question

Hi @Thomas & @NorthTown2022,

There is no update yet to the issue that is blocking this feature from being released.

I know its been a while coming, and we also expected it to be deployed sooner, but the bug that arose still needs more development time.

There is no launch date yet.

Large fleet managers can contact their sales managers, I have heard of a case where a custom image was developed for many identical installations for a large OEM.

That isn't a solution for smaller scale operations though. I've passed on the request again which may or may not help it move up the list of priorities.

There is no news to report beyond my post above.

We have a path for this feature that is dependant on other changes to be made in the OS. It's frustrating to delay it, but in the long run it's much better that it is done properly the first time in the new framework.

No news except that it's not forgotten.

There is a pathway to this feature, I have more info but not certain what is public yet, so probably safer (for me) to wait until an official announcement before giving away too many details that may still change.

I hope once it's delivered that all the delays and issues will make sense. It's not for lack of effort, or because we are ignoring it.

To do it right requires more co-ordination and in the end will mean a 'unified' solution that makes working with Victron simpler and easier to understand, as opposed to yet a another different way to do things, which would be faster to deploy, but in the long run adds more complexity and confusion.

GX device and Venus firmware development is relentless and keeping as much as possible consistent across all (1000!) Victron products, software and interfaces is better for everyone in the long run.

Apologies and sympathies to persistent OEMs who need to program bulk GX devices until we get there though, they are also not forgotten.

I am curious why you consider this to be an essential feature?

I have been using Victron for many years in lots of contexts now and while I definitely would have appreciated it, it’s always been a would be nice to have rather than essential.

There is one context I can think of it might make or break a business, if there was 100+ units all identical for some OEM application. In those cases it is possible to put in the work to make a custom image to load (but there is up front cost to that, and needs to be organised with a regional sales manager).

Before I worked for Victron helping the community I was a Victron installer.

It took some extra time, but what I did for my customers then was take screenshots of the configuration and put it in their customer file. These could also be added to their VRM account in the upload section.

I did the commissioning on my laptop or phone as that was also faster than the built-in screen, alongside with a pro-forma commissioning checklist that was generated as part of the installation kit depending on their type of battery etc. So taking and saving screenshots was very fast.

We aren't ignorant of the issue to improve this, as I explained above we came quite close to a specific solution for the GX some years ago, even having it in public beta, but it had a bug, and in such a feature bugs are really not acceptable, and the proper remedy for that required a change in how settings overall are accessed and stored in the GX.

That work is on-going and part of a much larger set of changes that we hope will also shake the market up a bit :)

If only the people who add the website easter eggs could be the same to improve the firmware data structures then it could all proceed more quickly, but alas, engineering is not always so straightforward or interchangeable.

I am not your opposition on this issue, in fact more the advocate to bring the most compelling reasons forward to development teams where I can when priorities need to be decided. Sometimes I am successful, and that is when I have the best information from the field to help me.

Our competition is not even the main motivation for our continued improvement. We also want to make the best we can.

HAH! "brilliant" (and buggy) software stored on China servers and "cheap (high frequency) hardware" with no meaningful surge that can look notably different inside the case even in the same model due to cheaper components used on subsequent production runs.

Horrific idle consumption as well.

I have a pair of 48/5kVA Quattros that can handle anything I throw at them, and they consume 27W each. I have a cheap Chinese AiO 24/3kW that burns 38W doing nothing... 24W in "eco" mode. Wish I'd bought a MP-II... seriously.

I've also had numerous features added to my Victron products since purchase in 2019 via firmware updates with an active/communicative community that doesn't exist in any other product line. You're not going to find the head of a Chinese AiO company (or any others for that matter) regularly posting about OS updates...

Just wanted to give a different perspective to the idea that China is leading the market in any way except the race to the bottom of the barrel.

Ich habe ein solches Feature noch nie vermisst.

Die wichtigsten Einstellungen hat man doch in 1-2 Minuten gemacht.

Bei der Inbetriebnahme bzw. Konfiguration auf der Werkbank muss man bei den MultiPlus so gut wie immer ein Firmware-Update machen und in der Zeit hat man dann auch das GX Gerät einrichten.

Auch wenn es vielleicht für einige interessant wäre, sehe ICH keinen dringenden Bedarf.