# Configuring Soliton



## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

When you read something like "Configuring Soliton 1 couldn't be easier" you can usually expect a nightmare.

No offense to anyone but my computer with Windows XP is DHCP enabled. I cannot connect to http://169.254.0.1 as instructed in the Soliton manual. I am sure that configuring the Soliton controller couldn't be easier if someone could please help me to make this initial connection first. It is certainly not "automatic" as the manual says. So far I have spent more time on this than I did on the initial installation of my Soliton Jr and the associated wiring! My laptop is working fine and my internet connection is perfect.


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

Hm. You had a Jr and that worked great to configure but now you have an S1 and it doesn't? That's fascinating since they're, from a network perspective, identical. They should behave identical (famous last words, I know). There must be some differences...

Since the Soliton uses APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) to connect with a computer it takes about a minute for a controller and the computer to finish the handshake. You've waited long enough?

You're using the same computer? Same cable etc? It should, of course, work with a different computer but I'm just trying to sort things out here. You don't, per chance, use Norton? Do you have the Windows firewall active? Both has been found out possible trouble makers in the past and might need to be (temporarily) turned off.

I haven't heard anything about problems with other protective software (firewall, virus scanners, you name it), but it might be worth testing if it helps switching them off. It seems some of them don't like the APIPA network range by some reason.

Do you, per chance, know what software you ran in Jr and what the S1 has? Might be a clue there too. What browser do you use? Did you try a different browser? I know, that one's a bit like grasping at straws, but the more info you can provide, the easier it will be for me to help you...

Oh, and have you tried to run logger.exe? Do you get any data back?

If you try to give me as a detailed report as you can it might both help me to help you and to try to fix this so that similar troubles don't arise in later software versions.


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## rwaudio (May 22, 2008)

I've logged into a Soliton1 with everything from an XP netbook using both IE and Chrome, to a windows 7 laptop with Chrome, all with no problems. It is important to wait long enough, and I found once or twice that if I tried a bunch of "refreshes" too early it would never connect, but being a bit patient it always worked, and most of the time the refresh method worked.

Do you have a solid 12v to the controller?


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## Yukon_Shane (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm not sure if others have had this experience but I find that chrome seems to log on to my jr alot quicker then ie. ie has hung up on me a couple of times but always works after a program restart.


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

I didn't word my first post very well. I have not logged on with the Jr before. This is the first Soliton controller I have owned. I am using the Chrome browser but I have tried IE as well.


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

rfhendrix said:


> I didn't word my first post very well. I have not logged on with the Jr before. This is the first Soliton controller I have owned. I am using the Chrome browser but I have tried IE as well.


And did you follow the instructions on page 12 in the manual or read the FAQ about connection problems? Usually, as is stated in the manual, when you don't get any web connection at all it's because you didn't wait long enough or there's a firewall or anti virus issue. Turning those off (and possibly rebooting the computer afterwards) tends to solve the problem.

Another possibility is that APIPA is disabled in your computer (it can be disabled separately from DHCP through the registry) and even if I find it unlikely it's still a possibility (it's something that has to be done on purpose, but some companies do this per default on all their Windows machines).

If so a quick fix is to simply disable DHCP and set the IP-address manually (also explained on page 12 in the manual). If logger.exe runs fine but the web interface won't work (even if you wait for several minutes) this indicates that APIPA is disabled and then you have to use a static IP-address to be able to access the controller.

If you still can't connect, please, connect your computer to your controller, start up the controller, wait 2 minutes and then:



In the start menu select "Run..."
In the dialogue, write "cmd" (without the quotes)
In the command shell that should start type "ipconfig /all" (without the quotes and with a space between g and /)
Copy all the text and paste it into a post here in this thread

This will tell me more about your problems and make it easier to help you.


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

my $.02; routers don't work, gotta use the direct cable.


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

Qer said:


> And did you follow the instructions on page 12 in the manual or read the FAQ about connection problems?


OK I don't know what I did differently but when I tried it again I got connected.
Yes I did read the instructions. I configured the settings and calibrated the throttle. The only thing I changed from default is the minimum battery voltage to 120 volts (for a 144 volt pack) and the throttle deadband to 3%. I now get a slow flashing green light and no red light. I restarted the controller and I get the same thing and nothing different comes up on the controller interface. Of course the controller is still not working. What do the slow green flashes mean?


