Device not available

[ClassicCrazy]

A few times I have had the Local App not be able to connect. Doesn't happen often but when it does I switch the power off of the Classic and then the local app will find it.

Just happened again and since now I have the display remoted in the warm here , I was wondering if there is a way to reset the classic via the display without going out and switching the breaker on and off ? 

[zoneblue]

There is some kind of modbus lockup issue that is an ongoing firmware bug. It has to my mind got better over time, firmwares prior to and including 1070 were particularly vulnerable. I dont see it in the local app any more only blackbox. But then i use the local app only to do configuration.

To my knowledge rebooting the classic is the only work around. If you rely on the local app, i would suggest using auto reset.

[ClassicCrazy]

And when you reset the power it also restarts the Absorb countdown timer  ? 

[zoneblue]

Yes, and the days wh count  too. Auto reset, if your clock is set right, will take place at midnite, so works pretty good.

[ClassicCrazy]

Not sure why but recently the Local App has been locking up . Last time I was here I reset the power to the Classic . I didn't realize it until today when I logged in again on Local App but for some reason the clock had reset to year 2000 again.

At least now I know that bringing the Classic display inside to a convenient and warm location was a good idea !

I am going to start trying to figure out the Raspberry Pi or Black box solutions soon as I get better versed in Linux stuff.

[ClassicCrazy]

Seems like the lockup also affected the My Midnite - I reset the power to the Classic and it started reporting again.

[boB]

Interesting...   What is your Classic software version ?

Try setting the clock in the MNGP and then unplug it for a moment or turn
of the Classic or a moment and then turn the MNGP back on again and
see if it keeps the time or not.

boB

[ClassicCrazy]

Yes it has the most up to date firmware version. It did hold the time when I reset the Classic  again.


On a related note -- yesterday I installed a new Classic for a friend and at the end of the day was scrambling to get the Local App set up on their computer but couldn't get it to talk - maybe a port issue with their DSL router which I very much dislike. I get lost in networking . At home the router I have everything you plug into usually works and you can go to a screen and see what is plugged in. Not so with their outdated rented junker.


I couldn't get the new Classic to go into firmware update either even though I was using my laptop that usually works just fine with my Classic.  A while back when I was trying to debug mine Bob told me how to put it into a mode that would spit out a stream of serial data so at least I could check to see if I had the drivers and port set up correctly . I ran out of time to work on it last night so another day.

What was the process for getting Classic  into the serial mode again ?

Thanks

[Resthome]

ClassicCrazy, I believe this is what you are looking for:  From boB in a previous post..

Now, when the Classic is running, go into the MNGP  MISC menu and then to the COMM
sub menu.  Highlight the center USB Mode choice and change it to mode 3 which is
labelled "interactive"...   Actually, to first test the connection, you might want to
set that mode to like, 0 or 1 so that the Classic spits out information to your
PC and terminal emulator.  With the Midnite Update drivers installed, it should
be live on COM 8 and outputting some CSV data in ASCII.

[ClassicCrazy]

ClassicCrazy, I believe this is what you are looking for:  From boB in a previous post..

Now, when the Classic is running, go into the MNGP  MISC menu and then to the COMM
sub menu.  Highlight the center USB Mode choice and change it to mode 3 which is
labelled "interactive"...   Actually, to first test the connection, you might want to
set that mode to like, 0 or 1 so that the Classic spits out information to your
PC and terminal emulator.  With the Midnite Update drivers installed, it should
be live on COM 8 and outputting some CSV data in ASCII.

Yeah - that was it , thanks !
Is the mode 3 the one that you would use to upload the firmware to ? I guess if I get it to work for any of those then it should work with the regular update software. Who knows - maybe something messed up with the driver on my laptop - wouldn't be the first time.  Next time I get out there I will get it solved .

[Resthome]

I've had a lot of problems using Win7 on my laptop to get the Classic to connect for firmware updates even though the driver is there and loaded from previous firmware updates on my laptop. You can usually tell when powering down and powering up the Classic if it is going to work. If the Classic just does a normal restart then it will fail. At one time MN thought using a shorter USB cable than the one first supplied with the Classics would help. My one trick that seems to get it going has been to run the Uninstall from the MidNiteSolar directory on the C:\ drive and then do a fresh install that reinstalls the update app and driver. I have no idea why that seems to work as the previous installs with the updated firmware app installed shows the Classic connected on Com8 in the Device Manager and all the settings for the port are correct. Something strange with that driver and my IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T61.

[ClassicCrazy]

Yes I have had exactly the same experience as you have  - once I had to reinstall driver and update program though the other 90 percent of the time I just connect usb , power down Classic, start program, and when Classic powers up it grabs the update.  This new unit obviously doesn't know how it is supposed to work yet though.

[Westbranch]

Not related to the Classic but I have a similar( failed update) on my XP machine when attempting to use MS auto-update of Adobe products... have to delete install and start over... My guess is it is flaky MS software...

[ClassicCrazy]

Today I figured out the problem of why I couldn't get the Classic to take the firmware update. This time I downloaded the firmware on my friends laptop , and installed the usb driver. I had the same result of the Classic not going to firmware update mode . That is until I realized that the port had been set for 6 . I changed it to the port 8 that the update software looks for and it all worked just fine.

I was also able to attach a wireless router to the telephone company supplied DSL router and plugged the Classic into it and Local Status App found the Classic right away.   

[phxmark]

The latest version of the Local App is not finding the Classic when ran on OS X 10.6.8.  If I remove the new version and install the previous version, it works.

I tried it with WiFi and Wired network.  I rebooted the Classic, computer and router and still could not get the latest version to find the Classsic.