Xenith wont connect to tool

WARMAN · February 23, 2023, 10:32pm

Hi,i have a xenith that will not connect via Bluetooth or any vesc/unity tool via usb!
Was working yesterday but today i went to turn the board on and nothing! Not any error lights on it?
Spent too long tryna figure this out any suggestions would be appreciated as to whats going on!
Bluetooth does say read firmware when i get the red disconnected sign!

rafaelinmissouri · February 24, 2023, 12:55am

Try the freesk8 app…
Maybe it’s just the Vesc Tool being weird.

WARMAN · February 24, 2023, 11:46am

I’ve tried the vesc app and unity app also my controller wont connect so not getting my hopes up but I’ll have a look

WARMAN · February 24, 2023, 11:53am

So connected to the freesk8 app i get a loading screen that never loads fully

WARMAN · February 24, 2023, 12:07pm

These are the other apps reading’s

rafaelinmissouri · February 24, 2023, 1:28pm

@jaykup can you save the guy!?!

jaykup · February 24, 2023, 1:56pm

So you cannot connect via USB or Bluetooth?

Does the ESC work otherwise?
What LEDs are on when it’s on? Blue and green?
Do you have a bluetooth dongle like a metr you could plug in to see if that connects?

rafaelinmissouri · February 24, 2023, 2:16pm

I have used the Flipsky Bluetooth module on unity before.

WARMAN · February 24, 2023, 3:19pm

I have three lights on one side red/green/blue and a green light on the bluetooth side.
It powers up and those lights are on but even the VX1 wont connect.

jaykup · February 24, 2023, 4:02pm

Seems like the firmware is somehow corrupt. I forgot that the xenith had a bom error and the red light is the software/drive while green is fault.

It looks like it’s trying to drive the motor, and the fault light is steady and not flashing. Doesn’t really make sense.

The lower green light in your picture is for the ble and we can ignore that for now.

I’d try to flash the firmware manually with an st-link v2. You can get them for about $10 on amazon.

WARMAN · February 24, 2023, 4:20pm

Yeah its looking like a firmware issue then,my repair guy also suggested an ST Link v2, I even went to the other side to do some research on the unity! All hope is not lost though…pray for me
Appreciate your time and help fella

WARMAN · February 25, 2023, 2:12pm

@jaykup do you have a link to a youtube video or a thread that will be helpful when my ST Link arrives tomorrow…

jaykup · February 25, 2023, 2:26pm

Yeah give these instructions a try. For the xenith the swd port is in the black connector.

How to update firmware on the Flipsky 75100 & 75200 FOC ESC

Download the correct firmware

Open up the ESC. There is a JST PH 4 pin port that has nothing plugged into it. On the back of the board it has GND, DIO, CLK and 3.3v printed next to the pins.

Hook an ST-LINK v2 up to that port. Only use the GND, DIO and CLK pins. Have the battery plugged in. If you cannot plug in to the battery, then use the 3.3v pin as well, but this is not the recommended method. I’ve killed a few 5v to 3.3v buck converters on other ESCs using this method.

Plug the ST-LINK v2 into the PC

Download the STM ST-LINK Utility

Open and click Target → Connect.

Click Target → Program & Verify

Click Browse and load the .bin firmware file.

Click Start.

Wait 30 seconds then unplug the STLINK and the battery from the ESC. Plug in the ESC to the battery and connect through the normal USB port or bluetooth to configure with the VESC tool or VESC app.

More info specific to the unity/xenith swd connector here

Unity not booting? You are not alone! (How to fix the bootloader)

Take the jumpers, and connect them as follows to the ST-LINK (phase wires are oriented at the top). Take a look at your ST-LINK for the corresponding connections.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|1|2|3|4|5|x|x|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|x|x|x|x|x|x|x|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
1: 3.3v
2: SWCLK
3: GND
4: SWDIO
5: RST
You don’t need to plug your unity into your battery. It is powered by the ST-LINK. You could leave out the 3.3v (not the ground!), and plug in the battery, but this makes it more complicated. I don’t have a picture of this connection, and my unity is buried somewhere inside of my board. Sorry about that.

WARMAN · February 25, 2023, 9:26pm

Perfect,nice one

WARMAN · March 7, 2023, 9:16am

UPDATE:
this worked for me
I ran in to a very time consuming problem though,the ST Link utility would not even open on my laptop “windows 10” kept popping up with a dll error.
The files you need if this happens to you are in this link
https://community.st.com/s/question/0D53W00000Koh4BSAR/stlink-utility-upgrade-cannot-start-mfc140dll-not-found

You will need a dupont male to female jumper cable 10cm

Also this picture helped to accurately find the corresponding connections underneath the BLE chip

Thanks to those that helped me!