ION8650 Changing Settings in ION Setup Issue

[drevaneb]

Good day everyone!

I'm having an issue whenever I tried to change the basic settings in one of my company's ION8650 meter. I'm successfully being logged in to the meter (via ION Setup) by using the default supervisor as the user and 0 as the password. The problem is, whenever I fill in 0 everytime I tried to change basic settings via ION Setup, the Failed to authenticate window will be popped out, hence, I can't make any changes to the meters.

I've also attached the video regarding this Issue. I hope there's solution to this problem.

Best regards,

[Tom_Stevenson]

Hi - a couple of quick observations.

(1) the login of "supervisor" has no relationship to the meter you are communicating with.  It is the login for the ION Setup software.

(2) when you are prompted for the meter password in the video, are you confident you are entering the correct password?  Again, it is not the supervisor user password - this is only for ION Setup login

Thanks to confirm (2)

Tom

[drevaneb]

Hi Tom!

1. I thought that the supervisor is the same login as the meter, thank you for the information.

2. I'm sure that I was entering the correct password, because I never made any changes regarding the user on the meter (still using the default). The meter is located on remote power plant and used as transactional energy meter (the distance is more than 800km from my office). 

Based on your explanation, I'm afraid someone has tried to change the password of the meter.

Is there anything that I can do for the meter remotely?

Or shall I push the master reset button? If I do this, will the user and password of the meter will go back to default setting again?

[Robert_Lee]

The initial login dialog after launching the software is for the ION Setup security (since you've selected Power User).  Assuming you never change the user settings, the default combination will be always supervisor with the a password of 0 (zero).

Now most of of ION devices have two different types of meter security.  Standard which has a user configurable numeric password (0 to 99999999) or Advanced security (which has a login of User1 to User50 (typically) and either an 8 digit numeric password or 6 character one.

By the looks of it the device is no longer in the factory default settings (which is what we likely recommend that the user does *not* leave the device in once installed). It is likely someone rightfully decided to modify the password since its been installed so I would recommend you contact whoever installed the device to find out what password they set the device to.

If you do not know this password any longer (or no body else does as well), on the ION8650 there is a security reset procedure (it requires the removal of the front cover of the device) which is stated in the ION8650 User Guide.

[drevaneb]

The existing security setting on the meter is Standard Setting. Previously on months ago I successfully managed to change the meter setting from ION Setup by using the 0 as meter password. I've also received confirmation from technician and engineer on the meter installation site that no Password modification has been done (still using the default 0 password).

Referring to your suggestion, I've tried in on my ION8600 in our metering lab and it only reset the recorded log and data on meter's memory. I tried to change the lab meter password from 0 (default) into 1 and then I pushed the master reset button, it only reset the recorded log and data on meter's memory. 

Is there any suggestion?

Thank you for your kind advice

[Charles_Murison]

Hello @drevaneb,

When resetting the front panel password, be sure the meter is in test mode first. Then press and hold the ALT/ENTER button then press and hold the demand reset button.

Regards,

Charles

[Robert_Lee · Accepted solution]

I believe the security reset procedure is as follow on the ION8650:

1.  Remove the optical front cover of the device to gain access to gain access to the Test Mode button located under the cover.
2.  Press the Test mode button.  The front panel display will flash "Test" in the bottom right corner beside a count down timer (this is how long the meter will stay in Test mode unless the button is pressed again to toggle it out of test mode).

3.  Hold the Alt/Enter button and then simultaneously press the Demand Reset button.  The front panel display should show "Password Reset... Hold to Continue".  Hold both buttons until the the Hold to Continue text switches to "Password reset to default".
4.  Press the test mode button again to take the device out of Test mode and back into Normal mode.
5.  Place the cover back onto the device.

This should reset the ION8650 back into Standard Security with a front panel password of 0 (zero).

The ION8600 has a similar reset mechanism except if the device is already in Advanced Security, it will *remain* in Advanced Security thus if you do not know the individual user passwords, this does not help gain access to the device (which is why we changed the procedure to also reset the security mode in the ION8650).

However, watching the video again I see that the meter is HARDWARE locked.  This likely means that some items will not be allowed to be modified regardless of whether the proper credentials have been entered.

I would suggest you attempt to modify something as simple as one of the Com3 protocol which is for the front panel optical (assuming you are *not* using the optical port to talk to the device) to see if that can be modified with a password of 0 (zero).

Also, I suggest you make sure you've installed the latest ION Setup version from the following location:

https://www.se.com/ww/en/download/document/ION_Setup_Latest_Release/

[ClementP_Bralex]

I have the same problem. Did you find a solution ? Thank you

[DanL]

please note that "master reset" feature does NOT affect security settings, but only normal revenue registers and all logs.

the sequence to reset the security and password for the ION8650 is different and as explained above (this does not change the supervisor password for the PC's installation of ION Setup)

[drevaneb]

Thank you very much for your answer, this had solved the problem

[Daniela24]

hello, how do you solved it?

[Charles_Murison]

Hello @Daniela24 ,

With ION8650 meters, and later versions of firmware, it is possible to reset the meter's security. This requires being able to put the meter into test mode (remove front cover). Refer to Rob's post, marked as solution or refer to ION8650 user guide under password reset.

If resetting password does not help, recommend contacting technical support.

Regards,

Charles

[Liangchen1982]

Hello, I am facing the same issue now, we have some ION8650s failed to authenticate. 

one question: when I follow the steps of Rob's post to reset the meter's password, will any information in the meter be losing? 

[Charles_Murison]

Hello @Liangchen1982 

The steps to reset the password only change the security settings on the meter. Everything else will stay the same.

Regards,

Charles

[Liangchen1982]

what if the meter was hardware locked, can I still reset the meter's password using this reset procedure?

[Charles_Murison]

Hello @Liangchen1982 ,

HW locked meters need to be put in test mode, to put HW locked meters in test mode, you have to remove the cover. If Meter is sealed, would need to break the seal.

Regards,
Charles

[Liangchen1982]

Hello, I went to the password procedure this morning, reset the meter's password to default. however, when trying to connect in IONsetup, and using the default password "0", it is still "fail to authenticate".  Any thoughts on this?

[Liangchen1982]

Additional info:

ION8650 firmware version 4.20.1

IONsetup version: 3.2.23249.01

[Charles_Murison]

Sadly, V4.20.1, the front panel reset was broken. Fixed in V4.21.0. Meter could be retuned for password reset. However will completely wipe the meter.

Regards,

Charles