Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Royal2000H
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:03 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby Royal2000H Tue Dec 01, 2020 11:32 pm

I bought 3 of these. 2 of them have oem green boards, 1 has a purple clone. I was able to flash the 2 boards via ST-Link successfully which unlocked bluetooth flashing capability and speed to 20mph among other things. I tried flashing the clone but bricked it and can't find the original firmware for it yet to reflash. I'll probably end up buying an oem.

You just need an $8 st-link v2 usb adapter from amazon and some basic soldering skills.
Do the OEM green vs purple clone have any difference in Bluetooth behavior? Ie does bluetooth connect out of the box on one and not the other?

Trying to figure if there's a way to know what dash we have before we even disassemble the scooter
CDogg
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:08 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby CDogg Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:19 am

I bought 3 of these. 2 of them have oem green boards, 1 has a purple clone. I was able to flash the 2 boards via ST-Link successfully which unlocked bluetooth flashing capability and speed to 20mph among other things. I tried flashing the clone but bricked it and can't find the original firmware for it yet to reflash. I'll probably end up buying an oem.

You just need an $8 st-link v2 usb adapter from amazon and some basic soldering skills.
Do the OEM green vs purple clone have any difference in Bluetooth behavior? Ie does bluetooth connect out of the box on one and not the other?

Trying to figure if there's a way to know what dash we have before we even disassemble the scooter
I've been offering free tech support to anyone that wants to text me. It's just easier for me than using my shop laptop. I did just help another person with the purple clone pcb dash. The ble module is integrated in the board so its all one piece- vs the OEM green pcb dash which has the ble module soldered to the main pcb. This changes the procedure for updating the firmware on this scooter. If you have a green pcb dash, you can easily remove the C15 capacitor located near the outer edge, and you should have full bluetooth connectivity. The C15 cap locks the factory settings and prevents changing the settings.
Don't try this on the purple dash if you have it. It could be a totally different setup and removing any capacitor will most likely result in a bricked dash.

If you have a purple pcb dash, or just can't connect using any apps, you'll definitely need a swap with a pre-loaded dash. Not just activated- this will only work after you flash your own firmware using Xiaoflasher or something. But if you install a pre-loaded dash with 20mph firmware, light control, etc... then you'll have full control of your scooter.. most likely.. pending that the ESC doesn't need to be flashed as well.. which is a total possibility on these Bird scooters. But you should just need a dash swap (which has been my experience so far..lol)
Anyway, text me and I'll shed more light on this for you guys.. 801-810-8838 for free tech support
ScootScooter
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:12 pm

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby ScootScooter Wed Dec 02, 2020 12:39 am

I bought 3 of these. 2 of them have oem green boards, 1 has a purple clone. I was able to flash the 2 boards via ST-Link successfully which unlocked bluetooth flashing capability and speed to 20mph among other things. I tried flashing the clone but bricked it and can't find the original firmware for it yet to reflash. I'll probably end up buying an oem.

You just need an $8 st-link v2 usb adapter from amazon and some basic soldering skills.
Do the OEM green vs purple clone have any difference in Bluetooth behavior? Ie does bluetooth connect out of the box on one and not the other?

Trying to figure if there's a way to know what dash we have before we even disassemble the scooter
It's pretty quick to remove the dash, so I'd just go ahead and look. I do have a hunch that ones that had purple boards work with BT out of the box and the issue is with the green boards.
Royal2000H
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:03 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby Royal2000H Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:42 am

I've been offering free tech support to anyone that wants to text me.
I appreciate the offer. I think we all would love to just have the info out here and build on it for future Googlers too. I assume you offer the free support because you're probably also selling pre-flashed boards, which is fine. But I'd love to just get the info out here.
It's pretty quick to remove the dash, so I'd just go ahead and look. I do have a hunch that ones that had purple boards work with BT out of the box and the issue is with the green boards.
Yea looks not too bad to take it out. Problem is I don't have any T25 security bits handy, so I have to get one of those. In the meantime I was curious if we knew whether I needed a new dash vs an ST-Link. May just get the dash anyway (like you) in order to skip soldering, etc.
ScootScooter
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:12 pm

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby ScootScooter Wed Dec 02, 2020 1:54 am

I've been offering free tech support to anyone that wants to text me.
I appreciate the offer. I think we all would love to just have the info out here and build on it for future Googlers too. I assume you offer the free support because you're probably also selling pre-flashed boards, which is fine. But I'd love to just get the info out here.
It's pretty quick to remove the dash, so I'd just go ahead and look. I do have a hunch that ones that had purple boards work with BT out of the box and the issue is with the green boards.
Yea looks not too bad to take it out. Problem is I don't have any T25 security bits handy, so I have to get one of those. In the meantime I was curious if we knew whether I needed a new dash vs an ST-Link. May just get the dash anyway (like you) in order to skip soldering, etc.
Mine comes on Friday, I'm going to update the wiki on SD if it works out.
Bird Brain
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:04 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby Bird Brain Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:09 am

I fried my control board. Was riding at 15mph, hit the ebrake, then the front wheel locked up permanently. Front wheel feels like the brake is engaged fully even when powered off. Disconnecting the battery connectors releases the front brake, so I'm sure the solder traces or mosfets are fried. I filed a warranty claim so let's see how this goes. Scoot is completely stock.
shadowaero
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:55 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby shadowaero Wed Dec 02, 2020 2:13 am

So i decided to take Cory of Muvmotion.com up on his offer. First he spent probably 20 minutes guiding me on how to take apart my es-4 to get the dashboard out. He is shipping me a pre-flashed OEM dashboard (taken from a scrapped scooter. He is very reasonable so ask him if you need something. Surprisingly my Walmart ES4 came with a purple dashboard which is unusual. Maybe refurbisher put in a clone for some reason. I will let you know about how it works once I receive it. I live in Florida so it will be a few days before I receive it.
ScootScooter
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:12 pm

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby ScootScooter Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:13 am

I fried my control board. Was riding at 15mph, hit the ebrake, then the front wheel locked up permanently. Front wheel feels like the brake is engaged fully even when powered off. Disconnecting the battery connectors releases the front brake, so I'm sure the solder traces or mosfets are fried. I filed a warranty claim so let's see how this goes. Scoot is completely stock.
Were you going downhill? This is a known issue with the electronic brakes.
ScootScooter
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:12 pm

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby ScootScooter Wed Dec 02, 2020 3:15 am

So i decided to take Cory of Muvmotion.com up on his offer. First he spent probably 20 minutes guiding me on how to take apart my es-4 to get the dashboard out. He is shipping me a pre-flashed OEM dashboard (taken from a scrapped scooter. He is very reasonable so ask him if you need something. Surprisingly my Walmart ES4 came with a purple dashboard which is unusual. Maybe refurbisher put in a clone for some reason. I will let you know about how it works once I receive it. I live in Florida so it will be a few days before I receive it.
There is a very detailed video on YT that shows you how to disassemble the ESx scooters. Also, not unusual with these renewed ones, there seems to be a mixed bag of purple and green boards. 2 of mine came with it.
Billybobthor
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:25 am

Re: Walmart Special ES4 Advice!

Postby Billybobthor Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:30 am

Some interesting parts you can have printed
https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=Es ... t=relevant

I was hoping for one to replace the square bar and turn to flush, I couldn't find it though

Mud flap seems like a necessity if you're using this as a commuter

Return to “Ninebot ES and E-series”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests