Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

mlebeau
mlebeau Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭
in Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems #1
After fighting to get the XW config tool to work with Windows 8 I decided to upgrade my own system before trying on any of my clients systems. I upgraded both of my MPPT60-150's and my SCP with no problems. The last piece was to bring my XW6048 up to the 1.07 and call it an evening. I had the house bypassed and running on the generator, cut off the AC power to the inverter, set it to standby and started the upgrade. It started fine but didn't get far before progress stopped. After about 15 minutes or so XW config claimed failure and advised to power cycle and try again.

I now have a dark and unresponsive inverter and a sick feeling.

Has anyone been here before me that can offer any advice before tech support gets in tomorrow morning?

Thanks.
· Share on Twitter

Comments

  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

    I don't know if you can re-start it over or not. I am still trying to get my UPS printers to work with Win 8. It's always a crap shoot using something with a different version than the one it's written for. In this case that may not be the problem. Sometimes just the computer dropping into the screen saver mode create issues. Good luck to you.
    · Share on Twitter
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

    OUCH !
    I've not used the official implanter, but I did have success using the gateway, router and backup battery, to update my XW firmware. I bricked the SCP but it was a easy warranty exchange for a new one, mine was so old, it needed the FW to be updated in steps, not one leap.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

    · Share on Twitter
  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    mike95490 wrote: »
    ... it needed the FW to be updated in steps, not one leap.
    Did they document that anywhere, or just tell you that after you bricked it?
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
    · Share on Twitter
  • mlebeau
    mlebeau Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭
    #5
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

    Thanks for the responses.

    I can report a happy ending. The 6048 was dark and would not power on. While it didn't show up as an XW6048 on the devices list there was a generic looking "inverter/charger" entry in it's place. When I tried to select it it would disappear and I'd get a message saying that the device had dropped off the network upon an attempt to contact it.

    I took a walk and considered that maybe there was some basic firmware as a starting point if all else fails. Of course, there is absolutely zero documentation about this anywhere.

    I came back in from my walk and shut everything back down. I cut the inverter loose from the rest of the xanbus network, terminated the other port and connected up just to it using the dongle and it's external power supply. I tried the upgrade process and XWconfig whined about not knowing what the device was. It failed several times and then stuck and made it through the process of installing 1.07 firmware.

    I went through my archive of instructions for XWconfig which included two "updates" that were e-mailed to me by someone at Schneider tech support only after asking a specific question and with warnings of "discard all previous instructions and use this one"!!!

    I need to add that everyone I've been in contact at Schneider Tech Support in the last couple of years has been incredibly on top of this product and quite helpful. My sense is that they are working very hard to keep up with a product line that has gone through fits and starts of development and revisions.

    The drivers for the xw config dongle are barely supported. I finally found one after days of my own research that works with windows 8. None of the published ones available from Schneider do.

    I am very fond of this hardware platform actually. It would be great if Schneider actually finished developing it and built a decent bridge into the xanbus network so that wasn't so rinky dink and proprietary.
    · Share on Twitter
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,891 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    mlebeau wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses.

    I can report a happy ending. The 6048 was dark and would not power on. While it didn't show up as an XW6048 on the devices list there was a generic looking "inverter/charger" entry in it's place. When I tried to select it it would disappear and I'd get a message saying that the device had dropped off the network upon an attempt to contact it.

    I took a walk and considered that maybe there was some basic firmware as a starting point if all else fails. Of course, there is absolutely zero documentation about this anywhere.

    I came back in from my walk and shut everything back down. I cut the inverter loose from the rest of the xanbus network, terminated the other port and connected up just to it using the dongle and it's external power supply. I tried the upgrade process and XWconfig whined about not knowing what the device was. It failed several times and then stuck and made it through the process of installing 1.07 firmware.

    I went through my archive of instructions for XWconfig which included two "updates" that were e-mailed to me by someone at Schneider tech support only after asking a specific question and with warnings of "discard all previous instructions and use this one"!!!

    I need to add that everyone I've been in contact at Schneider Tech Support in the last couple of years has been incredibly on top of this product and quite helpful. My sense is that they are working very hard to keep up with a product line that has gone through fits and starts of development and revisions.