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

rfhendrix said:


> What do the slow green flashes mean?


When it slowly dims in and out it means the controller doesn't recognize there's a computer connected to it.

Sometimes you need to restart the controller to get the network up and running. It happens now and then and I know about it, I just haven't gotten around fixing it...


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

It dims in and out even if the computer is not connected to it. When the computer is connected it the green light dims in and out and the red light is on steady. When I disconnect the computer and turn the key off and then on again the green light still dims in and out and the controller does not work.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

rfhendrix said:


> It dims in and out even if the computer is not connected to it. When the computer is connected it the green light dims in and out and the red light is on steady. When I disconnect the computer and turn the key off and then on again the green light still dims in and out and the controller does not work.


Please send us an email to our support address and we'll try to get you sorted out.

The behavior of the green light is normal. It's described in the manual, btw. The red light is almost certainly because the throttle isn't calibrated (or the pack voltage is too low). Your connection problems are uncommon but not unheard of. Qer asked you to perform some tests... would you please do that, or, at least, try a different laptop?


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

Qer said:


> If you still can't connect, please, connect your computer to your controller, start up the controller, wait 2 minutes and then:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Raymond>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hendrixsolarele
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG Networ
k Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-CE-8A-F5-75
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, October 23, 2011 7:46:10 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, October 24, 2011 7:46:10 PM

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit
Ethernet Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-F5-44-DF-6B

C:\Documents and Settings\Raymond>

By the way, I think I figured out the problem. Like I said before I finally connected so that does not seem to be an issue now. I had an old version of the manual so I downloaded the latest one from the evnetics website. There I found the explanation for the green LED in "Cylon mode" which is exactly what mine is doing. It is the middle of the night here so I will let you know when I try something tomorrow:

I reread the part about calibrating the throttle and I think I made a dumb mistake. When I calibrated the "min throttle" I was fine but since my laptop was on a chair in front of the truck when I pressed on the pedal in order to calibrate the "max" setting I went back outside and pressed the button on the web interface page. I think that I now understand that I need to keep the pedal down while I press the button. Remember you are designing this thing for ignorant people like me. Maybe you can make it more clear when you revise the manual next time. Anyway my face is  But I hope this really is the problem...


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

[edited since I realised I mixed up my network ranges, sorry  ]

Ok, your wireless works but your computer apparently don't detect the controller. By some reason your controller and computer don't get a network link. I would like you to test something for me:



Either get a crossed Ethernet cable (unfortunately they're rather rare these days)
Or put an ordinary network switch between the computer and controller

Please try this and let me know what happens.


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

Qer said:


> [edited since I realised I mixed up my network ranges, sorry  ]
> 
> Ok, your wireless works but your computer apparently don't detect the controller. By some reason your controller and computer don't get a network link. I would like you to test something for me:
> 
> ...


Success! I didn't need to try a new cable or put a network switch between the computer and controller. I simply re calibrated the max throttle setting and this time I held my foot down before I pushed the CALIBRATE MAX THROTTLE button. I took my first test drive today and everything works fine. The controller is very smooth and works quite naturally, just like you guys designed it.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

rfhendrix said:


> Success! I didn't need to try a new cable or put a network switch between the computer and controller. I simply re calibrated the max throttle setting and this time I held my foot down before I pushed the CALIBRATE MAX THROTTLE button. I took my first test drive today and everything works fine. The controller is very smooth and works quite naturally, just like you guys designed it.


So you think your network connection problems had something to do with you not holding the throttle pedal down when you calibrated the max throttle position??? Those two things shouldn't have anything to do with each other... I'd sure like to know what you did that finally allowed you to connect to the controller's web page again...


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## rfhendrix (Jan 24, 2011)

Tesseract said:


> So you think your network connection problems had something to do with you not holding the throttle pedal down when you calibrated the max throttle position??? Those two things shouldn't have anything to do with each other... I'd sure like to know what you did that finally allowed you to connect to the controller's web page again...


I rebooted the computer again and it connected. I really don't know what was different because I had rebooted before with no success. Maybe the cable was not making a good connection or something. I really cannot say. And no, I do not think that the throttle calibration had anything to do with the connection issue. Once I was connected I did not hold the pedal down when I pushed the button. That was a mistake of course so when I connected again I did it right and it worked.


