Providing firmware updates to portable media devices

A method for upgrading a firmware of a portable media device, the portable media device including a firmware and an identifier, said firmware for operating said portable media device, said firmware including a version number, and said identifier associated with a hardware identifier of the portable media device, said portable media device being connected to a computing device executing a multimedia management application, said method comprising:

• receiving, by the multimedia management application, the firmware version number and the identifier from the portable media device, said portable media device being logically connected to the multimedia management application;
• sending, by the multimedia management application, a request to a firmware database, said request including the identifier from the portable media device;
• receiving, by the multimedia management application, a firmware upgrade version number and a location of the firmware upgrade, said firmware upgrade version number being associated with the firmware upgrade wherein the location indicates an address where the firmware upgrade may be accessed;
• determining, by the multimedia management application, if the firmware upgrade should be applied to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number;
• and
• in response to determining that the firmware upgrade should be applied to the portable media device:
• retrieving, by the multimedia management application, the firmware upgrade files from the received location;
• copying, by the multimedia management application, the retrieved files to the portable media device player;
• providing , by the multimedia management application, a notification to the portable media device to apply the copied firmware upgrade, said multimedia management application thereafter logically reconnecting to the portable media device;
• storing the date of the last request sent to the firmware database in a device table in a media library of a multimedia management application of the computing device;
• and
• sending a request to the firmware database as a function of the number of days since the last sent request.

A method for verifying at a computing device the functionality of a firmware installed on a portable media device produced by a manufacturer, said portable media device associated with a hardware identifier and a manufacturer identifier, said manufacturer identifier associated with the manufacturer, said manufacturer having installed the firmware and a generated digital signature on the portable media device, said method comprising:

• testing, at the computing device, the firmware for a required functionality, said firmware being associated with a version number, said firmware being installed on the portable media device;
• in response to the tested firmware having the required functionality:
• connecting the portable media device to the computing device, said computing device managing multimedia for the portable media device;
• receiving, by the computing device, the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number associated with the portable media device from the portable media device;
• selectively enabling features, by the computing device, as a function of the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number;
• and
• selecting enabling the upgrade of the firmware of the portable media device as a function of the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number.