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[ElectricZen]

Hi everyone!  It was suggested to me to make a post and thread regarding firmware issues where we can hopefully amass information and experiences to find a permanent resolution.


My experiences are as follows:

   November 2016 - firmware updated at Hollywood Electrics, LA. No issues

   May/June 2017 - recieved letter from Zero corporate suggesting that a firmware update should be considered part of regular maintenance.

   August 2017 - firmware updated at Dayton Motorsports, Vancouver.  Soc and range estimates become unreliable.

   June 8, 2018 - firmware update at Daytona Motorsports, Vancouver.  Odometer stops counting.  Minor improvements noticed but it looks like underlying issues are still present.



I have not noticed any operational problems.  I am told from the logs there are no errors in the battery or any codes generated.

I am also told that Zero cannot roll back to previous versions by tech.  I wonder how they will problem solve this ODO problem without being able roll back.vOv

So some of the INFO that matters:

                      These problems are observed in BMS firmware REV 39+ for 2014-2016
                                                                                                               REV 17+ for 2017-2018


                       I could have reworded this more accurately as , the last stable BMS firmware observed are REV 38 for 2014-2016 and REV 16 for 2017-2018


MBB is unaffected or irrelevant.   SOURCE: DIGINOW

Primarily posted to provide information for the community. 

Input, experiences, tips or corrections welcome!

Current resolution for myself would be a BMS firmware rollback to REV 38.  *I hope*😁. It is possible ODO is not firmware related... Taking the bike to the dealer in an hour.  Will update as more information becomes available.

[ElectricZen]

Update: Odometer is firmware related, caused when the installed firmware doesn't recognize the bike.  Symptom is in the Zero App, if the app is unable to identify bike ie. unknown bike.

Odo is running again!

Sent from my ASUS_Z01HD using Tapatalk

[Scotchman]

I'll piggyback on this thread instead of making a new one, as I think my question may benefit others.

I just got a new 2018 S, and there is a firmware update available on my app.  Specifically, it says:

Battery Management System
Current Version: 29
New Version: 31

Main Bike Board
Current Version: 22
New Version 24

I have not performed the update because my bike is working fine and I am nervous about going in the wrong direction.  However I know that Zero is advertising improvements to power pack life and recommends doing new updates.

I looked at the Unofficial Manual, and it indicates the latest version for the BMS might be 48, and the MBB might be 49 (potential source)?  Does that mean I am potentially 20+ updates out of date on my brand new bike?  Are the version numbers unique to the year?

All of it is very confusing.  Does anyone have a list of updates, what they do, with numbers that match what I'm seeing?

And ultimately should I do this update?

[Richard230]

I am completely confused regarding Zero's firmware revision numbers.  The impression that I get is that they are different for each model year. The older bikes seemed to have revision numbers in the 50's, but my 2018 S is showing numbers similar to what is mentioned by Scotchman. 

[Scotchman]

So if that is the case it sounds like we need to evaluate them on a case by case (year by year) basis.

Therefore my next question is is anyone running BMS 31 and MBB 24 on a 2018 and is it working?  I'd like to know what the changes are but that may be too much to ask at this point.

[cecil_t]

They are definitely confusing, I see numbers thrown around that don't seem to match the log parser from the hundreds of files uploaded to it.

When I first got my 2014 my firmware, according to the log parser, was something like 44.  It's been upgraded a few times - 47, 49, 52, 53, 54 now.  These numbers make sense and are sequential.

For the most part, people with 2014-2016's seem to be in the same range, regardless of model or year.

But the newest bikes people are throwing out numbers much different from that series.  Nobody has uploaded a 2018 log to the online parser utility yet, that I can tell, so I wonder if they're seeing it in the Zero app and if that is reporting the same number as the parser.

I should be picking up my 2018 FX this weekend and will piece it together.  I'll look in the Zero app and upload a log and compare.

The link above to the latest firmwares is current.  I think 54 is the latest MBB version for 2014-2016 or maybe even 2017.  I just got it a week or two ago.

