How do I determine which WiFi firmware I can flash on OpenEVSE?

Aephir · 3 February 2022 21:34

This might be a stupid question, but I haven’t been able to find the answer yet.

I’ve found that the ESP32 board uses the V4.x, and the ESP8266 version uses the V2.x. So far, so good. How do I determine which version I have? Is it possible from the UI?

The only thing I see about the “Hardware” is:

Also, I saw that for some WiFi firmware versions, there was a recommended minimum openEVSE firmware version required (e.g. for the V4 you should have openEVSE v. 7.1.3 or higher). How do I see that firmware version? Wouldn’t that be where there’s just a dash (-) in the image above?

Ryan_S · 3 February 2022 22:19

I’ve seen that happen every now and then on my units. Takes a power cycle of the whole unit to fix it. That said, you could try clicking restart on both the OpenEVSE and the WIFI unit. Then reload the page. It should show then.

Aephir · 4 February 2022 07:53

Indeed, pressing restart under “OpenEVSE WiFi” and reloading worked (I had tried the restart button under “OpenEVSE”, and that did not. Maybe, as you say, both were needed). Thanks!

Firmware: 	5.0.1
Protocol: 	4.0.1

Is there then a way to see which board version (ESP8266 or ESP32) I have from the UI?

alsavage · 20 April 2022 04:27

I’ll take a stab at this.

Because the older ESP8266 WiFi module will only accept firmware up to 2.9.1, and since your WiFi module is currently running 3.3.1, you must have the later ESP32. HTH.

Aephir · 20 April 2022 14:24

I’ll take that solution

Thanks!

alsavage · 20 April 2022 16:16

When you update both firmwares (the EVSE Controller’s, and the ESP32 WiFi’s), the UI will provide better/more information.

On one of my three OpenEVSEs, I just replaced the 2017-era ESP8266 with a Adafruit-sourced Huzzah unit, flashed with OpenEVSE 4.1.2, and updated the Controller’s firmware from 5.0.1 (like yours) to 8.2.0, and this is what is now reported:

The later WiFi firmware releases (for ESP32) explicitly display the module type.

glyn.hudson · 22 April 2022 00:13

If running an older FW version which does not show the hardware type in the UI the only way to check for sure is to visually check inside the unit:

gadgetbazza · 28 October 2022 23:59

If my unit is running 4.01 currently, does that at least exclude the esp8266 as mentioned above?

If it helps I purchased my EVSE from the store end of June 2021.

glyn.hudson · 2 November 2022 14:26

Yes it does, V4.x can only run on the ESP32 which means either the Huzzah or the OpenEVSE WiFi V1. Can you check to see if this info is shown on the UI?

gadgetbazza · 2 November 2022 15:22

This is what I have:

Screenshot 2022-11-02 at 15.21.20

glyn.hudson · 2 November 2022 15:42

Ah, you’re running an older FW revision before this info about the WiFi module was added. I’m afraid the only way to tell for sure will be to isolate the power and have a peak inside.

Most units shipped in 2021 onwards use the OpenEVSE WiFi V1, but judging from the FW version it looks like yours was shipped around the date that we transitioned, best take a look inside to be certain. The Huzzah 32 and the OpenEVSE WiFi V1 are functionally identical. They both use the ES32 and run almost identical FW, the only differences are mostly just pin mappings.

gadgetbazza · 2 November 2022 15:50

Thanks, ok, I will probably order the dongle thingy for updating the main firmware too as I think that has to be done with a cable connection right? I need to find the documentation for that so that I can do both things with a single cover removal.

glyn.hudson · 2 November 2022 17:42

Correct, updating the controller requires an ISP to USB programmer. However, there’s been no significant updates, so I wouldn’t recommend updating.

gadgetbazza · 2 November 2022 18:01

Ahh ok, is there a change release note somewhere? Im happy to not upgrade if there isn’t anything significant. I thought I saw mention of firmware 8.x but the repo here seems to be 7.1.3 latest anyway? Or is there another repo?