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## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

rfhendrix said:


> I rebooted the computer again and it connected. I really don't know what was different because I had rebooted before with no success. Maybe the cable was not making a good connection or something. I really cannot say....


Interesting... I just got a tech support email from a guy experiencing the exact same problem and he also found that rebooting the laptop while the controller was already connected to it and running solved the problem. We've never had to do this ourselves, but, well... can't argue with the results. I'll add this to the FAQ.


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## Jozzer (Mar 29, 2009)

I can report a similar gliche/scenario, I have a router on the car, powered via the ignition. The Router turns on first click of the ignition, the controller only when the switch is fully turned.
If I turnt he ignition all the way on, both router and Soliton turn on together, and have no problems handshaking.
If however, I trun the ignition back one notch (so the controller turns off but not the router), and then turn it back on, the Soliton will not handshake with the router unless both are reset.
Not much of a problem usually, but coupled with the long wait for the controller to get an IP it can mean lots of long waits. In fact, many of my data logs (recorded via another device that logs also other parameters) starts with a full 5 minute wait with me sitting in the car like a lemon!

I really wish there were a TTL signal output instead of/as well as the ethernet (which is not compatible with any data logging system I have...and I have several).

Steve


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

Jozzer said:


> Not much of a problem usually, but coupled with the long wait for the controller to get an IP it can mean lots of long waits. In fact, many of my data logs (recorded via another device that logs also other parameters) starts with a full 5 minute wait with me sitting in the car like a lemon!


Hindsight's 20/20 and all that, but back when this was designed we settled for APIPA (which is what demands that 1 minute timeout) because it was meant to be a configuration tool and, well, we never expected people to start using it for all those fancy things so it was simple to just use APIPA since implementing a full DHCP-server in the controller would be, well, at least a lot of work... 

Now, I think it's fun that people appreciate the Ethernet interface and understand the frustration. I think I'll have to revisit the general network and web server code to improve things now when people use it more than a few times to set things up or upgrade the software, so I'll bump it a bit on my todo-list (after big sol!).

There is, however, a few things you can do yourself:



Use fixed IPs on your logging devices. APIPA has the feature that you can use APIPA OR you can pick any address on the form 169.254.x.y where x.y can be anything but 0.0 (reserved), 0.1 (Soliton) or 255.255 (broadcast). See the (1.4) manual, page 12 IIRC.
Activate the DHCP-server in the router. As long as it doesn't try to grant the IPs mentioned above it's cool and should work in seconds rather than minutes.
Logging actually doesn't even need an IP-address since it uses UDP-broadcasts. The problem is that most network drivers disable all network traffic until you get an IP but since it's UDP-broadcasts in fact ANY IP-number should work since it's only needed to enable the traffic. Logging should with with any IP, as long as it's just set to something.
This should be a start to anti-lemon your driving experiences.


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## Jozzer (Mar 29, 2009)

Thanks Qer.
Unfortionatly preconfiguring on a closed network is still not that workable, unless there is a dedicated PC for the vehicle which can be left configured. In my case, my handheld Viliv S5 PC also is used on all my other vehicles, and would need the network reconfigured every day..
Not to mention, that I have other devices on the car that must be logged using serial TTL, a perfectly good stand alone TTL logger, and no easy or affordable way to get data converted from ethernet to TTL. Which is a shame, because I guess at some point you are converting the controllers data from TTL to Ethernet internally!?

I've already bitten the bullet and built myself a DA system to collect indipendantly the same data the Soliton broadcasts (motor current, throttle position, RPM, input switch signal etc). These will be logged alongside GPS and the onboard Cycle Analist.
I've already been asked to make another unit for another Soliton customer who can't make use of the ethernet output, a real shame not to be able to use the Solitons inbuilt solution..

Perhaps one day you will reassess the use of Ethernet? Or at least make a unit to log it (and one or two serial devices)?

Steve


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

Jozzer said:


> I guess at some point you are converting the controllers data from TTL to Ethernet internally!?


Depends on how you look at it. Is there a digital, data connection between the CPU and the Ethernet interface? Yes, but it's a bus, there's other units on it, it runs on MHz and has nothing in common with a general RS232-port. So no, there's not a serial port internally that could just be accessible through a new connector. It would require some kind of UART internally for data conversion and, of course, a D-sub connector which would mean a lot of job and extra cost for something that I honestly think very few would appreciate.

