BMPro Tablet Won't Respond

F350guy · 01-12-2023, 01:16 PM

I've sent a message to BMPro but thought I would ask here since BMPro seems to be a frequent issue. Mine is slowly blinking the BMPro logo but does not respond to touch or to the wake up procedure I found in the manual for it. It was working a month or so ago when I last looked. The only thing I can think of that might have caused the issue is this past weekend I disconnected my batteries for an hour or so while I installed a couple of new battery trays and hold downs.

ARoamer · 01-12-2023, 04:20 PM

Not had that issue, but from other posts I've read it may be your tablet's battery is discharged or bad and the power supply for it cannot supply enough to get it going. Try removing it and using a higher power charger.

Stan&Sharon · 01-12-2023, 07:41 PM

Did you try pushing the reset button? You know where to find the hole, just shine a flashlight up while you are below it... It's over on the right

F350guy · 01-12-2023, 10:53 PM

Pushed the reset button, took it off the wall and disconnected the power cord, no change. I'm still waiting on a response from BMPro. I checked the voltage from the batteries and it is 13.0 so that shouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure how to charge it. Is there a charge port somewhere? I didn't look when I had it out. I guess a phone charger will work if that is what is needed.

jetlag · 01-13-2023, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

Pushed the reset button, took it off the wall and disconnected the power cord, no change. I'm still waiting on a response from BMPro. I checked the voltage from the batteries and it is 13.0 so that shouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure how to charge it. Is there a charge port somewhere? I didn't look when I had it out. I guess a phone charger will work if that is what is needed.

The problem, as I understand it, and explained by TomC in another thread, is that the battery has gotten discharged for whatever reason, and the charger built in the tablet is weak. When the tablet tries to start and start the software at the same time, it doesn't have enough juice to do both, and reverts to the logo screen. Some here call this stuck in the boot loop.
In this thread I helped someone charge his with a similar issue. The caveat here is that it may fix it or not. If the battery has or is going bad, then a replacement will be needed. Post #189 I showed him how to remove and charge, with pictures to boot. Mine came back for a couple of weeks, maybe longer, and went back to the same boot loop. I recharged again, and it took it sometime to come back after reinstalling in camper. We are in Fla. now, over 700 miles from home, and so far so good. I did bring an Ipad wall charger just in case I need to tear apart again. i am still under warranty, and already mentioned it to the dealer before leaving on this trip.And yes, you will need a mini USB cable and a wall charger typically used to charge tablets, phones etc.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ter-70390.html

jetlag · 01-13-2023, 04:33 AM

Found this on a current thread, that explains the boot loop much better. Enjoy the reading lol.

Originally Posted by cmikal

It's doubtful that it needs replaced. The issue is a dead tablet battery combined with a weak or slow charging system that is providing external power to the tablet. The "boot loop" is caused by the tablet trying to automatically and continuously start up, which uses maximum processor power, which puts a big load on the dead battery, which isn't sufficiently charged to handle the processor load combined with a weak charging circuit that can't "juice" the battery quickly enough to allow the tablet to start.

Jayco/BMPro has modified the Android boot sequence to immediately and automatically try to start the tablet and load the BMPro software after a power failure so the user doesn't need to do anything. In theory, it's a good idea.....until you kill the tablet battery, then it becomes a horrible idea. The auto-reboot software modification essentially disables the on/off button so you can't shut the tablet off to allow it to charge the battery enough to run the tablet during bootup.

How do I know this? Because I took a standard off the shelf $40 tablet, and loaded the BMPro software on to it, and the Google Play version of the software does not modify the boot sequence. My standard tablet still acts like a standard tablet. I can turn it on and off. I can turn the BMPro software on and off. There is no auto-reboot on the Google Play download version.

If you get a really beefy charger that supplies 1.5 amps (1500ma) or more, and keep your tablet plugged in for several hours, maybe even overnight, it will eventually charge the battery enough to overcome the boot loop. If a 1.5 amp charger doesn't do the trick, use a bigger one (2 or 3 amps). The charging circuit in your trailer does not supply enough power to charge the battery in the tablet quickly enough to overcome the instantaneous power draw on bootup when the battery is 100% dead.

The real solution to this problem would be for Jayco to provide a more robust charging circuit to the tablet, which we both know, they won't do.

