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devodave asked

Cerbo Firmware update resulted in white screen (GuiMods installed). Recovery methods?

So I updated my Cerbo to the latest release candidate beta firmware... I think it was 3.00-8. The update did not appear to go through successfully. A reboot now sees the white screen, although the device and all data is still happily visible on VRM.

White screen means I do not have access to the GUI, and I do not seem to have SSH access.
Is there a way to force a firmware restore without using the GUI?

cerbo gxfirmware update
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Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

You should have mentioned that you have GuiMods installed. It is very unlikely that there is a problem with Venus OS 3.00~8. I've adjusted the title a bit.

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devodave avatar image devodave Stefanie (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
Thanks Stephanie.
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4 Answers
pau1phi11ips avatar image
pau1phi11ips answered ·

I'd avoid all the Beta versions of Venus if you're using GuiMods at the same time. I'd just roll back to your previous Venus version via the Remote Console on VRM.

Updating to a new Venus version does reset the SSH access.

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devodave avatar image devodave commented ·

Whitescreen on all GUI's so I can't do anything. Remote, local, you name it.

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Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) avatar image
Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) answered ·
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devodave avatar image devodave commented ·
@Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) Nope. Didn't work. Still white screen and now my VRM connection is gone.
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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

I just tested GuiMods v7.4 on Venus OS 3.00~8 on both an RPI 4 and Cerbo. No white screen here.

I try to keep up with beta releases but don't see them until they are posted in the feeds. When a package becomes incompatible with a new version of Venus OS, it should not install. This should prevent white screens. It takes bad code in the GUI to cause a white screen. The cause will be logged in /data/logs/gui/current but without ssh access it's hard to get to the logs.

Since you have no GUI and no ssh access your recovery options are limited.

The SetupHelper ReadMe has some recovery ideas. The one I'd try is the blind uninstall. It's rather brute force and will require a blind install of SetupHelper once you have your system up and running.

I suggest you set up ssh keys on your system so you don't loose ssh access when Venus OS updates.

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devodave answered ·

@Kevin Windrem I suspect the firmware update didn't happen successfully as it froze at that point and wouldn't do anything until a power rest.. I just tried the factory reset but no joy and of course now my VRM and local wifi access is gone.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem commented ·
The "factory reset" only erases the nonvolatile settings. It does not do anything to the installed software. Part of the factory reset will prevent package reinstallation following a Venus OS upgrade but you have to trigger the upgrade somehow and without the GUI or terminal that might be difficult.
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devodave avatar image devodave Kevin Windrem commented ·
Do you happen to know if access through the serial console is password-free? Are the ssh keys for remote support available?
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Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem devodave commented ·

No password on the physical serial terminal.

Access to the Cerbo serial port is discussed about half way down this page:

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:root_access

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devodave avatar image devodave Kevin Windrem commented ·
Awesome. I'll give that a try.
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