i-Series CPU Board (CPUB) Issues: Diagnosis and Repair Solution

[stronghold]

can you elaborate a bit more on these two points please?

To my great regret, I can't explain here how exactly it's done because this information isn't publicly available. Konica Minolta insists that the board must be replaced—so technically, that's what you're supposed to do.

I don’t mean to sound tactless, but if you turn to Google, you can find all the necessary information if you spend some time searching.

I’ll help you with that!

First, study what an SPI Flash is and what it looks like.

image.png

[tsbservice]

To my great regret, I can't explain here how exactly it's done because this information isn't publicly available. Konica Minolta insists that the board must be replaced—so technically, that's what you're supposed to do.

I don’t mean to sound tactless, but if you turn to Google, you can find all the necessary information if you spend some time searching.

I’ll help you with that!

First, study what an SPI Flash is and what it looks like.

image.png

Understandable. I don't think you are asking too much when KM changes 500$ for CPUB or Storage board and someone spent countless hours studying and finding resolutions asked a fraction of big corporation prices for that labour. It's fair price for time and knowledge at least to me.
Thanks stronghold

[adecanmin]

So it looks as though we can purchase a 128GB Kingston Canvas microSD Class10 UHS-I U3 (V30) and flash it with the appropriate firmware and the machine will work. I turn off the sleep mode. Looks like a bunch more work to that function to work properly.

[kingarthur]

Thanks for sharing your experience with that much details. So based on your findings do you think we should start updating CPU1, CPU2 and BootRom on all devices as routine?

Just out of interest, I thought I'd try updating CPU1, CPU2 and Bootrom. I'm lucky that I have a couple of scrap devices that I can play around with. CPU1 updated and restarted ok, CPU2 updated....and just keeps rebooting.....

[tsbservice]

Just out of interest, I thought I'd try updating CPU1, CPU2 and Bootrom. I'm lucky that I have a couple of scrap devices that I can play around with. CPU1 updated and restarted ok, CPU2 updated....and just keeps rebooting.....

Thank you for that I know why you're posting it.
Let me say we did updated power control CPU2 firmware many times as well with boot rom as precaution to C5372.
Never bricked something... knock on wood I know but I never hesitate to jump on new solutions
But if CPU board is already corrupt for example SPI flash is bad then CPU2 update may goes wrong way as per your experience and stronghold mentioned also the same.
It's interesting topic and good that many techs may contribute here.

[Slammers]

Just out of interest, I thought I'd try updating CPU1, CPU2 and Bootrom. I'm lucky that I have a couple of scrap devices that I can play around with. CPU1 updated and restarted ok, CPU2 updated....and just keeps rebooting.....

Can confirm we experienced the same symptom last week. FW, CPU1 worked fine, CPU2 updated then it was stuck in a boot loop. Wouldnt recognise USB, removing the NVMe made no difference.

Had to swap the CPU-B to resurrect the machine.

[occus]

Can confirm we experienced the same symptom last week. FW, CPU1 worked fine, CPU2 updated then it was stuck in a boot loop. Wouldnt recognise USB, removing the NVMe made no difference.

Had to swap the CPU-B to resurrect the machine.

Okay, what's recommended now? Should I update or not? I don't want to spend my money repairing contract machines that might have to last another 1-2 years.
I haven't had a single overheating incident so far.

Thanks for your opinions.

[Slammers]

Okay, what's recommended now? Should I update or not? I don't want to spend my money repairing contract machines that might have to last another 1-2 years.
I haven't had a single overheating incident so far.

Thanks for your opinions.

That is a good question and I can't really advise as it all depends on your own environment and fleet.
In my fleet, this was the only machine that has ever needed a new CPU-B and it was due to me poking at it with the CPU FW, so take that information as you wish....

Bear in mind, that there are separate SW Switches you can set that will adjust the CPU fan behavior. These do not require messing with the BOOT/CPU1/CPU2, just make sure you are on the latest FW available.

From what I have seen the CPU/BOOT updates were mostly to do with issues with the NVMes and the Boot Diagnosis bulletin if your machine was unresponsive. I think my course of action will be to ensure that my machines are on GC2-RF and then I will modify the following SW Switches for CPU fan adjustments:

With the lastest GC2 RF you can set SW 159 to 0 (FAN OFF) THEN set 187 to hex 40 to spin it at half speed. Full details are in the FW bulletin included in the FW release.
If you just set 159 to BIT 7 the fan runs at 100% all the time - this is loud but may be OK in a factory environment if you need more cooling. You have to make sure that 187 is 0 if wanting it at 100% - from here:

2. C5372 (CPU temperature failure) occurs during the low power or the sleep mode.
As a countermeasure, please change software SW to work the FAN at half speed during Low Power and Sleep mode after applying this firmware.
-------------------------------------------------
A function to work the CPU FAN at half speed during low power and sleep mode.
Software SW No. 187 (bit6)
Hex: 00 (Disable [default]) FAN stops in low power/sleep mode.
Hex: 40 (Enable) FAN works at half speed in low power/sleep mode.
-------------------------------------------------

When using this function, the following software SW must be disabled
-------------------------------------------------

A function to work the CPU FAN at full speed during low power and sleep mode.
Software SW No. 159 (bit7)
Disable : FAN stops in low power/sleep mode.
Enable : FAN works at full speed in low power/sleep mode.