If you want to avoid the problem in the future, find a generic tablet that fits in the bezel, download BMPro on to it, and install the tablet back on to it's mounting bracket. BTW, the little hole in the bezel, commonly referred to as the "reset button", is nothing more than a hole that allows you to depress the power button on the side of the tablet. It's worthless for this situation since the tablet is already doing continuous resets all by itself.

The buttons underneath the tablet are a completely separate circuit board that communicates directly with the trailer. This circuit board feeds information to the tablet through the USB connector on the tablet (along with power to the tablet). You can remove the tablet and the buttons will still work, since the buttons connect directly to the trailer.

F350guy · 01-13-2023, 08:01 AM

Thanks, Jetlag. I'm not sure I understand everything cmikal says but I will try to do the charging. Yesterday when I was messing with trying to get it to come alive the off procedure did work as the logo scrolling quit. I will try turning it off for a few days before I take it down and see if maybe it will charge up.

This is our second tablet as the first one also died. I am open to going with something else but not sure what tablet would work. I know this one is Android but wouldn't know what to look for as a replacement. Maybe someone knows if they see this.

I like technology but I like tech that works and is dependable. I'm not so sure about the dependability part of BMPro. I know I can operate the systems in other ways and not having the tablet is not a fatal flaw. I want it to work for the convenience but don't like it being so dang finicky. Our traveling friends just bought a lightly used 2019 Entegra and the bed slide won't work. After a lot of work they discovered the slide button on the computerized control panel does not work. They came up with a work around so I guess we aren't the only ones with issues with rv technology.

jetlag · 01-13-2023, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

Thanks, Jetlag. I'm not sure I understand everything cmikal says but I will try to do the charging. Yesterday when I was messing with trying to get it to come alive the off procedure did work as the logo scrolling quit. I will try turning it off for a few days before I take it down and see if maybe it will charge up.

This is our second tablet as the first one also died. I am open to going with something else but not sure what tablet would work. I know this one is Android but wouldn't know what to look for as a replacement. Maybe someone knows if they see this.

I like technology but I like tech that works and is dependable. I'm not so sure about the dependability part of BMPro. I know I can operate the systems in other ways and not having the tablet is not a fatal flaw. I want it to work for the convenience but don't like it being so dang finicky. Our traveling friends just bought a lightly used 2019 Entegra and the bed slide won't work. After a lot of work they discovered the slide button on the computerized control panel does not work. They came up with a work around so I guess we aren't the only ones with issues with rv technology.

Sure sounds like BMPRO didn't test the tablets properly. It is a shame, as it works so well .

ARoamer · 01-13-2023, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetlag

Sure sounds like BMPRO didn't test the tablets properly. It is a shame, as it works so well .

Likely so and went cheap too....cheap
unless you buy a retail replacement from them.
Most decent tablet batteries last for many years.
Prevoius post on subject-

""Called BMPro about it and called Jayco.. $585 for a new tablet and control.panel... they don't sell the tablet separately. So I bought a 7 inch android tablet from am..Amazon... fits perfect..""

Stan&Sharon · 01-13-2023, 11:00 AM

See this thread and notice what member heath an write

Learjet · 01-13-2023, 06:12 PM

If you have the hard buttons below the tablet...you can cycle to off and press the ext button and the tablet seems to power down. Then press 1 to power on.

This is what i have done before I turn the batteries off...we need to get more info on this procedure....this might be what saves the battery when parked with no power...etc.

Roadpop · 01-13-2023, 06:20 PM

I had the same issue earlier this week. With a little coaching from Jetlag I finally got it off the wall and put it on another charger for 24 hours. No go - it would never come out of the boot up loop. Luckily our unit is still under warranty and after calls to BMPRO and Jayco i was able to take it to a dealer. They have a process they need to go thru to satisfy Jayco warranty claim and it should be replaced FOC. I was able to download the APP onto my phone and IPAD and have been using that for the last 7-10 days. Other than the missing tablet on the wall everything works exactly the same. My warranty expires in April so the plan is to find a cheap clone to have on hand in case it goes south again.

F350guy · 01-13-2023, 08:30 PM

Learjet, I did the off procedure this morning and I'm going to give it a couple of days to maybe charge. Probably won't work but we'll see.

Roadpop, taking it off to charge it is my next step. My 2 year warranty expired last May. I do have an extended service contract and we'll see if it is covered. I know they will do whatever not to pay but maybe I'll be surprised. Did your dealer want you to bring your rv in or can they get by with just the tablet?

