Notice about urgent FW update (August 2024)

[Robse]

Just saw this on FB. If that's true, then it's probably important for a lot to get fixed.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElectricUnicycle/permalink/7980342758730284/

"

Begode Firmware Update August 2024. - URGENT -

August 03, 2024

Urgent: Firmware Update Required for Your Begode Electric Unicycle

Regarding a important firmware update issued by Begode earlier this week for specific models of their electric unicycles.

"

[UPONIT]

AR informed me of the urgent firmware update yesterday. Today it was beautiful outdoors. Begode saw all that sunshine and made other plans for me.  This may shock you, but my Mten4 FW update did not go smoothly.

Highlights:

--App updated to v. xxxx118, but refused to update to the required xxx120. Misery. Voodoo. Uninstall. Reinstall. Repeat. Repeat. "Success"

-- Created account. Begode site refused to send email confirmation code. Can't verify and create account without code. Stalemate. Randomly tried "Forgot Password" button. Code for that WAS sent. It worked for email verification because ?reasons? Created account.

Note: From beginning to end of process Mten4 emitted constant beeps and flashes of light with no rhyme or reason, sometimes balancing, sometimes not. Possessed?

-- Installed firmware as instructed, total of four times. Sometimes it would balance for a minute, then tilt back almost onto the kickstand and not respond to the app. Sometimes it would tilt forward and not respond. In either position, it wanted to race off and had to be restrained.

-- Every attempt at changing settings in the app failed with random error messages. Beeping dozens of short beeps. Sometimes one long beep that only stopped when power was turned off.

--Sometimes strobing headlight, sometimes steady headlight. Sometimes wheel would only turn on when held upright. Sometimes it would turn on when parked on kickstand, sometimes when on its side.

--Chinese language error messages on app with chinese language buttons to choose from. Helpful.

Beeping, flopping, trying to fly. Un-calibrate-able. 

Current status: balances at about 5 degree forward tilt but responds to parts of the app. Gonna go to AR tomorrow and let pros fix it. 

Say what you will, but my InMotion wheels update their own firmware while serving drinks and giving back rubs.

My Mten was working just fine until i was ordered to install an urgent "update" which brought on the Apocalypse.

FUN !

[Robse]

8 minutes ago, UPONIT said:

AR informed me of the urgent firmware update yesterday. Today it was beautiful outdoors. Begode saw all that sunshine and made other plans for me.  This may shock you, but my Mten4 FW update did not go smoothly.

Highlights:

--App updated to v. xxxx118, but refused to update to the required xxx120. Misery. Voodoo. Uninstall. Reinstall. Repeat. Repeat. "Success"

-- Created account. Begode site refused to send email confirmation code. Can't verify and create account without code. Stalemate. Randomly tried "Forgot Password" button. Code for that WAS sent. It worked for email verification because ?reasons? Created account.

Note: From beginning to end of process Mten4 emitted constant beeps and flashes of light with no rhyme or reason, sometimes balancing, sometimes not. Possessed?

-- Installed firmware as instructed, total of four times. Sometimes it would balance for a minute, then tilt back almost onto the kickstand and not respond to the app. Sometimes it would tilt forward and not respond. In either position, it wanted to race off and had to be restrained.

-- Every attempt at changing settings in the app failed with random error messages. Beeping dozens of short beeps. Sometimes one long beep that only stopped when power was turned off.

--Sometimes strobing headlight, sometimes steady headlight. Sometimes wheel would only turn on when held upright. Sometimes it would turn on when parked on kickstand, sometimes when on its side.

--Chinese language error messages on app with chinese language buttons to choose from. Helpful.

Beeping, flopping, trying to fly. Un-calibrate-able. 

Current status: balances at about 5 degree forward tilt but responds to parts of the app. Gonna go to AR tomorrow and let pros fix it. 

Say what you will, but my InMotion wheels update their own firmware while serving drinks and giving back rubs.

My Mten was working just fine until i was ordered to install an urgent "update" which brought on the Apocalypse.

FUN !

a very nice description of how miserable the support from the manufacturer is.  What is the use of a button with Chinese text, or a page that never sends a confirmation email back (have tried it myself... completely hopeless) Note; I didn't forward the found message to encourage people to update - knowing that updating FW always comes with the chance of bricking the wheel or other oddities. I hope you get it working again

[Funky]

If wheel was working just fine.. Why anyone wanna update their wheel??? Especially with an update that just came out untested, etc.. 

Have anyone actually thought about this - Maybe this update will actually brick/break your wheel... As before everything was just fine? Even in the post they say themselfes - they have no clue what went wrong... Meaning they don't know jack shit what they are doing in first place.

I haven't updated my wheel since i got i out of box (3 years ago) - meaning i have never updated it. Wheel works - i'm happy. 

