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Firmware update freeze


Gnome

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Hi all

Recently found a Windows PC and tried to do the firmware update.

The update starts by powering down the inverter, then a minute later the firmware update program just pops up a dialog "Could not open COM port"

At that point I need to pretty much turn of the inverter, disconnect the battery, turn off the circuit breaker, etc. before I can get it to power back on.

Anyone else experience this?

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2 hours ago, Chris Hobson said:

Having never fiddled with firmware I have no personal experience but from memory you have to ensure that you using COM1.

 

Ah ok, I guess that could be the reason :P That is quite a crazy requirement, especially since it has the option to select other COM ports

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5 hours ago, Gnome said:

Ah ok, I guess that could be the reason :P That is quite a crazy requirement, especially since it has the option to select other COM ports

Indeed. It's the other flashing software, for the SCC, that has the Com1 requirement.

Are you saying it connected, started the update, then the inverter powered down? You need the battery connected, and the inverter switch on.

If the update aborted part way, then no lights will come on, but you need to restart the update after removing all power to reset the processor and restoring it.

If it simply could not find the comm port at all, there seems to be a requirement that the com port number is less than 10, i.e. com1 through com9.

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Hey Coulomb

No it starts the update by powering down the inverter. Then about a minute later the update says, could not find serial port.

So it did connect, but freezes up and a minute later gives me an error.

The progress bar never moves.

 

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6 hours ago, Gnome said:

No it starts the update by powering down the inverter. Then about a minute later the update says, could not find serial port.

So it did connect, but freezes up and a minute later...

Bizzare. This is with the battery connected and the inverter switch on? And an Axpert 5 kVA?

Maybe you also had PV and utility mains connected? I think you're supposed to have only one source, the battery, though I can't see how it would make any difference.

To not see the comm port at that point presumably means it really has powered down the microcontroller/DSP, not merely blanked the LCD display. I don't recall seeing that before.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Mohammed

Welcome to the forum.

Two things to remember when doing a firmware update:

  1. Use RJ45 serial connection to COM 1. The USB connection on the inverter is not to be used for updates. The inverter must not be carrying a load just powered up by batteries for U1.
  2. When updating the SCC (U2) ensure that the PV array is also connected and that there is power coming in from the array.
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Thanx awesome to be here
1 ) I put off inverter @inverter switch
2) put off all isolators
Eskom in off
Pv off
Output off
Battery off
3) put on battery
Plug in rj45 /rs232
Switched on inverter
4) extract zip file
Opeded reflash tool
5) click update and yes
Runs +- 30 seconds
Clicks inside inverter
Then gives error ( cannot open serial port)
6) inverter unresponsive untill i dis connect battery


Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk


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3 minutes ago, mohammedbera2 said:

Plug in rj45 /rs232

What is the RS232 end of that cable connected to? Usually, it's a USB to serial port adapter. (So the USB port is on your Windows computer, not at the inverter). What model is it? Some models of USB to RS232 adapter are not suitable for updating. I don't know what models would be commonly available in South Africa.

Also, what COMM port does this adapter show up as? For example, COM7 or COM42. The former will work, I think the latter will not even show up in the reflash tool. So this is unlikely to be the problem.

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Also @mohammedbera2, if you leave the inverter switch on and *don't* run the reflash tool, does the inverter stay on for at leat say two minutes? I'm thinking it could be like if you don't turn on the inverter switch yet have other sources of power, the inverter can switch itself off after a minute or so. This might always end up about 30 seconds inside the reflash process, but have nothing to do with the reflashing.

From your step by step list (much appreciated, BTW), it appears that you are doing everything right to keep the inverter on.

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What is the RS232 end of that cable connected to? Usually, it's a USB to serial port adapter. (So the USB port is on your Windows computer, not at the inverter). What model is it? Some models of USB to RS232 adapter are not suitable for updating. I don't know what models would be commonly available in South Africa.
Also, what COMM port does this adapter show up as? For example, COM7 or COM42. The former will work, I think the latter will not even show up in the reflash tool. So this is unlikely to be the problem.


My inverter says mercer on it
I got a Mecer AP1103 USB To Serial (RS-232) Converter

Could it be com setting on the laptop/pc

The only thing i changed on pc was com port it was reading as com 7 changed it to com 1

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

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Also @mohammedbera2, if you leave the inverter switch on and *don't* run the reflash tool, does the inverter stay on for at leat say two minutes? I'm thinking it could be like if you don't turn on the inverter switch yet have other sources of power, the inverter can switch itself off after a minute or so. This might always end up about 30 seconds inside the reflash process, but have nothing to do with the reflashing.
From your step by step list (much appreciated, BTW), it appears that you are doing everything right to keep the inverter on.



Disconnect ac in and ac out switched off pv and battery
Only put on battery inverter dose click about 30 seconds after i on in
Stays on
Put pv on relay clicks again to start charging about 30 sec after i on it

Inverter stays on with No load

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

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Has anyone considered capturing the serial data on a firmware update?

Would be awesome if a non-windows tool existed :P

Tried the update again. This time I set the USB dongle to COM1 and only had the inverter running on battery.

