My parents recently bought a home and the Pentair Protocol Adapter was not able to communicate.
The old owner was unable to ever get ScreenLogic to connect, and my parents had a Pentair dealer come out to troubleshoot the problem with no luck. They suggested that the “brick” was bricked and 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 Protocol Adapter or Brick, has an IP Address saved in the firmware. Default is 192.168.2.2, this 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 reset, no joy. Running the firmware update.exe showed that it saw the brick but couldn’t hand shake. I decided that I needed to do two things.
1. Verify if the Brick was in fact bricked.
2. Force the Bricks IP to match the routers Gateway IP.
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.* Paper-clipping the brick to a full reset should reset the bricks IP to the default.
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.
These steps are useful in verifying where the problem lies. If you were unable to see the Brick via IPCONFIG and PING then it probably is, in fact, toast. If you were able to PING but the ScreenConnect shows no data for your system, there there is a communication problem between the Adapter inside and the box outside.
Assuming that we do have a good Brick we now must change the IP Address on the brick to the IP address that your router uses as its 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. Download and 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 new file folder. In the folder open the file called update.txt with notepad. If you did all of the previous steps above correctly, then Step 1 of the update.txt is complete. Move to Step 2 to install the firmware via UDP. 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 ‘Configure IP Info’. This is where we force the brick 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 subnet, i.e., 192.168.0.* Click ok, you should see a message that it changed.
4. You should now 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 Pentair ScreenConnect app. It should connect automatically and work as advertised now.
6. Grab a beer and get in your pool. You’ve earned it.
The old owner was unable to ever get ScreenLogic to connect, and my parents had a Pentair dealer come out to troubleshoot the problem with no luck. They suggested that the “brick” was bricked and 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 Protocol Adapter or Brick, has an IP Address saved in the firmware. Default is 192.168.2.2, this 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 reset, no joy. Running the firmware update.exe showed that it saw the brick but couldn’t hand shake. I decided that I needed to do two things.
1. Verify if the Brick was in fact bricked.
2. Force the Bricks IP to match the routers Gateway IP.
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.* Paper-clipping the brick to a full reset should reset the bricks IP to the default.
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.
These steps are useful in verifying where the problem lies. If you were unable to see the Brick via IPCONFIG and PING then it probably is, in fact, toast. If you were able to PING but the ScreenConnect shows no data for your system, there there is a communication problem between the Adapter inside and the box outside.
Assuming that we do have a good Brick we now must change the IP Address on the brick to the IP address that your router uses as its 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. Download and 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 new file folder. In the folder open the file called update.txt with notepad. If you did all of the previous steps above correctly, then Step 1 of the update.txt is complete. Move to Step 2 to install the firmware via UDP. 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 ‘Configure IP Info’. This is where we force the brick 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 subnet, i.e., 192.168.0.* Click ok, you should see a message that it changed.
4. You should now 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 Pentair ScreenConnect app. It should connect automatically and work as advertised now.
6. Grab a beer and get in your pool. You’ve earned it.
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