Convoy S2+ new firmware (biscotti) memory mode jammed

[jasontheguitarist]

Simon replied that he’d send me a new driver if mine was defective. So I went ahead and tried enabling and disabling memory mode a couple times. Turns out it works fine.

[toddcshoe]

@jasontheguitarist

The saga continues apparently. I just received the brand spankin new S2+ with the SST20 and it’s got the super fast strobe and mode select going on. I got a C8+ as well, and it works at the correct speed. I’m not going to try enabling memory mode on the new S2+, because knowing my luck, It’ll get stuck there.

I contacted simon, expressing my annoyance that lights with a known issue are still being shipped. I’ll update if he replies.

I kind of wanted a OP reflector version of the S2+ as well, but I don’t really want to risk getting another weird one. I’ve been kicking around the idea of buying all the parts from MTN and building one with one of their guppydrv drivers instead.

If you are in the US I can send ya a OP reflector for the S2+. I have more than a few laying around. Also have some waffle type 60 degree TIR’s as well. Very nice floody beam. PM me with a address if you would like one or two.

[jasontheguitarist]

@toddcshoe

If you are in the US I can send ya a OP reflector for the S2+. I have more than a few laying around. Also have some waffle type 60 degree TIR’s as well. Very nice floody beam. PM me with a address if you would like one or two.

Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to leave this one as is, as it does have a pretty nice beam. I want to try my hand at building one, so when I do that I’ll order a host that includes an OP reflector. So I’ll have this throwier one and a floodier one.

:edit:

Actually, maybe I would like to have it to play around with. I’ll pm you.

[ToyKeeper]

@jasontheguitarist

Simon replied that he’d send me a new driver if mine was defective. So I went ahead and tried enabling and disabling memory mode a couple times. Turns out it works fine.

Yes, the issues are pretty random. It depends on the state some individual bits of RAM decay to when power is removed. Basically, the batch the driver is from seems to determine the odds of having a problem, but it is not a certainty. Issues didn’t show up in any pre-production drivers, but only a few were actually tested.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only issue. For example, the production drivers were a different design from a different manufacturer, so the firmware was calibrated for the wrong hardware.

[koolranch]

Thank you for this diagram, it helped me…

@Yokiamy

Did you follow the UI?

[ridepacker]

hello, im new here.

just receiving my 2 convoy S2+ ordered in mid April ( one with SST20 & one with Nichia) and unfortunately i got the same problem (all of them). i cannot turn off the memory mode. this is annoying.

i already try to contact simon the seller, and i still wait for his reply.

[Plotthound]

@ridepacker

hello, im new here.

just receiving my 2 convoy S2+ ordered in mid April ( one with SST20 & one with Nichia) and unfortunately i got the same problem (all of them). i cannot turn off the memory mode. this is annoying.

i already try to contact simon the seller, and i still wait for his reply.

I presume they have Biscotti drivers? (My SST20 doesn’t) I have some that do. It’s kind of crazy you can buy one on Bangood with no Biscotti chart or explination and it doesn’t come with an owners manual either. . Konvoi Aluminiumlegierung Taschenlampe 18650 Batterie LED Campinglicht für Jagd- und Notfallsituationen Sale - Banggood Deutschland-arrival notice-arrival notice I thought I had trouble with memory mode once, but it was operator error. I was clicking after the second “buzz” instead of during it.

[ridepacker]

@Plotthound

@ridepacker

hello, im new here.

just receiving my 2 convoy S2+ ordered in mid April ( one with SST20 & one with Nichia) and unfortunately i got the same problem (all of them). i cannot turn off the memory mode. this is annoying.

i already try to contact simon the seller, and i still wait for his reply.

