Good day beta-testers!
v2.30~43 is now available for testing. Please post feedback below this item in the Answers section.
This release contains more minor fixes and improvements.
Marine MFD Integration
As explained before, the main new feature in v2.30 is the integration with MFDs as used on the helm of a yacht. And that feature is ready for testing. To do so, enable MQTT in Settings -> Services, and then open a webbrowser and navigate to http://[ipaddress]/app. In some cases http://venus.local/ will work as well. Also it can already be tested on compatible Navico and Garmin displays. Preliminary documentation is available here:
- https://www.victronenergy.com/live/venus-os:mfd-navico
- https://docs.victronenergy.com/gx/mfd-garmin.html
Changes in v2.30~41 up to and including v2.30~43
General:
- Remote Console now uses a different authentication mechanism. This (finally!) fixes a long running problem for some customers related to the IP Address being used for authentication.
- Fix issue when removing an MK3-USB from the GX device; in case you are wondering: using an MK3-USB together with a GX device is quite an uncommon configuration. Its used with RaspberryPis, and also used to connect a second inverter/charger system to a GX device.
- HTML5 app: various small improvements.
- Improve reporting and working with Overload, Temperature, Low battery and High DC ripple alarms and warnings. Both in the notifications page on the device itself as on VRM. In such event; now only one alarm needs to show up; not multiple at the same time.
- Fix issue in Remote VEConfigure: changing battery capacity and a few other settings do not require a system reset; but that reset was carried out anyway. Now, you can change those settings without a short, unannounced, blackout.
- Fix bug that, in certain specific conditions, caused a CPU overloaded system to hang; rather than restart and start clean.
ESS:
- Don't stop discharging when SOC indicates 0%. When Minimum SOC setting is configured to 0%; the system is now allowed to run until another threshold makes it stop; there is no more checking on SOC.
- Fix bug that caused the system to power the loads from the grid while in the scheduled charging window once the batteries were fully charged. Now; first the grid is used to fully charge the batteries, as it should when in a scheduled charging window, and once the batteries are full it prioritises PV over the grid, only using the latter in case there is not enough PV power.
ModbusTCP:
- Add register for ESS Maximum inverter power
- Add register for DVCC Maximum system charge current
Developers
- Enabling ssh is now a separate setting; no longer tied together with the Remote Support Setting. For this and some other changes; we've start using iptables firewalling.
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Do not contact any support channels when having issues when running a beta firmware version. Instead; report on community via the link on the top of this email, or contact me directly.
Also, never run beta firmware in systems that need to just work.
For more information on the Venus OS beta-test program, see here: https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:beta-testing
Thank you for your testing efforts again! And have a good night, or day,
Matthijs Vader
Ps. changes of previous testing version:
Changes in v2.30~36, up to and including ~40
MFD App:
- Feature: Add an experimental mobile view (scrolling enabled on mobile browsers /w slim aspect-ratios.)
- Bugfix: a 'gray box' can be seen at the bottom of the screen on Ubuntu/Firefox browsers.
- Bugfix: The Solar Charger component appears to be flickering near 0W inputs.
- Bugfix: The layout jitters for a short while after closing the remote console.
- Enhancement: Add a nice and friendly boat image to DC Loads component.
- Enhancement: Streamline all metrics components to be slimmer and make the relevant data 'pop up'. Show a shorthand version of the device name in the component.
- Enhancement: Streamline the batteries component. Show a slim battery component when the system sees only a single battery monitor.
- Enhancement: Change the Input Limit buttons in Charger and Inverter/Charger components.
- Enhancement: Remove the Connection Status button.
- Enhancement: Make the background color a bit darker.
- Enhancement: Make the components align to a virtual rectangle.
Other
- Fix issue in saving the generator run time; thank you Paul B for reporting this one.
- Change 'Periodic test run" into "Periodic run"; less confusing. Thank you Paul B.
- Make it clear that the demo mode is enabled; by periodically showing a pop-up.
- Make it clear on the Battery measurements setup page (for the MFDs), that the main battery monitor is always enabled.
- Prepare remote firmware update functionality for future products.
ModbusTCP:
- add register for AC-input Phase rotation warning for inverter/charger systems.
- add register that shows MPPT solar charger operational state (0=Off;1=Voltage/current limited;2=MPPT active;255=Not available)
- add register 2902 for ESS mode: 1: Enabled with phase compensation. 2: Enabled without phase compensation, 3: external control.
Change log v2.30~27 to ~35:
General:
* Major update of the new Marine MFD integration.
* Add Settings -> System Setup -> Battery measurements page. This is where you can configure the `Batteries` page in the MFD Integration app. Also known by some as the HTML5 feature. See this video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nlvqttx320zyaba/Battery%20Measurements.mov?dl=0
* Add Battery temperature measured by Multis and Quattros: its shown in the menus; it can be selected to use it for Shared Temperature Sense; its logged to the VRM Portal; and its available on ModbusTCP.
