Intellitouch Screen Logic Problem

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Shadow Lord

Active member
Oct 27, 2013
26
Hello All,

Long time lurker here looking for some help -

MODs if this is inappropriate for this forum please delete with my apologies

We finally got our all Pentair system setup last year. Everything has been working beautifully until a few weeks ago when we had a few power surges/outages in the area. Since then the screen logic portion of the system no longer works. What I mean by that is:

I can still find my system on the LAN both locally and remotely. I can access it via the app (on android and iOS). I can also find the system and configure it via the screen logic windows program. However, what I can not do is run the actual screen logic program. Running it gives me a blank screen. I spoke to Pentair and they think it is an IP issue. Normally they can fix that with two programs called HLDEVICE.EXE and HLFILE.EXE. However, they want remote access (basically VNC/remote desktop) to my computer so they can install the programs, run them locally and remove them. I asked them to just email me the programs as I could not give them remote access to the computer and of course they refused. However, the lead tech did indicate "just because we can't doesn't mean someone else wont". So I am here hoping to see if any one has access to these two programs and would be willing to email me a copy so I can manually upgrade the FW on my unit and set the IP address.

Thank you.
 
sl,

Seems to me if you can log into it remotely, you would have to have a valid IP address??

Have you already tried to update the Protocol adapter using this link?? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjc2NqIi5vfAhUMeawKHco6CyoQFjAAegQIChAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpentairpool.com%2Fsupport%2Fscreenlogic2-update&usg=AOvVaw3aiEVIBPYqpeLvvPgEMHwf

Maybe not your problem, but power surges and lightning often take out the com port on the main board..

Assuming that you have an IntelliFlo pump, does the pump's display say "Display not active"?? If it does, this is an indication that the com port is still good...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Hi Jim,

Thanks for the quick reply. I agree with your assessment that there is a valid IP. However, the Pentair guys were convinced it was an IP issue. I personally think the firmware/flash maybe bad.

I have tried the update procedure for FW you linked too previously and that fails as well. IT finds the "brick" and attempts to query it but then errors out with: "cannot get brick config".

I am in warranty so Pentair is sending out another brick but I would like to see if I can fix this as that won't be for another week at least. Also the HLDEVICE program allows you to set a permanent/static IP on the Screen Logic interface (contrary to popular belief) so it would be good to have for that purpose as well. TIA!
 
I understand about the concern of giving Pentair remote access to your PC and network. Do you have an old PC with nothing sensitive on it that you can allow them to access remotely and use as a gateway to get to the Intellitouch? Then you can disconnect all other devices from your network and just have your old PC connected and the Intellitouch while Pentair does their thing?
 
Sl,

Did they have you use a paperclip and push the reset button on the brick? Is the brick connected directly to your router or does it have to go through several other network devices before connecting to you main modem/router?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
ajw22 said:
I understand about the concern of giving Pentair remote access to your PC and network. Do you have an old PC with nothing sensitive on it that you can allow them to access remotely and use as a gateway to get to the Intellitouch? Then you can disconnect all other devices from your network and just have your old PC connected and the Intellitouch while Pentair does their thing?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I don't have a spare PC they could use and frankly disconnecting 65 devices from the network is a bit on the ridiculous side. Frankly, they don't need remote access. They could just email you the program and walk you through it. Hades, companies have been doing this forever by sending flash utilities and new firmware to customers and walking them through the install. They just want to keep it "closed".


Jimrahbe said:
Sl,

Did they have you use a paperclip and push the reset button on the brick? Is the brick connected directly to your router or does it have to go through several other network devices before connecting to you main modem/router?
Click to expand...

No they did not. The first tech I spoke to wasn't really that keen at troubleshooting and I got the feeling he was real green. The second (tier 2?) tech was better. I did power cycle the device by turning off the breaker and turning it back on with no help. The issue with the reset you describe is that it will most likely set the brick back to default settings of 192.168.2.1. At which point you either need to put your whole network on that subnet/IP range just to use the deranged and mad thing or need a crossover cable and the HLDEVICE to set the brick back into DHCP mode. I did find a copy of HLDEVICE from Elan but that one does not see the Pentair brick (same HW different FW w/ different ports). So if anyone here has a copy of the Pentair files that would be fantastic. The Pentair is sitting behind my router only and again as you pointed out the device can be seen so the issue does not seem to be a network routing problem.

