About the xsconsole: sometimes it's not refreshing. You can try to get access to the console, then type "xsconsole" it will start it and you should see it works
You must have the master up to date if you want your slave to connect again. I never tried to elect a new master in the middle of the upgrade, I would discourage it. Better shutdown some VMs on the master, upgrade it and you are automatically back on track.