Downgrade Synscan v4 to v3 on a v4 handset?

[bendiddley]

Does anyone know if it's possible to downgrade synscan v4 to v3 on a v4 hand controller? Reason for asking is I have a faulty v4 hand controller with a 'both axis no response' error message and I've tried everything to fix it and have this last thing I haven't tried. Anyone know? Cheers.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Before trying a downgrade, which I doubt will work, as I believe its different hardware, have\are you able to, control the mount directly via a PC using EQMod and a USB to serial cable\adaptor ?  This will at least rule out the synscan & prove its not the mount that is the problem...

[bendiddley]

1 minute ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Before trying a downgrade, which I doubt will work, as I believe its different hardware, have\are you able to, control the mount directly via a PC using EQMod and a USB to serial cable\adaptor ? This will at least rule out the synscan & prove its not the mount that is the problem...

Thanks. The mount works fine as I have another v4 hand controller that works perfectly.

[bendiddley]

The dead one came with some stuff I bought, so I'm trying to fix it.

[Cornelius Varley]

11 minutes ago, bendiddley said:

Does anyone know if it's possible to downgrade synscan v4 to v3 on a v4 hand controller? Reason for asking is I have a faulty v4 hand controller with a 'both axis no response' error message and I've tried everything to fix it and have this last thing I haven't tried. Anyone know? Cheers.

No. You cannot degrade the v4 firmware to v3 or upgrade v3 to v4

[Dr_Ju_ju]

In that case, what errors are you seeing when trying to re-flash the synscan ? 

[bendiddley]

58 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

No. You cannot degrade the v4 firmware to v3 or upgrade v3 to v4

Ok thanks, that’s what I thought

[bendiddley]

49 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

In that case, what errors are you seeing when trying to re-flash the synscan ? 

Do you mean what errors am I getting if I reflash it to v3? I haven’t tried that as I was checking here to see if it was possible to do which apparently it isn’t. 

[Dr_Ju_ju]

No, when you try a v4 update.

[bendiddley]

26 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

No, when you try a v4 update.

It upgrades no problem, but I still get the error message 'both axis... no response'.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Then that would suggest that there is a hardware failure, as the synscan controllers are just mini\dedicated computers, that direct the mount where to go, and, if as you say it updates ok, then it must be a failure within the logic control system of the controller.

[bendiddley]

1 minute ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Then that would suggest that there is a hardware failure, as the synscan controllers are just mini\dedicated computers, that direct the mount where to go, and, if as you say it updates ok, then it must be a failure within the logic control system of the controller.

Sorry, what's the logic control system of the controller?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Within the central computer\processing unit, there will be some form of logical command system that sends & receives signal data to & from the mount.

If, as you say the device updates ok, then the general communication port & protocols (the link between the synscan & mount\pc) must be working ok, therefore the problem must lie within this command system.

[bendiddley]

3 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Within the central computer\processing unit, there will be some form of logical command system that sends & receives signal data to & from the mount.

If, as you say the device updates ok, then the general communication port & protocols (the link between the synscan & mount\pc) must be working ok, therefore the problem must lie within this command system.

Is there any way of fixing that?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Only by replacing chips....

[gruuder]

Yes I'm resurrecting an old thread but hopefully it will help someone who, like me, thinks they bricked their Synscan goto after flashing it to the latest firmware.

I recently upgraded a Synscan V4 hand controller (HC) to Version 4.39.10)and afterwards got the "Both Axis No Response".  In my case I was upgrading from an older firmware version (4.38.09).  After some trial and error, I was able to solve the problem.

The new firmware was not compatible with my motor controller firmware (which was 02.04.02), but the motor control (MC) firmware updater utility would not work (the one that has you put the HC into "PC Direct" mode).  The solution was to temporarily flash the hand controller to Synscan's "Synscan Relay" firmware (available on the Sky-Watcher website).  This firmware significantly improves the communication between the PC and the motor controller.  After flashing the Synscan Relay firmware into the HC and rebooting it, I was able to successfully run the motor controller firmware update utility and flash the MC firmware to the current version.  After flashing the MC firmware, I restored the Synscan 4.39.10 firmware to the HC, rebooted it, and everything worked!

Somewhere in the process of doing all this I also performed a system restore.  I don't know if that was necessary, but it might be.

Here are the basic steps for upgrading older firmware in a Synscan V4 hand controller:

•    Download the HC firmware uploader, the MC firmware uploader, the latest MC and HC firmware versions, and the latest "Synscan Relay" firmware from the Sky-Watcher website.
•    Unzip all of the downloads to a convenient folder or desktop
•    Boot the HC into flash mode by pressing 0 and 8 together on the HC and turning on the power, then plug in the Serial cable to the HC and the serial to USB converter to a computer (I used a Sabrent serial to USB 2.0 converter with Windows 10 and Prolific drivers).
•    Open the HC controller firmware updater utility, and flash the firmware on the HC to the latest version (this may not be necessary, but it’s what I did)
•    Restore the factory settings on the HC (this also may or may not be necessary)
•    Turn off the power to the Synscan, then turn it back on while pressing 0 and 8 (i.e, reboot the HC into HC flash mode)
•    Open the HC controller firmware updater utility and flash the HC with the Synscan Relay firmware.
•    Reboot the HC - it will boot into Synscan Relay mode
•    Open the MC firmware updater utility and flash the new MC firmware
•    Reboot the HC into HC flash mode
•    Open the HC controller firmware updater utility, and flash the firmware on the HC back to the latest version
•    Reboot the HC
•    At this point both the HC and MC firmware should be compatible and the system should work

Remember that you have to press 0 and 8 together then power up the HC to flash the HC firmware.  You don't have to do that to update the MC firmware; it boots directly into "Synscan Relay" mode after you flash that firmware.