* Add network watchdog: automatically reboot the Venus-device in case it has not been able to sent data to VRM for a while. See Settings -> VRM online portal -> Reboot device when no contact.
* Fix Remote VEConfigure being slow; this issue was introduced earlier in v2.30 development.
* Rename the "ESS" state to "External control" for solar chargers. This fixes the confusion around off-grid systems where no ESS was running; but still were reporting it. Thank you JohnC, Guy and others for reporting this.
* GX GSM: Enable the GPS also when there is no simcard inserted. Thank you Jondal for raising this.
* Generator start/stop: hide the battery monitor selection. It now always uses the same battery monitor as is used by the rest of the system. Except systems that already had a different battery monitor configured: their behaviour will not change by installing this update.
* Generator start/stop: log the condition that is causing the generator to be running to VRM so its possible to analyse why the generator was started. For now only visible on the XLS and CSV download buttons on VRM.
* Various fixes and improvements for the CANvu GX; there are no pending todos or open issues any more.
* Fix various touch & other issues in the gui
* Firmware updates: allow downgrading; this fixes the problem that it wasn't possible to go from a candidate version, v2.20~something for example, to the latest official version, v2.18 for
example, and back.
* Add support for the next generation of Zigbee to USB Converters - DRF2658C
* Fix Phoenix VE.Bus Inverters being called MultiPlus. They are now properly recognised as an Inverter.
* Add support for the new SmartSolar VE.Can chargers.
DVCC:
* Make multiple BMSes in the same system work well by making the BMS selection deterministic: it will use the BMS with the lowest configured BMS instance for DVCC. Any others are just shown in the menus. This allows, for example, to add a second Lynx Ion BMS with battery pack used for (only) a large electric bow-thruster; besides another pack thats used as the boats main service battery.
* Improve the Shared Temperature Sensor function: Multi/Quattro inverter/chargers, Venus GX temperature accessory and the VE.Can Solar Chargers were added as possible inputs to measure -and share- battery temperature. Before this change it only accepted BMV and Lynx Shunt battery monitors.
ESS:
* Fix ESS operation in systems with more than one VE.Bus system connected (second is then connected using a MK3-USB): ESS will always use the main VE.Bus system, selected by sorting on instance number.
CCGX only:
* Fix the CPU load. Thank you Torsten for raising this, its back at its normal level again.
ModbusTCP:
* Add registers for manual start, runtime, and RunByConditionCode which shows why the generator is running.
Developers & under the hood:
* store Multi/Quattro settings which are stored on the Venus-device per connection. These inclue the settings found in the Device list -> Multi/Quattro -> Alarm setup menu. Settings for devices connected on the on-board VE.Bus port will be maintained. But settings for devices connected using a MK3-USB, such as a RaspberryPi, will be reset to defaults.
* fix some bugs in vebus-updater
* fix some `corner issues` in time handling
* fix gui fixes related to mouse / touch / Remote Console
* fix (very rare) logging to VRM issue (unique-id file not found)
* VE.Direct: Add check that bidirectional communication is possible (except for BMV60x). In the support desk we have seen multipe self-made USB-VE.Direct cables now; of which only the RX signal works; rather than RX and TX. And that works somewhat; but not 100%; and nobody understands why. So; now the code tests if its a properly working cable; and if not; hides the connected device completely.
* enable zeroconf name resolution using mDNS and llmnrd: venus.local.
* Tested to work on iOS and macOS: a Venus device can now be found on those clients by typing http://venus.local in a webbrowser.
* Tested to work on Windows: a Venus device can now be found on those clients by typing http://venus.local in a webbrowser.
* But does not work on Android, since it does not seem to support any zeroconf style name resolution mechanism: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=405925&desc=2
Change log v2.30~24 up to and including v2.30~27
General:
* Fix setting the date & time not working properly for off-grid systems: changes to the date and time were only stored to the device when being rebooted from within the menus (which nobody ever does). Power cycling a unit would make it jump back to the previous date & time. This is now fixed. Note that only installations without internet were affected: with internet, the date and time are set automatically; as well as stored properly. This bug has always been in the system, since the first release.
* Debounce VE.Bus warnings: warnings now stay valid for at least 20 seconds in order to reduce the number of warning -> ok -> warning changes; notifications and VRM emails.
* Add the names of various new VE.Bus inverter/chargers
* ESS with DVCC enabled: Fix solar voltage offset not going into DVCC mode. Thank you Simon H. for finding and reporting this.
* Fix internet connection issues for a small number of systems; by lowering the MTU to 1450. If affected you typically see that logging data to VRM works, but Remote Console does not work; and Remote VEConfigure and Remote Firmware Update work partially: scanning typically works; but anything using full packet sizes; such as uploading a firmware file; or transferring the VEConfigure file; does not work and returns error 1300. More information here: https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/3608/how-to-solve-error-1300-on-remote-ve-configure.html.
GUI:
* Add manual mode for relay two (Venus GX) - Thank you Ole S. for contributing this.
* Add diagnostics page for Fiamm 48TL series batteries. Thank you Ivo G. for contributing this.