[Robse]

25 minutes ago, Funky said:

If wheel was working just fine.. Why anyone wanna update their wheel??? Especially with an update that just came out untested, etc..

yeah, if it works dont fixit, but read this:

[on one]

27 minutes ago, Funky said:

Have anyone actually thought about this - Maybe this update will actually brick/break your wheel...

I certainly have thought about this. If I were to update my mac, the update will break my machine. Apple is crafty about this. I wonder if this transfers over to the electric unicycle companies?

[Robse]

Just now, on one said:

I certainly have thought about this. If I were to update my mac, the update will break my machine. Apple is crafty about this. I wonder if this transfers over to the electric unicycle companies?

what a coincidence, made in china & made in china 😂

[Funky]

47 minutes ago, Robse said:

yeah, if it works dont fixit, but read this:

I read it. Where do we get guaranty that this update won't break my wheel???

As i said before, wheel was working fine and after update it breaks..  At least if i'm gonna buy Falcon - i'm gonna ask shop to update it's firmware to newest one. That way, if something goes high-wire - it's not my problem..

Edited August 4 by Funky

[on one]

56 minutes ago, Robse said:

what a coincidence, made in china & made in china 😂

We can't all be blessed to have a wheel made in Denmark.

[Planemo]

I dont really understand this update. There was a FW lift switch problem some year(?) ago which was sorted with a later FW. Are we saying that the same problem re-occurred on a later FW? Seems like madness. I'm still on GW2025010 and have zero problems with lift switch or anything else so I don't really wanna touch it (and I'm not interested in field weakening).

[Steven Algoet]

This is all based on a facebook post... No links to Begode. And posts says problem with kill switch and talks about the mTen4... there is no killswitch on that wheel...

[Phonoman]

4 minutes ago, Steven Algoet said:

This is all based on a facebook post... No links to Begode. And posts says problem with kill switch and talks about the mTen4... there is no killswitch on that wheel...

Turns out James noticed there's a wheel bricking issue in the latest update and is trying to get everyone to brick their wheels so that they need to buy a new ones.. from him!  *sweat visibly dripping from underneath the tinfoil hat*  

[on one]

Apple is guilty of this especially for the 2011 17" AMD GPU, but I don't have any grounds to accuse Begode of this type of behavior, sorry I guess I was just venting, nevertheless, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it, is good advice in general, especially with King Song remote locking devious trick used especially for an underhand purpose.

[WheelGoodTime]

2 hours ago, Phonoman said:

Turns out James noticed there's a wheel bricking issue in the latest update and is trying to get everyone to brick their wheels so that they need to buy a new ones.. from him!  *sweat visibly dripping from underneath the tinfoil hat*  

Not sure if that's a joke or not (I can be a bit dense at times) but that's patently false.

There was a potential issue from older firmwares that might have been the cause of EUC bricking, but it turns out that the issue was much more prevalent than previously thought. I spoke with him about it last night and he said that he had 2 customers with this exact issue in the last 24 hours with the old firmware that burns out mosfets, so he felt it was important to get the message out ASAP in order to prevent further issues.

On another note, that's pretty messed up for Begode to say that you *have* to use an android phone in order to make the update work, and then provide a very short deadline to do so or they won't accept responsibility for these issues. It's their fault for pushing out a half-baked firmware, so the responsibility to update should never fall on the owner's shoulders as long as it's under warranty. But that's a separate issue...

BG rarely sends out PSA's to the general public for safety issues because they believe that it's in their best interest to save face and not announce that they made a big mistake. They generally only communicate these things with dealers and expect them to disseminate the info. It's a poor strategy IMHO (something that I criticized inmotion for heavily a while back with the first batch of V14's) but that's sadly how they choose to do it. 😒

It's a terrible catch 22 to require everyone to update to a firmware that may brick your device, even though the old firmware was just fine and dandy for most people. Mark my words: Dealers will be having some strong words with Begode about this, putting them in a bad position between them and their customers.

Edited August 4 by WheelGoodTime

[Phonoman]

18 minutes ago, WheelGoodTime said:

Not sure if that's a joke or not (I can be a bit dense at times) but that's patently false.

I don't know how I could've been more obvious to show that it's a joke.. I literally put tinfoil hat in that comment for that exact reason.  
Even from logic standpoint nobody would rush to buy from a person who told them to do something, which ended up wrecking their device, so that's double the hint of sarcasm.  

2 hours ago, Steven Algoet said:

This is all based on a facebook post... No links to Begode. And posts says problem with kill switch and talks about the mTen4... there is no killswitch on that wheel...

And to answer this seriously, the post mentions that the power button is also affected: "please avoid pressing the power button".

That said, that kind of a post would really, really benefit from a direct Begode response and mentioning exact versions/dates and/or if truly their firmware has always had this issue. 

[anutheroneup]

Here's what I don't understand..   I'm trying to update my Master Pro V3 and I'm using the latest version of the iPhone iOS Begode app (I don't have access to an Android).  The app tells me that the newest version is GW232507 from August 2024, but after pushing the update twice, my current version is showing GW2325006   Am I missing something and am I up to date with  the most recent firmware or not?   