TIA!
 
Lord, I believe the two programs you want them to send you are just to remotely "access" your computer. They wont do you any good unless you wanted to access your computer from say work, and someone would have to be at your computer at home anyway to grant permission(s). THEY want to fly your computer to make sure it is being done correctly. So, you should be able to upgrade/flash your brick through downloads from the Pentair site with a NON-wifi connected computer yourself.

Anyway...

Wait for the brick. That will probably do the trick, and you will be getting a fresh brick in the process. Be sure to check for and update the new bricks F/W from a PC on the same network (no laptops connected through wifi). My experience has been, when a "pool guy" sells the S/L, he either doesn't know, or forgets to tell the customer about regularly updating the F/W. If the bricks' F/W gets too old, for some reason the brick will not be able to be updated, and will eventually die (no talkie).
 
PC,

No, the two programs I want are there to access the brick directly w/o the fluff. If you DL the Pentair FW file and unpack it you will find a file called: Pentair Update.TXT which has "Procedure for updating Pentair bricks". In it states:

Step 3: Reset file system
Start HLFILE.
Click Tools, Gateway Finder
There should appear one entry corresponding to your brick.
Select the brick in the window, click Connect.
Wait for the files to load.
Click in the left side to select the top file.
Scroll down with the scroll bar, then shift-click the last file to select all files.
Click Delete to delete all the files on the brick.
Wait until done, close HLFILE.

Step 4: Reboot brick
IMPORTANT: Wait for 5 seconds BEFORE pulling power or rebooting
Pull power or press the reset button to reboot the brick

Step 5: Reset proper name and IP.
Start HLDEVICE.
In the window, select the brick and click Basic Config.
In the dialog, enter the default settings:
- Name: "Pentair: 00-00-00" (Replace 00-00-00 with last 6 of serial / mac)
- IP: "192.168.2.2"
- Gateway: "192.168.2.1"
- DNS: "192.168.2.1"
Click Set Config: device should go away, then come back after a second or so
Wait about 20 seconds to confirm that device goes away again
Wait another 10 seconds to confirm that device returns
Close HLDEVICE

Step 6: Load new file system
Start HLFILE
Click Tools, Gateway Finder
There should appear one entry corresponding to your brick.
Select the brick in the window, click Connect.
Wait for the files to load: there should now be just a few.
Click Tools, Format Flash File System, then click Yes to proceed.
Wait for format to finish.
In the right window, browse to B_FILES_PENTAIR to show all the files inside the folder.
Click the top file (the first one after the "." and "..").
Scroll to the bottom, then shift-click the last file to select all files in B_FILES_PENTAIR.
Click Upload to send these files to the brick.
Wait to finish, then close HLFILE.
Click to expand...

AS you see the two files are essential for manually updating your brick or setting a static IP address. My brick is not that old (about 15 month) and it had F/W 5.2.733. The current F/W that I am trying to upgrade to is 5.2.736.

Are you an AUTHORIZED warranty center for Pentair products? If you are you should already have access to the files. If not you should certainly be able to get access to them....
 
Reading further, that may not help you as it appears you need to make some address changes... Apologies.

Yes, i am authorized, but that does not grant me access to files and or programs that Pentair buys or owns. They dont give out that software because i believe they pay for it, they don't own it, therefore they are not able to distribute it. Thats what i have been told anyway.
 

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Hey SL,
I believe Pool Clown is correct about the hlfile and hldevice programs... I've been looking for those files too, with no luck ;)

The screenlogic is basically a Rabbit3000 series board with an rs485 receiver/regulated power supply board plugged into it. The Rabbit board is made by Digi International and I think the two files you mentioned are from their software development kit (Dynamic C, version 9?, is the compiler used for the Rabbit, but I'm not sure if that's where these files come from)

Here's a link to the Rabbit board, maybe you can find something I couldn't:
Microprocessor Core Module - Digi International


Tom
 
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Looks like this is an old thread, but I thought I d add my two cents since I had a protocol issue recently after my parents bought a new house.