[KMFLT3CH]

Okay, what's recommended now? Should I update or not? I don't want to spend my money repairing contract machines that might have to last another 1-2 years.
I haven't had a single overheating incident so far.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[tsbservice]

Can confirm we experienced the same symptom last week. FW, CPU1 worked fine, CPU2 updated then it was stuck in a boot loop. Wouldnt recognise USB, removing the NVMe made no difference.

Had to swap the CPU-B to resurrect the machine.

As I already said we did many updates with special firmware. It always does bootrom at first and then CPU2 updates and we never bricked CPUB in such way. We did it because KM said so plus some other measures like running cpu fan half/full speed in sleep mode to prevent CPub overheating. Prevention is key.

[Slammers]

As I already said we did many updates with special firmware. It always does bootrom at first and then CPU2 updates and we never bricked CPUB in such way. We did it because KM said so plus some other measures like running cpu fan half/full speed in sleep mode to prevent CPub overheating. Prevention is key.

100%. I do Kyocera and they won't even speak to you about a machine unless you've updated everything to latest.
I was just adding my experience for Kingarthur as we have seen the same thing. Working machine - >Update CPU2 - > Dead Machine

[femaster]

The attached, recently released, Tech Bulletin from KM US sounds like it should answer some questions for those that are having problems.

It doesn't mention anything about a CPU1 update as some have commented about, only a CPU2 update. Perhaps CPU1 is in the EU only? We also do not have anything in the firmware download area that contains any CPU1 updates.

In any case, it states to NOT update the CPU2 unless you are receiving the overheat service code. It also states that depending on your current level of firmware, you have to do the update in a certain order or you risk bricking your CPUB resulting in a no boot situation requiring the replacement of the CPUB.

We've never had any overheat issues with any of the A3 model machines, but have had a few of the A4s. As of right now, we do not update that A3 machine with the CPU2 update, but do update all our A4 machines. It's not worth the risk for us to have to replace a CPUB in one of tiny piles of crap, so it's done as a preventive measure to makes sure there aren't any problems with them.

[Slammers]

The attached, recently released, Tech Bulletin from KM US sounds like it should answer some questions for those that are having problems.

It doesn't mention anything about a CPU1 update as some have commented about, only a CPU2 update. Perhaps CPU1 is in the EU only? We also do not have anything in the firmware download area that contains any CPU1 updates.

In any case, it states to NOT update the CPU2 unless you are receiving the overheat service code. It also states that depending on your current level of firmware, you have to do the update in a certain order or you risk bricking your CPUB resulting in a no boot situation requiring the replacement of the CPUB.

We've never had any overheat issues with any of the A3 model machines, but have had a few of the A4s. As of right now, we do not update that A3 machine with the CPU2 update, but do update all our A4 machines. It's not worth the risk for us to have to replace a CPUB in one of tiny piles of crap, so it's done as a preventive measure to makes sure there aren't any problems with them.

Interesting read.

The CPU1 -> CPU2 -> Boot ROM installation order that I have came from one of the SSD Recovery / No Boot Up bulletins, nothing to do with CPU Overheat.

For me, I am not touching the CPU1 or CPU2 updates unelss I get any CPU overheat related codes.
Hopefully the fan speed SW in low power mode is enough to prevent any issues which only requries the FW.

Thank you for that info, have added it to the long list of quirky iSeries documentation.

[Sebulbabobi]

Greetings to everyone on this forum.
I want to share a significant observation about i-series.
Based on my repair experience, I have currently restored CPUB boards from various models with different i-series symptoms. I can confidently state that 90% of unexplained problems are related specifically to this board.

Symptoms:

• Doesn't wake from sleep mode
• Boots to 25%
• Boots to 50%
• E301 error
• Random reboots
• Incorrect time display
• MANY OTHER SYMPTOMS UNRELATED TO MECHANICS

Let me start from the beginning...
05.2022 - The first board that came into my hands was from bizhub C257i. Symptoms: Doesn't wake from sleep mode. Only resolved by unplugging the 220V power, and after a few weeks, it completely stopped booting and froze at 25% loading.
The firmware installed was G00-P8. (!!!Attention!!! At that time there was no solution yet for flashing CPU1, CPU2, BootRom).
At that time, there was only the GX-** service tool for diagnosing boot issues with SPI-FLASH and SSD (microSD) board. Running the Service Tool, it showed me that SSD - NG (Change SSD). Checking Infohub, I found document "RFKM_BT 22 13707 EN" which states "The specification of PHISON and KIOXIA storage boards will be changed from 96 layer to 112 layer due to EOL of supplier around July 2022."

