MVP 8400 with nasty problem

Darkside

Hi all,

I have an 8400 which has apparently just been repaired, however, I have just returned to site to re-configure and commission the panel and it appears to be very unwell.

The panel has come back with a tpd file in it - the amx one with the spinning logo - and when i enter setup, it's game over.

The attached screen grab from my phone shows the setup page once I force my way there using the front panel external buttons.

Once I get here it is frozen. No buttons will respond. Removing the batteries will allow the panel to boot.

If I hold and wait for the calibrate page, I also get a 'split' screen like the setup page and I cannot press the cross hairs.

My suspicion is the firmware, but could it 'partially collapse like this?

Any input gratefully received.

dthorson

I have seen graphics get weird on the setup pages before.
It was in an older version of firmware.

I cut an pasted some of the graphics from the "Open System Page Template" and used them in my project. So in my project I had graphic image files with the "__AMX__..." name. These confused the firmware and things in the setup menu got screwed up.

I called AMX and I think the newer firmware would prevent this.

Try a firmware upgrade and see if that fixes it.

vining

I've had that happen before and I believe re-installing firmware fixed the problem.

ericmedley

Likewise on the firmware upload.

It appears to be a video sync issue.

John Gonzales

This has happened to us before too, during a firmware upgrade... it was a 2-part upgrade where 1 version had to be installed before the newest firmware could be installed. Re-booting the panel and reloading the 2nd firmware update fixed it.

--John

alexanbo

I've had the problem before and just reloaded the firmware as well to fix it.

Of course if you can't get into the setup it maybe hard to load firmware. You might have to hope it's been set to default connections and setup a WAP with AMX as the SSID and no WEP or anything and hope it connects to the network and auto detects the master. You may have to telnet into the panel directly or maybe even VNC into the panel directly if it doesn't connect to a Master.

dthorson

Here's a nice pic of another corrupted TP. Beware this is the "C" type.

Ishlachi

The way the image rolls around on the bottom looks like the wrong firmware file was loaded. That's the way a panel can look when a file of the wrong resolution is loaded.

Also, I have had issues lately with firmware updates. AMX told me to make sure you always upgrade in steps, ie don't skip over a version. They said this can corrupt the flash card.

ericmedley

dthorson wrote:

Here's a nice pic of another corrupted TP. Beware this is the "C" type.

"my eyes!!! zee goggles do nutheeng"

Darkside

Thanks all for the replies - I can't communicate to the panel, so I guess it will have to have another holiday to AMX

Cheers

REBUILD_EVENT

haven't read all the above
have you tried inserting the batteries and then immediately pushing and holding the middle of the panel (about where the logo apppears) after some time (quite a while) of holding, it should go into the setup [and it went there directly, without opening the default page...]

vining

Have you tried to connect and re-transfer the firmware via USB? If I re-call when I had this happen that was the connection method I needed to use.

Related link to USB transfers:
http://amxforums.com/showthread.php?t=46&highlight=usb+firmware+transfer

REBUILD_EVENT

vining wrote:

Have you tried to connect and re-transfer the firmware via USB? If I re-call when I had this happen that was the connection method I needed to use.

Related link to USB transfers:
http://amxforums.com/showthread.php?t=46&highlight=usb+firmware+transfer

Yeah, but he has to set the communication mode to USB first, which may be tricky, when setup is broken...

Darkside

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your suggestions.

I can't mod any setting in the panel (particularly coms) as the membrane doesn't respond either.

It's going straight back to the service dept.

I'll post the tech report for everyones' info upon its return

Darkside

dthorson wrote:

I have seen graphics get weird on the setup pages before.
It was in an older version of firmware.

I cut an pasted some of the graphics from the "Open System Page Template" and used them in my project. So in my project I had graphic image files with the "__AMX__..." name. These confused the firmware and things in the setup menu got screwed up.

I called AMX and I think the newer firmware would prevent this.

Try a firmware upgrade and see if that fixes it.

A bit off the original thread topic, but to follow on your comments about cutting an pasting system icons etc, you can get in to all sorts of trouble by doing a save as different panel type on a panel that has some system buttons/icons etc dragged out to the users.

This screen grab shows corruption to the setup pages on a CV10 caused by doing a save as different panel type on an MVP 8400 that originally offered the REBOOT button to the users. Whilst this button was removed on the CV10 (did not need the reboot button like the mvp did), the damage was already done.

Darkside

The panel in question has finally returned and all is now well....the CF card was raktus .