    The drivers for the xw config dongle are barely supported. I finally found one after days of my own research that works with windows 8. None of the published ones available from Schneider do.

    I am very fond of this hardware platform actually. It would be great if Schneider actually finished developing it and built a decent bridge into the xanbus network so that wasn't so rinky dink and proprietary.

    Win 8 wow! Most of the folks I know are still using XP let alone win 7. In most cases you should always back up the current installation with the idea of being able to revert to it later. You must have got an old XW as most I have seen in the last 3 years for offgrid have 1.07. A good dealer will always have current models. There was very little in that firmware that applied to an offgrid installation. You were lucky!
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

    · Share on Twitter
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    inetdog wrote: »
    Did they document that anywhere, or just tell you that after you bricked it?
    I was the example. It was an old beta test gateway, and they "thought" it would update OK. But at least it's running,

    and I'm VERY glad mlebeau persisted and got the update to stick.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

    · Share on Twitter
  • YehoshuaAgapao
    YehoshuaAgapao Solar Expert Posts: 280 ✭✭
    #8
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

    I hate windows 8. I have XW-config running on a used ebay netbook running Windows XP. It was a nightmare for me getting XW-config to work. It works only when installed in the default location. Before 3.0 (2.15) it wouldn't work through RDP (remote desktop protocol).
    · Share on Twitter
  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    YehoshuaAgapao wrote: »
    I hate windows 8. I have XW-config running on a used ebay netbook running Windows XP. It was a nightmare for me getting XW-config to work. It works only when installed in the default location. Before 3.0 (2.15) it wouldn't work through RDP (remote desktop protocol).

    It may actually be easier to run a "real" XP virtual machine inside W8. Performance will really suck, but the drivers, etc. should work. There are free VM platforms.
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
    · Share on Twitter
  • mlebeau
    mlebeau Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭
    #10
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    Dave Sparks wrote: »
    Win 8 wow! Most of the folks I know are still using XP let alone win 7. In most cases you should always back up the current installation with the idea of being able to revert to it later. You must have got an old XW as most I have seen in the last 3 years for offgrid have 1.07. A good dealer will always have current models. There was very little in that firmware that applied to an offgrid installation. You were lucky!

    I installed it all in 2009 except for the second MPPT 60-150. The charge controls had two different F/W versions and the inverter had whatever was before 1.07. It had been working just fine but since the ones I am installing now have 1.07 I thought i'd bring things up to current. I just spoke with a client this morning who has the same equipment installed by my firm in 2011 and he has the same mixed up set of old versions. Sunwize has large warehouses and stuff gets dusty sometimes...

    Actually, the most important upgrades in 1.07 include the "enhanced interactive mode" which has no relevance for off grid applications.

    We installed two battery backup systems last fall with XW gear. Each were 10 kw with two MPPT 80-600 CC, two XW6048 etc. One is working well. The other has mysterious problems which I will post about separately soon.
    · Share on Twitter
  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,891 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!

    Right and 1.07 widened the generator qual. which helps people that do not have a 6500i. For a back-up mode your mysterious problems almost always end up being solved by user programming errors. The dash 80 CC does not have any firmware update and may never. Very solid and the shading algorithm is top notch for multiple arrays. Have you been to the wherehouse in Rancho Cucamongo? great tacos...
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

    · Share on Twitter
  • YehoshuaAgapao
    YehoshuaAgapao Solar Expert Posts: 280 ✭✭
    #12
    Re: Big trouble! During firmware upgrade XW6048 bricked!
    mlebeau wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses.

    I can report a happy ending. The 6048 was dark and would not power on. While it didn't show up as an XW6048 on the devices list there was a generic looking "inverter/charger" entry in it's place. When I tried to select it it would disappear and I'd get a message saying that the device had dropped off the network upon an attempt to contact it.

    I did a firmware upgrade last night. I got the same symptoms after it failed to start to upload the new firmware file and the inverter went dark and inactive. I tried again with the same result. Walked away, came back, cut off battery power to the inverter and tried again, and the transfer started and completed successfully and now the inverter is working now. I'm hoping the 1.07 upgrade fixes the load shaving startup issues I'm having (it stays stuck in sell mode).
    · Share on Twitter

Categories