I presume they have Biscotti drivers? (My SST20 doesn’t) I have some that do. It’s kind of crazy you can buy one on Bangood with no Biscotti chart or explination and it doesn’t come with an owners manual either. . Konvoi Aluminiumlegierung Taschenlampe 18650 Batterie LED Campinglicht für Jagd- und Notfallsituationen Sale - Banggood Deutschland-arrival notice-arrival notice I thought I had trouble with memory mode once, but it was operator error. I was clicking after the second “buzz” instead of during it.

Yes biscotti drivers, I also got it with no manual, just following the item description on aliexpress shop.

I already try combination on the buzz, or after the buzz, still not working.

Also on the bike flasher I get 2 pulse per second, from what I read in this thread, it sign that I get first batch driver.

[Rusty]

I bought 3 of these SST20 S2+ with biscotti, just because they were so good VFM; I have only powered one up so far and on a slightly different note to this thread and in the absence of finding the information anywhere else - I went into programming mode to change the mode spacing, which worked without error. Unfortunately I programmed the wrong mode in error, so went back into programming mode and changed the mode again; fortunately I got it right this time as I can no longer get into programming mode to change anything - is this a common failure mode and is there anything that can be done to fix it, or is it a good excuse to try and learn processes for reflashing I if one of my batch has failed this way, are my other 2 likely to go the same way?

I’m not concerned about the apparent failure, as it’s failed stuck in a mode I want and they were dirt cheap anyway and I can use them as triple hosts, I was just curious if it’s recoverable or if I’d need to reflash the MCU/replace driver to restore full functionality.

[belial]

hello everyone, even though i have boungt the new convoy c8 plus, my old convoy c8 clear suffers from the problem of not be able to change mode. i use the 10 times tap but the only thing that happens is that sometimes it changes the power of the light 100% or something like 30%. Is there somethong i can do to fix this beautiful thrower? i don’t hve acces to programming tools and stuff. Thank you in advance.

[varbos]

@belial

hello everyone, even though i have boungt the new convoy c8 plus, my old convoy c8 clear suffers from the problem of not be able to change mode. i use the 10 times tap but the only thing that happens is that sometimes it changes the power of the light 100% or something like 30%. Is there somethong i can do to fix this beautiful thrower? i don’t hve acces to programming tools and stuff. Thank you in advance.

I don’t think there is any solution other than

- try reflash the firmware (requires programming tools)

• replace the driver (requires new driver, soldering iron)

[Dimking]

Hi everyone,
does biscotti driver come with any thermal control? (Convoy S2+ SST-20 8*7135)

[SammysHP]

No.

[Dimking]

@SammysHP

No.

Thanks. Can be used as hand warmer on max.

[Barkuti]

Concerning the above Biscotti instructions crib sheet, with mode memory on it reads “enter into next mode”. Seriously? The dreaded next mode memory? Wouldn't it make a lot more sense if it were “enter into current/last used mode”?

Simon announced availability of SST40 drivers with Biscotti “coming soon”, by the way.

[eggmang]

Hi Barkuti,

When I have memory mode on for my Convoy Biscotti lights it always comes back in the last mode it was on before it turned off.

I would agree that if it came back on in the next mode it would be annoying, but it does not appear to work that way thankfully.

[twist3r]

@ToyKeeper

@Alienon2wheels

All in all, just a software bug.

Yeah, it’s a known issue. And an annoying one.

Simon wanted new firmware, so he sent me some drivers to use for development. Nanjg 105d drivers, specifically. I got things working, even though the drivers had particularly bad 7135 chips, and I sent Simon a proof of concept to test. I wanted to find out if he liked it, if he noticed any issues, etc. It wasn’t really finished, but it was far enough to ask for feedback.

I guess there was a misunderstanding, because he then sent that version to production. :person_facepalming:

Not long afterward, I found a bug which occurred on an infrequent random basis, causing the issue described in this thread. It didn’t sample enough bits of SRAM, so some drivers would fail. On some hardware it never happens, on other hardware it happens almost every time, based on random luck. And I fixed it. But that was too late, because Simon had already made a lot of drivers.