Edutron · 01-13-2023, 11:58 PM

Replaced mine . Those original tablets can be had from China for about $35, no kidding.
You can find a tablet that will fit in the case perfectly, just be careful of where the plugin is. I replaced mine and all is well with a Vankyo MatrixPad 7, there are others that you can replace with having to make no modifications. Its all about the width, length and thickness of tablet and location of the micro-usb plugin for the harness. There is one drawback choosing this tablet - the microUSB plugin. The wire harness is about 1 - 1 1/2 inches too short and you will have to extend it by soldering 4 wire splices into it to extend the length of the small wire harness from the small circuit board (from node) to tablet. If you do, use heat shrink to insulate the soldered connections.

jetlag · 01-14-2023, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Learjet

If you have the hard buttons below the tablet...you can cycle to off and press the ext button and the tablet seems to power down. Then press 1 to power on.

This is what i have done before I turn the batteries off...we need to get more info on this procedure....this might be what saves the battery when parked with no power...etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

Learjet, I did the off procedure this morning and I'm going to give it a couple of days to maybe charge. Probably won't work but we'll see.

Roadpop, taking it off to charge it is my next step. My 2 year warranty expired last May. I do have an extended service contract and we'll see if it is covered. I know they will do whatever not to pay but maybe I'll be surprised. Did your dealer want you to bring your rv in or can they get by with just the tablet?

Can you explain this shutdown procedure for the tablet? Do you press a combination of buttons together?

F350guy · 01-14-2023, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetlag

Can you explain this shutdown procedure for the tablet? Do you press a combination of buttons together?

Use the arrow buttons at the bottom to scroll to OF. Press EXT and that will put it in standby mode, according to the instruction sheet I have. If I'm reading it correctly to wake it up you scroll to OF, press EXT then press the 1 button. You may be able to just press the 1 button but that is not clear in the instructions. Anyway, doing a repeat of the OF, EXT and then the 1 button did make it start it's scrolling again.

cadman_ks · 01-14-2023, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

Use the arrow buttons at the bottom to scroll to OF. Press EXT and that will put it in standby mode, according to the instruction sheet I have. If I'm reading it correctly to wake it up you scroll to OF, press EXT then press the 1 button. You may be able to just press the 1 button but that is not clear in the instructions. Anyway, doing a repeat of the OF, EXT and 1 buttons did make it start it's scrolling again.

I too would like to know more about this process, but I'm confused where these "buttons" are. How do you get to these buttons?

The only PHYSICAL buttons that our tablet has are: Power, Volume Up, Volume Down.

I can't think of any Android screen that has a scroll to OF, then EXT (which I'm assuming is EXIT), and then I'm assuming 1, would be yes.

Would like to know more about it, please!

Thanks!

F350guy · 01-14-2023, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadman_ks

I too would like to know more about this process, but I'm confused where these "buttons" are. How do you get to these buttons?

The only PHYSICAL buttons that our tablet has are: Power, Volume Up, Volume Down.

I can't think of any Android screen that has a scroll to OF, then EXT (which I'm assuming is EXIT), and then I'm assuming 1, would be yes.

Would like to know more about it, please!

Thanks!

You may not have a control panel with the analog type buttons at the bottom. I think I saw a while back that they were not available for maybe a while. We use them alot, especially for the slides and awnings. You can also control some lights and water pump with the numbered buttons. Kind of a fail safe thing I guess.

Roadpop · 01-14-2023, 08:20 AM

Well it’s complicated- I’m in Florida for 3 months and taking the Rv in was not possible. The first dealer I called insisted I bring the Rv in and oh by the way their first appt was in April. So I just showed up at the next dealer with the tablet in hand and the emails from Bmpro and Jayco. Figured it was harder for them to turn me down face to face vs over the phone. Good luck

cadman_ks · 01-14-2023, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

You may not have a control panel with the analog type buttons at the bottom. I think I saw a while back that they were not available for maybe a while. We use them alot, especially for the slides and awnings. You can also control some lights and water pump with the numbered buttons. Kind of a fail safe thing I guess.

OH, I totally misunderstood the whole thing. I thought that we were talking ABOUT the tablet, thinking the tablet was removed, and this was the process that you are going through to out it in sleep mode.

It is the BMPRO housing buttons!

I don't have the manual with me at the moment, but I don't remember seeing that procedure in the manual. I'll have to look for that.

THANK YOU for this clarification! That was very helpful!

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