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Thread: I think I bricked my Apex

  1. #1
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    I think I bricked my Apex

    So I finally got around to setting up my Apex classic. I purchased it almost 2 years ago and just opened the box last week.
    Anyway, I started out by going step-by-step through the "Quick Start Guide" and only got to the end of step 3 before things went wrong. (Note: My apex brain is direct connected to my router) At the completion of step 3 and before I started "step 4 - Physically Installing and Aquarium," I noticed that my firmware was out of date and I thought it would be a good idea to update my firmware before I went any further. So after fully reading the directions for updating firmware. I then downloaded the firmware file, as instructed I turned off my wifi on my laptop and connected the laptop directly to my router. I also turned off my firewall on my laptop. I then extracted the files I downloaded and ran the aqua4.hex file by clicking the "Update Firmware" button.

    The instructions state that it should only take about a minute and if it took longer then I did something wrong.Well I am not going to try and say that I didn't do something wrong because it was taking way longer than 60sec but I cannot confirm what it was that I had done wrong. Anyway, the progress indicating window on the download page was saying that it was uploading a block, then saying that it could not connect to the Apex, then that it was re-trying to download the data block and then stated that the data block download was successful. I got to block 37 out of 120 before it all went badly.

    This is where things went wrong as I accidentally closed the firmware update window and stopped the update. I was thinking that I was closing the control panel window where I was setting my laptop to not go to sleep. But instead I closed the firmware update window.

    Currently on my Apex brain I only get a blinking orange light on the face and where the Ethernet cable plugs in I only have the orange light. Additionally, the screen on my display is blank where prior to my mishap it displayed a readout.

    So as clearly stated in the update instruction page (https://apexfusion.com/apex) "going poorly typically means desperate posts on the support forum or calls to Support," I am now asking the forum what my next step is. My fear is that I bricked a brand new never used brain. Please advise.

    Thank you in advance for your help and advice,
    Tom

  2. #2
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Unplug the apex, start the update again, let it fail a couple times, then plug the apex back in. Doesn't always work the first time so if it doesn't start the update after a couple minutes repeat the process.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  3. #3
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    I will give that a try tonight when I get home from work and let you know how it goes.
    Thank you for your help,
    Tom

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  4. #4
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    Chapter 12 in the comprehensive manual. https://www.neptunesystems.com/downl...nce_Manual.pdf

    The aw crap moment you are stuck in is described on page 127. I have had this happen a couple times over the years, mainly because I use my laptop which is wifi to do upgrades (Apex is wired). If you are still having problems, hooking the apex directly to the laptop can help (See page 129)

    One last comment, depending on where in the process the upgrade process failed. The apex may have been reset back to factory IP address which is 192.168.1.50

  5. #5
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    Well I am in the process of waiting out the attempts to connect as directed on page 129. In the progress text block it reads "Found ARP entry at address: 192.168.1.171".
    Not sure what that means and I could not find mention of it in the manual.
    Do you have any thoughts as to it's meaning?

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  6. #6
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    Additionally, trying to connect when the Network address read "apex" went no where. So I changed it to 192.168.1.50 and that is where I am waiting for it to time out when attempting to connect.
    Sorry for the crappie pic.
    Thank you
    Tom

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  7. #7
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    Well I got it back up again. What a stressful experience that was, I definitely don't want to do that again.
    Zombie and Wall_Tank, I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to provide me the needed guidance to work through my problem. I really appreciate all that the 2 of you had done for me.
    In the end, I ended up following the instructions found on page 129 "Connecting directly to your PC/Laptop". A few things during that process I had to guess at like the IP address of the brain which I guessed it to be 192.168.1.10. Anyway, having the manual and working through it got me there, thank again you Wall_Tank for the link.
    The only step of the firmware update that I could not do was the updating of the web pages as I was linked directly to the brain via a patch cable. But now that I am back online and can view my controller via Fusion, I thought about opening the hex file again and clicking the link but I did not want to screw up a good thing without asking if this was the proper thing to do at this point.

    Thanks again,
    Tom

  8. #8
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    You definitely need to do the web page update.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  9. #9
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    Yep, doing the webpage update is no risk and if you don't do it, the classic dashboard won't work correctly if/when you need to use it.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by RussM View Post
    You definitely need to do the web page update.
    Quote Originally Posted by zombie View Post
    Yep, doing the webpage update is no risk and if you don't do it, the classic dashboard won't work correctly if/when you need to use it.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.
    So I should open the hex file and click the "Upload web pages" button and let it do its thing?

