Wasn’t sure where to enter this as I haven’t a clue if it’s a f/w, s/w or h/w issue (probably not the latter).
Running s/w 2.4.2-alpha, f/w 515. I’d finished a roast ok and cycled back to pre-heat with the PRS button. I needed to get the s/w ready to roast so, after logging the previous roast, I selected Roast (left panel icon) and clicked on Pre-heat. After awhile I realized that it was taking a long time to get back to temp then saw that the roaster was in Shutdown mode. Apparently the roaster had gone from Preheat (selected with PRS) to Shutdown when I selected Pre-heat in RoasTime.
There were error codes, presumably entered before I started the first roast:
28674, 1
28672, 57671
28673, 40564
As I said, the first roast seemed to be fine and I was surprised there were codes in the log.
After that 2nd roast the Error Log read:
28674, 1
28672, 57671
28673, 40564
18, 0
17, 0
The 2nd roast seems to have gone OK and I also did a 3rd roast. Just seems odd that Pre-heat would cycle to Shutdown when the s/w re-selected Pre-heat (the only way to get into the roast screen).
Not sure what to point at. Had I realized errors had been logged I would have cycled the power to reset the f/w. Guess that’s something to add to the check list.
I hafta say, the only way that I’d be willing to live on the “bleeding edge” of Aillio Firmware and Software would be if they gave me a 2nd Bullet just for testing. When I read about these consequences of testing for Aillio on a production machine, there is no way I’m doing this stuff and also need to roast on the same machine.
I’ll be the first to admit your position sounds like a good perspective at the moment!
Yes, f/w reload is on the to-do list. T-storm this afternoon and I roast outside, so I unplugged for the day. Looks like monsoons may be starting, so roasting will be iffy for 3+ months.
Btw, this is the 2nd time I’ve used this f/w + s/w combo. The more I think about it the more I think a power-on reset would have worked… if I had known. Checking the Error Log before starting a roast is my latest new lesson. Falls in the “flakey” category.
Having done it many times, I get all the reasons for being a willing “test subject” of software and hardware alpha/beta releases for a manufacturer. For the Bullet though, it can mean wasted time, frustration, not being able to roast coffee until a fix is made and loss of money for roasts that have to be discarded. In that scenario, I feel that Aillio needs to be a lot more thorough with their own testing and/or pay people to be beta test subjects. Having free test subjects (aka invested customers) who can lose time, money and production doesn’t encourage me to participate in their betas for this particular product.
So, I’m on older firmware and using Artisan 2.0 which IMO does a much better job of interfacing with users on problems. At least with Artisan, I can see what has been reported on GitHub and read what they are doing about it. I’d actually love to have all the newest “bells and whistles” from Aillio firmware and software. But frankly, I don’t see enough response to standard user problems here and even less formal attention to those that are willing to help Aillio wade through development. That concerns me quite a bit at present.
I used to be just like you when roasting on my home-made gas roaster. Roasting outdoors and dealing with wind, rain, summer heat, cold, mosquitoes…you name it. I never really liked roasting under conditions where I might not be able to do it (when I needed to roast). It also resulted in having to buy other local retail roasts at a higher cost and lesser quality. The Aillio Bullet is just about perfect for those that can setup indoors to roast and evacuate smoke/odor. I roast in my basement and it is such a pleasure to just go to my roasting station and roast away in comfort.
I think a change log for the firmware releases (and also RoasTime) would go a long way to helping "do I really need this " decisions. In my corner of software world, we sometimes push out a fix for a specific situation at a specific customer so we advise the general population it’s irrelevant to them…
If we don’t know what changed in FW515, how can we do anything but flip the coin and install it hoping it might fix something we don’t know about without disabling something that works.
Aillio is already using GitHub so the tools are there…
There is a stark difference though between Aillio and Artisan on GitHub. As you pointed out, Aillio needs to maintain a “change log”, but doesn’t seem to understand that one is needed. We have brought that particular need here many times and it just gets ignored by Aillio which escapes logic (for me).
The “Russian-roulette” method of providing Allio customers with Firmware and Software is an immature software development practice. To me, it indicates an inexperienced company that doesn’t really grasp the basics and importance of release management for a product. I just wonder at what point they will get it together or even acknowledge the problem with this stuff?
I used my RK drum when we lived in Santa Fe and did more than 1 roast in crap weather (7,000’ elev, southern Rockies). When I finally accepted that 20 deg F stalled the roast I was fortunate to have Aroma Roast (from nearby Albequerque) available for a commercial alternative. Desert roasting is much easier even with frequent 100+ deg summer days!
I’m not averse to participating in development as a beta tester if-
I know what has changed and
I can back up into a previous f/w version (s/w is reversible if you d/l from GitHub)
So I agree with the suggestions from you & Stuart (and others). Participating in ignorance is an outdated construct.
