Home Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Otis Gen2 mod controller lock out

Has any one seen a Gen2 that's been locked out so when you plug in your blue tool you only get " 1 ocss" and "2 Mcss" options? The doors and drive options are gone and the ocss and Mcss options are limited and different then normal. All testing has to be done through the unique procedures books and you have to punch in 4 digit codes for each test. 6 months ago the controller was completely normal and when you plugged the blue tool in you had all 4 options; ocss,Mcss dcss,dbss. But when Otis lost the contract they some how locked those menus out.
Im hoping someone knows how to unlock it and put it back the way it was. I would greatly appreciate someone's help and inputs

Sounds like the customer needs to threaten lawsuit if they don't come fix it

Im saying this for building owners that read on here. Its so critical that before you even hint to your elevator company (if they're one of the big 4) that they're about to loose the contract, you must secure your building! Take prints out of machine room, make copies of them, change the key to the machine room or otherwise control access to the building. As absolutely ridiculous and disturbing stories like this are, they're also preventable. Its like preparing to leave an abusive relationship. Get your ducks in a row before you open your mouth

I know they were talking about this type of lock out in like 2016 but I never saw them actually do it. so that leads me to believe it can be undone

I think you just need to plug into the other port. Or plug right into the board

The other port above the maintenance port I think is the installation port. I tried that but it didn't give me anything useful

It doesn't look like they changed out the ribbon going from the board to the plug on the top of the controller or maintenance plug itself. But they could have been sneaky and added something in that extension ribbon or plug

Talked to one Otis guy who said that they're being told it's new software that will only talk to OEM Otis blue tools and that the knock off blue tools will no longer have access to the full menus

I do not know what current OEM maintenance contracts say, but I wonder whether there is some question about software licensing, upgrades during the contract period, including “upgrades” that restrict service/diagnostic tool access more than was present when the elevators were first installed or put under maintenance (possibly under the guise of “fixing problems”).

Building owners probably don’t have any way to make a copy of the as-sold software, or the ability to revert back to it if they wanted to. I imagine there’s legalese that is buried in the contracts that few people read carefully enough to understand the full impact, but which probably favors the OEM.

Any sort of behavior “on the way out the door” that leaves the elevators unmaintainable by others seems ethically and legally questionable, but until there’s a case before a court of law that successfully calls this out and awards damages for the building owner, creating a legal precedent, it may be an uphill battle against an multi-billion-dollar OEM with all the legal power on their side.

There has been rumor in my area of the software change that now the service tool that is not an OEM Otis blue tool will no longer work. I have not personally seen it, but it would not surprise me. I am looking forward to encountering one though to see if the software I have will work or not.

I'm sure theres, Work-a-round or will be one shortly after the lock outs become a problem. As for now I have a copy of the "unique procedures" book or what ever it is and I'll have to keep following that for testing. It is such a pain in the ass though haha

This is probably one of the original GCS controllers. There was an older version of software that you had to plug into the install port to see everything. The issue is there is a silver “REM” unit tucked up in the top of the controller. When that unit fails it no longer shows you the full menus.

You would actually need to upgrade the software to get rid of that soft lock.

Thanks I will check that out. I don't think it failed, maybe it got unplugged?? It would be strange both units failed the day after the last Otis visit out of the blue. Im sure it could have happened but I'm skeptical lol

When you go back check the software version, M-1-2-4. I’d be curios to see if there is a new version out that is in fact locking up controllers.

I'll definitely keep you guys updated. Not really sure when I'll be back there I have a bunch of testing that needs to be done and a power unit all on the other end of the state so at least a couple weeks unless something falls through

there is no lockout. either you don't have a blue tool or your alibaba service tool doesn't work. customer tool will do as you explained, but i think Hex67 is correct here. try plugging directly into the IO board. the comment about the big 4 being the only scum bags around, give me a break!