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Recovering bricked / bootloader schneider context XW inverter with InsightHome

No I haven't tried v1.17 - I'm curious if that setting appeared in v1.17 or if it appears when you select the Li-Ion battery type from the XW+ settings. I guess I'll know more when I start messing around things when I build the new battery - but it'll only be in a few weeks from now.
Actually I did not see this setting today. But my xanbus is acting up, so everything's out the window again. I'm gonna try 1.16 now.
 
@hwy17 LMK if it's better with v1.16 and LMK what's your configured battery for your XW+. Thanks!
This appeared for me today while on 1.17 with only the MPPT 100 600 connected by xanbus, and the 100 600 had Custom in it's battery settings.
1.16 didn't really do any better for me now, I'm on 1.17 again. But my xanbus is all messed up, no devices are appearing now.

I might just leave it broken. The charger and inverter are doing their job, and I won't be using BMS comms my DIY BMS is what calls for the grid charger in my system anyway.
bmssetup.PNG
 
@hwy17 So you haven't had the chance to verify if it was shown using v1.16?

I might not care at all about that setting anyway. I read that closed-loop communications is only possible using an XW Pro. I'll likely use my Raspberry PI to read settings from the JK BMS and perform some actions on my InsightHome over modbus TCP (like starting the generator when the SOC is low). I already have a Conext BattMon which I think should be good enough to act on voltage readings alone, and I could try to automate ops based on SOC settings on top of it.
 
I’m in bind here . I have acquired new in a box sw4048 from Facebook marketplace. This thing was not used at all.

I brought it home and wanted to see if it works . Connected it to the combox I have with my existing system which also uses the same inverter.

I could never see it in on the web interface of the combox. I can see it under the upload menu in boot loader mode . When I upload firmware it seems to complete the upload . Here is where things fall apart . I should be able to see the firmware under the inverter in the bootloader mode. The drop down is empty. When I switch over to my existing system (require the cam is and disconnect the new inverter) I can obviously see the devices along with multiple firmware’s I uploaded over the years I owned the system.

Why cant I see any of firmware I uploaded to the combox? It is there but will not show up once the new inverter is connected to the combox.

In this video it shows the inverter in boot loader mode and once selected the pull down menu has the list of all firmware ( minute mark 15:50 ) . Again in my case this pull down does not show anything.

 
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Why cant I see any of firmware I uploaded to the combox? It is there but will not show up once the new inverter is connected to the combox.
Are they both model 865-4048?

Combox looks at the model number in the firmware file and matches it to the model number of the xanbus device.

If it's not showing in the dropdown then either the model name is different, or it's not successfully reporting it's model name when it's discovered in bootloader mode.

Try leaving the combos online and powered while restarting the inverter, or the opposite, restart the combox.

Sometimes, disconnecting the inverter from the battery and waiting a couple hours for the caps to fully drain all power out of the inverter before trying again seems like it helps.
 
I’m in bind here . I have acquired new in a box sw4048 from Facebook marketplace. This thing was not used at all.

I brought it home and wanted to see if it works . Connected it to the combox I have with my existing system which also uses the same inverter.

I could never see it in on the web interface of the combox. I can see it under the upload menu in boot loader mode . When I upload firmware it seems to complete the upload . Here is where things fall apart . I should be able to see the firmware under the inverter in the bootloader mode. The drop down is empty. When I switch over to my existing system (require the cam is and disconnect the new inverter) I can obviously see the devices along with multiple firmware’s I uploaded over the years I owned the system.

Why cant I see any of firmware I uploaded to the combox? It is there but will not show up once the new inverter is connected to the combox.

In this video it shows the inverter in boot loader mode and once selected the pull down menu has the list of all firmware ( minute mark 15:50 ) . Again in my case this pull down does not show anything.

Let me also just say I have put both my devices into bootloader many times and several times felt like I broke their xanbus even worse than I ever had before, and they've always made it out ok. The bootloader mode is very resilient, even if the recovery process is not reliable.
 
Are they both model 865-4048?

Combox looks at the model number in the firmware file and matches it to the model number of the xanbus device.

If it's not showing in the dropdown then either the model name is different, or it's not successfully reporting it's model name when it's discovered in bootloader mode.

Try leaving the combos online and powered while restarting the inverter, or the opposite, restart the combox.

Sometimes, disconnecting the inverter from the battery and waiting a couple hours for the caps to fully drain all power out of the inverter before trying again seems like it helps.
Yes they are. According to what I have seen online the inverter (or any device in boot loader mode) will list any firmware from the uploaded ones for me to select from as it does not know much about the device in that status. This is not the case in my case . The drop down is empty so I have zero chance to even attempt to load the firmware. I need to get passed that step to proceed to recover the inverter .
 