The old owner was unable to ever get the Screen logic to connect and my parents had a Pentair dealer come out totroubleshoot the problem with no luck. They suggested that the “brick” was bricked and that they needed a new one.

in order to try to save them a buck I attempted to get it to work. I was successful, and here’s what I found.

The brick has an IP Address saved in the firmware. Default is 192.168.2.2. My particular unit had an old IP of 192.168.1.170. I’m assuming this was assigned by the old router that it was hooked up to at one time in the past.

Trying the paper clip reset did not work. Power off, no joy. Running the firmware update.exe showed that it saw the brick but couldn’t hand shake.

This is how I corrected the problem.

Verify Connection and Operation.

1. Connect the brick directly to a desktop or laptop with an Ethernet cable.

2. Set your computers Ethernet port gateway to whatever the IP address is for your brick. In this case I changed the gateway to 192.168.1.170. I also manually configured the laptops IP to the same subnet as the gateway. 192.168.1.10 The last number can be what ever you choose, but the first three must match the IP on your brick. In my case 192.168.1.*

3. Open Command Prompt and run IPCONFIG. Verify that your Ethernet adapter is now on the same network as your brick. The gateway will show the same IP address as your brick. Then ping the brick. ‘PING 192.168.1.170’. If you did everything right you should get an answer from the brick.

4. Now run the ScreenLogic Connect program on your computer in Administrator Mode. At the login screen connect to the brick Using the Hex Code located on your brick for Username (Pentair: xx-xx-xx) and the numbers on the yellow sticker on the brick for the password.

5. Click Start ScreenLogic. It should load and now talk to your control panel outside. Try turning on your pump, etc to make sure commands work. At this point you now have verified that the brick is good and that the connection to the panel outside is good.

Now we have to change the IP Address on the brick to the IP address that your router uses as it gateway. In my case it was 192.168.0.1. As you can see, the third number in the IP gateway is different from that on the brick. If you’re not sure of your routers gateway IP look at any device you currently have on that network and verify the correct gateway.

How to Change IP Address

1. Do not remove the cable from the laptop and plug back into your router yet. Leave it physically configured just like we had it for the steps above.

2. Unzip the firmware executable from the Pentair website. Don't just run it, but use an unzip program like WinRAR to unzip and create a file folder. Open the file called update.txt with notepad. If you did all of the above correctly, then Step 1 of the update.txt is complete. Move to Step 2 to install the firmware. After installing is complete stop. This is where I stopped as I couldn’t find the HLFILE.exe anywhere and decided to try to go back to the ScreenLogic Connect program and manually force the IP.

3. Exit UDP and open ScreenLogic Connect. Once the ScreenLogic Connect screen is up, using the same System Name and Password as earlier, select options. Your brick should appear in the Local Systems box. Highlight that name and select ‘Configue IP Info’. This is where we force the IP to our routers gateway. Set the IP Gateway you looked up on your router, in my case it was 192.168.0.1 and assign the brick a new IP address in the same subset, i.e., 192.168.0.* Click ok, you should see a message that it changed.

4. You should no longer be able to talk to the brick via your laptop. This is when we can remove the Ethernet cable from the laptop and plug it back into the router. I used Port 2 on the router. Once connected to the router, cycle power to both the brick and the router. Wait for everything to come up.

5. On your phone open the ScreenConnect app. It should connect automatically and work as advertised now.

6. Grab a beer and get in your pool. You’ve earned it.
 
I know this is an old thread but just wanted to give props to Tasimm and this forum because the instructions above worked for me, and saved me a big headache and a new brick. For whatever reason my system was not appearing in ScreenLogic on pool startup, and resetting the brick and trying the Pentair reinstall instructions was not working. However when I directly connected to my PC ethernet port and set my ports default gateway to the bricks default IP, I was then able to see it as a local system in Screenlogic and then open the IP configuration screen to set it back to my regular router IP. I'm sure this happens all the time and people assume the brick is dead.
 
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