bootloader 2.5 bad firmware

Started by gary, February 26, 2021, 07:48:46 PM

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gary

Tried to install the current firmware into my Kid today - which no only didn't work at all, but gave me a (disabling?) message of a bootloader 2.5 error of bad firmware. 

How to get the Kid working again?  And does using a USB3 port on a Windows 10 Pro have anything to do with it?  There are no instructions with the file that I could locate:  MNKID_Firmware_1864.fup was downloaded today (as a ZIP file) and unzipped at the same file size as a fup file. 

Looking at similar discussion back in 2018 there were apparently some changes that had to be done to the WIN10 for it to work.  Anyone current on this issue?  Right now I appear to be dead in the water.  Have turned off the breakers between solar panels/batteries and the Kid, and re-powering does nothing to change the error message display.  Right now my system is dead in the water.
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

boB

Uh Oh.

Better call the support line.  There might still be someone answering ?

360-403-7207

I think it is number 2 on the menu if a receptionist doesn't answer

K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

gary

They are gone for the weekend already.  Hoping someone with a solution may hit the forum before Monday.
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: gary on February 26, 2021, 08:10:50 PM
They are gone for the weekend already.  Hoping someone with a solution may hit the forum before Monday.

Take a look at last post on this and see if it helps .
There is a link to something
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?topic=4013.0

Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

gary

My Kid was bought in the Spring of 2017 and was bench tested by MN in February of that year.  It had Firmware version 1840 on it, and had never been updated until my attempt today.  In another subject on bad firmware from 2018 there was a reply with two files attached.  One was a firmware update for version 1856; the other was a Windows (ver 8.1?) fix.  I had already downloaded the 1856 ZIP file from the website, that unzipped it to the FUP file, and that is the one I tried to use.  I had spoken to a tech at MN before making the update attempt and was told nothing else was necessary. 
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: gary on February 26, 2021, 09:09:37 PM
My Kid was bought in the Spring of 2017 and was bench tested by MN in February of that year.  It had Firmware version 1840 on it, and had never been updated until my attempt today.  In another subject on bad firmware from 2018 there was a reply with two files attached.  One was a firmware update for version 1856; the other was a Windows (ver 8.1?) fix.  I had already downloaded the 1856 ZIP file from the website, that unzipped it to the FUP file, and that is the one I tried to use.  I had spoken to a tech at MN before making the update attempt and was told nothing else was necessary.
Did you  follow the instructions at the bottom of the Kid software page where there is an installer tool too ?
"Information
If you are using Windows 10, or having troubles keeping your KID connected to your PC, try using the provided installer. The link to download it is below. The installer was designed specifically for Windows 10 but will work on all Windows machines and most Linux Operating systems. Also below is a link to an instruction manual if you have troubles. "

If you did that then standard advice would be to restart your computer, try a different cable if possible, try a different  usb port, look in Windows Device manager and see if the port is showing when the Kid is plugged in , etc.  Those are all the trouble shooting things I would start with after I tried the trouble shooting in the instructions on software page of Midnite.

Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: gary on February 26, 2021, 09:09:37 PM
My Kid was bought in the Spring of 2017 and was bench tested by MN in February of that year.  It had Firmware version 1840 on it, and had never been updated until my attempt today.  In another subject on bad firmware from 2018 there was a reply with two files attached.  One was a firmware update for version 1856; the other was a Windows (ver 8.1?) fix.  I had already downloaded the 1856 ZIP file from the website, that unzipped it to the FUP file, and that is the one I tried to use.  I had spoken to a tech at MN before making the update attempt and was told nothing else was necessary.

Did you follow these instructions from the Midnite Kid directions

"If the update process does not complete you might see this error:

BOOTLOADER 2.5
BAD FIRMWARE

You might also see this error on Windows 10 if you tried to update the Firmware without using the Application above. 

