Nextion display stopped working
Last updated · SimHub 9.11.22
SimHub ended Nextion support — announced in February 2021 and reaffirmed in March 2023 — which means no bug fixes, no support and no additions. It does not mean removal: the documented position is that Nextion compatibility is kept exactly as it is. Two things follow. The plugin is now disabled by default, so a working setup can appear to die after an update when all that happened is the plugin being off, and re-enabling it in settings brings it back. And the Nextion manufacturer introduced firmware incompatibilities on newer screens, so a replacement panel bought today may not work with a template that worked on the old one, however identical the model looks. SimHub's own advice is to exclude Nextion from new builds, and to use a Vocore instead.
There are a lot of working Nextion dashes still out there and this is not a page telling you to bin one. It is a page about why yours went quiet, and what to do when the screen itself eventually fails.
What ended, and what did not
| Status | |
|---|---|
| Bug fixes, support, new features | Ended. The wording is that none "will be done about the nextion in the future". |
| Existing functionality | Kept. "Nextion compatibility will be kept exactly as it is today." |
| The plugin | Disabled by default. Re-enable it in settings. |
| The dependencies | A separate installer — SimHubNextionExtensionSetup_1.0.zip. |
If yours stopped after an update. Check whether the Nextion plugin is enabled before anything else. It is off by default now, and a plugin that is off looks exactly like hardware that has died — no error, no screen.
Why it ended
The end-of-support notice went up on 1 February 2021 and was updated on 22 March 2023, and the 2023 update is the one that matters to anyone buying today: the manufacturer broke compatibility on newer screens.
The consequence is stated plainly — it gets harder and harder to find Nextion screens running the older firmware, and the advice is to exclude buying any Nextion for SimHub use.
Same model number, different firmware. This is what makes a like-for-like replacement risky. A screen bought now with the same part number as the one in your rig may ship firmware that does not work, and there is nothing on the box to tell you. This is the single most useful thing to know before ordering a spare.
When it does fail
The recommended replacement is Vocore, described in SimHub's own documentation as an affordable Nextion replacement with a better feature-to-price ratio. It is a different kind of device — a small USB screen SimHub renders a dashboard to, rather than a display running its own uploaded template — so the workflow changes:
- Dashboards are built in DashStudio, the same as a phone or a second monitor dashboard, rather than as a Nextion template with a mapping file.
- Anything you have already built in DashStudio works on it immediately.
- There is no template upload step and no mapping file to go missing.
- It has its own well-documented failure mode — USB instability — which has a firmware fix and its own page here.
For a Nextion still in service and working, the sensible position is to leave it alone, keep the plugin enabled, and not update the screen's firmware for any reason.
Common questions
Does SimHub still support Nextion?
Support ended — no bug fixes, no additions — but compatibility was not removed. The documented position is that it is kept exactly as it is, so an existing setup goes on working. The plugin is disabled by default now and needs re-enabling in settings.
My Nextion stopped working after a SimHub update.
Check the Nextion plugin is enabled. It is off by default since support ended, and a disabled plugin gives you a blank screen with no error, which looks exactly like dead hardware.
Can I still buy a Nextion for SimHub?
SimHub's own advice is not to. The manufacturer introduced firmware incompatibilities on newer screens as of March 2023, and screens running the older firmware are increasingly hard to find. A same-model replacement can arrive with firmware that does not work.
What should I use instead?
Vocore, which SimHub's documentation names as the affordable Nextion replacement with a better feature-to-price ratio. Dashboards are built in DashStudio rather than uploaded as templates, so there is no mapping file to lose.
Where are the Nextion dependencies?
In a separate installer, SimHubNextionExtensionSetup_1.0.zip, rather than in the main SimHub package — part of the same change that disabled the plugin by default.
Should I update my Nextion's firmware?
No. If your screen works, the firmware it has is the firmware you want. Newer firmware is where the incompatibility lives, and there is no route back.
Sources
Related guides
SimHub is developed independently by Wotever and is not affiliated with oesimracing. This page was checked against SimHub 9.11.22 on 4 August 2026; where the interface has moved on since, the version stamp tells you how far. More on what SimHub is and what it costs.