All attempts to unbind the Encryption Key were unsuccessful. The SSD was only visible in READ ONLY mode.
For SSD testing ideas, I decided to install a MicroSD card and flash it with the current (at that time) firmware. When removing the SSD, I saw that I had a PHISON 256GB 64 layer installed. After spending more time searching for information, I came across bulletin 06.2021 "KBA00048401". I'll describe briefly: It says that if you have a 64 layer SSD installed, you need to upgrade the Storage Controller firmware from E8FT10.7(G01-07) to E8FT10.8(G01-08). The bulletin states that for this procedure, I need to download firmware FW_ACM10Y0-F000-GXX-02.

Downloaded, installed according to the manual - the device wrote OK and requested a reboot. Armed with the GX-** service tool, I again tried to unbind the Encryption Key from the SSD to make it exit Read Only mode, but all without success.
Decided to switch the device to MicroSD.
Purchased a 128GB Kingston Canvas microSD Class10 UHS-I U3 (V30). Installed it in the device (pre-formatted as FAT32) and tried to flash. The firmware installed without problems and the device started. It gave an error (I don't remember which now) = Solution: In Service Mode -> System 2 - HDD - select MicroSD. The device booted with a Recovery error, I confirmed the Recovery procedure and voila, the device works!
But the funniest thing is that the problem with the device not waking from Sleep Mode - WAS NOT SOLVED!!!
Everything I tried... Firmware replacement, MicroSD replacement.... Many manipulations I performed until I gave up and ordered a new CPUB and new NVMe.
So, the non-working board was in my hands. Putting it ASIDE, I worked on current repairs. About a year passed, I came across this information.... Problem Solution PSKM_BT2313872EN "System clock of MFP Service Mode loses 80 seconds by updating Other FW"
The procedure is:

1. Connect the USB memory to the USB port and start firmware update.
2. When Firmware Update screen is displayed, enter magic sequence code.
3. Select [Other FW Update] > [Power Control CPU1] and start update.
4. Confirm that MFP restarts normally.
5. Update [Power Control CPU2] and [Boot Rom] as well.

Finding that old board, I TRIED to update all these points.
CPU1 flashed normally, CPU2 flashed normally... Started flashing BootRom - the device immediately rebooted, although at the end of flashing it should itself ask you to power off/on the MFP.
Trying to start the device - it showed no signs of life, EXCEPT for the mechanical part controlled by the Control Board, which has nothing to do with CPUB startup.
LET'S examine the CPUB board design. Noticed that the board has 3 SPI flash chips installed.
Since the board was non-functional in my hands, the SPI flash, installed it on the programmer and tried to do read/write.
Read - works
Write - goes into short circuit, meaning SPI flash read only status.
These SPI have read/write limits. If the limit is exceeded, SPI goes into read only mode.
After some manipulations, I replaced the SPI flash and.... OH MY GOD, the CPUB board started up and allowed updating CPU1, CPU2, BootRom.
I didn't stop there... Installing the old NVMe 64 layer, I tried to reset the encryption key and.... SUCCESS again awaited me!
After this, we urgently began installing updates across the entire i-series.
At this point, I have RESTORED over 20 boards, and CPUB replacement was not required.

Hello! I'd like to share my experience with a Ineo +257i that exhibited the same symptoms (it couldn't exit sleep mode, screen freeze and shut downby itself (no errors in service mode) and could only be restarted by unplugging it). The first problems appeared about a year ago, specifically the equipment getting stuck at 25% during boot-up. At that time, the solution was to replace the SSD and flash firmware version ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RB. Everything worked OK until last month, when the client called to say the equipment wouldn't wake up and had to be unplugged!

In the meantime, I discovered this topic and also tried to start the equipment with an SD card. I put an SD card in the equipment and flashed the same firmware version ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RB. The equipment started normally, but the same issue with waking from sleep mode remained. I then reinstalled its original SSD and flashed the latest mass production firmware, namely ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RF-2, and the problem with waking from sleep disappeared... I rewrote the initial firmware ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RB and the defect reappeared!!! I then put the latest Mass Production Firmware ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RF-2 back on, and the equipment is functioning without any problems waking up normally...Any thoughts on this?

[stronghold]

I rewrote the initial firmware ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RB and the defect reappeared!!! I then put the latest Mass Production Firmware ACM10Y0-F231-G00-RF-2 back on, and the equipment is functioning without any problems waking up normally...Any thoughts on this?

Have you updated the firmware of the SPI FLASH? CPU1, CPU2 and Boot ROM?
The update procedure is described in this post. LINK