Note that I'm only speaking of MBB versions.  BMS versions on my bike are lower, it was just upgraded from 27 to 31, supposedly 31 being the latest BMS from Zero.

[Richard230]

Attached are the logs from my 2018 S that I sent to Zero two months ago in the hopes that they could tell me why my charger doesn't shut off automatically when it finishes charging and balancing my battery pack, after the charging power plug is disconnected. This requires me to turn it off manually by turning the ignition on and then off again. Not surprisingly, I have not yet received a reply to my question.

To tell the truth, I don't really understand the logs, but maybe they will make sense to you.

[Richard230]

And here is one more that was too large for the previous post.

[Richard230]

The last firmware update that I installed was apparently BMS version 31 and MBB version 24 (although it said 31 when I completed the download).  If the new firmware made any changes to the bike's operation, I haven't been able to notice it. 

[Scotchman]

Richard230, so that is the same version update I am being presented.  Did your charger issue start after that update or do you believe it is unrelated?

[cecil_t]

Yeah the parser code doesn't deal with 2017+ headers very well, that's the issue, I forgot.  So I don't think the version is correct:

https://home.hasslers.net/zerologparser/logs/538SMFZ59JCA09207_MBB_2018-03-11.txt

BMS:
https://home.hasslers.net/zerologparser/logs/538SMFZ59JCA09207_BMS1_2018-03-11.txt

[Obri]

My dealer did resolve the odometer issue somehow with help from Zero, but now the Bluetooth dosn't work. I have a 2016  Zero FXS.

[Scotchman]

Just updated to BMS 31 and MBB 24 on my 2018 S.  Immediate observations:
 
• My Total kWh used reset
• My Avg watt hours per mile reset
• My charge cycles counter reset
• Unconfirmed: The clock on my dash is now within one second of my iPhone time.  This may be a coincidence, if a couple others can confirm similar behavior we may be able to conclude this was a feature addition of synchronizing the clock.  I will keep an eye on it and update this post as I learn more.

One other note (I would add this to the unofficial Manual, if you are reading this): the process is not explained well, and non tech-saavy people could get into a bad situation.  The steps to upgrade are below:


• Ensure the bike and your phone have charged batteries (>80% is advisable), the bike is unplugged but on, the kill switch is off
• Connect to the bike, go to the "Help" section in the app (designated by an icon of a person wearing a headset) and select Firmware Update
• Press next until the update begins
• Don't touch anything.  It is unclear if the bike can recover gracefully from an interruption.
• When the update completes, for me it lost connection to the bike, but I could see the bike was working again.  The app instructs you to close the app and reconnect to the bike.  Important: going to the home screen on your phone does NOT close it.  Fully close the app (on iOS double tap the home button and swipe up on the Zero app.  On Android, I believe there is a similar function using the applications button), then reconnect, then reopen Zero.  It should open as normal, and if you check for another firmware update, indicate there are none.
  

If you don't do that final step correctly, by not fully closing the Zero app, but simply reconnecting to the bike and reopening the app while it is in the "updating" function, it starts the MBB update over again.  This is fairly terrifying because if the bike doesn't accept receiving the same update again, you could get into a bad situation.  The phone app is poorly designed to work this way.  Fortunately it worked out for me but I am not sure this would be the case across all bikes, firmwares, and phones.

Hope this helps someone!

[Richard230]

Richard230, so that is the same version update I am being presented.  Did your charger issue start after that update or do you believe it is unrelated?

The charger irritation came that way from the factory.  Apparently something that they don't check during the quality control inspection. 

One additional observation that I can make after the BMS 31 and MBB 24 update, is that voltage showing on the app has dropped from 116V to 115V after the charger completely turns off and the display shows 100%.    I keep getting the feeling that most of these firmware revisions are aimed at extending the life of the battery pack.

[Scotchman]

Mine is showing 116v right now but its still balancing.  It wouldn't be hugely surprising if that's their goal, and it does benefit us as well (particularly those looking for used bikes in several years).