upgrading the firmware on the original Jawbone Jambox.

After learning that Jawbone had gone into administration, I decided to get the last firmware files for the other two Jambox models and planned to host them here. I have recently learnt that the Jawbone website has finally gone offline. Unfortunately, when I heard about this, this page was no-where near finished.

Upgrading and/or changing the voice

First, go to the “Choose Your Device” section below, and navigate through until you find the firmware file for your device with the voice you want to use.

To flash these files to the Jambox, you will need the PC or Mac software available here:

Jawbone Updater 2.2.5 for Windows – md5sum: a97b0c8a70f19347b0c675c91edebdc5

Jawbone Updater 2.2.5 for MacOS – md5sum: 00a6e5d5514dfa595237d5b7b1fc0849

If you are dealing with a bricked Jambox, there are reports that the older 1.6.2 updater can recover them. However, I only have the Windows version available:

Jawbone Updater 1.6.2 for Windows – md5sum: f7a7365007a53a3d3ff1048904b878bc

Before going any further, I highly recommend checking the md5sum matches the file you’ve downloaded as a bad download could brick your speaker.

Now you have both the updater installed, and the firmware file of your choice downloaded you can now do the following:

1. Power down your Jambox if it’s switched on
2. Plug in the Jambox to your computer with the Micro USB cable
3. Launch the Jambox updater and locate the icon in your system tray
4. From the menu there, under Big Jambox select “Update from local DFU package” – don’t worry about selecting Big Jambox, it’s just that they use the same type of firmware file.
5. A new window will open where you can select the firmware file you’ve downloaded
6. Leave the system to update your Jambox, this will take about 5 minutes
7. Once complete, unplug the and power on the Jambox

Donation

If you found this page useful, please consider chipping in to maintain the running of this site:

Windows Users

On Windows, the Jawbone updater will try and launch the Jawbone website on first launch. When this happens, simply close the browser. The Jawbone software will be running in the system tray next to the clock. You may have to click an arrow to display hidden items.

Attention Mac Users

It has been brought to my attention that trying to upgrade the Mini Jambox on a Mac can brick the device. Please use the Windows version to upgrade this particular device.

Recover a bricked Jambox Mini

Source: https://ruibm.com/2018/07/07/upgrading-jawbone-mini-jambox/
If you have already attempted to upgrade your Mini Jambox and it’s no longer working, please try the following:

• Unplug the Mini Jambox.
• Power down the Mini Jambox.
• Press and hold the Play/Pause button (circular button on top).
• While still holding the button, plug the Mini Jambox to a power source.
• Voilá, your Jambox should now be in recovery mode and you can flash it/upgrade it with a new language package.

Shout out to Paul who emailed me to make me aware of this.

MacOS Catalina and above users

The Jawbone updater is a 32-bit application. With the release of Catalina, Apple has stopped allowing 32-bit applications to run. If you’re in this situation, you’ll either need to find an older Mac, or use Windows to update your Jambox.

Choose your device