Let me also just say I have put both my devices into bootloader many times and several times felt like I broke their xanbus even worse than I ever had before, and they've always made it out ok. The bootloader mode is very resilient, even if the recovery process is not reliable.
This is reassuring to hear. It seems I just need to get passed that step. I think resetting the combox would be the next step but
a) I don't want to loose all the logs data on it ( it did make a back up )
b) I don't want to loose the settings ( I know there is a way to back up the setting and restore but I have not come accross the actual software to download )
 
Yes they are. According to what I have seen online the inverter (or any device in boot loader mode) will list any firmware from the uploaded ones for me to select from as it does not know much about the device in that status. This is not the case in my case . The drop down is empty so I have zero chance to even attempt to load the firmware. I need to get passed that step to proceed to recover the inverter .
That is not my experience as I recall it. I thought the bootloader mode was still selective about the firmware, and if it's failing to offer any I think the bootloader recognition process needs to be reattemped.

Do you have a 12v barrel power supply for the combox? I would try a drain of the inverter caps and then a fresh start of the inverter, while the combox is already powered, on a standalone xanbus with a terminator in the combox and the inverter so it's just the two devices.
 
This is reassuring to hear. It seems I just need to get passed that step. I think resetting the combox would be the next step but
a) I don't want to loose all the logs data on it ( it did make a back up )
b) I don't want to loose the settings ( I know there is a way to back up the setting and restore but I have not come accross the actual software to download )
I have tried that but never had a combox reset be the solution to the problem so I don't bother trying that myself anymore.
 
That is not my experience as I recall it. I thought the bootloader mode was still selective about the firmware, and if it's failing to offer any I think the bootloader recognition process needs to be reattemped.

Do you have a 12v barrel power supply for the combox? I would try a drain of the inverter caps and then a fresh start of the inverter, while the combox is already powered, on a standalone xanbus with a terminator in the combox and the inverter so it's just the two devices.
I have 12v barrel power applied. Had the inverter disconnected for 12 plus hours. Have the COMBOX and SW connected to xanbus only with terminator at each device. Below are screen shots for both setups ( same combox ) working with my system and then switched over to the new SW only.

upload as it should be working
COMBOX - OK.jpg

this is what the problem is.SW is showing it boot loader mode. Yet I can see the firmware I just uploaded.

COMBOX - NO GOOD.jpg
 
I have 12v barrel power applied. Had the inverter disconnected for 12 plus hours.
Damn. Ok, next I would try restarting the combox while the inverter stays powered. Then I would try leaving them alone both powered on and connected to each other and then coming back 15 minutes later.

And believe me, if my advice sounds useless I know what you mean. The repetitive steps feel pointless when I am doing them myself. But eventually, one of them works somehow. I wish I understood it better, but I only know how to do it with bull headed persistence.
 
That is not my experience as I recall it. I thought the bootloader mode was still selective about the firmware, and if it's failing to offer any I think the bootloader recognition process needs to be reattemped.
Screenshot 2024-05-10 at 12.30.51 PM.png
Here is what I found in the video linked above . I think you are correct it shows that if the device is in boot loader mode I should see all the firmware available for it. Even thought the tech said you will see all kinds of devices.
 
View attachment 214463
Here is what I found in the video linked above . I think you are correct it shows that if the device is in boot loader mode I should see all the firmware available for it. Even thought the tech said you will see all kinds of devices.
Yeah. Sometimes I feel like if you leave them on together, they will go through a new xanbus periodic transmission cycle and succesfully pass more info to each other. That's why next hope would be leaving them on together for a while might get the model number communicated.
 
What's a sense check ?
Lol. I'm not actually sure, I picked it up at work IT. It's the nicer way of saying idiot check, when you're talking about going back and checking for obvious glaring problems. Like "Can we do a sense check and go confirm it's actually plugged into port 3?"

Common sense check, I guess, when the problem may be resulting from a common sense fault.

Or maybe a check of the senses, like double check that your eyes are working lol.
 
Yeah, like a little hole you push a pin in to set everything back to original firmware. Could have used that a couple months ago when everything was so bricked (in a pro) that all insight selections, including restore defaults, was greyed out. In the end I believe it was BECAUSE I was using an external ps to power the insight. That was from another off-grid system, and I essentially introduced another ng bond. I think anyways.
 

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