  11. #11
    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Yep.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

  12. #12
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    Ok, I am editing this post as I figured it out. At first the download of the web pages didn't take, so I panicked and posted the failure. Then I realized that I needed to change the Network address to the address shown on the apex display. Worked like a charm when I had the right info in there.
    Thank you all for being patient with me. I really need to remember that there is nothing in this hobby that happens fast and slow down before I act. I am going to work on that.
    Thank you again,
    Tom


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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by tom39 View Post
    So I finally got around to setting up my Apex classic. I purchased it almost 2 years ago and just opened the box last week.
    Anyway, I started out by going step-by-step through the "Quick Start Guide" and only got to the end of step 3 before things went wrong. (Note: My apex brain is direct connected to my router) At the completion of step 3 and before I started "step 4 - Physically Installing and Aquarium," I noticed that my firmware was out of date and I thought it would be a good idea to update my firmware before I went any further. So after fully reading the directions for updating firmware. I then downloaded the firmware file, as instructed I turned off my wifi on my laptop and connected the laptop directly to my router. I also turned off my firewall on my laptop. I then extracted the files I downloaded and ran the aqua4.hex file by clicking the "Update Firmware" button.

    The instructions state that it should only take about a minute and if it took longer then I did something wrong.Well I am not going to try and say that I didn't do something wrong because it was taking way longer than 60sec but I cannot confirm what it was that I had done wrong. Anyway, the progress indicating window on the download page was saying that it was uploading a block, then saying that it could not connect to the Apex, then that it was re-trying to download the data block and then stated that the data block download was successful. I got to block 37 out of 120 before it all went badly.

    This is where things went wrong as I accidentally closed the firmware update window and stopped the update. I was thinking that I was closing the control panel window where I was setting my laptop to not go to sleep. But instead I closed the firmware update window.

    Currently on my Apex brain I only get a blinking orange light on the face and where the Ethernet cable plugs in I only have the orange light. Additionally, the screen on my display is blank where prior to my mishap it displayed a readout.

    So as clearly stated in the update instruction page (https://apexfusion.com/apex) "going poorly typically means desperate posts on the support forum or calls to Support," I am now asking the forum what my next step is. My fear is that I bricked a brand new never used brain. Please advise.

    Thank you in advance for your help and advice,
    Tom
    For years i ignored the standard method and hooked a computer directly to the apex and did direct flash only Which to me was easier and safer.

    Now i have a gaming pc with no wireless card installed direct connect only and my apex is hard wired.

    Have found things to go smooth the last year.

    I now only do my updates every other version to cut my chsnces of a mess up down by another 50%

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Allentown View Post
    For years i ignored the standard method and hooked a computer directly to the apex and did direct flash only Which to me was easier and safer.

    Now i have a gaming pc with no wireless card installed direct connect only and my apex is hard wired.

    Have found things to go smooth the last year.

    I now only do my updates every other version to cut my chsnces of a mess up down by another 50%
    I may have to try using my gaming PC instead of my laptop when doing the FW updates. I used it last night instead of my laptop when I updated my webpages and that went well once I entered the right IP address. A plus is that the hardline to the apex plugs into my router which is right next to my gaming PC so it would be very easy to switch the cable and go direct connect to the PC.
    When you say you only install every other update, how often is there an update? 1-2x a year? Or is there more than that?

    Lastly, thank you for sharing your experiences and methods.

    Thank you
    Tom

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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by tom39 View Post
    I may have to try using my gaming PC instead of my laptop when doing the FW updates. I used it last night instead of my laptop when I updated my webpages and that went well once I entered the right IP address. A plus is that the hardline to the apex plugs into my router which is right next to my gaming PC so it would be very easy to switch the cable and go direct connect to the PC.
    When you say you only install every other update, how often is there an update? 1-2x a year? Or is there more than that?

    Lastly, thank you for sharing your experiences and methods.

    Thank you
    Tom

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
    It depends on whar new gear they come out with or what new fusion features they want to do.

    It looks to me like its 2 or 3 times a year.

    Now that my classic has some age on it and i am concerned that they may be doing more bug testing on the 2016 than on the classic, i will likely stop doing any firmware updates as i am approaching my final year of using the classic and have almost every apex product working already.

    I plan to go with a 2016 1st Q 2018 so i am about done with doing the firmware updates on my classic, unless not doing so creates some kind of major issue with using fusion.

    I have two main brains so i will occasionally pull my back up and update it first and make sure i copy all the programming from my system before running the firmware update on my actual system....just in case.

    When i do get a 2016....i will update both my classics and have two fully updatee backups (even if they wont run the eb832 or trident).

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