The main reason for wanting upgrades is to try and remove the stalling of the MQTT feed of solar power as even though I have a wired ethernet connection, I still experience this loss of connection and have to disable and re-enable MQTT. Am I right in thinking this only requires the Wifi module to be upgraded?

glyn.hudson · 2 November 2022 18:17

Here’s the changelog:

github.com

openevse/open_evse/blob/stable/firmware/open_evse/CHANGELOG

Change Log

20220124 V8.2.0 SCL
- don't convert 0x01 in $FP strings to <SPC>, because it filters out STOP icon
  -> just send 0x11 as space instead. prints as <SPC> on HD44780
- bump RAPIVER to 5.2.1
- change index of delay timer CLOCK icon from 0 -> 6, because otherwise, it can't be displayed via $FP
- fix bug, wasn't overriding OBD::updatesDisabled() during fault state
	
20220119 SCL
- changes to facilitate PlatformIO builds
  -> #defines that apply to Arduino IDE builds should be kept out of the #ifndef PLATFORMIO block in open_evse.h
	
20220107 SCL
- set ECF_AUTO_SVC_LEVEL_DISABLED when !AUTOSVCLEVEL

20211216 SCL V8.1.1
- reset elapsed time when car plugged in
- J1772EvseController::Update() - just call ReadPilot() once at the top of function
  -> previously had ReadPilot() sprinkled around to try to avoid reading when not needed to save CPU cycles -> probably not necssary

This file has been truncated. show original

Correct, MQTT is handed by the WiFi module rather than the controller. Updating the WiFi module should fix this. It’s also worth making the sure unit has a strong WiFi connection to your network, this is often the cause of dropoffs.

gadgetbazza · 2 November 2022 21:24

Thanks again.

So I optioned the Ethernet Gateway on my EVSE when I ordered it as I prefer not to use Wifi wherever possible.

Only reason for thinking of doing the main firmware at the same time was because I have to take the cover off to confirm the Wifi board. The change log doesn’t really contain anything that means much (read anything) to me, so I will likely leave alone!

Thanks for the guidance.

glyn.hudson · 3 November 2022 18:21

Ah right, so in that case you will need to use openevse_esp32-gateway-e.bin. However, the older FW versions of the Ethernet gateway don’t support OTA updating over WiFi so you will need to connect a micro USB and update manually using avrdude:

esptool.py --baud 921600 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash -z --flash_mode dio --flash_freq 40m --flash_size detect 0x1000 0x10000 openevse_esp32-gateway-e.bin

see: openevse_esp32_firmware/docs/wired-ethernet.md at master · OpenEVSE/openevse_esp32_firmware · GitHub

This only needs to be done once since the current ESP gateway FW support OTA updating.

gadgetbazza · 20 March 2024 15:41

Hi @glyn.hudson, picking up on this old thread again… I still haven’t flashed my ethernet gateway, but looking back into it now!

I see since v4.2.2 openevse_esp32-gateway-e.bin is no longer listed as an asset, only revision f. Can I use revision f, or does it need a different board and therefore v4.2.2 is as high as I can go?

Thanks

glyn.hudson · 21 March 2024 13:59

What hardware rev have you got? You will need to check on the Ethernet module on the PCB inside.

gadgetbazza · 5 August 2024 21:36

Hi @glyn.hudson. So another few years have passed and I’ve finally gotten round to attempting to update the wifi board in my EVSE. The ethernet board inside the unit is the Olimex ESP-32 Gateway rev. G (as pictured).

So today I went ahead and applied the latest v5.1.1 rev F bin file, but I have appeared to potentially have messed something up as since doing this, the EVSE appears to operate as a basic charger only and there is no connectivity on the Ethernet board.

I removed the board from the EVSE by unplugging the small connector at the far end of the four wires attached to the ESP32 gateway and brought it to my desk to try re-flashing it multiple times and using older versions. I connected a LAN cable, but still cannot even ping the unit (I use a reservation on my DHCP using the MAC address). There are no lights on the LAN connector itself, but not sure if they were ever functional.

I’ve re-inserted the board after another attempt at flashing and still no joy. Out of interest on the EVSE panel there is no rotating content listing the IP address etc as it did previously, presumably all part of the same problem.

I did use a web esp tool to connect to the ESP32 and check the logs and it seems to be continuously spilling out the following:

[18:51:00]ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46
[18:51:00]
[18:51:00]rst:0x10 (RTCWDT_RTC_RESET),boot:0x1a (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
[18:51:00]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f
[18:51:01]invalid header: 0x2068746f

Does this give any indication of what I could have done wrong?

FYI The EVSE is a 3 phase unit if that makes any difference.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Barry