Kodak 7.2OG Firmware Update and Parallelization

[ShaunH]

What is going wrong?

 

It seems, whenever I update the U1 (main CPU) firmware, the control board bricks.

 

Full story:

1. Bought 2nd inverter with U1 45.13, U2 12.21

2. Tried RS-232 - USB reflash to 69.07 (to match 1st inverter), all seems to go well

3. Warning 32 appears on display

4. No amount of re-trying, specific timing, USB OTG, or USB->USB yields anything useful. Same warning 32, and am unable to even reflash 45.13 on.

5. Send unit to Segen, they replace the control board, and stick some random (wrong) firmware on 56.07!

6. 56.07 has many missing settings, incorrect charge settings (max battery charge current is 120A instead of max 80A unit can do), but, most importantly, is missing setting 28 (change SIG to PAL for paralleling two units)

7. I told Segen this. They said it is impossible. I proved it to them. They sent me 69.07 to flash on new control board.

8. RS-232 - USB method does not work. See Image 1.

9. USB OTG method seems to work. It takes 12/13 minutes, then (see Video 1)

 

[Image 1: Two RS232-USB cables were used, both known to work, that is why the different ports]

 

[Video 1]

 

What now?

[Coulomb]

19 hours ago, ShaunH said:

1. Bought 2nd inverter with U1 45.13, U2 12.21

2. Tried RS-232 - USB reflash to 69.07 (to match 1st inverter), all seems to go well

I'm surprised that it let you do that. You are attempting to flash a '2809 chip with '28066 firmware. Very  soon after it starts, it will attempt to call a calibration function, which exists in a 2806x processor, but not a '2809 processor. So it crashes. You should not be using the Arena reflash tool with a '2809 processor. ALWAYS use the reflash tool that comes with in firmware update zip/7z/rar file. Then the reflash tool should be matched to the firmware, at least.

There is no problem paralleling  45.xx and 69.xx firmwares, as long as they were produced at about the same time. As it happens, both 45.13  and 69.07 are produced in early September 2023, so they are a perfect match.

19 hours ago, ShaunH said:

5. Send unit to Segen, they replace the control board, and stick some random (wrong) firmware on 56.07!

That's a 10 kW '2809 firmware.

19 hours ago, ShaunH said:

They sent me 69.07 to flash on new control board.

8. RS-232 - USB method does not work. See Image 1.

That's a 7.2 kW firmware, but for a '28066. I'm glad it didn't work.

19 hours ago, ShaunH said:

What now?

Update to a recent 45.xx firmware. Ironically, the latest that I have available is 45.13, the very firmware  that you started with. The hex file is dated 5th Sep 2023, so about 13 months old as I type. I can't seem to see it online anywhere, so I attach it here.

This is factory firmware version 45.13 for the Axpert Max 7.2 kW for the '2809 processor. Do not use with any other model or DSP chip. Use at your own risk.

Firmware upload instructions for models with a removable display.

dsp 45.13 Max 7.2kW '2809 rezipped.zip

[ShaunH]

On 2024/10/17 at 8:05 AM, Coulomb said:

I'm surprised that it let you do that. You are attempting to flash a '2809 chip with '28066 firmware. Very  soon after it starts, it will attempt to call a calibration function, which exists in a 2806x processor, but not a '2809 processor. So it crashes. You should not be using the Arena reflash tool with a '2809 processor. ALWAYS use the reflash tool that comes with in firmware update zip/7z/rar file. Then the reflash tool should be matched to the firmware, at least.

There is no problem paralleling  45.xx and 69.xx firmwares, as long as they were produced at about the same time. As it happens, both 45.13  and 69.07 are produced in early September 2023, so they are a perfect match.

That's a 10 kW '2809 firmware.

That's a 7.2 kW firmware, but for a '28066. I'm glad it didn't work.

Update to a recent 45.xx firmware. Ironically, the latest that I have available is 45.13, the very firmware  that you started with. The hex file is dated 5th Sep 2023, so about 13 months old as I type. I can't seem to see it online anywhere, so I attach it here.

This is factory firmware version 45.13 for the Axpert Max 7.2 kW for the '2809 processor. Do not use with any other model or DSP chip. Use at your own risk.

Firmware upload instructions for models with a removable display.

dsp 45.13 Max 7.2kW '2809 rezipped.zip 1.38 MB · 0 downloads

Thank you for the thorough explanations.

 

To be clear, I have always used the flash tool that came with the firmware `.zip`, and all of the firmware I have tried flashing came straight from Segen.

 

I have not been able to flash any firmware, once the inverter gets to its "32" state. No firmware version or method succeeds (or even starts). So, I have sent the unit back to Segen with explicit instructions for the required firmware.

[Coulomb]

34 minutes ago, ShaunH said:

I have not been able to flash any firmware, once the inverter gets to its "32" state.

Certainly the first control board, which somehow flashed the '28066 firmware over the top of the '2809 firmware (forgive me if my memory fails me), will be unrecoverable without extreme measures.

I would have thought that the second control board would have been recoverable, with some effort.

36 minutes ago, ShaunH said:

So, I have sent the unit back to Segen

It looks to me that they supplied an invalid firmware update (mixing a '28066 firmware with a reflash tool that sent a '2809 reflash command). So indeed, it appears that it's their mistake to correct.