Making all this worse, production used different driver hardware. And different fuse values so it ran at the wrong clock speed. And the production hardware seems to have a lot of variation between individual circuit boards, which messes with the button timing. And MCU pin 5 is connected to ground, which makes reflashing difficult.

So… a lot of things went wrong. And now, a year and a half later, it’s still biting people.

Some of it can be fixed by reflashing, but that’s not something people can really be expected to do. Some of it may be fixable by changing or removing components from the driver. But, again, not something people shold have to deal with.

If you do reflash it though, gchart’s Babka has more features. It’s worth a look.

I’m trying to decide which flashlight I should buy, so last couple of days I’m reading tons of reviews about two specific flashlights for EDC. One possible pick is Convoy S2+ (with orange peel, for flood). So I’m reading what ppl are saying trying to find out the bad things about flashlights I have in my focus.

So, about this firmware issue… I have a question:

I own a MiniPro TL866A programmer. It came with tons of adapters, so I guess the ‘refleshing’ the ‘new’ firmware (if I pick convoy S2+ and get a bad firmware) would be possible with MiniPro TL866A ?
What kind of package is the IC that holds the firmware? And where to find the latest firmware for ‘refleshing’?

You also mantioned ‘gchart’s Babka’. I guess thats another firmware developer for S2+? Where to find his firmware and is it better they better? (I’m gessing…. at github?)

Another (probably kinda) offtopic question: I want a flashlight with orange peel reflector, but I’ve noticed thats S2+ with orange peel reflector comes with 2 group modes, not like others with ‘smooth reflector’ which comes with 12 group modes. Can I get an S2+ with orange peel and latest (bug free) 12 group modes?

Thanks for your answer!

[Barkuti]

twist3r, Simon the manager from the Convoy store will readily change whatever smooth reflector in your S2+ order to orange peel with ease. He in fact can customize whatever order by ordering first the base flashlight and selecting “other payment methods” (you may need to use the AliExpress application, add to the cart then proceed to see the other payment methods option), then postponing the payment. That way you can message him with whatever custom changes required, and he will later adjust the final price for you to pay. You can also tell him that you're a BLF user, and for it he will make you a discount if you will. :-)

Wed, 02/05/2020 - 05:43

[d_t_a]

@twist3r

@ToyKeeper

@Alienon2wheels

All in all, just a software bug.

Yeah, it’s a known issue. And an annoying one.

Simon wanted new firmware, so he sent me some drivers to use for development. Nanjg 105d drivers, specifically. I got things working, even though the drivers had particularly bad 7135 chips, and I sent Simon a proof of concept to test. I wanted to find out if he liked it, if he noticed any issues, etc. It wasn’t really finished, but it was far enough to ask for feedback.

I guess there was a misunderstanding, because he then sent that version to production. :person_facepalming:

Not long afterward, I found a bug which occurred on an infrequent random basis, causing the issue described in this thread. It didn’t sample enough bits of SRAM, so some drivers would fail. On some hardware it never happens, on other hardware it happens almost every time, based on random luck. And I fixed it. But that was too late, because Simon had already made a lot of drivers.

Making all this worse, production used different driver hardware. And different fuse values so it ran at the wrong clock speed. And the production hardware seems to have a lot of variation between individual circuit boards, which messes with the button timing. And MCU pin 5 is connected to ground, which makes reflashing difficult.

So… a lot of things went wrong. And now, a year and a half later, it’s still biting people.

Some of it can be fixed by reflashing, but that’s not something people can really be expected to do. Some of it may be fixable by changing or removing components from the driver. But, again, not something people shold have to deal with.

If you do reflash it though, gchart’s Babka has more features. It’s worth a look.

I’m trying to decide which flashlight I should buy, so last couple of days I’m reading tons of reviews about two specific flashlights for EDC. One possible pick is Convoy S2+ (with orange peel, for flood). So I’m reading what ppl are saying trying to find out the bad things about flashlights I have in my focus.

