diff --git a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion.cpp b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion.cpp
index 123b9ce22..a21a8cd57 100644
--- a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion.cpp
+++ b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Ganglion::Ganglion (struct BrainFlowInputParams params)
         is_valid = true;
     }
     use_mac_addr = (params.mac_address.empty ()) ? false : true;
+    firmware = 0;
     is_streaming = false;
     keep_alive = false;
     initialized = false;
@@ -554,6 +555,11 @@ void Ganglion::decompress_firmware_2 (
 
 int Ganglion::config_board (std::string config, std::string &response)
 {
+    if (config == "get_firmware_version")
+    {
+        response = std::to_string (firmware);
+        return (int)BrainFlowExitCodes::STATUS_OK;
+    }
     const char *conf = config.c_str ();
     safe_logger (spdlog::level::debug, "Trying to config Ganglion with {}", conf);
     // need to pause, config and restart. I have no idea why it doesnt work if I restart it inside
diff --git a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_bglib/main.cpp b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_bglib/main.cpp
index 7f223e041..f19067311 100644
--- a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_bglib/main.cpp
+++ b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_bglib/main.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ namespace GanglionLib
     std::deque<struct GanglionLib::GanglionData> data_queue;
     SpinLock lock;
     volatile bd_addr connect_addr;
-    volatile uint8 firmware = 2;
+    volatile uint8 firmware = 0;
     volatile uint8 connection = -1;
     volatile uint16 ganglion_handle_start = 0;
     volatile uint16 ganglion_handle_end = 0;
diff --git a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_native.cpp b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_native.cpp
index 986b8b1ee..be57671d8 100644
--- a/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_native.cpp
+++ b/src/board_controller/openbci/ganglion_native.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ GanglionNative::GanglionNative (struct BrainFlowInputParams params)
     is_streaming = false;
     start_command = "b";
     stop_command = "s";
+    firmware = 0;
 }
 
 GanglionNative::~GanglionNative ()
@@ -316,6 +317,13 @@ int GanglionNative::release_session ()
 
 int GanglionNative::config_board (std::string config, std::string &response)
 {
+    // todo do smth to unify available commands
+    // and make them more or less standard between devices
+    if (config == "get_firmware_version")
+    {
+        response = std::to_string (firmware);
+        return (int)BrainFlowExitCodes::STATUS_OK;
+    }
     return config_board (config);
 }