If you see this error, power down The KID and wait 60 seconds. Then hold the SETUP button while powering up The KID.  This will put The KID into update mode.  The screen should read:

BOOTLOADER 2.5
FORCED UPDATE

The KID is now ready to retry the firmware update. "

Larry

system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

gary

Larry,
Will have to look closer at the site.  I failed to see those instructions.  Tomorrow.  Too dark to be working on it tonight, even with a full moon.
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: gary on February 26, 2021, 09:20:35 PM
Larry,
Will have to look closer at the site.  I failed to see those instructions.  Tomorrow.  Too dark to be working on it tonight, even with a full moon.

They are at the bottom on this page
http://www.midnitesolar.com/firmwareReport.php?firmware_ID=21&firmwareProduct_ID=4&act=edit
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

gary

#9
Right now I am dead in the water on this.  Trying to plug in the mini-B USB with the Kid attached to the wall mount and wall, and fumbling around by feel and no visability I managed to break off the female connector for the USB, so now can't do anything, including utilize PV for battery charging.  Will have to pull the entire thing off the wall (cables in the wall) and see if I can find someone who knows how to solder the connector back to the board.  May have to send it back to MN for repairs, if they do same.

Meanwhile, I am at a standstill.  I have the firmware installer and update program on my computer, and was able to change the screen message, but do not believe it will work without firmware.   A new Kid will be here on Monday so I can get it working.

Thank you, Larry.

Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

ClassicCrazy

too bad you ran into those troubles.
I would send it in to Midnite for repair instead of having someone else try to do it.
Glad you have something you can use there soon .

Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

boB

What is your battery voltage and your PV voltage ?

What you can try in order to help your bank during the day is to directly connect the PV positive to the battery positive.. BUT you have to watch the battery voltage with a volt meter to make sure it doesn't go TOO high for very long.

I know this isn't the best but should work in a pinch to get some bulk charge back into the battery.

You may or may not want to throw a towel or blanket over a panel or 2 or 3 to keep the power down so it can more slowly charge IF the array is too strong wired as is.

Just watch the battery voltage because there will not be an automatic way of regulating voltage in that case.  Also, a PV array wired for a lot higher voltage than the battery voltage will not have as much power as it does when the Kid or MPPT charge controller is dropping the voltage down, of course.



K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

gary

Panel voltage is around 70 volts.  Battery is 4 12v in parallel.  Not going to connect directly.  Battery voltage currently fully charged.  I have a replacement KID arriving tomorrow, then will send original back to Midnite for repair, assuming they do such...

Will install a 6" long USB cable to allow access without having to deal in the blind ever again, with one end accessible through the wall mount.  Presume the new one will already have the current firmware from 2018. 
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank

ClassicCrazy

Quote from: gary on February 28, 2021, 08:04:03 AM
Panel voltage is around 70 volts.  Battery is 4 12v in parallel.  Not going to connect directly.  Battery voltage currently fully charged.  I have a replacement KID arriving tomorrow, then will send original back to Midnite for repair, assuming they do such...

Will install a 6" long USB cable to allow access without having to deal in the blind ever again, with one end accessible through the wall mount.  Presume the new one will already have the current firmware from 2018.

That is a good idea to use a longer usb cable.

Larry
system 1
Classic 150 , 5s3p  Kyocera 135watt , 12s Soneil 2v 540amp lead crystal for 24v pack , Outback 3524 inverter
system 2
 5s 135w Kyocero , 3s3p 270w Kyocera  to Classic 150 ,   8s Kyocera 225w to Hawkes Bay Jakiper 48v 15kwh LiFePO4 , Outback VFX 3648 inverter
system 3
KID / Brat portable

gary

Thanks, Larry.  I had read in an earlier topic a few years back that people having the wall mounted KID were having difficulty simply locating the USB port, and it is next to impossible to get to when in the wall mount, even when you know where it is.  I had installed a longer extension back in 2017, but thought I was having communications problems with it, so removed it last weekend and tried to install a different cable.  That ended the connection for sure.

My Kid is delayed in transit, in CT and I am in FL.  Just notified it will be delivered either tomorrow or Wednesday.  Hope it is tomorrow.
Gary
Motorhome
510 watts PV on roof, pushing ~ 70v to Kid, charging
12v house battery bank