So, about this firmware issue… I have a question:

I own a MiniPro TL866A programmer. It came with tons of adapters, so I guess the ‘refleshing’ the ‘new’ firmware (if I pick convoy S2+ and get a bad firmware) would be possible with MiniPro TL866A ?
What kind of package is the IC that holds the firmware? And where to find the latest firmware for ‘refleshing’?

You also mantioned ‘gchart’s Babka’. I guess thats another firmware developer for S2+? Where to find his firmware and is it better they better? (I’m gessing…. at github?)

Another (probably kinda) offtopic question: I want a flashlight with orange peel reflector, but I’ve noticed thats S2+ with orange peel reflector comes with 2 group modes, not like others with ‘smooth reflector’ which comes with 12 group modes. Can I get an S2+ with orange peel and latest (bug free) 12 group modes?

Thanks for your answer!

If ordering direct from the official Convoy AliExpress store, you can send a message to Simon (the owner of Convoy), to configure what you need.
So you could ask him to get you a Convoy S2+ with XM-L2 with OP reflector (this is the default anyway), then you could specify Biscotti (12 group modes) with 7135x3 if that’s your preferred configuration.

Unfortunately regarding the “buggy” thing, I’m not very certain what causes that to happen, I have had it happen on some people who asked me to check their flashlights (getting stuck). I have also tried changing the buggy Biscotti driver on a Convoy C8+ to a new (not-yet-buggy) Biscotti driver, as the driver board on Convoy C8+ requires minimal soldering only (I’m very poor at soldering or maybe I don’t have a good soldering iron… — I have not been able to unsolder a 7135x8 driver from a Convoy S2+ head “pill” after several tries, for instance…).

[twist3r]

@Barkuti

twist3r, Simon the manager from the Convoy store will readily change whatever smooth reflector in your S2+ order to orange peel with ease. He in fact can customize whatever order by ordering first the base flashlight and selecting “other payment methods” (you may need to use the AliExpress application, add to the cart then proceed to see the other payment methods option), then postponing the payment. That way you can message him with whatever custom changes required, and he will later adjust the final price for you to pay (now that you’re a BLF user, you can also tell this to him and he will make you a discount if you will).

Thanks for your reply Barkuti. Currently I’m gathering so much information that I think its better if I slow down a bit, cause my brain is getting stuck like that biscotti memory mode.

I’m new here, and I’m trying not to bother too many people. Still, I have to ask questions because I’m about to order my first ‘smart’ flashlight. What I would like is a flashligth with flood light and with that kind of light that can ‘flood’ the area in front of me (from my feet up to 3-5m, max 10m away without ugly hotsopt light). If it can ‘throw’ light in the distance, thats a plus. Also I was trying to pick 7135x3 because I wanted the flashlight not to get hot too fast and the battery to last longer, but I wasn’t thinking that 7135x3 would give less lumens compared to 7135x8. Can someone tell me if I’m correct:

If Cree XML2 gives… 1040lm and I pick 7135x8 but use it at 10% mode, that will give…~ 104lm and the flashlight wont get hot too fast and battery will last longer, with light enought to clearly see whats in front of me, without hotspot light (if I pick orange peel)?

I’m also thinking if I should order 5 extra different led lens here: 3.08€ |10/25/45/60 grad TIR objektiv, streifen led objektiv für XML XML2 LED|led for|cree ledlens cree - AliExpress
…and use 60 degree one. Will that ‘improve’ the flood and remove hotspot?

Can someone help, please? (I’m sorry for making an offtopic post here)

Thanks!

EDIT:
d_t_a thanks for your reply too. I will see if I can contact Simon once I finally decide what I really want. Isn’t he a member here, maybe?

One extra question (probably st*pid one but I have to ask): if I pick 7135x8 …I can still order later 7135x3 and switch it? Or…not?