* Change the "Solar Charger" -> "BMS Controlled switch" into a reset button: the feature is auto-enabled. Therefor, having an on/off switch was confusing. Now
Under-the-hood & developer related changes:
* Fix that data was not sent to VRM in some rare occasions. Only seen on Warwick his beaglebone and new Venus devices not released yet (random entropy & python ssl patch).
* Nodejs 8.4.0 -> 8.15.0; preparing for node-red; see here: https://github.com/victronenergy/venus/issues/378.
* Add xupd and xupc: commandline firmware update tools for coming products
* Report data partition errors on the GUI & and on VRM (error 42).
* Update Oceanvolt drivers to latest versions
* Limit max logs size; reducing space on the data partition
* Remove /log symlink; Use /data/log
* Enable tun/tap for all kernels
* Enable netfilter for various kernels
* Re-enable rfkill for the CCGX kernel; its went missing in the change from 3.7 to 4.19
CHANGE LOG v2.22 -> v2.30~23
General:
* Add the first version of the Marine MFD aka Chart-plotter integration. Tested with the Navico brands; Garmin and Raymarine. See blogposts for more information. Note that this is not officially supported yet; we're still making lots of changes, and it doesn't work on a Raymarine display unless that is running a development firmware verions, and this is also pending official approval from the mentioned MFD manufacturers. More information here:
https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2018/11/02/mets-2018-preview-glass-bridge-smart-everywhere/.
* Add multiple demos; One ESS demo, and two Marine/Motorhome oriented demos are available to choose from.
* GX GSM: Fix handling of bad PIN
* Add a low-cell voltage warning and alarm for Lynx Ion BMS systems. Not that this only works for the Lynx Ion BMS. It does not work for the (discontinued) Lynx Ion + Shunt models. It will first issue a warning; and that will change to an alarm once the voltage is so low that the system has disabled the 'allow-to-discharge' signal; which shuts down any connected inverters and other loads.
* Carlo Gavazzi Energy Meter power or current overload now results in no data being stored; this used to be a very high value; distorting the graphs on VRM. Thank you Tilo Ritz for reporting.
GUI:
* Fix mouse/touch getting stuck when touching cancel while the options menu is closing.
* Various small improvements; mostly to make it work better when using it on a touch device; such as the CANvu GX and as Remote Console is typically used.
* Fix duplicated vebus warning and alarms in the menu and notifications (bug was introduced in v2.18)
* Fix issue where en empty battery service appeared in the Device list when the `PageLynxIonDiagnostic` was entered
* Update Eastern Europe time zones; fixes issues with Romania and other countries
PV Inverter monitoring and control - add support for ABB PV-Inverters:
* Fix incorrect handling of negative power values. This caused logging of incorrect values: above 655 kW.
* Allow for types with dashes in the serial-numbers, such as ABB PV Inverters.
* Enable power limiting for ABB PV-inverters: same as Fronius Zero Feed-in; use the Fronius switch to enable it. Note that this is an opportunistic trial: it might work; might not; And if hard to fix we might consider not to fix it in case it doesn't work.
ESS:
* Fix bug in Scheduled charging that caused the PV to not be optimally used when in the scheduled charging window.
* When Active AC input is a generator, enable the Fronius zero-feedin limiter. Thanks to Simon Hackett for reporting.
* (Systems with CAN-bus BMS batteries, and DVCC enabled only): Compensate for PV-power when calculating maximum discharge power from BMS current limits.
DVCC:
* Fix CAN-Bus BMS overwriting the maximum charge current as configured in VEConfigure
Venus GX:
* Improve flexibility of the multiplier setting for the pulse counter; the spinbox has been replaced with a normal edit box where a number can be entered now; with up to 6 decimal places.
ModbusTCP:
* Make battery relay writable, i.e. Lynx Shunt (thanks Shane)
* Add paths related to charge current and temperature alarms.
Developers and others:
* CCGX: Update the kernel from 3.7 to 4.19.
* Reduce wear on the internal flash storage (remove the sync mount option from the /data partition & add express sync calls to all places that need it)
* Add a link local interface parallel to the ethernet: this make the link local address directly available instead of only after a DHCP timeout. See https://github.com/victronenergy/venus/issues/361
* Fix (very rare) issue that causes the internet connection not working on a CanVU (dns race condition)
* Raspberrypi 3B+: fix the wifi. Thanks to Per and others for helping us out.
* Update vbdup, the commandline tool to update a VE.Bus device, to version 1.00; lots of improvements, including -I think- that it can now also be used to update a MultiPlus-II and MultiGrid.
* rtl8723bu wifi driver: update to latest version to fix building for Linux 4.19. This driver is used in the Venus GX.
* Reduce CPU load when ESS is enabled; and also for ModbustCP connected PV Inverters
* Rename vecan-mk2 to mk2-dbus
* Update qt5 to qt5.11
* Further improve CCGX robustness by starting the watchdog really early (in the bootloader; u-boot)
* Generate an alarm (Error 42) in case the data partition can't be mounted