 

 

Edited August 5 by anutheroneup
update photos

[on one]

17 hours ago, WheelGoodTime said:

BG rarely sends out PSA's to the general public for safety issues because they believe that it's in their best interest to save face and not announce that they made a big mistake.

I suspect this type of corporate lack of vision from Begode is why Leaper Kim, who apparently splintered from Begode knew that they could do it better, with a better organization vision. Correct me if I' wrong.

[WheelGoodTime]

2 hours ago, on one said:

I suspect this type of corporate lack of vision from Begode is why Leaper Kim, who apparently splintered from Begode knew that they could do it better, with a better organization vision. Correct me if I' wrong.

honestly they all operate this way for the most part. The challenge is to put enough pressure on them to go public about their mistakes. I could be wrong, but since they all behave this way, I believe it's a Chinese cultural thing to not publicly acknowledge potentially embarrassing things and keep it under wraps - at least until the uproar gets so loud that it can't be ignored, such as with battery fires.

[xiiijojjo]

So basically you shouldn't buy Begode Wheels unless you can get it from the likes of Ewheels or other distributers who actually provide support. 

Nothing new under the sun honestly. I'd still be riding today if only I had bought a Sherman instead of an RS19 back then...

Edited August 5 by xiiijojjo

[Bigkidneys]

I bought my A2 from EWheels and received the email others have mentioned.  However, I won't update the firmware right now because, A. I only have IOS devices and B. My wheel hasn't had any issues since I purchased it and as they say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  Especially when the manufacturer's software update process gives me panic attacks 

[anutheroneup]

14 hours ago, Bigkidneys said:

I bought my A2 from EWheels and received the email others have mentioned.  However, I won't update the firmware right now because, A. I only have IOS devices and B. My wheel hasn't had any issues since I purchased it and as they say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I agree with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", especially if your wheel is no longer under warranty.  This update situation seems to be for those who are concerned with the possibility of the control board malfunctioning when using the killswitch or power button and damaging the MOSFETs, and then not being covered by the manufacturers warranty.  If you read the very bottom of the detailed instruction notes, it says "Begode does not want to offer a manufactures warranty on this issue after August 10th 2024".  So, if your wheel is past the warranty date, then the "If it ain't broke" method is much more advisable.  But, if your wheel is still within the warranty period and/or you purchased from a reputable dealer, you may feel more comfortable doing firmware update that is advised because it's covered by warranty and service.  For the dealers (like eWheels, Alien Rides, NextGen, etc.) they probably don't want to have to deal with any more fried control boards than they need to, even under warranty, and so would advise the update to prevent it.   To me, anyone who bought a Begode wheel without going through a reputable dealer and may need to deal with Begode directly for a manufacturers warranty issue would be most concerned with this.  There are only four days left until August 10th, and after that this may all be a moot point.  I did the latest firmware update for my Begode wheel on an iOS device and everything went just fine for me fwiw.

[xiiijojjo]

Maybe sales have been low, so they thought it was a good time to mass-brick wheels to increase sales 

[UPONIT]

On 8/4/2024 at 10:19 AM, Steven Algoet said:

This is all based on a facebook post... No links to Begode. And posts says problem with kill switch and talks about the mTen4... there is no killswitch on that wheel...

well, actually... mine was based on an email from the dealer where i purchased my mten4, a reputable and very supportive dealer. 

there very much were many portions of the process that linked to, involved and were initiated from the begode website.

you are correct about the killswitch misdirect. but at least that mistake could just be ignored.

i'm usually not a manufacturer-basher (i think). but when an urgent fw update is pushed out, one has a right to expect the process to be fairly straightforward and not cause weird, inexplicable behavior in the wheel.

[anutheroneup]

If there were “damage to the MOSFETs on the motor drive board”, what would be the symptoms and how would I know?  Would the wheel stop working or not turn on?  Or would there be no noticeable difference until I was pushing the wheel to its limits and it would cut out sooner?  I was able to install the update but I’m wondering how I would know if there was MOSFET damage that compromised my wheel?

[Robse]

9 minutes ago, anutheroneup said:

If there were “damage to the MOSFETs on the motor drive board”, what would be the symptoms and how would I know?  Would the wheel stop working or not turn on?  Or would there be no noticeable difference until I was pushing the wheel to its limits and it would cut out sooner?  I was able to install the update but I’m wondering how I would know if there was MOSFET damage that compromised my wheel?

mosfets are either working or not working, where "not working" equals no throughput at all, or absolute shortcut. In both ways you will notice, smoke will come out (that's whats make them work 😉) and your wheel will not power on. If one ore more mosfets decide to stop working while riding, you will get hurt... However, to much heat at the pcb board can make solderings come loose, and the you can experience some weird behavior, aka; its working, no its not, yes...