I thought I would share an issue that became apparent during the re-commissioning process.

I configured the panel up and all appeared to be well. The panels 'green ball' was bouncing nicely and NSX could see the panel. I could also ping it successfully.

But, neither NSX or the code could see a single button press. Nothing happened.

I did some checking and ended up running the new little connection utility button in the protected setup area and noticed a discrepancy between the color of the two balls, now visible.

The attached pic is from the phone in a darkish room - apologies for the quality..

The panel sat like this for ages, and the right ball was always green, but the other was always red. Nothing worse.

I checked another panel in the system and discovered that the CV10 could not control the system either. Restarting the panel, routers WAPs or NI did not cure it. This was clearly no longer a panel/network issue.

I eventually re-flashed the NI4100 firmware and without changing anything, the whole system started working again.

It would appear from the IT records that the power failed the day before and the system had cut-over to a genset - perhaps this is where the problem started....

How the panel can have two different colored balls on screen at the same time is beyond me....it's either connected or its not, surely..

I must say, it confused me for a bit!

ekeppel

The new diagnostic tool...

I seem to recall having this problem recently, but it was due to my not reading the release notes on the touch panel firmware. The diagnostic requires the latest firmware on the master, otherwise you will get the initial connection but lose it as soon as you enter the diagnostic screen, and it may lock up the master as well, as it did mine. Once I updated the master firmware to the latest, all was well.

--Eric

Darkside

ekeppel wrote:

I seem to recall having this problem recently, but it was due to my not reading the release notes on the touch panel firmware. The diagnostic requires the latest firmware on the master, otherwise you will get the initial connection but lose it as soon as you enter the diagnostic screen, and it may lock up the master as well, as it did mine. Once I updated the master firmware to the latest, all was well.

--Eric

The weird thing is that the green ball in the bg continues to flash green as if its world is just peachy, yet the connection utility ball was always red. 10-15 minutes I ran it at one stage and the above never changed.

Sounds like there is still a connection (sic) between the firmware and the coms issue I witnessed.

Thanks all..

AlexArtist

The way your MVP looks reminds me of a Static issue i had in the past with an MVP that was in a large room with wooden floors (and lots of Static!).
There's even a tech note regarding the effects of static and MVPs and a description similar to the error you're seeing.

Here's the tech note link.
http://www.amx.com/techsupport/techNote.asp?id=775

Darkside

AlexArtist wrote:

The way your MVP looks reminds me of a Static issue i had in the past with an MVP that was in a large room with wooden floors (and lots of Static!).
There's even a tech note regarding the effects of static and MVPs and a description similar to the error you're seeing.

Here's the tech note link.
http://www.amx.com/techsupport/techNote.asp?id=775

It certainly does look like the issue, except the issue was not resolved via power cycle.

The card was permanently damaged and replaced. Perhaps static was still the cause and it just manifested a little more than the tech note suggested.

jjames

First time seeing this thread, and while reading - reminded me of some things that I experienced just a week ago. We have a client who likes to press very, very firmly on the external buttons (we use the four left ones for volume +/- & channel +/-) and they eventually broke. We almost always have one loaner panel here that we can give to the clients just to keep them up and running while theirs is out for repair. Anyway, his came back for repair, and when I got there, his panel - which I had loaded all the pages up and tested it out back at the shop - its flash card crapped out. So - I started swapping flash cards to try and get it working.

We had one panel who's board revision was "C" (the loaner, which is newer), and his was an OLD one (installed July of '04 - so I'm sure was the first board they put out.) Anyway, after swapping those cards, the glass didn't work - I downgraded the firmware on the flash card and it began to work. He broke another panel while I was there, so I was just going to swap the loaner for THAT panel, well - when I put the card in to that one - I had the same problem you had, except the glass didn't work, but the image was all messed up like yours.

Long post short - the new card for whatever reason wouldn't work with the very first generation board on the 8400. Perhaps this *might* be the problem? I don't know though - just a wild guess. Is that panel in question "old"?

DHawthorne

The problem is early 8400s and 7500s shared firmware, and the newer ones branched out. Loading 7500 firmware on an 8400 causes this problem for sure (I've done it); probably so does loading the new firmware on an old panel, or vica versa.

Darkside

The panel certainly is one of the older ones, but since the panel was repaired by 'AMX' I would have assumed it was tested before it was dispatched and any firmware discrepancies discovered.

....Stranger things have happened though!