Still freezes in the exact same fashion.

I am using Windows 7, wondering if I should try something like a Windows 10 Live CD.

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I'm pretty sure I've done updates successfully from a Windows 7 machine. Glad you got yours working, but I have no idea why it failed before. I assume you are using the same USB to serial adapter, so maybe it was the more up to sate driver.

@mohammedbera2, maybe you could try updating drivers, or a different computer (real or virtual or with a live CD).

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On 12/2/2016 at 8:17 AM, Gnome said:

Has anyone considered capturing the serial data on a firmware update?

I'm not aware of anyone doing it. The firmware flash code is a little difficult to follow too.

Quote

Would be awesome if a non-windows tool existed :P

Indeed. But also any clean. modern, well documented, reliable program that didn't freak out if the COM port number is wrong, runs on any reasonable OS version, and so on, would be great.

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16 hours ago, Coulomb said:

I'm pretty sure I've done updates successfully from a Windows 7 machine. Glad you got yours working, but I have no idea why it failed before. I assume you are using the same USB to serial adapter, so maybe it was the more up to sate driver.

@mohammedbera2, maybe you could try updating drivers, or a different computer (real or virtual or with a live CD).

Indeed I was using the same hardware exactly. The one was simply installed on the system and the other I booted from using a USB.

The only difference is likely due to drivers.

On the Windows 7 machine I didn't need to install the Prolific serial port driver.

On Windows 10 I expect they removed serial port drivers to trim the space used by the OS.

So I had to install the latest prolific driver. Could be what made the difference.

The VoltronicPower WatchPower software did run on both, so it seemed to be the firmware update that that had an issue.

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  • 3 months later...

I'm having a similar problem updating my SMKSOLAR Axpert MKS 5kVA 4000w 80A Inverter / Charger. 

I'm using the firmware 72.70 linked to by @Don.

The patch tool opens COM1, displays the total blocks, and then does nothing. See attached. I let it sit there for about 10 minutes and nothing happened. I'm using a windows 7 laptop that also runs watchpower, so serial drivers shouldn't be an issue. The current U1 is 32.40. Do I maybe need to upgrade to a U1 of 52 first? If so, could someone provide a link. I can't seem to find it.

Thanks

 

Capture.JPG

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Hi @stuvo, download the latest firmware 72.70b from here. This is the latest patched firmware working as intended. 

1. Make sure you have closed all programs using the com port, i.e. WatchPower.

2. Ensure you are have selected the correct com port connected to your inverter.

3. Ensure you are updating the firmware with a serial port and not USB port.

You should then get the above screen and after about 20 seconds, the flashing process should start. It takes about 8 minutes to complete. 

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I tried the 72.70b with the same results. The COM port opens, and then nothing happens. I've followed all the instructions, I'm only connected to batteries, I'm using the serial port with a serial to usb adapter.

I even tried a different computer with win 10 using the default win 10 serial drivers. On the win 7 computer I had to install serial drivers manually. I'm at a loss. Is it possible my inverter is somehow locked? 

The data plate lists it as a model SCI-M5048. It has U1 32.40, U2 4.0

Capture2.JPG.cc50f66e3f8ed0adc8cf615daabb8002.JPG

 

As an experiment, I tried to update the U2 program. I turned on the PV input, and ran the SCCMPPTReflash program, but it won't even start up. See attached error dialog. Same error on two separate computers. I downloaded the SCCMPPTReflash again from a different link and got the same results.

 

58ce3084056e1_Capturedebug.JPG.9338b902557cfe1d3f9656a95aa63cd7.JPG

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6 hours ago, stuvo said:

The patch tool opens COM1, displays the total blocks, and then does nothing. See attached. I let it sit there for about 10 minutes and nothing happened

My guess is that COM1 isn't the USB to serial adapter. Is there another option for the serial port, i..e. if you clock the arrow at the right end of the "Serial" drop-down list box, are there any other entries in the list, other than COM1?

As for the the assertion failure from the SCC firmware update program, I have no idea, but it sounds like it's related to the serial port issue.

You said the existing firmware version was 32.40... could that have been a typo and it was actually 72.40? If it's not a typo, perhaps it's not a real Axpert, in which case all bets are off.

Edit: make triple sure that Watchpower etc are not running; you need to use the exit menu, not just close the app.

Edited by Coulomb
Typo when asking about a typo!
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When I used the win 10 computer the only COM in device manager was the USB to serial adapter. When I first plugged it in, it defaulted to COM 7. I used advanced properties to set it to COM 1. The drop-down list box had only the COM 1 option.

I just purchased this new "SMKSOLAR Axpert MKS 5kVA 4000w 80A Inverter/ Charger (grid/ off grid)" a couple of months ago. It's got to be a real. Every thing about it follows what I am reading here on the forums and in the several versions of manuals I have. All the programming options match. Yes, the existing firmware is U2 4.0, U1 32.40

Watchpower is installed on the win 7 computer I used. I made sure to exit the software from the system tray. Watchpower or anything else that uses a serial port is not even installed on the win 10 computer I used. 

 

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