I think most people use the gauge drivers and is happy with that. You could use that too for data collection and simply measure the duty cycle of the PWM output.



Jozzer said:


> Perhaps one day you will reassess the use of Ethernet? Or at least make a unit to log it (and one or two serial devices)?


I think it's safe to say that we'll never go for a serial port. The problem with serial ports is that it's at least as troublesome as Ethernet and it's support hell trying to explain the concept of different BAUD rates, amount of bits, of stop bits, parity, hand shake etc etc etc. Today most modern computers don't even have a serial port built in so you have to use an USB-RS232 converter which is a complete can of worms in itself. And, well, USB will never happen since it's a general piece of junk, just don't get me started. 

If ANYTHING I've been toying with the idea of making some kind of interface that listened to the Soliton and generated a full set of analogue gauge outputs to be used by a dash. Unfortunately (or not) I think that's a product that very few would buy since today you can just buy an Android pad and run for example evdash on it. Pretty nifty if you ask me.


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

Oh, forgot. You COULD use something like this to convert the Ethernet logging to serial port output:

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardEthernet

There's probably lot of software for it to get the Ethernet up and running pretty fast and the protocol from the Soliton is pretty basic so the AVR shouldn't have much of a problem to receive the data and convert it to whatever you'd like. Serial port, analogue outputs, you name it.


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## Jozzer (Mar 29, 2009)

"It would require some kind of UART internally for data conversion and, of course, a D-sub connector which would mean a lot of job and extra cost ..."

You could just add one terminal to the strip.

"for something that I honestly think very few would appreciate"
That's what you thought about the Ethernet

"I think most people use the gauge drivers and is happy with that. You could use that too for data collection and simply measure the duty cycle of the PWM output."
Aha, thats a good idea, I was going to have to try to calculate that. As it happens, there is a spare AD input on the data logger so I can just "plug" it straight in.

I don't blame you for not readdressing communications. It does work "as it says on the box", I hope no-one reading this understands different..

I have EV dash, but find there to be an unacceptable lag. I can actually acellerate to 70mph before the gauges move And that's on a good day..
I don't really find the Android tablets to be of much use generally, where as the Viliv PC can do anything my desktop can do (albiet not as fast).

When we get a moment free myself and a friend (who excels at data comms) will be sorting out a Labview app to run on Windows, though as you say, with gauge drivers onboard it's really only good for data logging and showing off. I wouldn't bother at all....IF you got around to improving the datalogger shipped with the software (even autofilenaming so the last log isn't written over would do me!!)


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## Jozzer (Mar 29, 2009)

Qer said:


> Oh, forgot. You COULD use something like this to convert the Ethernet logging to serial port output:
> 
> http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardEthernet
> 
> There's probably lot of software for it to get the Ethernet up and running pretty fast and the protocol from the Soliton is pretty basic so the AVR shouldn't have much of a problem to receive the data and convert it to whatever you'd like. Serial port, analogue outputs, you name it.


 Yeah, I've looked at these.. I'm already using an Arduino Mega for DA, and it is already collecting most of the same information that Soli broadcasts, adding another board (just so I have the info from the controllers POV) seems too big a PITA.


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## Qer (May 7, 2008)

Jozzer said:


> You could just add one terminal to the strip.


Nope. We would still have to add internal hardware support for a serial port since that doesn't exist today. That hardware doesn't exist today, hence I'd have to bit bang serial data and we'd talk about snail pace since the speed of the controllers outputs is rather limited. They're, after all, meant for gauges!



Jozzer said:


> That's what you thought about the Ethernet


Yep. But the controller HAS Ethernet hardware support so it's relatively easy to add or modify the Ethernet traffic. There's no hardware support for a serial port and it's a bit tricky to ship out a hardware upgrade through our homepage...



Jozzer said:


> IF you got around to improving the datalogger shipped with the software (even autofilenaming so the last log isn't written over would do me!!)


Well, you have the software. Logger is mainly meant for problem solving (so people can do log files and send to us) and as an example of how to write one yourself. You could just gut it and build something that fit your needs better. I've left it without a limiting licence like GPL on purpose.


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